1.
Horse
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The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, colors, depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses. Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
2.
Sulky
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A sulky is a lightweight cart having two wheels and a seat for the driver only but usually without a body, generally pulled by horses or dogs, and is used for harness races. A sulky for horses is a lightweight two-wheeled, single-seat cart that is used as a form of transport in many parts of the world. A special development of this is now used in most forms of racing in Argentina, Australia, Canada. In 1990 the asymmetric sulky was introduced into North America, winning seven of its first nine starts at Freehold, today the great majority of sulky manufacturers in North America are producing asymmetric sulkies. An additional sulky type is the team-to-pole or pairs sulky, a single seat sulky designed for draft by two horses abreast. These may also be split into two types, Traditional pole and yoke with draft by traces, dorsal hitch with draft direct from the saddle to the yoke and, via the pole, to the sulky. Of the two, the dorsal hitch pairs sulky is the most recent, holding all current world speed records over the mile to July 31,2005. There are two types of sulkies used in harness racing, jog Carts, used only for training, are bigger and bulkier than a racing cart. These may sometimes be known as Roadcarts, the shafts may be wood, aluminum, steel or stainless steel. They have bigger seats which requires less athleticism to sit upon, the most modern styles provide full independent suspension by hydraulic dampers and progressive rate coil springs. These give both a smoother ride and higher speed than traditional types, race Bikes are the only style allowed to be used in races or qualifying heats. They are more compact and aerodynamic than a jog cart, have seats that reduce weight. Shafts may be of carbon fibre, aluminum, titanium, stainless steel or, less often, wood. Speed Carts have a design to race bikes in a single seat and stirrups for the driver. Some may have a form of suspension built into the seat. These are usually made of steel and are heavier than race bikes, when it rains, or the track has excessive moisture, trainers and drivers are required to put plastic mud flaps on the back of the wheels. All race bikes must comply with the relevant procedures and standards in order to be approved, in no way can a race bike have any component that will directly interfere with another horse or driver. Smaller sulkies are also used for dogs, both for racing and as transportation, the dog driving sulkies can be divided into two main types, Conventional two-shaft carts attaching to harness on either side of the dog or dogs
3.
Horse harness
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A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to be driven and to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other such as a plow or canal boat. There are two categories of horse harness, the breaststrap or breastcollar design, and the collar. For light work, such as horse show competition where light carts are used and it can only be used for lighter hauling, since it places the weight of the load on the sternum of the horse and the nearby windpipe. This is not the heaviest skeletal area, also heavy loads can constrict the windpipe, by contrast, the collar and hames harness places the weight of the load onto the horses shoulders, and without any restriction on the air supply. For heavy hauling, the harness must include a collar to allow the animal to use its full weight. Harness components designed for other animals are not suitable for horses, putting harness on a horse is called harnessing or harnessing up. Attaching the harness to the load is called putting to or hitching, the order of putting on harness components varies by discipline, but when a horse collar is used, it is usually put on first. Parts of the include, A collar to allow the horse to push against the harness with its shoulders. Two main alternative arrangements, A horse collar, a padded loop fitting closely around the horses neck, pointed at the top to fit the crest of the neck. Used for heavier pulling, especially when used without a swingletree or whippletree, a padded strap running around the chest from side to side. Used for light work, or for heavier work it is used together with a swingletree evenly on each step without rubbing. Two metal or wooden strips which take the force of the pull. A strap around the horses haunches allowing it to set back and slow a vehicle, used for a single horse, a pair, or in a larger team, only for the wheelers. The leaders in a team do not have breeching, as they are in front of the shafts or pole, breeching may also be omitted in fine harness, or when the cart is very light or has efficient brakes on the wheels. The straps or chains which take the pull from the breastcollar or hames to the load, a small supportive piece of the harness that lies on the horses back, not the same as a riding saddle. A strap that goes firmly around the girth of the horse to attach the harness saddle, a strap that goes more loosely under the belly of the horse, outside the girth. Prevents the shafts rising up, especially on a two-wheeled vehicle, a strap going through the harness saddle to join the belly band either side
4.
Horse racing
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Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys or driven over a set distance for competition. Horse races vary widely in format, often, countries have developed their own particular horse racing traditions. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, Horse racing has a long and distinguished history and has been practised in civilisations across the world since ancient times. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in Ancient Greece, Babylon, Syria and it also plays an important part of myth and legend, such as the contest between the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC and were important in the other Panhellenic Games. This was despite the fact that racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries, fifteen to 20 riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ran the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street, in about 2½ minutes. In later times, Thoroughbred racing became, and remains, popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, historically, equestrians honed their skills through games and races. Equestrian sports provided entertainment for crowds and honed the excellent horsemanship that was needed in battle, Horse racing of all types evolved from impromptu competitions between riders or drivers. The various forms of competition, requiring demanding and specialized skills from both horse and rider, resulted in the development of specialized breeds and equipment for each sport. The popularity of sports through the centuries has resulted in the preservation of skills that would otherwise have disappeared after horses stopped being used in combat. There are many different types of racing, including, Flat racing. Jump racing, or Jumps racing, also known as Steeplechasing or, in the UK and Ireland, National Hunt racing, Harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a sulky. Breeds that are used for flat racing include the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Paint, Jump racing breeds include the Thoroughbred and AQPS. In harness racing, Standardbreds are used in Australia, New Zealand and North America, light cold blood horses, such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian coldblood trotter are also used in harness racing within their respective geographical areas. There also are races for ponies, both flat and jump and harness racing, Flat racing is the most common form of racing seen worldwide. Track surfaces vary, with turf most common in Europe, dirt more common in North America and Asia, individual flat races are run over distances ranging from 440 yards up to two and a half miles, with distances between five and twelve furlongs being most common. Short races are referred to as sprints, while longer races are known as routes in the United States or staying races in Europe
5.
Trot
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The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a variation in possible speeds, but averages about 8 miles per hour. A very slow trot is sometimes referred to as a jog, an extremely fast trot has no special name, but in harness racing, the trot of a Standardbred is faster than the gallop of the average non-racehorse, and has been clocked at over 30 miles per hour. June 29,2014 at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania the Swedish standardbred Sebastian K ran a mile in 1 minute,49 seconds and this is equivalent to a 1000-pace in 1.07,7 or 53,14 kilometers per hour or 33 miles per hour. From the standpoint of the balance of the horse, the trot is a very stable gait and does not require the horse to make major balancing motions with its head and neck. Due to its many variations, the trot is a gait that the horse is worked in for dressage. Eadweard Muybridge was the first to prove, by photography, in 1872 that there is a moment of suspension or unsupported transit during the trot gait. Depending on the amount of engagement and collection of the horse and it is easy to ride because there is less bounce. The head of the horse is carried low while the hindquarters are engaged and underneath the horse, collected trot, A very engaged trot where most of the horses weight is carried toward the hindquarters. The frame is compressed and the length is shorter than any of the other trots with the horse taking higher steps. The horse is lighter and more mobile in the collected trot, slow trot or Road gait, Is slower than a working trot, but faster than a jog trot. This gait is one of the used in harness classes at horse shows. Working trot or Trot, The stride length is normal for the horse and is the trot of the horse when under saddle. It is a gait between the collected trot and medium trot, medium trot, A trot that is more engaged and rounder than the working trot with moderately extended strides and good, solid impulsion. The medium trot lies between the working and the extended trot, park trot, Sometimes simply called a Trot in a given class and seen in saddle seat and fine harness classes for Saddlebreds, Arabians and Morgans. It is a showy, flashy trot with extreme elevation of the knees, the head is held high and at times a horse may hollow its back and lose cadence in an attempt to achieve high action in front. The hindquarters must be engaged for it to be properly performed, lengthened trot, A trot with lengthened strides. It differs from the more advanced extended trot in that it not require the horse to bring its weight as far back on its hindquarters
6.
Horse gait
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Horse gaits are the various ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans. Special training is required before a horse will perform an ambling gait in respond to a riders command. Another system of classification that applies to quadrupeds uses three categories, walking and ambling gaits, running or trotting gaits, and leaping gaits. The British Horse Society Dressage Rules require competitors to perform four variations of the walk, six forms of the trot, five leaping gaits, halt, and rein back, the British Horse Society Equitation examinations also require proficiency in the gallop as distinct from the canter. The so-called natural gaits, in increasing order of speed, are the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Some consider these as three gaits, with the canter a variation of the gallop, even though the canter is distinguished by having three beats, whereas the gallop has four beats, all four gaits are seen in wild horse populations. While other intermediate speed gaits may occur naturally to some horses, in some animals the trot is replaced by the pace or an ambling gait. Horses who possess an ambling gait are usually able to trot. The walk is a gait that averages about 4 miles per hour. When walking, a horses legs follow this sequence, left leg, left front leg, right hind leg, right front leg. At the walk, the horse will alternate between having three or two feet on the ground, a horse moves its head and neck in a slight up and down motion that helps maintain balance. In detail, suppose the horse starts by lifting its left front leg and it then lifts its right hind leg. Next, the front foot touches the ground, then the horse lifts its right front leg. Then it lifts its rear leg, puts down the front right, lifts the left front, puts down the rear left. Ideally, the rear hoof oversteps the spot where the previously advancing front hoof touched the ground. The more the rear hoof oversteps, the smoother and more comfortable the walk becomes, individual horses and different breeds vary in the smoothness of their walk. However, a rider will almost always some degree of gentle side-to-side motion in the horses hips as each hind leg reaches forward. The fastest walks with a footfall pattern are actually the lateral forms of ambling gaits such as the running walk, singlefoot
7.
Standardbred
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The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the breed can trace its bloodlines to 18th-century England and they are solid, well-built horses with good dispositions. In the 17th century, the first trotting races were held in the Americas, however, by the mid-18th century, trotting races were held on official courses, with the horses in harness. Breeds that have contributed foundation stock to the Standardbred breed included the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Thoroughbred, Norfolk Trotter, Hackney, the foundation bloodlines of the Standardbred trace to a Thoroughbred foaled in England in 1780 named Messenger. He was a stallion imported to the United States in 1788. The horse went on to sire 1,331 offspring,40 of whom trotted a mile in under 2 minutes 30 seconds, another influential sire was the Thoroughbred Diomed, born in 1777. When the sport started to gain popularity, more selective breeding was done to produce the faster harness trotter, the Standardbred breed registry was formed in United States in 1879 by the National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. The name arose due to the standard required of breeding stock, every Standardbred had to be able to trot a mile in less than two minutes and 30 seconds. Today, many Standardbreds are faster than this original standard, with several pacing the mile within 1 min,50 sec, slightly different bloodlines are found in trotters than in pacers, though both can trace their heritage back to Hambletonian 10. Standardbreds tend to be more muscled and longer bodied than the Thoroughbred and they also are of more placid dispositions, as suits horses whose races involve more strategy and more changes of speed than do Thoroughbred races. Standardbreds are considered people-oriented, easy-to-train horses and they are generally a bit heavier in build than Thoroughbreds, but have refined, solid legs and powerful shoulders and hindquarters. Standardbreds have a range of heights, from 14 to 17 hands. They are most often bay, brown or black, although other colors such as chestnut are seen, gray and roan are also found. The Standardbred typically weighs between 800 and 1,000 pounds and their heads are refined and straight with broad foreheads, large nostrils, and shallow mouths. The typical Standardbred body is long, with the withers being well defined, with shoulders and the muscles being long and heavy. The neck of the Standardbred is muscular and should be slightly arched and their legs are muscular and solid, with generally very tough and durable hooves. Individual Standardbreds tend to trot or pace. Trotters preferred racing gait is the trot, where the legs move in diagonal pairs, when the right foreleg moves forward, so does the left hind leg
8.
French Trotter
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The French Trotter is a horse breed from Normandy, France, developed in the 19th century from Norman horses with the addition of some English Thoroughbred and Norfolk Trotter blood. The French Trotter is sometimes referred to as a Norman Trotter, eventually five impressive Trotting lines were established by the stallions Conquerant, Lavater, Normand, Phaeton, and Fuchsia. They also imported the incomparable Norfolk Roadster the greatest trotter under saddle, chief among the early imports was the half-bred Young Rattler, by the Thoroughbred Rattler, out of a mare with Norfolk Roadster connections. Thirty years after Young Rattler, Thoroughbreds such as the Heir of Linne, ultimately, five important bloodlines became established, Conquerant and Normand, both sons of Young Rattler, Lavater, a horse by a Norfolk sire, and the half-breds Phaeton and Fuchsia. Fuchsia, foaled in 1883, sired 400 trotters, and over 100 of his sons were sires of winners, in due course Standardbred blood was added to give the Trotter more speed while maintaining the characteristic trotting gait. In 1937, to protect the qualities of the breed, which can now beat world-class harness-racers, recently, however, it was partly opened to let in a few French/Standardbred crosses. There is no breed standard for the French Trotter and it stands from 1.55 to 1.75 metres at the withers and weighs 500 to 650 kg. It can be any solid color - usually chestnut, bay or brown, the Trotters are bred for functional, not aesthetic purposes and there is quite some variation of physical characteristics within the breed. However, in terms, they tend to have a slightly heavy and large head, which is plain. The neck is of good length, and is well set to shoulders which are becoming increasingly sloped. The withers are usually rounded, the back broad and strong. The legs are very well conformed, being strong and muscular with good joints, hard, dense bone, the French Trotter excels at both ridden and driven trotting races, and maintains a particularly balanced and level stride. Once its racing career is over it is used as a remount for the Hunts in France where substance. Its stamina, sure footing, excellent carrying abilities and even makes it the choice mount for stag, boar and roedeer hunting, although thoroughbreds. French Trotters can also make good show-jumpers and many champions have French Trotter blood, jappeloup, the Seoul individual olympic gold-medallist was got by a French Trotter stallion. Since the 70s an over-production of French Trotters has sent prices down, considering that 60% of a given production does not qualify for the races, many horses become available for amateur riders or riding centers. A reformed 3 year old trotter broken-in to harness and saddle may be today for less than 1200 €
9.
Orlov Trotter
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The Orlov Trotter is a horse breed with a hereditary fast trot, noted for its outstanding speed and stamina. It is the most famous Russian horse, the breed was developed in Russia in the late 18th century by Count Alexei Orlov at his Khrenovskoy Stud farm near the town of Bobrov. The Orlovs emerged as the result of crossing various European mares with Arabian stallions, during the 19th century, Orlov trotters were used mainly for riding and harness racing by Russian nobility. They were valued for their beauty and elegance combined with the ability to work hard and they were also used for the improvement of other Russian horses. Eventually Standardbred stallions were crossed with Orlov mares and a new breed, the possibility of the complete extinction of the Orlovs was a concern in the 20th century because of crossbreeding and the Soviet disregard of horse-raising. However, the breed survived, and today fifteen stud farms in Russia, the land that became Orlovs Khrenovsky stud farm was given to him by Catherine II as a reward for his participation in the coup detat which brought her to the throne. The buildings were constructed by Giovanni Giliardi, the original estate was very large, the modern Khrenovsky stud area is fifteen times smaller than it was prior to the Bolshevik revolution. The ancestor of all Orlov Trotters was the purebred grey Arabian stallion Smetanka, Orlov bought him in Turkey for the enormous sum of 60,000 rubles. Although he died the year, he lived to sire five offspring. Among others he was crossed with Isabelline, a Danish mare from the Frederiksborg royal stud-farm, Polkan was crossed with a Dutch mare which, in 1784, produced the grey stallion Bars I, considered the first Orlov trotter. For seventeen years Bars I was crossed with different mares and sired eleven stallions that carried his distinguishing characteristics, the emergence of the breed was the result of a thorough and elaborate selection process. About 3,000 horses kept at the stud were involved, Orlov was very protective of his bloodstock, and would sell only geldings. Even when Tsar Alexander I asked Orlov to sell him several stallions and this rule was maintained for twenty years after Orlovs death. Later, when the Khrenovsky stud farm belonged to the Russian Crown, in 1809, the Khrenovsky stud-farm was inherited by Orlovs daughter Anna. Until 1831 Orlovs disciple, the former serf Vasily Shishkin, continued to develop the breed, however, in 1831, he left the Khrenovsky stud-farm and founded his own. Orlovs daughter lacked her fathers competence in horse-breeding and the Khrenovsky stud-farm went downhill, Trotters were intensively crossed with various European breeds in order to increase their dimensions and their quality fell. In 1845, the stud-farm passed into the hands of the Crown and it was able to regain its fame only some decades later. In 1881, the Khrenovsky stud-farm stopped raising all breeds except for Orlov trotters, the best Orlov trotters were now raised in private stud-farms such as the Shishkins
10.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
11.
Scandinavian coldblood trotter
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A Coldblood Trotter may belong to either one of two closely related and interconnected breeds of horse, the Norsk Kaldblodstraver and the Svensk Kallblodstravare. The average height at the withers for stallions is 154 cm, bay in all its variations is the most common coat colour, followed by chestnut and black. The dun gene and cream gene are present in the genetic material, the Coldblood Trotter has a relatively small and square head with large nostrils. It is well suited for the conditions in Scandanivia, and it can develop large amounts of winter hair. Compared to the Standardbred it is smaller, heavier, and more compact in build and it is not as fast as the Standardbred. The Coldblood Trotter is mostly bred in Norway and Sweden, Coldblood Trotters are very rarely found outside the Nordic Countries. The coldblood trotter is bred for use in harness racing, the two types compete in shared heats that exclude entry of light trotter breeds or Finnhorses
12.
Finnhorse
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The Finnhorse or Finnish Horse is a horse breed with both riding horse and draught horse influences and characteristics, and is the only breed developed fully in Finland. In 2007, the breed was declared the national horse breed of Finland. The Finnhorse is claimed to be among the fastest and most versatile coldblood breeds in the world, the combined breed standard for all four sections defines the breed as a strong, versatile horse with pleasant disposition. The average height of the breed is 15.1 hands, and the most typical colour is chestnut, often with white markings, the exact origins of the early Finnish horse are currently not known. Because the Finnhorse breed and its progenitors were the horses in Finland for centuries. The documented history of the distinct breed begins at the turn of the 13th century, outside influences by many light and warmblood breeds were recorded beginning in the 16th century, making the breed larger and more usable. An official Finnhorse studbook was founded in 1907, producing purebred animals in significant numbers for many years, however, the breed managed to survive thanks to its popularity for harness racing and its versatility as a mount. The breed standard defines the Finnhorse as a horse of average height. The ideal Finnhorse is easy-to-handle, versatile, and combines strength, agility, speed, Finnhorses are lively, with both a reliable and alert temperament. The breed standard encourages a horse that is honest and sincere, eager to cooperate with humans, obedient and they are hardy with good endurance, robust health, and are generally long-lived. The breed standard describes the head of a Finnhorse as dry, Finnhorses are strongly muscled, with good bone, sturdy dry legs, and strong hooves. Finnhorses typically have thick manes and tails, and the legs have light feathering, the average height is 15.1 hands. Pony-sized Finnhorses—under 14.2 hands —exist as well, and are licensed for breeding in a section of the official stud book. Finnhorses have good gaits that are regular with elasticity, and relatively low and they are fast for a coldblooded breed, known as good trotting horses and used for harness racing. Over 90 percent of Finnhorses today are chestnut, flaxen manes and tails as well as white markings on the face and legs are common in the breed. As of 2007, only a minority of Finnhorses are any other than chestnut,6 percent are bay and 1.2 percent black. Roans, palominos, buckskins and silver dapples exist in smaller numbers, the genes for other cream dilutions and rabicano are present in the gene pool. A distinctive sabino, non-SB1 pattern is common, but is usually minimally expressed due to the selective colour breeding of the 20th century
13.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
14.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
15.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
16.
Thoroughbred
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The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, Thoroughbreds are considered hot-blooded horses that are known for their agility, speed, and spirit. The Thoroughbred as it is today was developed in 17th- and 18th-century England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Oriental stallions of Arabian, Barb. Millions of Thoroughbreds exist today, and around 100,000 foals are registered each year worldwide, Thoroughbreds are used mainly for racing, but are also bred for other riding disciplines such as show jumping, combined training, dressage, polo, and fox hunting. Thoroughbred racehorses perform with maximum exertion, which has resulted in high accident rates, other health concerns include low fertility, abnormally small hearts and a small hoof-to-body-mass ratio. There are several theories for the reasons behind the prevalence of accidents and health problems in the Thoroughbred breed, the typical Thoroughbred ranges from 15.2 to 17.0 hands high, averaging 16 hands. They are most often bay, dark bay or brown, chestnut, black, less common colors recognized in the United States include roan and palomino. White is very rare, but is a recognized color separate from gray, the face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will generally not appear on the body. Coat patterns that have more than one color on the body, good-quality Thoroughbreds have a well-chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, and long legs. Thoroughbreds are classified among the breeds, which are animals bred for agility and speed and are generally considered spirited. These artificial dates have been set to enable the standardization of races, the Thoroughbred is a distinct breed of horse, although people sometimes refer to a purebred horse of any breed as a thoroughbred. The term for any horse or other animal derived from a breed line is purebred. Nonetheless, breeders of other species of purebred animals may use the two terms interchangeably, though thoroughbred is less used for describing purebred animals of other species. The term is a noun referring to this specific breed, though often not capitalized, especially in non-specialist publications. For example, the Australian Stud Book, The New York Times, flat racing existed in England by at least 1174, when four-mile races took place at Smithfield, in London. Racing continued at fairs and markets throughout the Middle Ages and into the reign of King James I of England. It was then that handicapping, a system of adding weight to attempt to equalize a horses chances of winning as well as improved training procedures, during the reigns of Charles II, William III, Anne, and George I, the foundation of the Thoroughbred was laid. Under James grandson, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, and James great-granddaughter Queen Anne, royal support was given to racing and the breeding of race horses
17.
Messenger (horse)
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Messenger was an English Thoroughbred stallion bred by John Pratt and imported into the newly formed United States of America just after the American Revolution. Along with three other stallions, Messenger provided the type of foal, that was needed for the era of long distance racing popular in the days of the American sport. Messenger was a grey by Mambrino out of a mare by Turf. He was inbred to Cade in the third and fourth generations of his pedigree, Mambrino traced straight back to Blaze, the father of trotters. Messenger has crosses to all three of the Thoroughbred foundation sires, particularly Godolphin Arabian, although his sire was a trotter, Messenger never ran a trot race. While still in England, he started in 16 flat races, Messengers races, usually less than two and half miles, were mainly match races in which the side bets far exceeded the purse. Messengers appearance gave an impression of solidity and power and he had large and always active ears, a large and bony head, its nose had a decided Roman shape, the nostrils large and flexible. He had a large windpipe and short neck, but not coarse or thick, low withers and around the shoulders, heavy, Messenger had superior hips and quarters. The bones of the limbs were strong and large and he always stood prompt and upright on all four legs. In May 1788 Sir Thomas Benger imported Messenger to Pennsylvania, in 1793, Messenger was sold to Henry Astor. Messenger was once advertised in a Philadelphia newspaper as, Available for service, like the other three English stallions, and as was the custom of the day, Messenger was bred throughout Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. The mares he was bred with were not of the highest quality, by Duroc, a fine son of Diomed, American Eclipse did indeed turn out to be a champion. He was not only a great sire of Thoroughbreds, he was also the father of the harness breed, or modern-day American Standardbred through his great grandson. His genes have also contributed to the American Saddlebred, and Tennessee Walking Horse breeds, Messenger died on January 8,1808 at the age of 28. He is buried under a boulder memorialized with a plaque on Duck Pond Road in Locust Valley, Long Island. Horse breeding Thoroughbred Bloodlines, Early stud book Messengers pedigree, with fine drawing Facsimile edition of Elderkin, the Turf and the Trotting Horse in America. Facsimile edition of Elliott, C. W, among our great farmers-The horse growers. VII January to July, pp. 413-424
18.
John Jacob Astor
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Born in Germany, Astor emigrated to England as a teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer. He moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War and he entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast. Seeing the decline of demand, he got out of the fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate and he was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States. Johann Jakob Astor was born in Walldorf near Heidelberg in the old Palatinate and he was the youngest son of Johann Jakob Astor and Maria Magdalena Vorfelder. His three elder brothers were Georg Peter, Heinrich, and Melchior, Astors father was a butcher, Johann first worked in his fathers shop and as a dairy salesman. In 1779, at the age of 16, he moved to London to join his brother George in working for a piano and flute manufactory. While there, he learned English and anglicized his name and his intent was to join his brother Henry, who had established a butcher shop there, but a chance meeting with a fur trader on his voyage inspired him to join the North American fur trade as well. After working at his brothers shop for a time he began to purchase raw hides from Native Americans, prepare them himself and he opened his own fur goods shop in New York in the late 1780s and also served as the New York agent of his uncles musical instrument business. Astor took advantage of the Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States in 1794, which opened new markets in Canada and the Great Lakes region. In London, Astor at once made a contract with the North West Company, Astor imported furs from Montreal to New York and shipped them to Europe. By 1800, he had amassed almost a quarter of a million dollars and his agents worked throughout the western areas and were ruthless in competition. In 1800, following the example of the Empress of China, the first American trading vessel to China, Astor traded furs, teas, and sandalwood with Canton in China, embargo Act in 1807, however, disrupted Astors import/export business because it closed off trade with Canada. With the permission of President Thomas Jefferson, Astor established the American Fur Company on April 6,1808 and he later formed subsidiaries, the Pacific Fur Company, and the Southwest Fur Company, in order to control fur trading in the Great Lakes areas and Columbia River region. His Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria was the first United States community on the Pacific coast and he financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–12 to reach the outpost. Members of the expedition were to discover South Pass, through hundreds of thousands of settlers on the Oregon, Mormon. Astors fur trading ventures were disrupted during the War of 1812, in 1816, he joined the opium-smuggling trade. His American Fur Company purchased ten tons of Turkish opium, then shipped the contraband item to Canton on the packet ship Macedonian, Astor later left the China opium trade and sold solely to the United Kingdom. Astors business rebounded in 1817 after the U. S. Congress passed a protectionist law that barred foreign fur traders from U. S. territories, the American Fur Company came to dominate trading in the area around the Great Lakes
19.
Hambletonian 10
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Hambletonian 10, or Rysdyks Hambletonian, was an American trotter and a founding sire of the Standardbred horse breed. The stallion was born in Sugar Loaf, New York on 5 May 1849, Hambletonian has been inducted into the Immortals category of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame. Hambletonian 10 was bred by Jonas Seely, Jr. on his farm at Sugar Loaf in Orange County and he was sired by Abdallah who was a grandson of the hugely influential Thoroughbred sire, Messenger. Abdallah was ugly in body and temperament, so much so that he was sold to a fish pedlar for $5, Hambletonians dam was known as the Charles Kent Mare or the Kent Mare by Bellfounder, an imported Norfolk Trotter. Hambletonian was inbred to Messenger in the third and fourth generations, seeleys hired hand, William Rysdyk, cared for the mare and foal. Rysdyk became so attached to the pair and was so convinced that the foal would someday be great that he asked to purchase them, Seeley finally agreed, and for $125 William Rysdyk took his prize possessions home. Hambletonian had a build, being low at the withers. This length of hind leg provided a great deal of thrust with each stride, Hambletonian 10, from his Standard registered number, made his first public appearance at the age of six months at the nearby Orange County Fair in Goshen. He caused quite a sensation and horsemen started referring to him as Rysdyks Abdallah colt, meanwhile another son of Abdallah, Abdallah Chief, owned by Seeley C. Roe, was looming as a competitor for the local stallion honors, Roe had nothing but contempt for Hambletonian, and claimed hed never be a trotter, only a show horse. This issue was settled in 1852 at Long Islands Union Course, Hambletonian and Abdallah Chief were hitched to skeleton wagons with their owners driving. Three minutes and three seconds after the start, Hambletonian crossed the line ahead of his rival. Roe still wasnt satisfied and insisted on another race, Abdallah Chief went the mile in 2, 55½. Then Roe watched Hambletonian, in what would be the time trial of his career, trot the mile in 2. Hambletonian 10 began his career at age two when Rysdyk allowed him to cover four mares. In the 1860s, one of his sons, Dexter, trotted the mile in 2, 17¼, Dexter was immediately bought for $25,000 by a Robert E. Bonner for his own private driving pleasure. A rigidly moral man, Bonner did not approve of racing or betting, but ever since, no horse lacking lines to Hambletonian 10 in their pedigree has ever done better. In 24 seasons at stud, between 1851 and 1875, Hambletonian produced about 1,335 foals, through four of Hambletonians sons, the lineage of virtually all North American Standardbred horses can be traced to him
20.
Hobble (device)
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A hobble or spancel is a device that prevents or limits the locomotion of a human or an animal, by tethering one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horses, they are used also on other animals. On dogs, they are used especially during force-fetch training to limit the movement of a dogs front paws when training it to stay still and they are made from leather, rope, or synthetic materials such as nylon or Neoprene. There are various designs for breeding, casting, and mounting horses, western-style horse hobbles are tied around the pasterns or cannon bones of the horses front legs. They comprise three basic types, The vaquero or braided hobble, which is often of a quite fancy plaiting and lighter than other varieties, and is therefore only suitable for short term use. The figure eight hobble or Queensland Utility Strap, a style of hobble that stockmen wear as a belt and can be used neck strap, lunch-time hobble. This hobble is made with three pieces of leather and two rings, plus a buckle fastening, the twist hobble, made of soft leather or rope, with a twist between the horses legs. The above patterns are unsuitable for training as they can tighten around a leg, hobbles also allow a horse to graze and move short and slow distances, yet prevent the horse from running off too far. This is handy at night if the rider has to get some sleep, hobble training a horse is a form of sacking out and desensitizing a horse to accept restraints on its legs. This helps a horse accept pressure on its legs in case it becomes entangled in barbed wire or fencing. A hobble trained horse is likely to pull, struggle. Breeding or service hobbles usually fasten around a mares hocks, pass between her front legs to a neck strap and they are used to protect a stallion from kicks. Casting hobbles are the same as the above, but with another rope or strap attached to the hind foot. When these straps or ropes are pulled up together, the horse will fall, cattle hobbles are a strong strap with a metal keeper in the middle and a buckle at the end. They are used on the legs for a short period when capturing feral cattle. Drovers’ or grazing hobbles have a buckle on a wide double redhide or chrome leather strap and they are placed around the pasterns. Hind leg pull up strap passes from a strap and around a hind pastern to draw up a hind foot for shoeing or treatment. Hopples are a piece of equipment used by Standardbred pacers to help the horse maintain its pacing gait, mounting hobbles are knee hobbles that are made with a quick release, on a lead that passes to the rider
21.
Starting gate
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A starting gate also called a starting barrier or starting stalls is a machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse racing and dog racing. Throughout the history of racing, there have been proposals as to how better to start a race. A commonly used starting system for horse races was devised in the mid nineteenth century by Admiral Rous, a starter, standing alongside the jockeys and horses, dropped his flag to signal the start. An assistant some 100 yards down the course raised a flag to indicate false starts. An official starter might be paid, but his duties were very demanding. Early in the century, he was supported by perhaps a single assistant who primed the spring-barrier. In the present day there are many attendants to steady runners from super-structured barrier stalls, the first horse racing starting barriers were simple ropes or occasionally wooden barriers behind which the horses stood. The first automated design was pioneered in Australia and was first used at a race meeting in 1894. Alexander Gray had concluded that the flapping of a starters flag distracted the horses, an impetus for his invention was a £5 fine received by his son, Reuben, a jockey, for allowing his mount to step over the white chalk line that marked the start. His machine was first tried out at Canterbury Park Racecourse in New South Wales in February 1894, grays prototype consisted of a single strand of wire at about the height of the horse’s head that was attached to a spring at either end. When the device was activated the barrier sprang up and away from the horses, grays single-strand barrier was among those first used. Versions of barriers designed by Alexander and Reuben Gray were installed at race tracks in Australia, barriers assured fair starts to races. Fair race starts encouraged owners to enter horses in races and punters to bet, the inventor of the electric starting gate for horse racing is Clay Puett, who was a rider and starter at various tracks in the American West. Puetts device replaced other starting methods which often failed to produce a fair start, a transportable starting machine was imported from the United States to Australia in 1946. It wasnt until 1965 that starting stalls were introduced by the Jockey Club to horseracing in the United Kingdom, many of Puetts actual gates are still in use today at tracks around the world, and all gates are based on his original design. A starting gate is equipped with a number of stalls aligned in a row, smaller gates may be used at training facilities for schooling horses, or as an auxiliary gate in addition to the main gate for large-field races such as the Kentucky Derby. The gates are suspended from a welded steel truss, supported at each end by wheels with pneumatic tires. The entire structure is designed to be towed behind a tractor or truck, so that it can be moved about on the racetrack grounds, alternately, a horse may be backed into the stall from the front entry, again done in the case of a skittish horse
22.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
23.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
24.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
25.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
26.
Stockholm
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The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC. It is also the capital of Stockholm County, Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the countrys GDP and it is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europes top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and it hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the citys most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is known for its decoration of the stations. Swedens national football arena is located north of the city centre, Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Ministers residence is adjacent at the Sager House. After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BCE, there were already a number of people living in the present-day Stockholm area. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable, at the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive impact on the area because of the trade routes they created. Stockholms location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne, the earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word meaning fortification, the second part of the name means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. Stockholms core, the present Old Town was built on the island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid 13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League, Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time
27.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city
28.
Boden, Sweden
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Boden is a locality and the seat of Boden Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 18,277 inhabitants in 2010. It is part of the area around coastal city Luleå some 36 kilometres southeast. The town of Boden started as a junction where the Northern Line met with the Ore Line from the rich iron ore fields in northern Sweden. The town experienced increased growth when the Boden Fortress was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century, the purpose of the fortress was to defend Sweden from a possible attack from the east, where Russia was considered the most dangerous threat. The first official writings about Boden, was in a 1500~ tax paper, Boden got the title of city in 1919. This title became obsolete in 1971 and Boden is now the seat of Boden Municipality, today Boden is still a military stronghold, and houses the largest garrison of the Swedish Army. The army and the municipality are the two largest employers in Boden, as the military is continuously disarming, with the five regiments united into one garrison, the population has decreased by 2,000 people over the past ten years. The famous Fällkniven knives are from Boden
29.
Polar circle
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A polar circle is either the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle. On Earth, the Arctic Circle is located at a latitude of 66°33′46. 6″ N, the latitude of the polar circles is 90 degrees minus the axial tilt of the Earths axis of daily rotation relative to the ecliptic, the plane of the Earths orbit. This tilt varies slightly, a described as nutation. Therefore, the latitudes noted above are calculated by averaging values of tilt observed over many years, the axial tilt also exhibits long-term variations as described in the reference article. Arctic Circle Antarctic Circle Polar region Arctic Antarctica Frigid Zones Polar climate Polar day & Polar night
30.
Charlottenlund
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Charlottenlund is a suburban area on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of Gentofte Municipality. Bordered to the east by the Øresund, to the South by Hellerup and to the north by Klampenborg, the neighbourhood takes its name after Charlottenlund Palace. In 1733, King Christian VI of Denmark rebuilt the Gyldenlund Palace, in the 19th century, it became popular with the bourgeoisie in Copenhagen to make excursions to the countryside north of the city. Charlottenlund Forest was a popular destination, local landmarks include Charlottenlund Palace and Gentofte Town Hall. The Ordrupgaard Museum boasts collections of Danish and French art from the 19th, Charlottenlund Fort is located in Charlottenlund Beach Park. It houses a popular camp site, the beach park and the adjacent Charlottenlund Forest forms the largest green space in Gentofte Municipality. Charlottenlund Racetrack is situated just north of Charlottenlund Forest, and has weekly harness races, most horses and jockeys are from Denmark, but several times every year the track hosts international events, with entries from Europe and North America. Charlottenlund Palace Charlottenlund station Privathospitalet Danmark Media related to Charlottenlund at Wikimedia Commons www. ordrupgaard. dk
31.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
32.
Swedish krona
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The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code SEK and currency sign kr are in use, the former precedes or follows the value. In English, the currency is referred to as the Swedish crown. The Swedish krona was the 11th most traded currency in the world by value in April 2013, one krona is subdivided into 100 öre. However, all öre coins have been discontinued as of 30 September 2010, goods can still be priced in öre, but all sums are rounded to the nearest krona when paying with cash. The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1876 and lasted until the beginning of World War I. The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, the three currencies were on the gold standard, with the krona/krone defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold. After dissolution of the union in August 1914, Sweden, Denmark. On 11 September 2012, the Riksbank announced a new series of coins with new sizes to replace the 1 and 5 kronor coins which arrived in October 2016. The design of the coins follows the theme of singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestads song, Sol, vind och vatten and this also included the reintroduction of the 2 kronor coin, while the current 10 kronor coin remained the same. The new coins also have a new portrait of the king in the design, one of the reasons for a new series of coins is to end the use of nickel. It is expected that vending machines and parking meters will to a high degree stop accepting coins. Cash is already used in Sweden, with many young people avoiding cash as much as possible. Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1,2,5,10,25, and 50 öre and 1,2,10, and 20 kronor were introduced. The 1,2 and 5 öre were in bronze, the 10,25,50 öre and 1 krona and 2 kronor were in silver, gold 5 kronor coins were added in 1881. In 1873 the Scandinavian Monetary Union currency was fixed so that 248,000 öre purchased 1 kg of gold, in 2017 the price of gold is 365,289 kronor per kg. So one öre in 1873 bought as much gold as 1.47 krona in 2017, so if it is reasonable to have the smallest denomination coin 1 krona today, in 1873 a reasonable smallest denomination coin was 1 öre. A10 kr gold coin weighed 4.4803 grams with 900 finess so that the weight was 4.03327 grams or exactly 1/248th of a kilogram
33.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
34.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
35.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
