1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
3.
Friesland
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Friesland or Frisia is a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, in 2010, the province had a population of 646,000 and a total area of 5,749 km2. The capital and seat of the government is the city of Leeuwarden. Since 2017, Arno Brok is the Kings Commissioner in the province, a coalition of the Labour Party, the Christian Democratic Appeal, and the Frisian National Party forms the executive branch. The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the area of the province was once part of the ancient, larger region of Frisia. The official languages of Friesland are West Lauwers Frisian and Dutch, a proto-Frisian culture slowly began to emerge around 400–200 BC known for its artificial dwelling hills as a defence against the sea. The Roman claim on Frisia began in 12 BC with the campaign of Nero Claudius Drusus in Germania, after a series of costly battles against the Frisians, the Romans were suddenly sworn fealty. The de facto independence they later enjoyed as a Roman vassal shows that this might have been a mostly diplomatic decision based on the temporary favourable bargaining position. Together with other Germanic tribes such as the Salians and the Batavii they managed to keep the north of the Lower Rhine mostly free from Roman influence. The early eighth-century AD is known for the Frisian Kingdom, king Redbad, after incorporation into the Frankish empire, Friesland was divided into three parts. The westernmost part developed at the start of the second millennium into the County of Holland, while the remainder of Frisia had no feudal overlord and that ended when Charles V added Frisia to the Habsburg Netherlands as Lordship of Frisia. Under Napoleon, the department was named Frise, after Napoleon was defeated in 1813, the department became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as the province of Friesland. Friesland is the largest province of the Netherlands if one includes areas of water, in terms of land area only, the provinces highest point is at 45 metres above sea level, on the island of Vlieland. There are four parks, Schiermonnikoog, De Alde Feanen, Lauwersmeer. The ten urban areas in Friesland with the largest population are, The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the province of Friesland has an oceanic climate. In 2010, Friesland had a population of 646,305, the years 1880–1900 show slower population growth due to a farm crisis in which 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States of America. Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland has been renowned for the height of its inhabitants. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province, the black and white Frisian cattle, black and white Stabyhoun and the black Frisian horse originated here
4.
De Fryske Marren
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De Fryske Marren is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2014 and consists of the municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland, Skarsterlân and parts of Boarnsterhim. The municipality is located in the province of Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands, and has a population of 51,229 and a combined area of 559.93 km2. Municipal mergers are commonplace in the Netherlands, over the course of the 20th century the number of municipalities was reduced by more than half, from 1,121 in 1900 to 537 in 2000. Government policy at the time of the creation of De Friese Meren was that new mergers should have local support, the municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland and Skarsterlân were all rural municipalities with a relatively highly developed tourism industry. In 2007 the first two evaluated their functioning as municipalities and both concluded they could benefit from a municipal merger, the following year all three municipal councils decided they were in favour of investigating the benefits of a merger. The report from this study was publicly available for eight weeks, one of these was from the municipality of Heerenveen, which suggested a merger between them and Lemsterland and Skarsterlân or, alternatively, only parts of Skarsterlân. A second merging discussion involved the dissolution of Boarnsterhim, the municipal council of Boarnsterhim concluded the municipality was too small to warrant the continued existence of a separate municipality. In the final advice regarding its dissolution it was suggested that the current municipality be split into four parts, one of these, the town of Terherne, would be included in De Friese Meren. After approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the creation of De Friese Meren became law in June 2013, De Friese Meren is the name specified for the municipality in the law that establishes it. The name is Dutch for The Frisian Lakes, in reference to the lakes in the area,1 July 2015 it was officially renamed De Fryske Marren. The municipality consists of 51 settlements of which Joure is the seat of government, Dutch topographic map of the municipality of De Fryske Marren, June 2015 Media related to De Fryske Marren at Wikimedia Commons Official website
5.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
6.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
7.
West Frisian language
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West Frisian, or simply Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisian ancestry. It is the most widely spoken of the three Frisian languages, the name West Frisian is only used outside the Netherlands, to distinguish this language from the closely related Frisian languages of Saterland Frisian and North Frisian spoken in Germany. Most speakers of West Frisian live in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, Friesland has 643,000 inhabitants, of whom 94% can understand spoken Frisian, 74% can speak Frisian, 75% can read Frisian, and 27% can write it. For over half of the inhabitants of the province of Friesland, 55%, also, many Frisians have left their province in the last sixty years for more prosperous parts of the Netherlands. In addition, there is a Frisian diaspora abroad, with Friesland having sent, in relative terms, the largest concentrations of Frisian speakers outside the Netherlands are located in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Apart from the use of Frisian as a first language, it is spoken as a second language by about 120,000 people in the province of Friesland. One part of Friesland, Stellingwerf in the south-east, does not speak Frisian, the least-used dialect of West Frisian is Skiermûntseagersk, the island dialect of Schiermonnikoog, which is actually on the verge of extinction, because it is spoken by no more than 50–100 people. The Amelansk dialect is spoken on the island Ameland and is the only Frisian variety that does not devoice final obstruants, Hindeloopen Frisian, the archaic Frisian dialect of the peninsular harbour town of Hindeloopen on the west coast, is still spoken by some 300 people at the most. Skylgersk and Aastersk are the dialects of the western and eastern parts of the island of Terschelling and have about 800 and 400 speakers respectively and they are separated from each other by the Dutch dialect of Midslands, which is spoken in the central part of Terschelling. Because of their insular nature these four less-used dialects are also those that have deviated the most from mainstream Frisian, in fact, three of the four widely used mainland dialects are so much alike that a non-Frisian could probably not make out any differences. The Noardhoeksk dialect is spoken in the eastern corner of the province. By far the two most widely spoken West Frisian dialects are Clay Frisian and Wood Frisian, both these names are derived from the Frisian landscape. In the western and north-western parts of the province, the region where Clay Frisian is spoken, the dialect spoken in the eastern area is thus called Wood Frisian. Although Klaaifrysk and Wâldfrysk are mutually very easily intelligible, there are, at least to native Frisian speakers and these include the pronunciation of the words my, dy, hy, sy, wy and by, and the diphthongs ei and aai. In the early Middle Ages the Frisian lands stretched from the area around Bruges, in what is now Belgium, to the river Weser, at that time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. Old Frisian bore a similarity to Old English. This similarity was reinforced in the late Middle Ages by the Ingvaeonic sound shift, which affected Frisian and English, both English and Frisian are marked by the suppression of the Germanic nasal in a word like us, soft or goose, see Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law. Also, when followed by some vowels the Germanic k developed into a ch sound, for example, the Frisian for cheese and church is tsiis and tsjerke, whereas in Dutch it is kaas and kerk
8.
Douwe Egberts
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Douwe Egberts is a brand of coffee, and company namesake owned by parent company Mondelez International, produced by Jacobs Douwe Egberts. It was founded in Joure, Netherlands by Egbert Douwes in 1753 as The White Ox a general shop, which later developed into a company dealing specifically in coffee, tea. By 1925 it had changed its name to Douwe Egberts, and had introduced the red seal with initialism as its logo, Douwe Egberts origins are in Joure, where Egbert Douwe established a grocery shop called De Witte Os in 1753. The company transferred to his eldest son Douwe Egberts in 1780, the coffee brand Douwe Egberts, especially the more affordable red label, is the traditional coffee drink found in Dutch homes for many years. On the back of the packs of coffee and tea, collectible seals were printed, traditionally housewives cut these seals to change them for cups, coffeemakers, tea tins etc. Media related to Douwe Egberts at Wikimedia Commons Official website
9.
Windmill
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A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Centuries ago, windmills usually were used to mill grain, pump water, thus they often were gristmills, windpumps, or both. The majority of modern windmills take the form of wind turbines used to generate electricity, the windwheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the first century is the earliest known instance of using a wind-driven wheel to power a machine. Another early example of a wheel was the prayer wheel. It has been claimed that the Babylonian emperor Hammurabi planned to use wind power for his ambitious project in the seventeenth century BCE. The first practical windmills had sails that rotated in a horizontal plane, according to Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, these panemone windmills were invented in eastern Persia as recorded by the Persian geographer Estakhri in the ninth century. The authenticity of an anecdote of a windmill involving the second caliph Umar is questioned on the grounds that it appears in a tenth-century document. Made of six to 12 sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind grain or draw up water, Windmills were in widespread use across the Middle East and Central Asia, and later spread to China and India from there. A similar type of windmill with rectangular blades, used for irrigation, can also be found in thirteenth-century China. Horizontal windmills were built, in numbers, in Europe during the 18th and nineteenth centuries, for example Fowlers Mill at Battersea in London. Due to a lack of evidence, debate occurs among historians as to whether or not Middle Eastern horizontal windmills triggered the development of European windmills. In northwestern Europe, the horizontal-axis or vertical windmill is believed to date from the last quarter of the century in the triangle of northern France, eastern England. The earliest certain reference to a windmill in Europe dates from 1185, a number of earlier, but less certainly dated, twelfth-century European sources referring to windmills have also been found. These earliest mills were used to grind cereals, the evidence at present is that the earliest type of European windmill was the post mill, so named because of the large upright post on which the mills main structure is balanced. The body contains all the milling machinery, the first post mills were of the sunken type, where the post was buried in an earth mound to support it. Later, a wooden support was developed called the trestle and this was often covered over or surrounded by a roundhouse to protect the trestle from the weather and to provide storage space. This type of windmill was the most common in Europe until the nineteenth century, in a hollow-post mill, the post on which the body is mounted is hollowed out, to accommodate the drive shaft. This makes it possible to drive machinery below or outside the body still being able to rotate the body into the wind
10.
De Groene Molen, Joure
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De Groene Molen is a hollow post mill in Joure, Friesland, Netherlands which was built c1800. The mill has been restored so that it can turn by wind and it is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 18208. De Groene Molen was built c1800 and it drained the 19 hectares Bleeker polder. In 1937, a 6 horsepower Lister diesel engine was installed, on 18 December 1956, the mill was bought by the Gemeente Haskerland. In 1992, the mill was restored by millwright Westra of Franeker, a new buck and sails were fitted. On 18 January 2007, the mill was damaged in a storm. The mill was dismantled on 12 December 2008 and restored by millwrights Boubedrijf Hiemstra BV, on 13 May 2009, the renewed roundhouse, buck and sails were re-erected on the base. De Groene Molen is what the Dutch describe as an Spinnenkop met Stelling and it is a hollow post mill with a roundhouse on a single storey base. The stage is at first floor level 4.20 metres above ground level, the mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The buck and roof are covered in horizontal boards and they have a span of 13.10 metres. The sails are carried on a wooden windshaft, the windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 39 cogs. This drives the wallower at the top of the upright shaft, at the bottom of the upright shaft is the crown wheel. Since the last restoration the Archimedes screw can be driven by either the Lister engine or by wind power, the crown wheel at the bottom of the upright shaft drives a layshaft which is connected by belt to a second layshaft. The driving gear on the end of this layshaft has 16 teeth, it drives a gear with 64 teeth on the axle of the Archimedes screw, a second belt is used to drive this layshaft by the Lister engine. De Groene Molen is open by appointment
11.
Penninga's Molen, Joure
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Penningas Molen or De Jonge Wester is a smock mill in Joure, Friesland, Netherlands which was built in 1900 and is working for trade. It is also used as a training mill, the mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 20842. The mill was built in 1692 at Westzaan, Noord Holland by millwright Jelis Hendricksz. At Westzaan, it was originally a mill known as De Jong Dolfijn (English. In 1819, the mill was converted to a barley mill, in 1900, the mill was sold for demolition. It was dismantled and shipped across the Zuiderzee to Joure by millwright Jelmer Visser of Heerenveen, the mill had been bought by miller Auke Sietzes Penninga to replace the smock mill De Westenberg, which had burnt down on 13 April 1900. The new mill was named De Jonge Wester but was known locally as Penningas Molen and it worked until 1936, or 1938. It is said to have been worked occasionally during the Second World War, by the 1960s, the mill was derelict. The Stichting de Penningas Molen was established in 1966 and it purchased Penningas Molen in 1970 for ƒ1. In 1970-71, the mill was restored by millwright Y Schakel of Exmorra, during the restoration, the windshaft from the Rijperpoldermolen, Ryptsjerk was fitted. This mill had burnt down on 2 June 1968, the windshaft originally in Penningas Molen is now fitted to Sint Annamolen, Nijmegen, Gelderland. The mill was opened on 10 May 1972 by Commissioner to the Queen H Rijpstra. The mill serves as a mill for the Gild Fryske Mounders. On 7 July 2000, the mill was dressed overall in the Zaanse style, in celebration of its Zaan origins, a further restoration of the mill was undertaken in 2007. The stage was rebuilt, and the cap removed from the mill to allow it to be completely rethatched, Penningas Molen is what the Dutch describe as a stellingmolen. It is a smock mill on a three-storey base. The bottom storey of the base is of brick, with the two storeys being a wood-framed structure. The stage is at level,9.10 metres above ground level
12.
Sister city
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In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities. In the United Kingdom, the twin towns is most commonly used. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are twin towns, partnership towns, partner towns, the European Commission uses the term twinned towns and refers to the process as town twinning. Spain uses the term ciudades hermanadas that means sister cities, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt / Miasto Partnerskie / Partnerské město, which translate as Partner Town or City. France uses Ville Jumelée, and Italy has Gemellaggio and Comune gemellato, in the Netherlands, the term is Stedenband. In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση has been adopted, in Iceland, the terms vinabæir and vinaborgir are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, twin towns and twin cities are used, the Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term sister cities or twin cities. In China, the term is 友好城市, sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea. The Douzelage is a twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. In recent years, the term city diplomacy has gained increased usage and acceptance, particularly as a strand of paradiplomacy and public diplomacy. It is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments, the importance of cities developing their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent has also been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836, starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War and this was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town, formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding, for example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Similarly, in 1947, Bristol Corporation sent five leading citizens on a mission to Hanover. Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with an enemy city – Düsseldorf. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with other, following the motto, Only Paris is worthy of Rome. Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union, the support scheme was established in 1989
13.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
14.
Drolshagen
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Drolshagen is a town belonging to the district of Olpe in the Regierungsbezirk of Arnsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, lying roughly 5 km west of Olpe. Drolshagen lies in the heavily wooded Naturpark Ebbegebirge in the Sauerland, the area of the municipality of Drolshagen is characterized by heavily wooded low mountain ranges with altitudes close to 500 metres, flat tops and broad valleys in between. More than 40% of the area is wooded. To the west where the area ends is a steep drop of altitude. Drolshagen borders on the towns and communities, clockwise beginning in the northwest, Gummersbach, Meinerzhagen, Attendorn, Olpe, Wenden, Reichshof. Drolshagens current municipal area comprises 58 communities of various sizes, like other areas of Sauerland Drolshagen is part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge. The Sauerland, then known as Süderland, had part of the Duchy of Saxony when it was given to the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp. In 1413, the townsfolk and Denklingen Castle were under the control of the Duke of Berg as part of the feudal system existing at the time, from 1470, the historical record mentions knights in Drolshagen. Drolshagen was granted town rights on 2 March 1477 by Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne, thus entitling it to a market, in 1485, these were not only confirmed but also strengthened by Archbishop Hermann IV, who added the right to hold a fair. Long before Droshagen received its town charter it had already been a Freiheit meaning that it had already been granted privileges close to a town charter, as such, Drolshagen had a mayor, a council and a seal of its own. Even by 1477, this sphere of influence within the Sauerland was already quite broad. The Cistercian monastery, endowed in 1235, fell into a quarrel with the beginning in 1550 over who had rights to the St. -Clemens-Kirche. In 1604, according to the Chronica Drolshagensis, Drolshagen was a member of the Hanse and traded with other Hanseatic cities, in 1838, Drolshagen was almost utterly destroyed by fire. When the town was built anew, it had its streets laid out in a grid pattern, during World War II the town was spared bombing and thus still has many of its old buildings. In the course of restructuring in North Rhine-Westphalia, the old Ämter of Drolshagen-Stadt. Today only parts of buildings of the monastery remain. In 1999 he had scored almost as high a share of the votes against SPD candidate Thomas Gosmann, the arms are quartered by the cross of the Electorate of Cologne, as Drolshagen belonged to the part of the Sauerland over which the Electorate held sway. The great Christ-König-Glocke is the biggest cast steel bell in the Archbishopric of Paderborn, the other bells, which are artistically decorated, were cast in bronze in 1993
15.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Lemmer
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Lemmer is a town in the municipality of De Friese Meren, in the Netherlands. It has a population of around 10,500 and is one of Frieslands most famous water sport towns, woudagemaal is a steam-powered pumping station and UNESCO World Heritage Site
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Sloten, Friesland
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Sloten received city rights in 1426, and is the smallest of the eleven Frisian cities. It lies within the municipality of De Friese Meren, Sloten is one of the smallest cities of the Netherlands and is a popular place for sports such as sailing. It is a city with old buildings and a windmill, De Kaai. Media related to Sloten, Friesland at Wikimedia Commons
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Balk, Netherlands
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Balk is a town in the northern Netherlands. It is a village of the municipality De Fryske Marren, province Fryslan, in 2010 Balk had 3780 inhabitants. Balk lies between Harich and Wijckel, the river the Luts flows through the village. It is said that it arose where a beam was over the river, at first Balk was a part of Harich. In 1585 Spanish soldiers from Groningen plundered Balk, in the 18th century Balk became wealthy due to the butter trade and in the 19th century it had become a village of its own. Balk had various faith communities from in the beginning, one of them was the community of the Mennonites who were very strict in their believe. In the middle of the 19th century a big group emigrated to America to settle themselves there near Goshen, the protestant community has about 1800 members and has two churches, a monumental church at the luts and since 1982 a new church. In the village there is also a parish with a church devoted to Sint Ludgerus. As a memorial there is a statue of the poet, Balk further has a historical centre with a town hall from 1615. In Balk and its surroundings there is a newspaper, the Balkster Courant Balk has 33 national monuments, Balk is a centre of water sports. To the Luts there is sailing school de Ulepanne, multiple winner of the dutch sailing schools championships, on the edge of the Sleatermar there is a big yacht harbor. For cyclists and sailors there is a traditional skûtsje as a ferry between Heeg and Balk. In the wintermonths the berenburgcup is held on the Slotermeer from Balk
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Bantega
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Bantega is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality De Friese Meren, and lies about 6 km east of the town of Lemmer and it is a young village, until after the second World War, it was only a hamlet, named Echtenpolder. The village is named after the village of Bant. Media related to Bantega at Wikimedia Commons
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Boornzwaag
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Boornzwaag is a small village in De Friese Meren in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 190 citizens. It is located east of Langweer on the south east shore of the lake called Langweerder Wielen, the name is derived from two words, boarn meaning water and sweach meaning pasture. Prior to the reorganization in 1984, it was in the municipality of Doniawerstal. A canal called Scharsterrijn lies to the north east of the village, a small ferry takes pedestrians and cyclists across the Scharsterrijn. To the south is an estate called De Woudfennen bungalowpark. At the furthest south end is the Scharsterrijn caravanpark, which is full of cabins. Over the centuries the Langweerder Wielen has gradually eroded the village, in 1693 the church was demolished, and was followed by the bell stand. The Sweachmermolen was built in 1782 and it is located on the west side of Boornzwaag approaching Langmeer. The original owner was the grietman Frans Julius Johan van Eijsinga and it is a Achtkante bovenkruier which means it has an eight sided rotating top on a fixed base. Its function was as a cornmill and water pump and its polder function was replaced by an electric pump in 1925. In 1949 a group called Stichting tot instandhouding van de Langweerder molen was formed,1954 -1301959 -1351964 -1041969 -1001974 -1012004 -190 Aldewei, Boarnsweachsterdyk, Horsewei, Houtfeartwei, Mûzekamp, Pontdyk, Rodenburgwei, Skarsterleane, Wielenleane. Media related to Boornzwaag at Wikimedia Commons
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Elahuizen
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Ealahuizen is a small village in De Friese Meren in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 330 in 2004, the village was originally called Nijega. To avoid confusion with to other villages of the name, it took the name of Nijega. Media related to Elahuizen at Wikimedia Commons
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Langweer
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Langweer is a village in Friesland in the municipality De Friese Meren. The town was established in 1256, and has a population of 964, Langweer has a rich trading history, and its located at a small lake. Langweer used to only be reached by water, in 1856 it became connected to the outside world by the Brédyk via Sint Nicolaasga. Johan Vegelinsoord of Claerbergen organized this work which involved treeplanting and drainage, in the 1990s Langweer has become a favorite town of tourists because of its picturesque streets and watersport opportunities. One of its events is Skutsjesilen, a sailing race that takes place every summer. The name Langweer derives from the Frisian name Langwar, war is an old Frisian term for a parcel of land so the name meant long lots, for the shape of the paddocks. The village symbol which is found on the flag is a swan, the Weversstreek was a street where weavers lived. This is the oldest part of the town, the block between Weversstreek and Stevenshoek used to be full of one room workers cottages. Between Langweerder Wielen and Weversstreek and the Buorren was a zone called De Greate Gaest, from 1907 to 1965 the Van Der Leij factory operated, drying grass, and pressing oil. This became the De Greate Gaest cafe, and later a service centre, the buildings were demolished in the 1990s to make way for a waterside housing development. Important buildings include the Hervormde Kerk of Langweer built in 1777 on the site of three earlier churches and this church is unusually decorated compared to others from the 18th century, and has a swan on its spire. Inside is one of the best church organs in Friesland, constructed by Lambertus van Dam in 1784, a five paneled pulpit was preserved from the previous building. This dates from 1684 and made by Benedictus Jans, the earliest church was built around 1200, but deliberately burned down in 1517 by invaders. There was an attempt to rebuild from the remains. A successfully built half sized church appeared in 1663, the Osinga State was built for Syts van Osinga, grietman of Doniawerstal from 1619 to 1652. It lies to the north of the church and it became the town hall for the municipality. In 1829 the last grietman to live there, Schelte Hessel Roorda of Eysinga locked up the building, in 1860 it was found to be untouched with clothes lying on the floor and cups on the table. But was demolished and rebuilt in 1939, Langweer is no longer the municipal capital, so there is no longer a town hall
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Media related to Joure at Wikimedia Commons
