1.
Rummikub
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Rummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players, combining elements of the card game rummy and mahjong. There are 104 number tiles in the game and two jokers, Players have 14 or 16 tiles initially and take turns putting down tiles from their racks into sets of at least three, drawing a tile if they cannot play. In the Sabra version, the first player to use all their tiles scores a positive score based on the total of the players hands. An important feature of the game is that players can work with the tiles that have already been played, Rummikub was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew, who immigrated to Israel in the 1940s. He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home, Hertzano sold these sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops. Over the years, the family licensed it to other countries, in 1977, it became a bestselling game in the United States. Hertzanos Official Rummikub Book, published in 1978, describes three different versions of the game, American, Sabra and International, modern Rummikub sets include only the Sabra version rules, with no mention of the others, and there are variations in the rules between publishers. The game was first made by Lemada Light Industries Ltd, founded by Hertzano in 1978, Rummikub is similar to Vatikan, a game of central European origin played with two decks of cards and one joker per player. Rummikubs main component is a pool of tiles, consisting of 104 number tiles, the number tiles range in value from one to thirteen in four colors. Each combination of color and number is represented twice, Players each have a rack to store tiles without revealing the face of the tiles to the other players. The following explanation is based on the rules in the 1998 Pressman American edition, each player draws and reveals one tile. The player whose tile has the highest number value will start the game, Tiles are returned to the pool, and players collect 14 random tiles and arrange them on their racks. Play begins with the player and proceeds in a clockwise direction. For a players first move, he must play a set with a value of at least 30 points, point values are taken from the face value of each tile played, with the joker assuming the value of the tile it is being used in place of. A player may not use other players tiles to make the initial meld, if a player cannot make an initial meld, he must pick up a single tile from the pool and add it to his rack. Play then proceeds to the next player, once a player has made his initial meld, he can, on each turn, play one or more tiles from his rack, making or adding to groups and/or runs. If the player play any tiles, he must pick a tile randomly from the pool. All tiles in play must be arranged in sets of at least three tiles, the two valid set types are called runs and groups, Composed of three or more, same-colored tiles, in consecutive number order
2.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
3.
Paralympic Games
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There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee, the Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types and these categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was an amputee and could shoot left-handed. The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Dr. Guttmans aim was to create a sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were again at the same location in 1952. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games. There have been milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960,400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the year as the Olympic Games. The Games were initially only to athletes in wheelchairs, at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries, the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city and this set a precedent that was followed in 1992,1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in 2001, and was extended through 2020
4.
Lawn game
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A lawn game is an outdoor game that can be played on a lawn. Many types and variations of games exist, which includes games that use balls. Some lawn games are historical in nature, having devised and played in different forms for centuries. Some lawn games are played on a pitch. Some companies produce and market lawn games for use in a front or backyard. The lawn game bowls dates back to the Middle Ages period in England, many local forms of round ball throwing and rolling games, such as bocce in Italy and bowls in England became popular by the Renaissance. It has been suggested that a similar to bowls was played around 5,000 BC in Ancient Egypt. However, it has suggested that bowls itself likely originated from Ancient Rome. Many types and varieties of ball games exist, several cultures have created forms of ball games. For example, the Maya and Aztec peoples played a game using a rubber ball. The Yanoama people in northwest Brazil played a game using a ball made from the bladder of a monkey, in which the ball would be hit upwards by participants, who would play the game in a circle. Bocce is typically played on a court, and involves rolling a ball on the ground in efforts to place it near a smaller ball. Bowls involves rolling a ball toward a target ball to make the rolled ball stop as close as possible to the target. Croquet involves hitting wooden or plastic with a mallet through a series of hoops, Croquet became popular in England in the 1860s. In the United States, the game is governed by the National Croquet Association, several variations of the game exist. Pétanque has been described as the worlds most played form of bowls, backyard golf is a game played in the United States that involves elements of golf. Golf balls or whiffle balls may be used, and targets may include lawn furniture, buckets and tree branches, sholf is a game that is a cross between table shuffleboard and golf. Players take turns putting golf balls into scoring zones printed on a putting green, ball games Throwing games involve throwing various objects as the primary form of gameplay
5.
Bowling
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Bowling refers to a series of sports or leisure activities in which a player rolls or throws a bowling ball towards a target. It is one of the forms of throwing sports. In pin bowling variations, the target is usually to knock over pins at the end of a lane, when all the pins are knocked down on the first roll, this is a strike. In target variations, the aim is usually to get the ball as close to a mark as possible. The pin version of bowling is played on a flat wooden or other synthetic surface, while in target bowling. The term bowling in the United States and Canada most frequently refers to ten-pin bowling, in the United Kingdom, the earliest known forms of bowling date to ancient Egypt. Other balls made of porcelain have also found, indicating that these were rolled along the ground rather than thrown due to their size. Some of these resemble the modern day jack used in bowl games. Bowling games of different forms are noted by Herodotus as an invention of the Lydians in Asia Minor. About 400 AD, bowling began in Germany as a ritual to cleanse oneself from sin by rolling a rock into a club representing the heathen. In 1299 the oldest known bowling green for target style bowling to survive to modern times was built, Masters Close in Southampton, England, in 1325 laws were passed in Berlin and Cologne limiting bets on lawn bowling to five shillings. In 1366 the first official mention of bowling in England was made when King Edward III banned it as a distraction to archery practice. In the 15th-17th centuries lawn bowling spread from Germany into Austria, Switzerland, in 1455 lawn bowling lanes in London were first roofed-over, turning bowling into an all-weather game. In Germany they were called kegelbahns, often attached to taverns, in 1463 a public feast was held in Frankfurt, Germany, with a venison dinner followed by lawn bowling. In 1511 English King Henry VIII banned bowling for the lower classes, another English law passed in 1541 prohibited workers from bowling except on Christmas, and only in their masters home and in his presence. About 1520 Protestant Reformation founder Martin Luther set the number of pins at nine, in 1609 Dutch East India Company explorer Henry Hudson discovered Hudson Bay, bringing Dutch colonization to New Amsterdam, Hudsons men brought some form of lawn bowling with them. In 1670 Dutchmen liked to bowl at the Old King’s Arms Tavern near modern-day 2nd, in 1733 Bowling Green in New York City was built on the site of a Dutch cattle market and parade ground, becoming the citys oldest public park to survive to modern times. A photograph of this appeared in the pages of the US-based Bowlers Journal magazine in 1988
6.
Horseshoes
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Horseshoes is an outdoor game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a lawn or sandbox area. The game is played by the alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground. Modern games use a more stylized U-shaped bar, about twice the size of an actual horseshoe, there are other entities that have their own versions of the game and sanction their own events, but the largest recognized volume of sanctioned tournaments and leagues are those of the NHPA. The game begins with a toss to decide who goes first. The winner of the throws both horseshoes—one at a time—at the opposite stake, and then the second player throws both of their horseshoes—again, one at a time—at their end. After scoring, the round is done in reverse order. Play continues until one player has at least 15 points at the end of a round, NHPA sanctioned games are generally played to 40 points, or a shoe limit of 40 or 50 shoes. The horseshoes can be made of plastic or metal. In horseshoes, there are two ways to score, by throwing ringers or by throwing the horseshoe nearest to the stake, a ringer is a thrown horseshoe such that the horseshoe completely encircles the stake. Disputes are settled by using a straightedge to touch the two points at the ends of the horseshoe, called heel calks, if the straightedge doesnt touch the stake, then the horseshoe is a ringer. One player pitches both shoes in succession to one pit, followed by the other player and this is formally called an inning. Normally only one pitcher can score points per inning, however some leagues and tournaments play count all, a live shoe that is not a ringer, but comes to rest six inches or closer to the stake, has a value of one point. If both of one players horseshoes are closer than the opponents, two points are scored, in the case of one ringer and a closer horseshoe, both horseshoes are scored for a total of four points. If a player throws two ringers, that player scores six points, if each player throws a ringer, the ringers cancel and no points are scored. If two ringers are thrown by one player and one ringer by the opponent, the player throwing two ringers scores three points and this is typically called two dead and three or three ringers three for score keeping purposes. Such occurrences are called dead ringers and are used toward the pitcher/ringer average. Back-yard games can be played to any number of points that is agreed upon, in most sanctioned tournaments the handicapped divisions pitch 50 shoe games, most points win. If there is a tie, the pitch an additional 2 innings until the tie is broken
7.
Viking Age
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The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
8.
Gotland
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Gotland, Gutland in the local dialect Gutnish, is a province, county, municipality, and diocese of Sweden. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north. The population is 57,221, of which about 23,600 live in Visby, the island of Gotland and the other areas of the province of Gotland make up less than one percent of Swedens total land area. From a military viewpoint, it occupies a location in the Baltic sea. The island is the home of the Gutes, and sites such as the Ajvide Settlement show that it has occupied since prehistory. This is consistent with the spread of peoples from the Middle East at about that time. Early on, Gotland became a center, with the town of Visby the most important Hanseatic city in the Baltic Sea. In late medieval times, the island had twenty district courts, each represented by its elected judge at the island-ting, new laws were decided at the landsting, which also took other decisions regarding the island as a whole. Gutasaga contains legends of how the island was settled by Þieluar, according to some historians, it is therefore an effort not only to write down the history of Gotland, but also to assert Gotlands independence from Sweden. In 1361, Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark invaded the island, the Victual Brothers occupied the island in 1394 to set up a stronghold as a headquarters of their own in Visby. At last, Gotland became a fief of the Teutonic Knights, an invading army of Teutonic Knights conquered the island in 1398, destroying Visby and driving the Victual Brothers from Gotland. The number of Arab dirhams discovered on the island of Gotland alone is astoundingly high, in the various hoards located around the island, there are more of these silver coins than at any other site in Western Eurasia. The total sum is almost as great as the number that has been unearthed in the entire Muslim world, the Berezan Runestone, discovered in 1905 in Ukraine, was made by a Varangian trader named Grani in memory of his business partner Karl. It is assumed that they were from Gotland, the Mästermyr chest, an important artefact from the Viking Age, was found in Gotland. The authority of the landsting was successively eroded after the island was occupied by the Teutonic Order, then sold to Eric of Pomerania, in late medieval times, the ting consisted of twelve representatives for the farmers, free-holders or tenants. Since the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645, the island has remained under Swedish rule, the Order never regained its territory, and eventually it reestablished itself in Rome as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. On 22 April 1808, during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, a Russian army landed on the shores of Gotland near Grötlingbo. Under command of Nikolaus Andrejevich Bodisco 1,800 Russians took the city of Visby without any combat or engagement, and occupied the island
9.
Skittles (sport)
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Skittles is an old European lawn game, a variety of bowling from which ten-pin bowling, duckpin bowling, candlepin bowling, and five-pin bowling are descended. In regions of the United Kingdom and Ireland the game remains a popular pub game. A continental version is popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, other varieties of bowling are more popular in Australia, but the similar game of kegel, based on German nine-pin bowling, is popular in some areas. In Catalonia, bitlles, a version of this game was formerly popular. The game shares its ancestry with the outdoor game known as bowls and is thus distantly related to billiard sports. The skittle dates to the earliest known forms of bowling and ground billiards, Skittles is usually played indoors on a bowling alley, with one or more heavy balls, usually spherical but sometimes oblate, and several skittles, or small bowling pins. The general object of the game is to use the ball to knock over the skittles, either specific ones or all of them, exact rules vary widely on a regional basis. Front pin first In this variant of the game, pins are counted only if the front pin is knocked over first, if the front pin is missed, any pins that are knocked over are not reset. In Devon Summer League, this rule is played frequently, in Bristol, this is the form of the game played and all in skittles tends to be looked down upon as involving less skill. In Worcestershire this type of game is known as king pin. Nomination In this variant of the game, the player has to nominate the pin that will be hit first before the throw, unless this pin is knocked over, the player will not score. Four-pins In this variant of the game, only four pins are put up and it is often used in conjunction with nomination as well. Currently used in North Somerset Cup games, London Bridge A variant of nomination but with only the landlord and two coppers set up, i. e. one has to hit a pin with each ball and nominate which one each time. Killer or German skittles A game for any number of people, each bowls only one ball at a time. The first bowls at a frame and the skittles are not stuck up until all nine are hit down. Each time a player fails to hit a pin, he or she loses a life. The winner is the last one left with a life intact, usually played for money, e. g. £1 or 50p a game each player - the winner takes the pot. Found in the Somerset and Bristol areas, six-ball Westbury Another game for any number of people
10.
Karelia
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Karelia, the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and Finland, various subdivisions may be called Karelia. Finnish Karelia was a province of Finland, and is now divided between Finland and Russia, often called just Karjala in Finnish. The eastern part of this chiefly Lutheran area was ceded to Russia after the Winter War of 1939–40 and this area is the Karelia of the Karelian question in Finnish politics. The Republic of Karelia is a Russian federal subject, including the so-called East Karelia with a chiefly Russian Orthodox population, Karelia stretches from the White Sea coast to the Gulf of Finland. It contains the two largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, the Karelian Isthmus is located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. In the North there were the nomadic Samis, but no natural border except for huge woods, in historical texts Karelia is sometimes divided into East Karelia and West Karelia, which are also called Russian Karelia and Finnish Karelia respectively. The area to the north of Lake Ladoga which belonged to Finland before World War II is called Ladoga Karelia, White Sea Karelia is the northern part of East Karelia and Olonets Karelia is the southern part. Tver Karelia denotes the villages in the Tver Oblast that are inhabited by Tver Karelians, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 divided Karelia between the two. Viborg became the capital of the new Swedish province, in the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617 large parts of Russian Karelia were ceded to Sweden. Conflicts between the new Swedish rulers and the population of these areas led to an exodus, thousands of Karelians, including the ancestors of the Tver Karelians. The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 between Imperial Russia and Sweden ceded most of Karelia to Russia, after Finland had been occupied by Russia in the Finnish War, parts of the ceded provinces were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1917, Finland became independent and the border was confirmed by the Treaty of Tartu in 1920, Finnish partisans were involved in attempts to overthrow the Bolshevists in Russian Karelia in 1918–20, such as in the failed Aunus expedition. They also wanted to incorporate the rest of Karelia into Finland and these mainly private expeditions ended after the peace treaty of Tartu. After the end of the Russian Civil War and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, in 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, thus starting the Winter War. The Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940 handed most of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union, about 400,000 people, virtually the whole population, had to be relocated within Finland. In 1941, Karelia was liberated for three years during the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944 when East Karelia was occupied by the Finns. As a consequence of the treaty, the Karelian ASSR was incorporated with the Karelo-Finnish SSR 1941–1956
11.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
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Eau Claire is a city in Chippewa and Eau Claire counties in the west-central part of the U. S. state of Wisconsin. Located almost entirely in Eau Claire County, for which it is the county seat, Eau Claire is the principal city of the Eau Claire, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the Eau Claire-Menomonie Combined Statistical Area. Eau Claire took its name from Eau Claire County, Eau Claire is the singular form of the original French name, Eaux Claires, meaning Clear Waters, for the Eau Claire River. The city motto, which appears on the city seal, the name is pronounced as if it were spelled OClare. Eau Claire is located at 44°49′N 91°30′W, approximately 90 miles east of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the city is located on the northern fringes of the Driftless Zone. The city was founded near the confluence of the Eau Claire, the main section of downtown is on the site of the original village, where Stephen McCann, in partnership with J. C. Thomas, put up three buildings in 1845, although these structures were erected to establish a claim to the land they stood on, the McCann family moved into one of them and became the first permanent settlers. West Eau Claire, founded in 1856, was across the river near the county courthouse. Between a mile and a half and two miles downstream, the Daniel Shaw & Co. lumber company founded Shawtown, which was annexed by the 1930s, by the 1950s, the entire city had spread far enough to the east to adjoin Altoona. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 34.14 square miles. The terrain of the city is characterized by the river valleys, the lands into which the urban area is currently expanding are increasingly hilly. There are two lakes in the city, Dells Pond, and Half Moon Lake, Dells Pond is a reservoir created by a hydroelectric dam, and was formerly used as a holding pool for logs. Half Moon Lake is a lake created as part of the former course of the Chippewa River. As of 2000, the income for a household in the city was $36,399. Males had an income of $32,503 versus $23,418 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,230, about 5. 5% of families and 13. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10. 4% of those under age 18 and 7. 4% of those age 65 or over. As of the most recent census, the Eau Claire County portion had a population of 63,902 inhabitants, as of the census of 2010, there were 65,883 people,26,803 households, and 14,293 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,056.3 inhabitants per square mile, there were 28,134 housing units at an average density of 878.1 per square mile
12.
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
