1.
Behgjet Pacolli
–
Pacolli was one of the signatories of 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence. Pacolli stated that he respected the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and he is the President and CEO of Mabetex Group, a Swiss-based construction and civil-engineering company. Pacolli was also the President of the third biggest political party in Kosovo the New Kosovo Alliance, for the past four years, he has been involved in Kosovar politics. He is believed to be the worlds richest ethnic Albanian, Behgjet was the second of a family of 10 children who grew up, like most in Kosovo at the time, in the poor countryside. Similarly to thousands of other ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, Pacolli moved to Western Europe in search of job opportunities, two years later, he moved to Switzerland and joined a Swiss company he had gotten to know in Moscow. Behgjet Pacolli is the son of Isa and Nazmije and he is Kosovo Albanian by ethnicity but has Swiss citizenship as well. In the 1970s, he emigrated to Hamburg, West Germany, in 1974, he completed his military service in the Yugoslav army and returned to Kosovo. In 1976, Pacolli moved to Switzerland where he became one of the top managers of Interplastica, in 1992, during construction projects in Yakutia, Russia, Pacolli closely cooperated with the Yakutsk mayor Pavel Borodin. Mabetex also constructed the first luxury hotel, the Swiss Diamond Hotel, in 2000 Pacolli sued Skuratov in a Russian court for defamation. He won the case and Skuratov was ordered to pay one million Russian ruble to Pacolli for damages, one of the greatest symbols of Mabetex’s achievements in Kazakhstan has been the transformation of the President’s residence. It is now a presidential residence whose splendour is a delight to visiting foreign dignitaries and to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Situated on the bank of the river Essy, its architecture combines classic, modern. The president’s residence is part of a complex of administrative buildings in the new center of the city –. The Group, is a player in the Kazakhstan construction sector having built nearly 40% of the buildings in the New Astana City. One of the latest projects is the new Classical Theatre of Opera and Ballet, in Italy, the Mabetex Group was responsible in the study and project for the refurbishment of the La Fenice theatre in Venice after it was burned. In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, his group constructed the project for the City Hall. The Engineer for this project was former shareholder and partner of Pacolli, on 17 March 2006, Pacolli founded the political party New Kosovo Alliance, which took part in the 2007 parliamentary election and came third. During these elections he declared property worth €420 million, Pacolli became a deputy in the Assembly of Kosovo and a member of the Committee for Budget and Finance
2.
Paradiso, Ticino
–
Paradiso is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It lies on the shore of Lake Lugano and, although independent of the city of Lugano. Paradiso is first mentioned in 1335 as Calprino, in 1835 it was first called Paradiso from a district of the village, though that didnt become the official name until 1929, also to avoid confusion with the hamlet of Caprino, across the lake. Excavations in 1951 in Calprino discovered evidence of a Roman era settlement in the area, in the 7th century, there was a small Langobard settlement in the same area. The settlement of Morchino goes back to the 8th Century, while Calprino, Fontana, in 1040 the Benedictine monastery S. Carpoforo owned land in Calprino. Between 1264-1375, they owned extensive lands and a fief in the village. In the 12th century, the Benedictine Abbey S. Ambrogio in Milan owned land in Guidino, by about 1335, the settlements that now make up Paradiso, formed part of the Council of sancti Petri di Pamio. The Council existed until the 19th Century and administered the community properties, the church of Paradiso was the parish of Pambio. The Chapel of Beata Vergine alla Geretta has been occupied since the 16th Century, the village economy was based on agriculture, mostly grain and vineyards. Then, in the 18th and 19th Century, the industry entered the village. Thanks to the views over Lake Lugano, Paradiso became a holiday resort after the opening of the Gotthard Railway in 1882. The funicular railway up Monte San Salvatore opened in 1890, the funicular and increasing lake traffic contributed to the further development of the hotel and tourism industry in Paradiso. At the same time, the population grew, the construction of the highway along the municipal border with Lugano in 1966 began to change the character of the municipality. At the beginning of the 21st Century, tourism began to decline, Paradiso is located at the foot, and up the lower slopes, of Monte San Salvatore, on the shores Lake Lugano. The municipality consists of the village of Paradiso, which is made up of the sections of Calprino, Guidino, Fontana, Paradiso has an area, as of 1997, of 0.89 square kilometers. Of this area,0.33 km2 or 37. 1% is used for agricultural purposes, of the rest of the land,0.52 km2 or 58. 4% is settled,0.01 km2 or 1. 1% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 33. 7%, power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1. 1% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3. 4%. Out of the land,30. 3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5. 6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees
3.
Switzerland
–
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
4.
Ibrahim Kodra
–
Ibrahim Likmetaj Kodra was an Albanian painter. An internationally known painter, he is regarded as the greatest Albanian artist, Kodra was born in Ishëm, Albania, son of Murat and Xhixhe. His mother died when he was young, and he did not receive treatment from his stepmother. His father was working in the Commercial Marine, Ibrahim took art classes from Odhise Paskali during 1929, focusing on sport as well. Kodra practiced discus and hammer throw, without pretending any professional career in sport, while taking drawing classes, one of his drawings would come into the focus of Queen Geraldine. In 1950 he painted frescos in the most important museums and buildings of Milan, Kodra then opened an exposition with Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Rouault, Dufy and others in the Mostra del Disegno in Chiavari. He had many other personal expos all around the world, including, Collective exposition in Paradise with Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Matta, Ernst, Carlo Levi, Braque, etc. Collective exposition in Mostra del disegno e dellincisione contemporanea in 1943 in Milan, with Emilio Vedova, Renato Guttuso, Giacomo Manzù, Cassinari, Morlotti, etc. Numerous collectives in Milan, the Stone Gallery in Newcastle, Senator in Stuttgart, personal expo in Modern Art Gallery in Pristina. Personal expo in Princess Hall in New York and personal expo the 2D Gallery in Sassari and his works are in the Museum of Vatican, in the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament in Rome, in exclusive private collections all around the world. He died in Milan in 2006, Kodra was buried in front of Ishëm Castle despite his will not to be buried there. His house in Milan is converted in a museum, with the initiative of Fatos Fasliu, Ibrahim Kodra, Ibrahim Kodra, Antonino De Bono, OCLC22099930, Series, Profili del Comanducci Il Carpine. Assessorato alla Cultura, OCLC313541343, Milano - Tipogr
5.
Lugano
–
Lugano is a city in southern Switzerland in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino bordering Italy. It has a population of 71,500, and an urban agglomeration over 145,000, the 9th largest Swiss city, it is the largest in Ticino and largest with an Italian speaking majority outside Italy. The city lies on Lake Lugano, surrounded by the mountains of the Lugano Prealps, the toponym is first recorded in 804, in the form Luanasco, in 874 as Luano, and from 1189 as Lugano. German-language variants of the name were Lowens, Lauis, Lauwis, the etymology of the name is uncertain, suggestions include derivation from lucus grove, from a vulgar Latin lakvannus lake-dweller and from the god Lugus. The blazon of the coat of arms is Gules, a cross throughout argent. The coat of arms dates from around 1200, the four letters on the coat of arms are an abbreviation of the name Lugano. The shores of Lake Lugano have been inhabited since the Stone Age, within the modern city limits a number of ground stones or quern-stones have been found. In the area surrounding Lugano, items from the Copper Age, there are Etruscan monuments at Davesco-Soragno, Pregassona, and Viganello. Graves with jewelry and household items have been found in Aldesago, Davesco, Pazzallo, the region around Lake Lugano was settled by the Romans by the 1st century BC. There was an important Roman city north of Lugano at Bioggio, there are fewer traces of the Romans in Lugano, but several inscriptions, graves and coins indicate that some Romans lived in what would become Lugano. Other documents, dating from 804 and 844 refer to Lake Lugano as Laco Luanasco, during the fighting between Guelphs and Ghibellines and the new disputes between Como and Milan, during the 14th and 15th centuries, Lugano was the scene of clashes between opposing forces. After a long rule by the Rusca family, Lugano was freed from the domination of Como, at the same time the link between town and the valley strengthened. By 1405–06 documents attest to a vallis comunitas Lugani et, which was a body that was independent of Como. The new community included the parishes of Lugano, Agno, Riva San Vitale, in 1416 the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti conquered the region of Lugano and the Rusca valley and made it a fief. A year later, Luganos freedoms were first documented in a series of statutes modeled on those of Como, the town was able to secure complete independence. Between 1433 and 1438 the Duke of Milan, Aloisio Sanseverino sat as a feudal lord over Lugano and he compensated the Rusca family with the ownership of Locarno. Under the reign of his heirs in the following decades rebellions and riots broke out and it was the object of continuous disputes between the Dukes of Como and Milan until it became a Swiss dominion in 1513. Swiss control lasted until 1798 when Napoleon conquered the Old Swiss Confederation, in 1746, the Agnelli brothers opened the first printing press and bookshop in Lugano
6.
Sakha Republic
–
The Sakha Republic is a federal subject of Russia. It has a population of 958,528, consisting mainly of ethnic Yakuts and it is larger than Argentina and just smaller than India which covers an area of 3,287,590 square kilometers. Its capital is the city of Yakutsk, the Sakha Republic is one of the ten autonomous Turkic Republics within the Russian Federation. The hypercontinental tendencies also result in warm summers for much of the republic. Borders, internal, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Oblast, Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai. water, Arctic Ocean. These waters, the coldest and iciest of all seas in the Northern Hemisphere, are covered by ice for 9–10 months of the year, new Siberian Islands are a part of the republics territory. Sakha can be divided into three great vegetation belts, about 40% of Sakha lies above the Arctic circle and all of it is covered by permafrost which greatly influences the regions ecology and limits forests in the southern region. Arctic and subarctic tundra define the region, where lichen. In the southern part of the belt, scattered stands of dwarf Siberian pine. Below the tundra is the vast taiga forest region, larch trees dominate in the north and stands of fir and pine begin to appear in the south. Taiga forests cover about 47% of Sakha and almost 90% of the cover is larch, Sakha spans three time zones, Yakutsk Time Zone. Covers the republics territory to the west of the Lena River as well as the territories of the located on the both sides of the Lena River. Covers most of the territory located between 127°E and 140°E longitude. Covers most of the territory located east of 140°E longitude. Districts, Abyysky, Allaikhovsky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Srednekolymsky, Verkhnekolymsky, the Chersky Range runs east of the Verkhoyansk Range and has the highest peak in Sakha, Peak Pobeda. The second highest peak is Peak Mus-Khaya reaching 3,011 m, the Stanovoi Range borders Sakha in the south. Sakha is well endowed with raw materials, the soil contains large reserves of oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, tungsten and many others. Sakha produces 99% of all Russian diamonds and over 25% of the diamonds mined in the world, Sakha is known for its climate extremes, with the Verkhoyansk Range being the coldest area in the Northern Hemisphere
