1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
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
French language
–
The
"arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in
Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
–
Regions where French is the main language
French language
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Town sign in
Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya in
Lebanon.
French language
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An obsolete 100
Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".
3.
Flag of Guinea
–
The national flag of Guinea was adopted on November 10,1958. The colors of the flag were adapted from those of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, the colors were in turn derived from those of Ghana, which had first adopted them in 1957. Sekou Toure, the first President of Guinea, was an associate of Kwame Nkrumah. Red symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who died from slavery and wars, yellow represents the sun and the riches of the country, in keeping with other flags in the region, the Pan-African movements colors of red, yellow, and green are used. As a former French colony it may be no coincidence that the design is a tricolor, the colors of the flag from left to right are the reverse of the flag of Mali. The earlier flag of Rwanda, whose design was inspired by the flag of the Kingdom of Rwanda, had a large black R to make it distinguishable from the flag of Guinea
Flag of Guinea
–
Flag of Guinea
4.
Coat of arms of Guinea
–
The present coat of arms of Guinea was adopted in 1993. The Guinean coat of arms features a dove with an olive branch in its beak over a ribbon with Work justice solidarity. The arms formerly also included a sword and rifle. A former coat of arms in 1960 features a red and yellow shield with an elephant on it. Coat of arms of Guinea in the Flags of the World website
Coat of arms of Guinea
Coat of arms of Guinea
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Coat of arms of Guinea
5.
Africa
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Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
Africa
–
Map of Africa
Africa
–
Africa
Africa
–
Lucy, an
Australopithecus afarensis skeleton discovered on November 24, 1974, in the
Awash Valley of
Ethiopia 's
Afar Depression
Africa
–
Colossal statues of
Ramesses II at
Abu Simbel, Egypt, date from around 1400 BC.
6.
African Union
–
The African Union is a continental union consisting of all 55 countries on the African continent. It was established on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AUs secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, the objectives of the AU are, To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and Africans. To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States, to accelerate the political and social-economic integration of the continent. To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent, to encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To promote peace, security, and stability on the continent, to promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance. To promote and protect human and peoples rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, to establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations. To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies, to promote co-operation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples. To coordinate and harmonize the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the attainment of the objectives of the Union. To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science, to work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent. The African Union is made up of political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, the Assembly is chaired by Idriss Déby, President of Chad. The AU also has a body, the Pan African Parliament. Its president is Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi, the AU Commission, the secretariat to the political structures, is chaired by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa. On 15 July 2012, Ms. Dlamini-Zuma won a contested vote to become the first female head of the African Union Commission. The main administrative capital of the African Union is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a new headquarters complex, the AU Conference Center and Office Complex, was inaugurated on 28 January 2012, during the 18th AU summit. The tower is 99.9 meters high to signify the date 9 September 1999, the AU covers the entire continent except for several territories held by Spain, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom. AU troops were deployed in Sudan for peacekeeping during Darfur conflict
African Union
–
The African Union's headquarters complex in
Addis Ababa.
African Union
African Union
–
South Sudanese independence referendum, 2011
African Union
–
Muammar Gaddafi embracing Tanzanian President
Kikwete after assuming the chairmanship.
7.
Conakry
–
Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973 Originally situated on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, it has since spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula. The current population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain, although the U. S. Bureau of African Affairs has estimated it at 2 million, Conakry is thought to contain almost a quarter of the population of Guinea. Conakry was originally settled on the small Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, the city was essentially founded after Britain ceded the island to France in 1887. In 1885 the two villages of Conakry and Boubinet had fewer than 500 inhabitants. In the decades after independence, the population of Conakry boomed, from 50,000 inhabitants in 1958 to 600,000 in 1980, to over two million today. Its small land area and relative isolation from the mainland, while an advantage to its founders, has created an infrastructural burden since independence. Camp Boiro, a concentration camp during the rule of Sekou Toure, was located in Conakry. According to human groups,157 people died during the 2009 Guinea protest when the military junta opened fire against tens of thousands of protesters in the city on 28 September 2009. Conakry is a city with a single region and prefecture government. The local government of the city was decentralized in 1991 between five municipal communes headed by a mayor, the five urban communes make up the Conakry Region, one of the eight Regions of Guinea, which is headed by a governor. At the second-tier prefecture level, the city is designated as the Conakry Special Zone, though the prefecture and regional government are one, Conakry is Guineas largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic centre. The citys economy revolves largely around the port, which has facilities for handling and storing cargo, through which alumina. Manufactures include food products and housing materials, periodic power and water cuts have been a daily burden for Conakrys residents since early 2002. Critics of the government cite mis-management, corruption and the withdrawal of the power agencys French partner at the beginning of 2002, as of 2007, much of the city has no traffic lighting in the overnight hours. Violence reached a peak in January–February 2007 in a general strike, Conakry is serviced by Conakry International Airport which has flights to several cities in West Africa and Europe. According to Köppen climate classification, Conakry features a tropical monsoon climate, Conakry features a wet season and a dry season
Conakry
–
Conakry, Guinea
Conakry
–
Central Conakry, 2013.
Conakry
–
A street scene in Conakry.
8.
Vernacular language
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Some linguists use vernacular and nonstandard dialect as synonyms. The use of vernacular is not recent, here vernacular, mother language and dialect are already in use in a modern sense. The figurative meaning was broadened from the diminutive extended words vernaculus, varro, the classical Latin grammarian, used the term vocabula vernacula, termes de la langue nationale or vocabulary of the national language as opposed to foreign words. In general linguistics, a vernacular is contrasted with a lingua franca, for instance, in Western Europe until the 17th century, most scholarly works had been written in Latin, which was serving as a lingua franca. Works written in Romance languages are said to be in the vernacular, the Divina Commedia, the Cantar de Mio Cid, and The Song of Roland are examples of early vernacular literature in Italian, Spanish, and French, respectively. In Europe, Latin was used instead of vernacular languages in varying forms until c. 1701, in its latter stage as New Latin, in Catholicism, vernacular bibles were later provided, but Latin was used at Tridentine Mass until the Second Vatican Council of 1965. Certain groups, notably Traditionalist Catholics, continue to practice Latin Mass, in India, the 12th century Bhakti movement led to the translation of Sanskrit texts to the vernacular. In science, a user of the vernacular was Galileo. 1600, though some of his works remained in Latin, a later example is Isaac Newton, whose 1687 Principia was in Latin, but whose 1704 Opticks was in English. Latin continues to be used in fields of science, notably binomial nomenclature in biology, while other fields such as mathematics use vernacular. In diplomacy, French displaced Latin in Europe in the 1710s, certain languages have both a classical form and various vernacular forms, with two widely used examples being Arabic and Chinese, see Varieties of Arabic and Chinese language. In the 1920s, due to the May Fourth Movement, Classical Chinese was replaced by written vernacular Chinese, the vernacular is also often contrasted with a liturgical language, a specialized use of a former lingua franca. Similarly, in Hindu culture, traditionally religious or scholarly works were written in Sanskrit or in Tamil in Tamil country. With the rise of the movement from the 12th century onwards, religious works were created in the other languages, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu. These circumstances are a contrast between a vernacular and language variant used by the same speakers, according to one school of linguistic thought, all such variants are examples of a linguistic phenomenon termed diglossia. In it, the language is bifurcated, i. e. the speaker learns two forms of the language and ordinarily uses one but under special circumstances the other. The one most frequently used is the low variant, equivalent to the vernacular, the concept was introduced to linguistics by Charles A. Ferguson, but Ferguson explicitly excluded variants as divergent as dialects or different languages or as similar as styles or registers
Vernacular language
–
The oldest known vernacular manuscript in Scanian (Danish, c. 1250.) It deals with Scanian and Scanian
Ecclesiastical Law.
Vernacular language
–
An allegory of philosophy and grammar,
Trinci Palace, Foligno, Italy, by
Gentile da Fabriano, who lived at about the time the Italian language was being standardized.
Vernacular language
–
Allegory of
Dante Alighieri, champion of the use of vernacular Italian for literature rather than the lingua franca, Latin. Fresco by
Luca Signorelli in the cappella di San Brizio dome, Orvieto.
9.
Ethnic groups
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An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities, such as common ancestral, language, social, cultural or national experiences. Unlike other social groups, ethnicity is often an inherited status based on the society in which one lives, in some cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into another society. Ethnic groups, derived from the historical founder population, often continue to speak related languages. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible for individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group. Ethnicity is often used synonymously with terms such as nation or people. In English, it can also have the connotation of something exotic, generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, the largest ethnic groups in modern times comprise hundreds of millions of individuals, while the smallest are limited to a few dozen individuals. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a pan-ethnicity, whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis. The term ethnic is derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos, the inherited English language term for this concept is folk, used alongside the latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan, as the Septuagint used ta ethne to translate the Hebrew goyim the nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews. The Greek term in antiquity could refer to any large group, a host of men. In the 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of peculiar to a race, people or nation, the abstract ethnicity had been used for paganism in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an ethnic character. The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972, depending on the context that is used, the term nationality may either be used synonymously with ethnicity, or synonymously with citizenship. The process that results in the emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, the Greeks at this time did not describe foreign nations but had also developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes. Herodotus gave an account of what defined Greek ethnic identity in his day, enumerating shared descent. Whether ethnicity qualifies as a universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf and they regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen, the study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently, one is between primordialism and instrumentalism. In the primordialist view, the participant perceives ethnic ties collectively, as a given, even coercive
Ethnic groups
–
Before the 1970s, the
Korowai people of
Papua were an
uncontacted people. Their population numbers no more than 3,000.
Ethnic groups
–
The
Assyrians are the indigenous peoples of
Northern Iraq.
Ethnic groups
–
Some European ethnic groups, such as
Basque people, do not constitute a majority in any one country.
10.
Fula people
–
The Fula people or Fulani or Fulɓe, numbering between 20 and 25 million people in total, are one of the largest and a widely dispersed Muslim ethnic group in Sahel and West Africa. The Fula people are believed to have roots in the people from North Africa and the Middle East. As an ethnic group they are bound together by the Fula language, culture, history, their religious affiliation and their efforts to spread Islam in Sahel region and the West Africa. A significant proportion of the Fula – a third, or an estimated 7 to 8 million – are pastoral people, the majority of the Fula ethnic group consisted of semi-sedentary people, as well as sedentary settled farmers, artisans, merchants and nobility. Spread over many countries, they are mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa. Many Fulbe was also taken to the New World during 16th to 19th century Atlantic Slave Trade and they were largely captured from the Senegal and Guinea with a significant percentage also taken from Mali and Cameroon. Some of the Fulbe of note were Bilali Muhammad, Ayuba Diallo, Salih Bilali, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, some of Bilali Muhammads known descendants still live on Salepo Island Georgia and he also left descendants in the Bahama Archipelago who are not known. Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori and many others have many descendants in the USA, there are many names used in other languages to refer to the Fulɓe. Fulani in English is borrowed from the Hausa term, Fula, from Manding languages, is also used in English, and sometimes spelled Fulah or Fullah. Fula and Fulani are commonly used in English, including within Africa, the French borrowed the Wolof term Pël, which is variously spelled, Peul, Peulh, and even Peuhl. More recently the Fulfulde / Pulaar term Fulɓe, which is a noun has been Anglicised as Fulbe. In Portuguese, the terms Fula or Futafula are used, the terms Fallata Fallatah or Fellata are of Kanuri origins, and are often the ethnonyms by which Fulani people are identified by in Sudan. The Fula people are distributed, across the Sahel from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. Alongside, many speak other languages of the countries they inhabit. Such languages include Hausa, Bambara, Wolof, and Arabic and this is the area known as the Fombina, literally meaning The South in Adamawa Fulfulde, because it represented the most southern and eastern reaches of Fulɓe hegemonic dominance in West Africa. In this area, Fulfulde is the lingua franca. Further east of this area, Fulani communities become predominantly nomadic, the Fulani People occupy a vast geographical expanse located roughly in a longitudinal East-West band immediately south of the Sahara, and just north of the coastal rain forest and swamps. There are an estimated 20-25 million Fulani people, there are generally three different types of Fulani based on settlement patterns, viz, the Nomadic/Pastoral or Mbororo, The Semi-Nomadic and the Settled or Town Fulani
Fula people
–
Fulani, Fula, Fulɓe
Fula people
–
Fulani calabashes used for
cheese production
Fula people
–
Tassili rock art
11.
Mandinka people
–
The Mandinka is a West African ethnic group with an estimated global population of eleven million. The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power under the rule of the Malinké/Maninka king Sundiata Keita, the Mandinka are a one ethnic group within the larger linguistic family of the Mandé peoples, who account for more than twenty million people. Originally from Mali, the Mandinka gained their independence from previous empires in the 13th century and they migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. Through a series of conflicts, the Fula jihads, particularly the Fula-led Imamate of Futa Jallon, over 99% of Mandinka in contemporary Africa are Muslim. The Mandinka people live primarily in West Africa, particularly in The Gambia, major populations of the Mandinka people also live in Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Mauritania. Although widespread, in most countries, the Mandingo are not the largest ethnic group, most Mandingos live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages, their traditional society has featured socially stratified castes. Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief, Mandingo has been an oral society where mythologies, history and knowledge is verbally transmitted from one generation to next. Between the 16th and 19th century, many Muslim and non-Muslim Mandinka people and these intermixed, creating a Creole culture, with the Mandika people significantly influencing the African heritage peoples now found in the Caribbean, Brazil and the southern United States. The Mandés were initially a part of many fragmented kingdoms that formed after the collapse of Ghana empire in the 11th century, during the rule of Sundiata Keita, these kingdoms were consolidated, and the Mandinka expanded west from the Niger River basin under Sundiatas general Tiramakhan Traore. This expansion was a part of creating a region of conquest and this migration began in the later part of the 13th century. Another group of Mandinka people, under Faran Kamara – the son of the king of Tabou – expanded southeast of Mali, with the migration, many gold artisans and metal working Mandinka smiths settled along the coast and in the hilly Fouta Djallon and plateau areas of West Africa. Their presence and products attracted Mandika merchants and brought trading caravans from north Africa and it also brought conflicts with other ethnic groups, such as the Wolof people, particularly the Jolof Empire. The caravan trade to North Africa and Middle East brought Islamic people into Mandinka peoples original, the Muslim traders sought presence in the host Mandinka community, and this likely initiated proselytizing efforts to convert the Mandinka from their traditional religious beliefs into Islam. In Ghana, for example, the Almoravids had divided its capital into two parts by 1077, one part was Muslim and other non-Muslim, the Muslim influence from North Africa had arrived in the Mandinka region before this, via Islamic trading diasporas. In 1324, Sultan Mansa Musa who ruled Mali, went on Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca with caravan carrying gold. Shihab al-Umari, the Arabic historian, described his visit and stated that Musa built mosques in his kingdom, established Islamic prayers and took back Maliki school of Sunni jurists with him. According to Richard Turner – a professor of African American Religious History, Musa was highly influential in attracting North African, the Mandinka people of Mali converted early, but those who migrated to the west did not convert and retained their traditional religious rites. One of the legends among the Mandingo of western Africa is that the general Tiramakhan Traore led the migration, because people in Mali had converted to Islam, another legend gives a contrasting account, and states that Traore himself had converted and married Muhammads grand daughter
Mandinka people
–
West Africans from the Malinke ethnic group:
Samory Touré ·
Sekou Touré ·
Lansana Kouyaté Salif Keita ·
Modibo Sidibé ·
Toumani Diabaté ·
Yaya Touré ·
Mohamed Sissoko
Mandinka people
Mandinka people
Mandinka people
12.
Kissi people
–
Kissi people is an ethnic group living in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. They speak the Kissi language, which is a Niger–Congo language and they are well known for making baskets and weaving on vertical looms. In past times they are famous for their iron working skills, as the country. Kissi smiths produced the famous Kissi penny, an iron money that was used widely in West, rice, their staple crop, is grown on most hillsides and in low, swampy areas. Other crops include peanuts, cotton, corn, bananas, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, onions, and peppers are grown in small vegetable gardens, and coffee is raised as a cash crop. Most of the farmers also raise some livestock, agricultural work, such as sowing, weeding, and harvesting, is shared equally by the men and women. Additional responsibilities for the men hunting, fishing, and clearing land. The womens duties involve caring for the vegetable gardens, tending to the chickens, trading in the local markets. Boys tend to the livestock, which are usually cattle and goats, cows are considered very valuable animals, not for their milk, but as religious sacrifices. In Guinea, the Kissi warrior Kissi Kaba Keita managed to unite many kissi chiefdoms under his reign, prior to French attacks, he had rallied the Kurankos of Morige, and the Leles of Yombiro. When the French arrived in 1892, he had to let the relatively autonomous chiefs of the respective areas defend themselves, due to the Frenchs technological superiority, Kissi Kaba resorted mainly to guerilla tactics, thus delaying their conquest of his kingdom. However, by 1893, Kissi Kaba realized that his resistance would fail, as such, they recognized him as chief of the northern Kissi territory. However, he his relationship with the French gradually worsened, which first led to the French appointing his rivals in a number of his chiefdoms, for many generations, the Kissi have been known as a hard working people. They are very age-oriented, dominated and led by the chief, the Kissi live in small, self-governing villages that are tucked inside groves of mango or kola trees. Each village is compact, containing no more than about 150 people, houses are usually raised slightly above the ground and are round with mud walls, cone-shaped thatch roofs, verandahs. In the center of the village is a square with a dwelling place for the village headman. He offers sacrifices at the shrine and acts as judge over the community. To the Kissi, a child is not considered complete and is thought of as dirty, therefore, when a boy or girl reaches puberty, a purification ritual is held
Kissi people
–
Joseph Boakai
13.
Kpelle people
–
The Kpelle people are the largest ethnic group in Liberia. They are located primarily in an area of central Liberia extending into Guinea and they speak the Kpelle language, which belongs to the Mande language family. Despite their yearly heavy rainfalls and rough land, Kpelle survive mostly on their crop of rice. Culturally the Kpelle take an approach to life, they are organized under several paramount chiefs who serve as mediators for the public, preserve order. Their local economy surrounds trade with local tribes and they are arguably the most rural and conservative of the major Liberian peoples. The Kpelle are the largest ethnic group of the West African nation of Liberia and are also an important ethnic group also in southern Guinea, most Kpelle inhabit Bong County, Bomi County, Gbarpolu County, and Lofa County. They are major suppliers of the capital cities. The terrain in the area includes swamps, hills and, in lowland areas, may through October brings their rainy season with an annual rainfall from 180 to 300 centimeters. The Kpelle territory sees the lowest temperatures dropping to 19 degrees C with the average temp around 36 degree C, the Kpelle peoples eat rice as their primary staple. Soup may be eaten as an appetizer or in conjunction to the main dish, traditionally, the Kpelle have been farmers with rice as the main crop. The word Kpelle is often used as an adjective to refer to someone as hard working and very humble people in Liberia, traditionally, a Kpelle family consists of a man, his wives and his children. The household has been the usual farming unit, and all the members participate in daily farming work. Young children learn how to farm and help the family members with farm activities. In their social structure, leadership was very crucial, every Kpelle tribe used to have a chief who oversaw their own interests as well as the interests of the society. These chiefs were recognized by the national government and they used to act as mediators between the government and their own tribes. Each town also had its own chief, the chiefs act as liaisons for different groups in the society. Anthropologists such as Caroline Bledsoe have characterized Kpelle social organization as one premised on wealth in people, in intelligence research, the Kpelle people perform differently from Westerners on sorting tasks. While Westerners tend to take an approach, the Kpelle take a more functional approach
Kpelle people
–
Kpelle girl
Kpelle people
–
Kpelle wood made structure
14.
Demonym
–
A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
Demonym
–
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has not adopted the term "demonyn" for these adjectives and nouns
15.
Guinean people
–
Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guineas peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial, according to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 9982000 in 2010, compared to only 3094000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42. 9%,53. 8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3. 3% was 65 years or older, registration of vital events is in Guinea not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates, total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate, Fertility data as of 2012, Fulɓe. Called Peuhl or Peul in French, Fula or Fulani in English, malinke in French, Mandingo in English, mostly inhabiting the savanna of Upper Guinea and the Forest region, Susus or Soussous. Susu is not a lingua franca in Guinea, although it is commonly spoken in the coastal areas, including the capital, Conakry, it is not largely understood in the interior of the country. Several small groups in the forest region and Bagas, Koniagis etc. in the coastal area, west Africans make up the largest non-Guinean population. Seven national languages are used extensively, the written languages are French, Pular. Other languages have established Latin orthographies that are used somewhat, notably for Susu, the NKo alphabet is increasingly used on a grassroots level for the Maninka language. The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated
Guinean people
–
Guinea's total population, from 1961 to 2003. Guinea's population came close to tripling in forty years.
16.
Politics of Guinea
–
Politics of Guinea takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guinea is both head of state and head of government of Guinea. Executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. A military dictatorship, led by then-Lt, col. Lansana Conté and styling itself the Military Committee of National Recovery, took control of Guinea in April 1984, shortly after the death of independent Guineas first president, Sékou Touré. The new government released all prisoners and committed itself to the protection of human rights. The CTRN drafted laws to create republican institutions and to provide for independent political parties, national elections, political party activity was legalized in 1992, when more than 40 political parties were officially recognized for the first time. In 1995, Contés ruling PUP party won 76 of 114 seats in elections for the National Assembly amid opposition claims of irregularities, according to Somparé, Conté hid his physical suffering for years in order to give happiness to Guinea. Conté had left the country for treatment on numerous occasions in the years preceding his death. At around the time, a newspaper published a photograph suggesting that Conté was in poor physical condition. The editor of newspaper was arrested and the newspaper was required to print a photograph in which Conté looked healthy. Somparé requested that the President of the Supreme Court, Lamine Sidimé, declare a vacancy in the Presidency, Prime Minister Souaré and Diarra Camara, the head of the army, stood alongside Somparé during his announcement. The government declared 40 days of mourning and Camara called on soldiers to remain calm. Six hours after Somparé announced Contés death, a statement was read on television announcing a military coup détat. This statement, read by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on behalf of a group called National Council for Democracy, said that the government, the statement also announced the suspension of the constitution as well as political and union activity. In its place, the military said it had established a council composed of civilian. On 27 September 2009, the day before planned demonstrations in the capital city Conakry, thousands of protestors defied the ban, assembling in a soccer stadium. 157 were left dead after the level of violence used by security forces escalated, Captain Moussa Camara told Radio France International on 28 September the shootings by members of his presidential guard were beyond his control. Those people who committed those atrocities were uncontrollable elements in the military, even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be able to control those elements in the military. On 3 December 2009 Captain Moussa Dadis Camara suffered a wound in an attempted assassination in Conakry led by his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité
Politics of Guinea
–
Guinea
17.
Presidential republic
–
The period spans the same time as the Development inwards period in Chilean economic history. Dartnell, however, decided to form another junta, the January Junta, Alessandri had a new Constitution drafted, and approved by plebiscite by 134,421 voters on August 30. The Constitution, which was promulgated on September 18,1925, furthermore, Alessandri created a Central Bank, initiating the first rupture with classical liberalisms laissez faire policies. Alessandris second government began with the support of left-wing and radical groups, however, this second group began to distance itself from the President. In March 1925, Alessandris government repressed a demonstration, leading to the Marusia massacre and this crisis led to the cabinets resignation. Ibáñez then published a letter to the President, recalling him that he could only issue decree through his approbation. Alessandri then decided to nominate Luis Barros Borgoño as Minister of Interior and this break with the working classes caused Alessandri to try to maintain a right-wing-radical alliance until 1937, when it took a turn towards the left. Alessandris resignation prompted Ibáñez to convince the parties to find a common candidacy, Alessandri had been confronted to increased opposition from his popular Minister of Defence, Ibáñez. Both had struggled over the epuration of the apparatus, Ibáñez opposing in particular the President of the Supreme Court, Javier Ángel Figueroa Larraín. In February 1927, Ibáñez succeeded in being designated as Minister of Interior, Ibáñez thus took his place as Vice President and called for elections. He competed with communist Elías Lafertte, and won in May 1927 with 98% of the vote, Carlos Ibáñezs cabinet remained popular until the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1931. He exercised dictatorial powers, and did not dislike being compared to Benito Mussolini and he suspended parliamentary elections, instead naming politicians to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies himself. Freedom of press was restricted,200 politicians were arrested or exiled, the Communist Party was proscribed, Ibáñez found in his Minister of Finances, Pablo Ramírez, the support he needed. In 1929, General Ibáñez requested to the parties a list of the candidates to the general elections and he then went to the Termas de Chillán resort, and there selected members of both houses. Thereafter, the legislature became known as the Congreso Termal. His popularity, however, was helped by massive loans by American banks and he also reformed the police forces, by merging in 1927 the Fiscal Police, the Rural Police, and the Cuerpo de Carabineros into the Carabiniers of Chile, and became their first Director General. Ibáñez also created the Chilean Air Force, LAN Airlines and the COSACH, at that point all loans were halted and called. Without the influx of currency, Chile was heavily affected by the Great Depression
Presidential republic
–
March in support of the proclamation of the
Socialist Republic of Chile, in front of
La Moneda Palace (June 12, 1932)
Presidential republic
–
Flag
Presidential republic
–
Senator
Pablo Neruda
Presidential republic
–
Commemorative stamp on the Declaration on the
Antártica Chilena Province.
18.
National Assembly (Guinea)
–
The unicameral Assemblée nationale or National Assembly is Guineas legislative body. The number of seats has also fluctuated and it is currently at 114, with members selected by two different methods. Members must be over 25 years old and serve five-year terms, the President of the National Assembly of Guinea is the presiding officer of the legislature. Claude Kory Kondiano has been President of the National Assembly since January 2014 and it ordinarily meets in two annual sessions, beginning 5 April and 5 October and lasting no more than 90 days. Special sessions can be called by either the President of Guinea or a majority of the Assembly members, the National Assembly has its headquarters in the Palais du Peuple, which was built with Chinese assistance. Guinea was a one-party state, so the legal party. The Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally once again secured all of the then-75 seats, with no other parties legally allowed, the Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally took all now-150 seats, and Touré was reelected president unopposed. Members were elected for seven-year terms, the Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally secured all now-210 seats as the only party, with Touré retaining the presidency. The election was scheduled for April 2000, as the five-year terms of office expired. The 30 June 2002 election was won by President Contés Unity and Progress Party, elections were held on 28 September 2013. Alpha Condés party, the Rally of the Guinean People, won the most seats,53, list of political parties in Guinea Politics of Guinea
National Assembly (Guinea)
–
National Assembly Assemblée nationale
19.
Independence
–
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over the territory. The opposite of independence is a dependent territory, Independence does not necessarily mean freedom. Whether the attainment of independence is different from revolution has long been contested, nation-states have been granted independence without any revolutionary acts. The Russian October Revolution, for example, was not intended to seek national independence, however, the American Revolutionary War was intended to achieve independence from the beginning. Causes for a country or province wishing to seek independence are many, the means can extend from peaceful demonstrations, like in the case of the Indian independence movement, to a violent civil war. Autonomy refers to a kind of independence which has been granted by an authority that itself still retains ultimate authority over that territory. A protectorate refers to a region that depends upon a larger government for its protection as an autonomous region. Declaring independence and attaining it however, are quite different, a well-known successful example is the U. S. Declaration of Independence issued in 1776, the dates of established independence, are typically celebrated as a national holiday known as an independence day
Independence
–
John Trumbull 's
Declaration of Independence in 1776
20.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
21.
Geography of Guinea
–
Guinea is a country on the coast of West Africa and is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Guinea is in western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and its geographic coordinates are 11°00′N 10°00′W. Guineas total area is 245,857 km², comprising 245,717 km² of land and 140 km² of water. Guineas land boundaries span a total of 4,046 km, with Ivory Coast 816 km, Guinea-Bissau 421 km, Liberia 590 km, Mali 1,062 km, Senegal 363 km, and Sierra Leone 794 km. It has a 320-km coastline, and claims an economic zone of 200 nmi. The capital Conakrys year-round average high is 29 °C, and the low is 23 °C, Conakrys average annual rainfall is 4,300 mm. Sahelian Upper Guinea has a shorter rainy season and greater daily temperature variations. There is a dry season with northeasterly harmattan winds, the Niger River, the Gambia River, and the Senegal River are among the 22 West African rivers that have their origins in Guinea. Guinean forest-savanna mosaic covers most of the country, covering most of Maritime Guinea and Upper Guinea and it extends north into Guinea Bissau and Senegal, and east though Mali and Ivory Coast. Western Guinean lowland forests occupies the portion of Maritime Guinea around Conakry, and Forest Guinea, along with coastal Sierra Leone, Liberia. Guinean montane forests, cover the Fouta Djallon and Guinea Highlands of southeast Guinea above 600 meters elevation, Guinean mangroves, in the coastal estuaries. Enclaves extend north into Guinea Bissau, Gambia and Senegal, and southeast through Sierra Leone, Liberia, the countrys natural resources include bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish, and salt. It has 12. 21% arable land, and 2. 85% of the land is permanent crops,949.2 km² of land is irrigated. Guineas total renewable water resources total 226 km3, poor mining practices have led to environmental damage. Its terrain is flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior. The countrys lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean, and highest is Mont Nimba and this is a list of the extreme points of Guinea, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Northernmost point – the northern section of the border with Senegal, easternmost point – the confluence of the Gben river and the Férédougouba river on the border with Ivory Coast, Nzérékoré Region. Southernmost point – unnamed location on the border with Liberia immediately south of the village of Gonon, westernmost point – Ile du Noufrage, Boké Region. Westernmost point – the point at which the border with Guinea-Bissau enters the Rio Compony estuary, *Note, Guinea does not have a northern-most point, this section of the border being formed by a straight latitudinal line Administrative divisions of Guinea
Geography of Guinea
–
Location of Guinea
22.
Demographics of Guinea
–
Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guineas peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial, according to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 9982000 in 2010, compared to only 3094000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42. 9%,53. 8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3. 3% was 65 years or older, registration of vital events is in Guinea not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates, total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate, Fertility data as of 2012, Fulɓe. Called Peuhl or Peul in French, Fula or Fulani in English, malinke in French, Mandingo in English, mostly inhabiting the savanna of Upper Guinea and the Forest region, Susus or Soussous. Susu is not a lingua franca in Guinea, although it is commonly spoken in the coastal areas, including the capital, Conakry, it is not largely understood in the interior of the country. Several small groups in the forest region and Bagas, Koniagis etc. in the coastal area, west Africans make up the largest non-Guinean population. Seven national languages are used extensively, the written languages are French, Pular. Other languages have established Latin orthographies that are used somewhat, notably for Susu, the NKo alphabet is increasingly used on a grassroots level for the Maninka language. The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated
Demographics of Guinea
–
Guinea's total population, from 1961 to 2003. Guinea's population came close to tripling in forty years.
23.
List of countries and dependencies by population
–
This is a list of countries and dependent territories by population. For instance, the United Kingdom is considered as a single entity while the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are considered separately, in addition, this list includes certain states with limited recognition not found in ISO 3166-1. The population figures do not reflect the practice of countries that report significantly different populations of citizens domestically, some countries, notably Thailand, do not report total population, exclusively counting citizens, for total populations an international agency must issue an estimate. Also given in percent is each countrys population compared to the population of the world, figures used in this chart are based on the most up to date estimate or projections by the national census authority where available, and are usually rounded off. Where updated national data are not available, figures are based on the projections for 2016 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Because the compiled figures are not collected at the time in every country, or at the same level of accuracy. Furthermore, the addition of figures from all countries may not equal the world total, a handful of nations have not conducted a census in over 30 years, providing high error margin estimates only. Areas that form parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned. Note, All dependent territories or constituent countries that are parts of states are shown in italics
List of countries and dependencies by population
–
A map of world population in 2014
24.
Gross domestic product
–
Gross Domestic Product is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period. Nominal GDP estimates are used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region. The OECD defines GDP as a measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident and institutional units engaged in production. ”An IMF publication states that GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services - that is. Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of industry or sector of the economy. The ratio of GDP to the population of the region is the per capita GDP. William Petty came up with a concept of GDP to defend landlords against unfair taxation during warfare between the Dutch and the English between 1652 and 1674. Charles Davenant developed the method further in 1695, the modern concept of GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934. In this report, Kuznets warned against its use as a measure of welfare, after the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP became the main tool for measuring a countrys economy. The switch from GNP to GDP in the US was in 1991, the history of the concept of GDP should be distinguished from the history of changes in ways of estimating it. The value added by firms is relatively easy to calculate from their accounts, but the value added by the sector, by financial industries. GDP can be determined in three ways, all of which should, in principle, give the same result and they are the production approach, the income approach, or the expenditure approach. The most direct of the three is the approach, which sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The income approach works on the principle that the incomes of the factors must be equal to the value of their product. This approach mirrors the OECD definition given above, deduct intermediate consumption from gross value to obtain the gross value added. Gross value added = gross value of output – value of intermediate consumption, value of output = value of the total sales of goods and services plus value of changes in the inventories. The sum of the value added in the various economic activities is known as GDP at factor cost. GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes less subsidies on products = GDP at producer price, for measuring output of domestic product, economic activities are classified into various sectors. Subtracting each sectors intermediate consumption from gross output gives the GDP at factor cost, adding indirect tax minus subsidies in GDP at factor cost gives the GDP at producer prices
Gross domestic product
–
Selection of GDP PPP data (top 10 countries and blocks) in no particular order
25.
Purchasing power parity
–
Observed deviations of the exchange rate from purchasing power parity are measured by deviations of the real exchange rate from its PPP value of 1. PPP exchange rates help to minimize misleading international comparisons that can arise with the use of exchange rates. For example, suppose that two countries produce the same amounts of goods as each other in each of two different years. But if one countrys GDP is converted into the countrys currency using PPP exchange rates instead of observed market exchange rates. The idea originated with the School of Salamanca in the 16th century, the best-known purchasing power adjustment is the Geary–Khamis dollar. The real exchange rate is equal to the nominal exchange rate. If purchasing power parity held exactly, then the exchange rate would always equal one. However, in practice the exchange rates exhibit both short run and long run deviations from this value, for example due to reasons illuminated in the Balassa–Samuelson theorem. There can be marked differences between purchasing power adjusted incomes and those converted via market exchange rates. This discrepancy has large implications, for instance, when converted via the exchange rates GDP per capita in India is about US$1,965 while on a PPP basis it is about US$7,197. At the other extreme, Denmarks nominal GDP per capita is around US$62,100, the purchasing power parity exchange rate serves two main functions. PPP exchange rates can be useful for making comparisons between countries because they stay fairly constant from day to day or week to week and only change modestly, if at all, from year to year. The PPP exchange-rate calculation is controversial because of the difficulties of finding comparable baskets of goods to compare purchasing power across countries, people in different countries typically consume different baskets of goods. It is necessary to compare the cost of baskets of goods and this is a difficult task because purchasing patterns and even the goods available to purchase differ across countries. Thus, it is necessary to make adjustments for differences in the quality of goods, furthermore, the basket of goods representative of one economy will vary from that of another, Americans eat more bread, Chinese more rice. Hence a PPP calculated using the US consumption as a base will differ from that calculated using China as a base, additional statistical difficulties arise with multilateral comparisons when more than two countries are to be compared. Various ways of averaging bilateral PPPs can provide a stable multilateral comparison. These are all issues of indexing, as with other price indices there is no way to reduce complexity to a single number that is equally satisfying for all purposes
Purchasing power parity
–
Big Mac hamburgers, like this one from
Japan, are similar worldwide.
Purchasing power parity
–
GDP Per capita by
countries in 2014, calculated using PPP
exchange rates, based on
IMF data.
26.
Gini coefficient
–
The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income or wealth distribution of a nations residents, and is the most commonly used measure of inequality. It was developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini, the Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution. A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality, where all values are the same, a Gini coefficient of 1 expresses maximal inequality among values. However, a greater than one may occur if some persons represent negative contribution to the total. For larger groups, values close to or above 1 are very unlikely in practice, the exception to this is in the redistribution of wealth resulting in a minimum income for all people. When the population is sorted, if their distribution were to approximate a well known function. The Gini coefficient was proposed by Gini as a measure of inequality of income or wealth, the global income Gini coefficient in 2005 has been estimated to be between 0.61 and 0.68 by various sources. There are some issues in interpreting a Gini coefficient, the same value may result from many different distribution curves. The demographic structure should be taken into account, Countries with an aging population, or with a baby boom, experience an increasing pre-tax Gini coefficient even if real income distribution for working adults remains constant. Scholars have devised over a dozen variants of the Gini coefficient, the line at 45 degrees thus represents perfect equality of incomes. The Gini coefficient can then be thought of as the ratio of the area lies between the line of equality and the Lorenz curve over the total area under the line of equality. It is also equal to 2A and to 1 - 2B due to the fact that A + B =0.5. If all people have non-negative income, the Gini coefficient can theoretically range from 0 to 1, in practice, both extreme values are not quite reached. If negative values are possible, then the Gini coefficient could theoretically be more than 1, normally the mean is assumed positive, which rules out a Gini coefficient less than zero. An alternative approach would be to consider the Gini coefficient as half of the mean absolute difference. The effects of income policy due to redistribution can be seen in the linear relationships. An informative simplified case just distinguishes two levels of income, low and high, if the high income group is u % of the population and earns a fraction f % of all income, then the Gini coefficient is f − u. An actual more graded distribution with these same values u and f will always have a higher Gini coefficient than f − u, the proverbial case where the richest 20% have 80% of all income would lead to an income Gini coefficient of at least 60%
Gini coefficient
–
Graphical representation of the Gini coefficient The graph shows that the Gini coefficient is equal to the area marked A divided by the sum of the areas marked A and B, that is, Gini = A / (A + B). It is also equal to 2* A due to the fact that A + B = 0.5 (since the axes scale from 0 to 1).
27.
Human Development Index
–
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the level is higher. The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, while the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that the IHDI is the actual level of human development, and the HDI can be viewed as an index of potential human development. The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports produced by the Human Development Reports Office of the United Nations Development Programme, nobel laureate Amartya Sen, utilized Haqs work in his own work on human capabilities. The following three indices are used,1, Life Expectancy Index = LE −2085 −20 LEI is 1 when Life expectancy at birth is 85 and 0 when Life expectancy at birth is 20. Education Index = MYSI + EYSI22.1 Mean Years of Schooling Index = MYS15 Fifteen is the maximum of this indicator for 2025. 2.2 Expected Years of Schooling Index = EYS18 Eighteen is equivalent to achieving a degree in most countries. Income Index = ln − ln ln − ln II is 1 when GNI per capita is $75,000 and 0 when GNI per capita is $100. Finally, the HDI is the mean of the previous three normalized indices, HDI = LEI ⋅ EI ⋅ II3. Standard of living, as indicated by the logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. This methodology was used by the UNDP until their 2011 report, the formula defining the HDI is promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme. The 2016 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on March 21,2017, below is the list of the very high human development countries, = increase. The number in brackets represents the number of ranks the country has climbed relative to the ranking in the 2015 report, the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index is a measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data. Countries in the top quartile of HDI with a missing IHDI, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The 2015 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on December 14,2015, below is the list of the very high human development countries, = increase. The number in brackets represents the number of ranks the country has climbed relative to the ranking in the 2014 report, the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index is a measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account. Note, The green arrows, red arrows, and blue dashes represent changes in rank, the rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data
Human Development Index
–
Mahbub ul Haq
Human Development Index
–
Amartya Sen
28.
List of countries by Human Development Index
–
This is a list of all the countries by the Human Development Index as included in a United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Report. The latest report was released on 21 March 2017 and compiled on the basis of estimates for 2015, in the 2010 Human Development Report a further Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index was introduced. While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that the IHDI is the level of human development. The Human Development Index is a statistic of life expectancy, education. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the period is longer. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, the average HDI of regions of the World and groups of countries are also included for comparison. Countries fall into four broad human development categories, Very High Human Development, High Human Development, Medium Human Development, because of the new methodology adopted since the 2010 Human Development Report, the new reported HDI figures appear lower than the HDI figures in previous reports. From 2007 to 2010, the first category was referred to as developed countries, the original high human development category has been split into two as above in the report for 2007. The country with the largest decrease in HDI since 1998 is Zimbabwe, the country with the largest decrease since 2009 is Cape Verde, which decreased by 0.170. The only year without a Human Development Report since 1990 was 2012, the latest report was launched on 21 March 2017
List of countries by Human Development Index
–
0.900 and over
29.
Guinean franc
–
The Guinean franc is the currency of Guinea. The first Guinean franc was introduced in 1959 to replace the CFA franc, there were 1,5,10 and 25 francs coins with banknotes in 50,100,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 francs denominations. A second series of banknotes dated 1er MARS1960 was issued on 1 March 1963 and this series was printed without imprint by Thomas De La Rue, and includes more colors, enhanced embossing, and improved security features. A new issue of coins in 1962 was made of cupronickel, in 1971, the franc was replaced by syli at a rate of 1 syli =10 francs. The Guinean franc was reintroduced as Guineas currency in 1985, at par with the syli, the coins came in denominations of 1,5 and 10 francs made of brass clad steel, with brass 25 francs and cupronickel 50 francs added later. Banknotes were first issued in denominations of 25,50,100,500,1000 and 5000 francs. Guinean notes of series are unique from those of other countries in that the date of issue features very prominently as part of the overall design on the lower left hand corner of each note. A second series issued in 1998 dropped the 25 and 50 francs banknotes, another change for this issue was the size of the 500 francs was reduced. On 11 June 2007, a 10,000 franc was issued, on July 9,2012, the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea issued a new 10,000 francs banknote which is similar to the original issue, but it has been revised. On May 11,2015, the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea issued a 20,000 franc banknote, currently, the smallest denomination in circulation is the 500 francs note due to diminished purchasing power. Economy of Guinea Historical, CFA franc Guinean syli Banque Populaire Marocaine Guineenne
Guinean franc
–
5000 franc of the current series
Guinean franc
–
A stack of 5,000 GNF notes compared to 1 USD, 2005
30.
ISO 4217
–
The ISO4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. ISO4217 codes are used on tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself, so Japans currency code is JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the dollar, franc, peso and pound being used in dozens of different countries. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency codes last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. Other changes can be seen, however, the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB and these currency units are denominated as one troy ounce of the specified metal as opposed to USD1 or EUR1. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing, the code XXX is used to denote a transaction involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, the codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU, the use of an initial letter X for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. Because of this rule ISO4217 can use X codes without risk of clashing with a country code. ISO3166 country codes beginning with X are used for private custom use, consequently, ISO4217 can use X codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes. The inclusion of EU in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list, the ISO4217 standard includes a crude mechanism for expressing the relationship between a major currency unit and its corresponding minor currency unit. This mechanism is called the exponent and assumes a base of 10. For example, USD is equal to 100 of its currency unit the cent. So the USD has exponent 2, the code JPY is given the exponent 0, because its minor unit, the sen, although nominally valued at 1/100 of a yen, is of such negligible value that it is no longer used. Usually, as with the USD, the currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but in some cases 1/1000 is used. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya equal to 5 khoums, some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all and these are given an exponent of 0, as with currencies whose minor units are unused due to negligible value. There is also a code number assigned to each currency
ISO 4217
–
An
airline ticket showing the price in the ISO 4217 code "
EUR " (bottom left) and not the
currency sign €
ISO 4217
–
A list of exchange rates for various base currencies given by a
money changer in Thailand, with the Thailand Baht as the counter (or quote) currency.
31.
Greenwich Mean Time
–
Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. GMT was formerly used as the civil time standard, now superseded in that function by Coordinated Universal Time. Today GMT is considered equivalent to UTC for UK civil purposes and for navigation is considered equivalent to UT1, consequently, the term GMT should not be used for precise purposes. Due to Earths uneven speed in its orbit and its axial tilt, noon GMT is rarely the exact moment the sun crosses the Greenwich meridian. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, noon GMT is the annual average moment of this event, which accounts for the word mean in Greenwich Mean Time. Originally, astronomers considered a GMT day to start at noon while for almost everyone else it started at midnight, to avoid confusion, the name Universal Time was introduced to denote GMT as counted from midnight. Astronomers preferred the old convention to simplify their observational data, so each night was logged under a single calendar date. Today Universal Time usually refers to UTC or UT1, in some countries Greenwich Mean Time is the legal time in the winter and the population uses the term. For an explanation of why this is, see GMT in legislation below, synchronisation of the chronometer on GMT did not affect shipboard time, which was still solar time. Most time zones were based upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours ahead of GMT or behind GMT and it was gradually adopted for other purposes, but a legal case in 1858 held local mean time to be the official time. On 14 May 1880, a signed by Clerk to Justices appeared in The Times, stating that Greenwich time is now kept almost throughout England. For example, our polling booths were opened, say, at 813 and closed at 413 PM. This was changed later in 1880, GMT was adopted on the Isle of Man in 1883, Jersey in 1898 and Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time, hourly time signals from Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast on 5 February 1924, rendering the time ball at the observatory redundant in the process. The daily rotation of the Earth is irregular and constantly slows, on 1 January 1972, GMT was superseded as the international civil time standard by Coordinated Universal Time, maintained by an ensemble of atomic clocks around the world. Indeed, even the Greenwich meridian itself is not quite what it used to be—defined by the centre of the instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich. Nevertheless, the line in the old observatorys courtyard today differs no more than a few metres from that line which is now the prime meridian of the world. Historically GMT has been used two different conventions for numbering hours. The long-standing astronomical convention dating from the work of Ptolemy, was to refer to noon as zero hours and this contrasted with the civil convention of referring to midnight as zero hours dating from the Romans
Greenwich Mean Time
–
Greenwich clock with standard measurements
Greenwich Mean Time
–
light blue
Greenwich Mean Time
–
This arch that stretches over a
highway indicates the
prime meridian in
Spain.
32.
Coordinated Universal Time
–
Coordinated Universal Time, abbreviated to UTC, is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about 1 second of mean time at 0° longitude. It is one of closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. For most purposes, UTC is considered interchangeable with GMT, the first Coordinated Universal Time was informally adopted on 1 January 1960. This change also adopted leap seconds to simplify future adjustments, a number of proposals have been made to replace UTC with a new system that would eliminate leap seconds, but no consensus has yet been reached. Leap seconds are inserted as necessary to keep UTC within 0.9 seconds of universal time, see the Current number of leap seconds section for the number of leap seconds inserted to date. The official abbreviation for Coordinated Universal Time is UTC and this abbreviation arose from a desire by the International Telecommunication Union and the International Astronomical Union to use the same abbreviation in all languages. English speakers originally proposed CUT, while French speakers proposed TUC, the compromise that emerged was UTC, which conforms to the pattern for the abbreviations of the variants of Universal Time. Time zones around the world are expressed using positive or negative offsets from UTC, the westernmost time zone uses UTC−12, being twelve hours behind UTC, the easternmost time zone, theoretically, uses UTC+12, being twelve hours ahead of UTC. In 1995, the nation of Kiribati moved those of its atolls in the Line Islands from UTC-10 to UTC+14 so that the country would all be on the same day. UTC is used in internet and World Wide Web standards. The Network Time Protocol, designed to synchronise the clocks of computers over the internet, computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC as it is more specific than GMT. If only limited precision is needed, clients can obtain the current UTC from a number of official internet UTC servers, for sub-microsecond precision, clients can obtain the time from satellite signals. UTC is also the standard used in aviation, e. g. for flight plans. Weather forecasts and maps all use UTC to avoid confusion about time zones, the International Space Station also uses UTC as a time standard. Amateur radio operators often schedule their radio contacts in UTC, because transmissions on some frequencies can be picked up by many time zones, UTC is also used in digital tachographs used on large goods vehicles under EU and AETR rules. UTC divides time into days, hours, minutes and seconds, days are conventionally identified using the Gregorian calendar, but Julian day numbers can also be used. Each day contains 24 hours and each hour contains 60 minutes, the number of seconds in a minute is usually 60, but with an occasional leap second, it may be 61 or 59 instead
Coordinated Universal Time
–
Key concepts
Coordinated Universal Time
–
World map of current time zones
33.
Right- and left-hand traffic
–
This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road. About two-thirds of the population use RHT, with the remaining 76 countries and territories using LHT. Countries that use LHT account for about a sixth of the worlds area, in the early 1900s some countries including Canada, Spain, and Brazil had different rules in different parts of the country. During the 1900s many countries standardised within their jurisdictions, and changed from LHT to RHT, in 1919,104 of the worlds territories were LHT and an equal number were RHT. From 1919 to 1986,34 of the LHT territories switched to RHT, many of the countries with LHT are former British colonies in the Caribbean, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Mozambique, Suriname, East Timor, in Europe, only four countries still drive on the left, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus, all of which are islands. Nearly all countries use one side or the other throughout their entire territory, most exceptions are due to historical considerations and involve islands with no road connection to the main part of a country. China is RHT except the Special Administrative Regions of China of Hong Kong, the United States is RHT except the United States Virgin Islands. The United Kingdom is LHT, but its overseas territories of Gibraltar, according to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, water traffic is RHT. For aircraft the US Federal Aviation Regulations provide for passing on the right, light rail vehicles generally operate on the same side as other road traffic in the country. Many countries use RHT for automobiles but LHT for trains, often because of the influence of the British on early railway systems, in some countries rail traffic remained LHT after automobile traffic switched to RHT, for example in China, Brazil, and Argentina. However, France, Belgium, and Switzerland have used RHT for automobiles since their introduction, there is no technical reason to prefer one side over the other. Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Roman troops kept to the left when marching, in 1998, archaeologists found a well-preserved double track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon. The first reference in English law to an order for LHT was in 1756, northcote Parkinson, believed that ancient travellers on horseback or on foot generally kept to the left, since most people were right handed. If two men riding on horseback were to start a fight, each would edge toward the left, in the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII directed pilgrims to keep left. In the late 1700s, traffic in the United States was RHT based on use of large freight wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. The wagons had no seat, so a postilion sat on the left rear horse. Seated on the left, the driver preferred that other wagons pass him on the left so that he could be sure to keep clear of the wheels of oncoming wagons, in France, traditionally foot traffic had kept right, while carriage traffic kept left
Right- and left-hand traffic
–
A sign on
Australia 's
Great Ocean Road reminding foreign motorists to keep left. Such signs are placed at the exit of parking areas associated with scenic views, where other road traffic may at times be sparse.
Right- and left-hand traffic
–
Right-hand traffic
Right- and left-hand traffic
–
One of many road signs in the British county of
Kent placed on the right-hand side of the road.
Right- and left-hand traffic
–
The change of traffic directions at the Laos–Thai border takes place on Lao territory just off the
Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge.
34.
French Guinea
–
French Guinea was a French colonial possession in West Africa. Its borders, while changed over time, were in 1958 those of the independent nation of Guinea, French Guinea was established in 1891, taking the same borders as the previous colony of Rivières du Sud. Prior to 1882, the portions of French Guinea were part of the French colony of Senegal. In 1891, Rivières du Sud was placed under the lieutenant governor at Dakar. In 1894 Rivières du Sud, Cote dIvoire and Dahomey were separated into independent colonies, in 1895, French Guinea was made a dependent colony, and its Governor then became a Lieutenant Governor to a Governor-General in Dakar. In 1904, this was formalised into French West Africa, French Guinea, along with Senegal, Dahomey, Cote dIvoire and Upper Senegal and Niger each were ruled by a lieutenant governor, under the Governor General in Dakar. Guinea was ruled by France until 1958 and it became independent from France in 1958 following the rejection of Charles de Gaulles Constitution of 1958. At the time French Guinea was the colony to refuse the new constitution. French Guinea became the modern day country of Guinea keeping French as its official language, Guinea History of Guinea French West Africa List of French possessions and colonies Timeline of Conakry Jean Suret-Canale. French Colonialism in Tropical Africa 1900–1945, Guinea in the Colonial System, in Essays on African History
French Guinea
–
Flag
35.
Guinea (region)
–
Guinea is a traditional name for the region of the West coast of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It is a naturally moist tropical forest or savanna that stretches along the coast, the etymology of Guinea is uncertain. The term Guinea is extensively used in the 1453 chronicle of Gomes Eanes de Zurara, king John II of Portugal took up the title of Senhor da Guiné from 1483. It is believed the Portuguese borrowed Guineus from the Berber term Ghinawen meaning the burnt people, the Berber terms aginaw and Akal n-Iguinawen mean black and land of the blacks, respectively. A competing theory, first forwarded by Leo Africanus in 1526, claims that Guinea is derived from Djenné, Djenné dominated the gold and salt trade across West Africa, from the 11th century until the 13th century. It is during the period of Djenné dominance that the term Genewah really comes forward into usage in Arab sources, other theories try to connect Guinea to Ghana, but this is less certain. The Ghana Empire is named after the Medieval trading city of Ghanah mentioned already by 11th-century Arab geographers, conversely, it remains possible that both Ghana and Djenné themselves owe their original city names to the Berber appellation for the blacks that lived there. A possible reconciliation of the theories is that the Berber Ghinawen was the source of the Djenné, which in turn gave rise to the Arabic Genewah, historically, the Guinea region was one of the first parts of sub-Saharan Africa to trade with Europeans. In 1478, a Castilian armada of 35 caravels and a Portuguese fleet fought the battle of Guinea in the waters off Elmina, for the hegemony of the Guinea trade. The war ended both with a Portuguese naval victory and the recognition by the Catholic Monarchs of the Portuguese sovereignty over most of the African territories in dispute. This was the first colonial war among European powers, after the Portuguese and Castilians, came the Dutch, French and British. The extensive trade in ivory, gold, and slaves made the region wealthy and these were much smaller than the large states of the wide-open Sahel, but they had far higher population densities and were more centralized politically. The cohesion of these caused the region to show more resistance to European incursions than other areas of Africa. Such resistance, combined with an environment hostile to Europeans. Guinea is often subdivided into Lower Guinea and Upper Guinea, Lower Guinea is one of the most densely populated regions of Africa, covering southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo and stretching into Ghana. It includes the regions as well as the interior. Upper Guinea is far less populated and stretches from Côte dIvoire to Senegal. Within the Republic of Guinea, Lower Guinea refers to the coastal plain
Guinea (region)
–
"
Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements",
Herman Moll, 1727.
36.
Guinea-Bissau
–
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa. It covers 36,125 square kilometres with a population of 1,704,000. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire, parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonized as Portuguese Guinea, upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the countrys name to prevent confusion with Guinea. Guinea-Bissau has a history of instability since independence, and no elected president has successfully served a full five-year term. Only 14% of the population speaks Portuguese, established as the language in the colonial period. Almost half the population speaks Crioulo, a Portuguese-based creole language, the main religions are African traditional religions and Islam, there is a Christian minority. The countrys per-capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world, Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, part of the Mali Empire, parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century. Other parts of the territory in the current country were considered by the Portuguese as part of their empire, Portuguese Guinea was known as the Slave Coast, as it was a major area for the exportation of African slaves by Europeans to the western hemisphere. Early reports of Europeans reaching this area include those of the Venetian Alvise Cadamostos voyage of 1455, the 1479–1480 voyage by Flemish-French trader Eustache de la Fosse, and Diogo Cão. In the 1480s this Portuguese explorer reached the Congo River and the lands of Bakongo, setting up the foundations of modern Angola, some 4200 km down the African coast from Guinea-Bissau. The local African rulers in Guinea, some of whom prospered greatly from the trade, controlled the inland trade. They kept them in the coastal settlements where the trading took place. African communities that fought back against slave traders also distrusted European adventurers, the Portuguese in Guinea were largely restricted to the port of Bissau and Cacheu. A small number of European settlers established isolated farms along Bissaus inland rivers, for a brief period in the 1790s, the British tried to establish a rival foothold on an offshore island, at Bolama. But by the 19th century the Portuguese were sufficiently secure in Bissau to regard the neighbouring coastline as their own special territory, cuba also agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors, and technicians. The PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against aerial attack, by 1973, the PAIGC was in control of many parts of Guinea, although the movement suffered a setback in January 1973 when Cabral was assassinated. Independence was unilaterally declared on 24 September 1973, recognition became universal following 25 April 1974 socialist-inspired military coup in Portugal, which overthrew Lisbons Estado Novo regime
Guinea-Bissau
–
PAIGC forces raise the
flag of Guinea-Bissau in 1974.
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
–
An abandoned tank from the
1998–1999 civil war in the capital Bissau, 2003.
Guinea-Bissau
–
The
National People's Assembly of Guinea-Bissau.
37.
Equatorial Guinea
–
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country located in Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres. Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name evokes its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language. As of 2015, the country has an population of over 1.2 million. Equatorial Guinea consists of two parts, an insular and a mainland region, the insular region consists of the islands of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón, a small volcanic island south of the equator. Bioko Island is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea and is the site of the countrys capital, the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. The mainland region, Río Muni, is bordered by Cameroon on the north and Gabon on the south and it is the location of Bata, Equatorial Guineas largest city, and Oyala, the countrys planned future capital. Rio Muni also includes several small islands, such as Corisco, Elobey Grande. The country is a member of the African Union, Francophonie, since the mid-1990s, Equatorial Guinea has become one of sub-Saharan Africas largest oil producers. The country ranks 144th on the UNs 2014 Human Development Index, the UN says that less than half of the population has access to clean drinking water and that 20% of children die before reaching the age of five. Reporters Without Borders ranks President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo among its predators of press freedom, the report rates Equatorial Guinea as a Tier 3 country, the lowest ranking, Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. Pygmies probably once lived in the region that is now Equatorial Guinea. Bantu migrations between the 18th and 19th centuries brought the coastal ethno-linguistic groups as well as the Fang people, elements of the latter may have generated the Bubi, who migrated from Cameroon to Río Muni and Bioko in several waves and succeeded former Neolithic populations. The Annobón population, originally native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé island, the Portuguese explorer Fernando Pó, seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to discover the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa, but it took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474, Spain thereby tried to gain access to a source of slaves controlled by British merchants. Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to combat the slave trade, in 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, the area became known as the Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea. Spain had neglected to occupy the area in the Bight of Biafra to which it had right by treaty
Equatorial Guinea
–
Corisco, 1910
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
–
Obiang and US President
Obama with their wives in 2009
Equatorial Guinea
–
A proportional representation of Equatorial Guinea's exports.
38.
Republic
–
It is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology, composition, in the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as humanism, is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect, Republics became more common in the Western world starting in the late 18th century, eventually displacing absolute monarchy as the most common form of government in Europe. In modern republics, the executive is legitimized both by a constitution and by popular suffrage, for instance, Article IV of the United States Constitution guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. The term originates as the Latin translation of Greek word politeia, cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic. The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime, and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. And also amongst classical Latin, the term republic can be used in a way to refer to any regime. In medieval Northern Italy, a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments, in the late Middle Ages, writers, such as Giovanni Villani, began writing about the nature of these states and the differences from other types of regime. They used terms such as libertas populi, a free people, the terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states writers, most importantly Leonardo Bruni, adopted the Latin phrase res publica. While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term can quite literally be translated as public matter. It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, in subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica, and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica. Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, likewise, in Polish, the term was translated as rzeczpospolita, although the translation is now only used with respect to Poland. Presently, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the rather than from another basis. After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many cities developed again. The modern type of itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the era that are today still called republics
Republic
–
Vaishali was the
capital of the
Vajjian Confederacy, an early republic.
Republic
–
A map of the
Roman Republic
Republic
–
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of
Venice.
Republic
–
Beginning of the Republic of
Metz. Election of the first Head-Alderman in 1289, by Auguste Migette.
Metz was then a
free imperial city of the
Holy Roman Emperor.
39.
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
40.
Head of government
–
The term head of government is often differentiated from the term head of state, as they may be separate positions, individuals, and/or roles depending on the country. In parliamentary systems, including constitutional monarchies, the head of government is the de facto leader of the government. For example, in the United Kingdom, the prime minister advises the Queen on the appointment of the cabinet, advice she is required to accept. On the other hand, the Queens long service as the head of state enables her to provide the prime minister with information and insight into many matters to better run the government. However, because the United Kingdom is a monarchy, the Prime Minister uses his or her own discretion regarding whether or not to follow the Queens advice. The Queen also is entitled to appoint a new Prime Minister, in presidential republics or in absolute monarchies, the head of state is also usually the head of government. The relationship between that leader and the government, however, can vary greatly, ranging from separation of powers to autocracy, in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each countrys constitution. A modern example is the present French government, which originated as the French Fifth Republic in 1958, in France, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. In some cases, the head of state may represent one political party, in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the presidents influence is largely restricted to foreign affairs. In directorial systems, the executive responsibilities of the head of government are spread among a group of people, a prominent example is the Swiss Federal Council, where each member of the council heads a department and also votes on proposals relating to all departments. A common title for many heads of government is prime minister, various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various multiple meanings, depending on the constitutional order and political system of the state in question. In addition to prime minister, titles used for the democratic model, some of these titles relate to governments below the national level. Have been used by various Empires, Kingdoms and Princely States of India as a title for the Prime Minister, maltese, In Malta, the head of government is Prim Ministru. In this case, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of the monarch, some such titles are diwan, mahamantri, pradhan, wasir or vizier. However, just because the head of state is the de jure dominant position does not mean that he/she will not always be the de facto political leader, in some cases, the head of state is a figurehead whilst the head of the government leads the ruling party. In some cases a head of government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion, the ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government. Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget, all of these requirements directly impact the Head of governments role. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament, heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by Resignation, following, Defeat in a general election
Head of government
–
The heads of government of five members of the
Commonwealth of Nations at the 1944
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference. From left to right,
Mackenzie King (
Canada),
Jan Smuts (
South Africa),
Winston Churchill (
United Kingdom),
Peter Fraser (
New Zealand), and
John Curtin (
Australia).
41.
Legislative body
–
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
Legislative body
–
The
Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's national legislature, meets in the
Legislative Palace in 2010.
42.
Gulf of Guinea
–
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf, among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea are the Niger and the Volta. The coastline on the gulf includes the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny, the Niger River in particular deposited organic sediments out to sea over millions of years which became crude oil. The origin of the name Guinea is thought to be an area in the region, bovill gives a thorough description, The name Guinea is usually said to have been a corrupt form of the name Ghana, picked up by the Portuguese in the Maghrib. The present writer finds this unacceptable, the name Guinea has been in use both in the Maghrib and in Europe long before Prince Henrys time. A passage in Leo points to Guinea having been a form of Jenne, less famous than Ghana but nevertheless for many centuries famed in the Maghrib as a great market. The relevant passage reads, The Kingdom of Ghinea. called by the merchants of our nation Gheneoa, by the inhabitants thereof Genni and by the Portugals. But it seems probable that Guinea derives from aguinaou, the Berber for Negro. Marrakech has a gate, built in the century, called the Bab Aguinaou. The modern application of the name Guinea to the coast dates only from 1481, the name Guinea is still attached to the names of three countries in Africa, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea, as well as New Guinea in Melanesia. The main river shedding its waters in the gulf is the Niger River, the Gulf of Guinea contains a number of islands, the largest of which are in a southwest-northeast chain, forming part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes. Annobón, also known as Pagalu or Pigalu, is an island that is part of Equatorial Guinea, bobowasi Island is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Western region Ghana. Bioko is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Equatorial Guinea, corisco is an island belonging to Equatorial Guinea. Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico are two small islands belonging to Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea that became independent from Portugal in 1975. It is located off the western equatorial coast of Africa and consists of two islands, São Tomé and Príncipe and they are located about 140 kilometres apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres, respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon. Both islands are part of a volcanic mountain range. São Tomé, the southern island, is situated just north of the Equator. Media related to Gulf of Guinea at Wikimedia Commons The Gulf of Guinea Commission - CGG - GGC
Gulf of Guinea
–
Map of the Gulf of Guinea, showing the chain of islands formed by the
Cameroon line of volcanoes.
Gulf of Guinea
–
Satellite imagery of Gulf of Guinea states.
43.
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
–
The biome includes several types of forests, Lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests, commonly known as tropical rainforests, are forests which receive high rainfall throughout the year. These forests occur in a belt around the equator, with the largest areas in the Amazon basin of South America, the Congo basin of central Africa, some trees in these forests drop some or all of their leaves during the winter dry season. These forests are found in parts of South America, in Central America and around the Caribbean, in coastal West Africa, parts of the Indian subcontinent, montane rain forests, are found in cooler-climate mountainous areas. Those with elevations high enough to regularly encounter low-level cloud cover are known as cloud forests, flooded forests, including freshwater swamp forests and peat swamp forests. In contrast to TSMF, tropical forest regions with lower levels of rainfall are home to tropical dry broadleaf forests, temperate rain forests also occur in certain humid temperate coastal regions. Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earths land surface, scientists estimate that more than half of all the worlds plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
–
Rainforest lining a river bank, Cameroon
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
–
Tropical and subtropical moist forests (TSMF) as shown within the
Holdridge Life Zones classification scheme, and includes moist forests, wet forests, and rainforests.
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
–
Seasonal forest in
Doi Inthanon National Park,
Northern Thailand, at the end of the dry season.
44.
Sahel
–
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, the Arabic word sāḥil literally means shore, coast, while the word Sahara is derived from the Arabic word for desert. Together, these names evoke an image of the Sahels vegetation as a coastline on the Saharas ocean of sand, historically, the western part of the Sahel was sometimes known as the Sudan region. This belt was roughly located between the Sahara and the areas of West Africa. It is an ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes. The topography of the Sahel is mainly flat, most of the region lies between 200 and 400 meters in elevation, several isolated plateaus and mountain ranges rise from the Sahel, but are designated as separate ecoregions because their flora and fauna are distinct from the surrounding lowlands. Annual rainfall varies from around 100–200 mm in the north of the Sahel to around 600 mm in the south, the Sahel is mostly covered in grassland and savanna, with areas of woodland and shrubland. Grass cover is continuous across the region, dominated by annual grass species such as Cenchrus biflorus, Schoenefeldia gracilis. Species of acacia are the dominant trees, with Acacia tortilis the most common, along with Acacia senegal, other tree species include Commiphora africana, Balanites aegyptiaca, Faidherbia albida, and Boscia senegalensis. In the northern part of the Sahel, areas of shrub, including Panicum turgidum and Aristida sieberana, alternate with areas of grassland. During the long dry season, many lose their leaves. The larger species have greatly reduced in number by over-hunting and competition with livestock. The seasonal wetlands of the Sahel are important for birds moving within Africa. The Sahel has a tropical, hot steppe climate, the climate is typically hot, sunny, dry and somewhat windy all year long. The Sahels climate is similar to, but less extreme than, the Sahel mainly receives a low to a very low amount of precipitation annually. The steppe has a long, prevailing dry season and a short rainy season. The precipitation is extremely irregular, and varies considerably from season to season. Most of the rain falls during only one or two months, while the other months may remain absolutely dry
Sahel
–
The lush green of the rainy season Sahelian forest, along the
Bamako -
Kayes Road in
Mali. The trees in the foreground are acacia. Note the large
baobab tree.
Sahel
–
The Sahel region: a belt up to 1,000 km (620 mi) wide that spans the 5,400 km (3,360 mi) in Africa from the
Atlantic Ocean to the
Red Sea
Sahel
–
Sahel people with livestock and
azawakh dogs
45.
Portuguese language
–
Portuguese is a Romance language and the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, and has kept some Celtic phonology. Portuguese is also termed the language of Camões, after Luís Vaz de Camões, one of the greatest literary figures in the Portuguese language and author of the Portuguese epic poem, the museum is the first of its kind in the world. In 2015 the museum was destroyed in a fire, but there are plans to reconstruct it, when the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 216 BCE, they brought the Latin language with them, from which all Romance languages descend. Between 409 CE and 711 CE, as the Roman Empire collapsed in Western Europe, Portuguese evolved from the medieval language, known today by linguists as Galician-Portuguese, Old Portuguese or Old Galician, of the northwestern medieval Kingdom of Galicia. It is in Latin administrative documents of the 9th century that written Galician-Portuguese words and this phase is known as Proto-Portuguese, which lasted from the 9th century until the 12th-century independence of the County of Portugal from the Kingdom of León, by then reigning over Galicia. In the first part of the Galician-Portuguese period, the language was used for documents. For some time, it was the language of preference for poetry in Christian Hispania. Portugal became an independent kingdom in 1139, under King Afonso I of Portugal, in the second period of Old Portuguese, in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the Portuguese discoveries, the language was taken to many regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas. The language continued to be popular in parts of Asia until the 19th century, some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal. The end of the Old Portuguese period was marked by the publication of the Cancioneiro Geral by Garcia de Resende, Most literate Portuguese speakers were also literate in Latin, and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing—and eventually speech—in Portuguese. Portuguese is the language of the majority of people in Brazil and Portugal, perhaps 75% of the population of Angola speaks Portuguese natively, and 85% are fluent. Just over 40% of the population of Mozambique are native speakers of Portuguese, Portuguese is also spoken natively by 30% of the population in Guinea-Bissau, and a Portuguese-based creole is understood by all. No data is available for Cape Verde, but almost all the population is bilingual, there are also significant Portuguese speaking immigrant communities in many countries including Andorra, Bermuda, Canada, France, Japan, Jersey, Namibia, Paraguay, Macau, Switzerland, Venezuela. In some parts of former Portuguese India, namely Goa and Daman and Diu, in 2014, an estimated 1,500 students were learning Portuguese in Goa. Equatorial Guinea made an application for full membership to the CPLP in June 2010. In 2011, Portuguese became its official language and, in July 2014. Portuguese is a subject in The school curriculum in Uruguay
Portuguese language
–
Multilingual sign in Japanese, Portuguese, and English in
Oizumi,
Japan. Return immigration of
Japanese Brazilians has led to a large Portuguese-speaking community in the town.
Portuguese language
–
Percentage of worldwide Portuguese speakers per country.
Portuguese language
–
Library of the
Mafra National Palace, Portugal
Portuguese language
–
Baroque Library of the
Coimbra University, Portugal
46.
Senegal River
–
The Senegal River is a 1,086 km long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania. The Senegals headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which originate in Guinea, they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through Talari Gorges near Galougo and over the Gouina Falls, then more gently past Kayes. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania, in Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through Bogué it reaches Richard Toll where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegals Lac de Guiers and it passes through Rosso and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself. In between Manantali and Maka-Diama is the Félou Hydroelectric Plant which was completed in 1927 and uses a weir. The power station was replaced in 2014, in 2013, construction of the Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at Gouina Falls began. The Senegal River has a basin of 270,000 km2, a mean flow of 680 m3/s. Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River, downstream of Kaédi the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the river to the north. After 200 km the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of Pondor, the long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morfil. In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal to manage the river basin, at the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m in width between the town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of 905 km. It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean, although the species richness is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion. The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations and it was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema in the Gulf of Guinea. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage, in the Early Middle Ages, the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the Trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco and the Ghana Empire
Senegal River
–
Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Senegal River
–
Western Nile (Senegal-Niger River) according to
al-Bakri (1068)
Senegal River
–
Western Nile (Senegal-Niger River) according to
Muhammad al-Idrisi (1154)
Senegal River
–
Course of the "River of Gold" (Senegal-Niger) in the 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes.
47.
Tawny (color)
–
Tawny is a light brown to brownish-orange color. Other than CD5700, there are other hex numbers that are used for this color, dictionary of Color lists tawny as AE6938 or A67B5B, and tawny birch as A87C6D, A67B5B or 958070. It also lists lion tawny as C19A6B or 826644, Orange tawny is listed as CB6D51. Resene RGB Values List includes Resene Tawny Port as 105,37,69, while tan is defined since HTML4 and elsewhere, the color names tawny, tenné and fulvous do not appear in the standard web colors used by HTML, CSS, and SVG. Most standard X11 color name files also do not have these names, however, many color lists include Tenné as #CD5700. The proprietary Pantone TC color system includes Tawny Olive, Tawny Birch, Tawny Brown, Tawny Orange and it also has several shades of tan, Apricot Tan, Copper Tan, Rose Tan, Tan, Pastel Rose Tan, and Indian Tan. The color burnt orange, having the hex number CC5500, is considered to be a close approximation to tawny. The color tan may also be considered synonymous with tawny, or a different shade, Fulvous, meaning tawny-colored, may also be considered synonymous or its own shade. Related colors Synonyms Colors listed as synonyms by HP Labs Online Color Thesaurus, variations Fulvous Tan Tenné, the color used in heraldry Lion Camel Fallow List of colors
Tawny (color)
–
The
tawny owl (Strix aluco) gives an example of tawny used as an adjective in a name.
Latin scientific names may use the adjective fulvus (or variations), meaning tawny or fulvous. An example is Cinnycerthia fulva, the binomial name of the
fulvous wren.
48.
Moors
–
Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people, and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that The term Moors has no real ethnological value. Medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, Berber North Africans and Muslim Europeans. The term has also used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general, especially those of Arab or Berber descent. During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names Ceylon Moors and Indian Moors in Sri Lanka, in 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al-Andalus, in 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port. They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy, in 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300. The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, the Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as Moors in English and in related variations in other European languages. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, in medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin word for the Moors developed different applications and connotations. During the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors included the suggestion of infidels. Apart from these associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, in Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans in particular, however, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao, the word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a name for wine, especially that which has not been baptized or mixed with water. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, Moro refers to all things dark, as in Moor, moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname, for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion, in Portugal, mouro may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where moor implies alien and non-Christian
Moors
–
Depiction of Moors in
Iberia. Taken from the
Tale of Bayad and Riyad
Moors
–
Depiction of three Moorish knights found on
Alhambra 's Ladies Tower
Moors
–
Castillian ambassadors attempting to convince Moorish Almohad king
Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada to join their alliance (contemporary depiction from The Cantigas de Santa María)
Moors
–
Reconstruction of costumes of Moorish
nobility from a German book published in 1880
_-_GIN_-_UNOCHA.svg)
0.414[4]
listen)), officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a country on the western coast of Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (French: Guinée française), the modern country is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry in order to distinguish it from other parts of the wider region of the same name, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea.[5][6][7][8] Guinea has a population of 12.4 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres (94,927 sq mi).[1]
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the 
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