1.
Samoa
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The Independent State of Samoa, commonly known as Samoa and, until 1997, known as Western Samoa, is a unitary parliamentary democracy with eleven administrative divisions. The two main islands are Savaii and Upolu with four smaller islands surrounding the landmasses, the Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a language and cultural identity. Samoa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, which includes American Samoa, was called Navigator Islands by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans seafaring skills. The oldest date so far for remains in Samoa has been calculated by New Zealand scientists to a true age of circa 3,000 years ago from a Lapita site at Mulifanua during the 1970s. The origins of the Samoans are closely studied in research about Polynesia in various scientific disciplines such as genetics, linguistics. Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century, jacob Roggeveen, a Dutchman, was the first known European to sight the Samoan islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768, contact was limited before the 1830s, which is when English missionaries and traders began arriving. Christian missionary work in Samoa began in 1830 by John Williams, of the London Missionary Society arriving in Sapapalii from The Cook Islands and Tahiti. However, Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in Samoa from 1889 until his death in 1894, wrote in A Footnote to History, Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, … the Samoans are gentle people. The Germans in particular began to show great commercial interest in the Samoan Islands, especially on the island of Upolu, the United States laid its own claim and formed alliances with local native chieftains, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila and Manua. Britain also sent troops to protect British business enterprise, harbour rights and this was followed by an eight-year civil war, during which each of the three powers supplied arms, training and in some cases combat troops to the warring Samoan parties. The Samoan crisis came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three colonial contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent, a massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict. The Second Samoan Civil War reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, the Siege of Apia occurred in March 1899. Samoan forces loyal to Prince Tanu were besieged by a force of Samoan rebels loyal to Mataafa Iosefo. Supporting Prince Tanu were landing parties from four British and American warships, after several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were finally defeated. American and British warships shelled Apia on 15 March 1899, including the USS Philadelphia, the eastern island-group became a territory of the United States and was known as American Samoa
2.
Matautu
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Matautu is the name of different villages in Samoa. Places named Matautu are found on the two largest islands, Upolu and Savaii, on Upolu island, Matautu, a village located on the central north coast of the island to the east of the capital Apia. Apia Harbor, the main port is located in Matautu. The village has been subdivided into two parts, matautu-tai is led by High Chief Toomalatai. Legend has it that wayfarers and travelers by sea must stop, Moaula is amongst the most revered spirits of Samoa. Matautu village, a sub-village or pito-nuu of Lefaga, situated south west coast, the film location of Return to Paradise starring Gary Cooper. On the island of Savaii, Matautu is a village district on the central north coast in the electoral constituency of Gagaemauga. Matautu is made up of smaller villages including Fagamalo, Avao, Lelepa, Safai. In more recent history Satoalepai has become part of Matautu, situated inland from Lelepa are Vaipouli College and Itu-o-Tane High School. Matautu share strong kinship and cultural ties as well as natural resources including water which is piped from a river at Vaipouli. During the late 1800s and the era of Samoa, Fagamalo. The centre included a hospital, school and court houses, tui Fiti a spirit deity in Samoan mythology resides in a sacred grove vao sa in Fagamalo. The Reverend George Pratt, a missionary of the London Missionary Society lived in Matautu for many years, Pratt authored the first Samoan English language dictionary A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language, with English and Samoan Vocabulary, first printed in 1862. According to oral history, Matautu is the district takes the lead in the attack during war. Matautu is also said to have settled by Fijians or people from a place called Fiti
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France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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Overseas France
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Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
5.
Wallis and Futuna
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Though both French and Polynesian, Wallis and Futuna is distinct from the entity known as French Polynesia. Its land area is 142.42 km2 with a population of about 12,000, Mata-Utu is the capital and biggest city. Since 2003, Wallis and Futuna has been a French overseas collectivity, between 1961 and 2003, it had the status of a French overseas territory, though its official name did not change when the status changed. Polynesians settled the islands that would later be called Wallis and Futuna around the year 1000 AD/CE, the original inhabitants built forts and other identifiable ruins on the islands, some of which are still partially intact. Pierre Chanel, canonized as a saint in 1954, is a patron of the island of Futuna. The Wallis Islands are named after the British explorer, Samuel Wallis, on 5 April 1842, the missionaries asked for the protection of France after the rebellion of a part of the local population. On 5 April 1887, the Queen of Uvea signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate. The kings of Sigave and Alo on the islands of Futuna, the islands were put under the authority of the French colony of New Caledonia. In 1917, the three kingdoms were annexed to France and turned into the Colony of Wallis and Futuna. During World War II the islands’ administration was pro-Vichy until a Free French corvette from New Caledonia deposed the regime on 26 May 1942, units of the US Marine Corps landed on Wallis on 29 May 1942. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French overseas territory, effective in 1961, in 2005, the 50th King of Uvea, Tomasi Kulimoetoke II, faced being deposed after giving sanctuary to his grandson who was convicted of manslaughter. The King claimed his grandson should be judged by tribal law rather than by the French penal system, there were riots in the streets involving the Kings supporters, who were victorious over attempts to replace the King. Two years later, Tomasi Kulimoetoke died on 7 May 2007, the state was in a six-month period of mourning. During this period, mentioning a successor was forbidden, on 25 July 2008, Kapiliele Faupala was installed as King despite protests from some of the royal clans. As an overseas collectivity of France, it is governed under the French constitution of 28 September 1958, the head of state is President François Hollande of France as represented by the Administrator-Superior Michel Jeanjean. The President of the Territorial Assembly is Petelo Hanisi since 11 December 2013, the Council of the Territory consists of three kings and three members appointed by the high administrator on the advice of the Territorial Assembly. The legislative branch consists of the unicameral Territorial Assembly or Assemblée territoriale of 20 seats, Wallis and Futuna elects one senator to the French Senate and one deputy to the French National Assembly. Justice is generally administered under French law by a tribunal of first instance in Mata-Utu, the Court of Appeal is in Nouméa, New Caledonia
6.
Wallis (island)
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Wallis is a Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It lies north of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east-northeast of the Hoorn islands, east of Fijis Rotuma, southeast of Tuvalu, southwest of Tokelau and its area is almost 100 km2 with almost 11,000 people. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion and its highest point is Mount Lulu Fakahega. Wallis is of volcanic origin with fertile soil and some remaining lakes, the island has an area of 77,5 km² and a circumference of c.50 km. Its highest point is Mount Lulu Fakahega, there are also a handful of large lakes such as Lake Lalolalo, a sign of the islands volcanic origin, some of them almost perfect circles and with straight vertical walls, like Lalolalo, Lanutavake. Uvea is located 240 km northeast of Futuna and Alofi islands which form the Hoorn archipelago, together with some 15 smaller islands surrounding it, on its huge barrier reef, it forms the Wallis archipelago. Wallis has a volcanic soil and sufficient rainfall to allow subsistence farming. Uvea is subdivided into three districts, Hihifo,5 Villages, Vailala, Tufuone, Vaitupu, Malae, Hahake,6 Villages, Liku, Akaaka, Mata-Utu, Ahoa, Falaleu, and Haafuasia. Mua,10 Villages, Lavegahau, Tepa, Gahi, Ha’atofo, Mala’efo’ou, Kolopo, Halalo, Utufua, Vaimalau, sub-equatorial oceanic trade wind, hot and humid. The average temperature is around 26 °C all year round and there is almost never drops below 24 °C, rainfall is 2500–3000 mm per year, up to 4,000 millimetres in Wallis and Futuna. This rain is likely at least 260 days in a year, the rainy season lasts from November to April. The same period, the season of storms, is associated with the passage over the territory of the islands of powerful tropical cyclones. It is followed - May to October–December - by a more cool, archaeological excavations have identified sites on Wallis dating from circa 1400 AD. It was part of the Tongan maritime empire from around the 13th to 16th century, by that time the influence of the Tuʻi Tonga had declined so much that ʻUvea became important in itself. Several current, high-ranking Tongan titles, like Halaevalu, trace their descent from ʻUvea, a legendary large canoe, the Lomipeau, was built on the island as a donation to the Tuʻi Tonga. The big fortress of Talietumu close to Lotoalahi in Mua was the last holdout of the Tongans until they were defeated, the ruins of the place are still a tourist attraction. The island was renamed Wallis after a Cornish navigator, Captain Samuel Wallis, on 5 April 1842, the authorities of Wallis Island requested protection by France with a protectorate treaty signed in April 1887. During World War II the islands administration was pro-Vichy until a Free French corvette from New Caledonia deposed the regime on 26 May 1942, units of the US Marine Corps landed on Wallis on 29 May 1942
7.
Uvea (Wallis and Futuna)
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ʻUvea is one of the three official chiefdoms of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna in Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. ʻUvea encompasses the whole of Wallis and the surrounding islets, the total area of the kingdom is 96 square kilometres with a population of 10,731 spread over three districts. The capital city and largest village is Matāʻutu, situated on the east coast with a population of 1,100, the two archaeological sites of Talietumu and Tonga Toto are remains from that period. The kingdom of ʻUvea was founded sometimes in the 15th century, april 5,1887 the island became a French protectorate after queen Amelia Tokagahahau Aliki signed a treaty with France but keeping her royal powers. In 1888 Sigave and Alo also signed the treaty with France thus creating the Wallis, in 1961 the status was upgraded to being a French overseas territory and in 2003 Wallis and Futuna became a French overseas collectivity, but the local royal powers continue. Wallis Island List of kings of Uvea Dance of Wallis and Futuna Detailed map ot Uvea Pictures from Uvea About Uvea Flag of Uvea at Flags of the World
8.
Hahake District
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Hakake is one of the 5 districts of Wallis and Futuna, located in Wallis Island, in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Chiefdom of Uvea, located in the middle of the island, Hahake borders with the districts of Hihifo and Mua. Mata-Utu is the capital of the district, and of the Wallis, the districts is divided into 6 municipal villages, Alofivai Talietumu Map showing the location of Mata-Utu Picture of the lagoon of Mata-Utu Google
9.
Capital (political)
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
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Island
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An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge. Example, Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, there are two main types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
11.
Futuna (Wallis and Futuna)
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Futuna is an 80 km2 island with 5,000 people and max. elevation of 500 m in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It is one of the Hoorn Islands or Îles Horne, nearby Alofi being the other and they are both a remnant of an old extinct volcano, now bordered with a fringing reef. The island is famous as the place where Pierre Chanel was martyred in 1841, becoming Polynesias one, Futuna takes its name from an endonym derived from the local futu, fish-poison tree. The population is 4,871, of which 2,991 reside in Alo and 1,880 in Sigave. Futunas highest point is Mont Puke with 524 m, and the island has an area of 83 km², Futuna and Alofi were put on the European maps by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire during their famous circumnavigation of the globe with the ship the Eendracht in 1616. After having come from Niuafoʻou, they changed their course from west to northwest. They called it Hoorn Eylanden, after the city of Hoorn, Schoutens birthplace and they found a beautiful bay, a natural harbour along the southwest coast of Futuna, which they called after the ship the Eendrachts baai. This must be the Anse de Sigave near Leava of today and they went ashore on to get water and met the king, who told his subjects that their guests were not to be disturbed by petty thieving. In this amiable way the Dutch were able to replenish their stocks, a few days later the king of the other island, Alofi, came to visit with 300 men. The two kings were extremely courteous to each other, and a big feast was prepared, a kava ceremony and ʻumu were organised. Schouten and LeMaire were probably the first Europeans ever to witness these, not having been bothered by thieving and hostilities, Schouten and LeMaire had the opportunity to study Futuna a little bit more carefully than the Niua islands. But their description of the islanders is not flattering, although they praise the men for being well proportioned, the women they found ugly, ill-shaped with breasts hanging down to their bellies as empty satchels. They all went naked and copulated in public, even in front of their revered king, two kings, elected from the local nobility every few years, rule the population in conjunction with French authorities. They are the king of Sigave, the province, and the king of Alo. Except for Poi all villages are along the southwest coast, and they are from west to east, Toloke, Fiua, Vaisei, Nuku, and Leava in Sigave, and Taoa, Malaʻe, Ono, Kolia and Vele in Alo. As on ʻUvea, all Futunans are deeply religious Catholic and the number of churches, chapels, although the island is closer to Tonga and farther from Sāmoa than ʻUvea, the vernacular and culture are more Sāmoan. The languages spoken are Futunan and French, there are six primary schools on Futuna. The island also has two high schools, Fiua de Sigave and Sisia dOno
12.
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Mata-Utu
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It is a dominant edifice in downtown Mata-Utu town, capital of Wallis Island. It bears the insignia of Wallis, a Maltese cross between its towers. The cathedral is known as the Our Lady of Good Hope Cathedral. It is the seat of Bishop Ghislain Marie Raoul Suzanne de Rasilly, the cathedral overlooks the Wallis lagoon from Mata-Utu, which is the largest town and capital of Wallis Island and the territory as a whole. The Palace of the King of Uvéa, which features two-storey verandas, on the opposite side of the wharf is a platform known as Fale Fono which was used by Chief of the local tribes to address people. Several restaurants, markets, hotels and the post office are near the cathedral, the massive stone cathedral was built by the Marists, a French Roman Catholic religious order. The imposing cathedral is built with blue volcanic stones, chiseled and trimmed by hand and it has two prominent towers, rectangular in shape, dominating the landscape near the wharf. Between the two towers, a blue Maltese cross has been affixed, which appears on the flag of Wallis. The massive cathedral structure represents a distinctive bulwark of Gaulish Catholicism, in 1951, construction of a coral block cathedral began. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, MatâUtu at Structurae Location of the cathedral
13.
Tonga
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Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited. The total surface area is about 750 square kilometres scattered over 700,000 square kilometres of the southern Pacific Ocean and it has a population of 103,000 people of whom 70% reside on the main island of Tongatapu. Tonga stretches across approximately 800 kilometres in a north-south line and it is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, Niue to the east, Kermadec to the southwest, and New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the farther west. Tonga became known in the West as the Friendly Islands because of the reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773. He arrived at the time of the festival, the yearly donation of the First Fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga. According to the writer William Mariner, the wanted to kill Cook during the gathering. From 1900 to 1970, Tonga had British protected state status, the country never relinquished its sovereignty to any foreign power. In many Polynesian languages including Tongan, the word tonga means south, the name of Tonga is cognate to the Hawaiian region of Kona. In Malay, the name of Tonga is also cognate to the word Tenggara, an Austronesian-speaking group linked to the archaeological construct known as the Lapita cultural complex reached and inhabited Tonga around 1500–1000 BCE. Scholars have much debated the exact dates of the settlement of Tonga. Not much is known before European contact because of the lack of a writing system, in the 15th century and again in the 17th, civil war erupted. The Tongan people first encountered Europeans in 1616 when the Dutch vessel Eendracht, captained by Willem Schouten, later came other Dutch explorers, including Jacob Le Maire, and in 1643 Abel Tasman. In 1845, the young warrior, strategist, and orator Tāufaʻāhau united Tonga into a kingdom. He held the title of Tuʻi Kanokupolu, but had been baptised by Methodist missionaries with the name Siaosi in 1831. Tonga became a state under a Treaty of Friendship with Britain on 18 May 1900. The treaty posted no higher permanent representative on Tonga than a British Consul, under the protection of Britain, Tonga maintained its sovereignty, and remained the only Pacific nation to retain its monarchical government. The Tongan monarchy follows a succession of hereditary rulers from one family. The 1918 flu pandemic, brought to Tonga by a ship from New Zealand, killed 1,800 Tongans, the Treaty of Friendship and Tongas protection status ended in 1970 under arrangements established by Queen Salote Tupou III prior to her death in 1965
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Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
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Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
16.
Free France
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It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support
17.
Vichy France
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Vichy France is the common name of the French State headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. In particular, it represents the southern, unoccupied Free Zone that governed the southern part of the country, from 1940 to 1942, while the Vichy regime was the nominal government of France as a whole, Germany militarily occupied northern France. Thus, while Paris remained the de jure capital of France, following the Allied landings in French North Africa in November 1942, southern France was also militarily occupied by Germany and Italy. The Vichy government remained in existence, but as a de facto client and it vanished in late 1944 when the Allies occupied all of France. After being appointed Premier by President Albert Lebrun, Marshal Pétain ordered the French Governments military representatives to sign an armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940, Pétain subsequently established an authoritarian regime when the National Assembly of the French Third Republic granted him full powers on 10 July 1940. At that point, the Third Republic was dissolved, calling for National Regeneration, the French Government at Vichy reversed many liberal policies and began tight supervision of the economy, with central planning a key feature. Labour unions came under government control. The independence of women was reversed, with a put on motherhood. Paris lost its status in European art and culture. The media were tightly controlled and stressed virulent anti-Semitism, and, after June 1941, the French State maintained nominal sovereignty over the whole of French territory, but had effective full sovereignty only in the unoccupied southern zone libre. It had limited and only civil authority in the zones under military occupation. The occupation was to be a state of affairs, pending the conclusion of the war. The French Government at Vichy never joined the Axis alliance, Germany kept two million French soldiers prisoner, carrying out forced labour. They were hostages to ensure that Vichy would reduce its forces and pay a heavy tribute in gold, food. French police were ordered to round up immigrant Jews and other such as communists. Public opinion in some quarters turned against the French government and the occupying German forces over time, when it became clear that Germany was losing the war, and resistance to them increased. Most of the legal French governments leaders at Vichy fled or were subject to show trials by the GPRF, thousands of collaborators were summarily executed by local communists and the Resistance in so-called savage purges. The last of the French State exiles were captured in the Sigmaringen enclave by de Gaulles French 1st Armoured Division in April 1945, in 1940, Marshal Pétain was known as a First World War hero, the victor of the battle of Verdun
18.
Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
19.
Maltese cross
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The cross is a white eight-pointed cross having the form of four V-shaped elements, each joining the others at its vertex, leaving the other two tips spread outward symmetrically. This is placed on a red background or worn on a black mantle, the term is often wrongly applied to all forms of eight-pointed crosses irrespective of colour or background. The geometric shape of a cross is found in antiquity. The association with Amalfi may go back to the 11th century, claims by Amalfi that it first appears on their coins in the 11th century is only a reference to a then common style of the 8-point cross pattee. Therefore, Amalfis claim to the Maltese Cross is through extension from the founder of the order, the term Amalfi Cross only developed after the 8-point cross was introduced on Malta in 1567. The Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades used a plain Latin cross, however, these 8-points do not signify that the shape required was that of the four-arrowhead form of 1567, or anything near it, as there are many variants of an 8-point cross. The association with Malta arose after the Knights Hospitaller moved from Rhodes to Malta in 1530, the first evidence for use of the Maltese Cross on Malta appears on the 2 Tarì and 4 Tarì Copper coins of the Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette. The 2 and 4 Tarì Copper coins are dated 1567 and this provides a date for the introduction of the Maltese Cross. The Maltese cross was depicted on the two mils coin in the old Maltese currency and is now shown on the back of the one and two Euro coins, introduced in January 2008. John remains the symbol of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, of the Order of Saint John and its orders, of the Venerable Order of Saint John. In past centuries, numerous other orders have adopted the cross as part of their insignia. In Australia, the cross is part of the state emblem of Queensland. In 1967, flight tests were conducted at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to determine the most highly visible, however, in the late 1970s, the FAA administrator repealed this standard when it was charged that the Maltese Cross was anti-semitic. In the United States today, there are still some helipads that remain bearing their original Maltese Cross emblem, the Maltese cross is displayed as part of the Maltese civil ensign. The Maltese euro coins of one and two euro denomination carry the Maltese cross and it is also the trademark of Air Malta, Maltas national airline. Austrias two highest decorations, the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, have the eight-pointed Cross as their basis. In Belgium, the cross is the basis of two of the countrys royal orders of merit, the Order of Leopold and the Order of Leopold II. The Order of Bravery is the highest military decoration of the Kingdom of Bulgaria and of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Pour le Mérite, Imperial Germanys highest award for military valor, was a blue-enameled Eight-pointed Cross with golden eagles between the arms
20.
CFP franc
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The CFP franc is the currency used in the French overseas collectivities of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The initials CFP originally stood for Colonies Françaises du Pacifique and this was later changed to Communauté Financière du Pacifique and then to the present term, Change Franc Pacifique. The ISO4217 currency code is XPF, the CFP franc was created in December 1945, together with the CFA franc, used in Africa. The reason for the creation of these francs was the weakness of the French franc immediately after the Second World War, when France ratified the Bretton Woods Agreement in December 1945, the French franc was devalued in order to set a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. New currencies were created in the French colonies to spare them the strong devaluation of December 1945. ”The CFA franc and the other colonial currencies were set at a fixed exchange rate with the French franc. However, the CFP franc was set at an exchange rate with the US dollar. That situation ended in September 1949 when the CFP franc was given a fixed rate with the French franc. The CFP franc has been issued by the IEOM since 1967, the IEOM has its headquarters in Paris. The currency was issued in three distinct forms for French Polynesia, New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. Wallis and Futuna used the New Caledonian franc, in 1969, the New Hebrides franc was separated from the CFP franc and was replaced by the Vanuatu vatu in 1982. The new highest denomination 10,000 CFP franc banknote issued on 1 October 1986, was the first one that was not overprinted with a city name. The 500 franc banknote, issued in 1992, and the 1000 and 5000 franc banknotes, the designs of the 500,1000,5000 franc banknotes did not change till 2014, when news designs and sizes were introduced. Today, all banknotes are strictly identical from New Caledonia to French Polynesia, one side of the banknotes shows landscapes or historical figures of French Polynesia, while the other side of the banknotes shows landscapes or historical figures of New Caledonia. Both sets of coins can be used in all three French territories, the situation of the CFP coins is thus quite similar to that of the euro coins, which have a national side but can be used in all countries of the eurozone. December 26,1945 to September 20,1949 – Fixed exchange with the US dollar at 1 USD =49.6 XPF, non-fixed exchange rate with the French franc, which devaluates 4 times vs. the US dollar. From 1 XPF =2.40 FRF in December 1945, in 1949, New Caledonia and what was then called French Oceania began to issue coins. The coins have been separated in two types, the obverses are identical, whilst the reverses are distinct, both types of coins can be used in all three French territories. The situation of the CFP coins is quite similar to that of the euro coins
21.
Assumption of Mary
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The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. This doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950. In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, in many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church and as a festival in the Anglican Communion. The Catholic Church itself interprets chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation as referring to it, the earliest known narrative is the so-called Liber Requiei Mariae, which survives intact only in an Ethiopic translation. Probably composed by the 4th century, this Christian apocryphal narrative may be as early as the 3rd century, also quite early are the very different traditions of the Six Books Dormition narratives. The earliest versions of this apocryphon are preserved by several Syriac manuscripts of the 5th and 6th centuries, although the text itself probably belongs to the 4th century. The story also appears in De Transitu Virginis, a late 5th century work ascribed to St. Melito of Sardis that presents a theologically redacted summary of the traditions in the Liber Requiei Mariae. The Transitus Mariae tells the story of the apostles being transported by white clouds to the deathbed of Mary, the Decretum Gelasianum in the 490s declared some transitus Mariae literature apocryphal. An Armenian letter attributed to Dionysus the Areopagite also mentioned the supposed event, john of Damascus, from this period, is the first church authority to advocate the doctrine under his own name. His contemporaries, Gregory of Tours and Modestus of Jerusalem, helped promote the concept to the wider church. In some versions of the story, the event is said to have taken place in Ephesus, in the House of the Virgin Mary, although this is a more recent. The earliest traditions locate the end of Marys life in Jerusalem, in a later tradition, Mary drops her girdle down to the apostle from heaven as testament to the event. This incident is depicted in later paintings of the Assumption. It was celebrated in the West under Pope Sergius I in the 8th century, theological debate about the Assumption continued, following the Reformation, climaxing in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined it as dogma for the Catholic Church. Catholic theologian Ludwig Ott stated, The idea of the assumption of Mary is first expressed in certain transitus-narratives of the fifth and sixth centuries. The first Church author to speak of the assumption of Mary. The Catholic writer Eamon Duffy states that there is, clearly, however, the Catholic Church has never asserted nor denied that its teaching is based on the apocryphal accounts. The Church documents are silent on this matter and instead rely upon other sources, Pope Pius XII deliberately left open the question of whether Mary died before her Assumption
22.
Talietumu
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Talietumu or more correctly Kolo Nui is an archaeological site in Wallis and Futuna in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Talietumu is situated about 9 km southwest of the capital of Mata-Utu, the site was a fortified Tongan settlement called Kolo Nui and the whole fortress is surrounded by a strong defensive wall build of basalt with several entrances. Inside the fort there are a few preserved buildings and structures, lawns, the platform is of circular prolonged shape upon a circular stockade base. Raised walkways paved in stone start from the malae and radiate outward from within the fort, the fort was built around 1450 during the expansion of the Tui Tonga Empire and it was the last holdout of the Tongans on Uvea until they were defeated. The platform now measures about 5 meters in height and about 80 m in length, today the ruins of the fortress are a popular tourist attraction. About Talietumu pictures from Talietumu drawing of Talietumu
23.
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
24.
Google
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Google is an American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products. These include online advertising technologies, search, cloud computing, software, Google was founded in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph. D. students at Stanford University, in California. Together, they own about 14 percent of its shares, and they incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4,1998. An initial public offering took place on August 19,2004, in August 2015, Google announced plans to reorganize its various interests as a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc. Google, Alphabets leading subsidiary, will continue to be the company for Alphabets Internet interests. Upon completion of the restructure, Sundar Pichai became CEO of Google, replacing Larry Page, rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond Googles core search engine. The company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome web browser, and Chrome OS, the new hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, stated, a lot of the innovation that we want to do now ends up requiring controlling the end-to-end user experience. Google has also experimented with becoming an Internet carrier, alexa, a company that monitors commercial web traffic, lists Google. com as the most visited website in the world. Several other Google services also figure in the top 100 most visited websites, including YouTube, Googles mission statement, from the outset, was to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful, and its unofficial slogan was Dont be evil. In October 2015, the motto was replaced in the Alphabet corporate code of conduct by the phrase Do the right thing, Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in Stanford, California. They called this new technology PageRank, it determined a websites relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine BackRub, because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. Originally, Google ran under Stanford Universitys website, with the domains google. stanford. edu, the domain name for Google was registered on September 15,1997, and the company was incorporated on September 4,1998. It was based in the garage of a friend in Menlo Park, craig Silverstein, a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first employee. The first funding for Google was an August 1998 contribution of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given before Google was incorporated. At least three other investors invested in 1998, Amazon. com founder Jeff Bezos, Stanford University computer science professor David Cheriton. Author Ken Auletta claims that each invested $250,000, early in 1999, Brin and Page decided they wanted to sell Google to Excite. They went to Excite CEO George Bell and offered to sell it to him for $1 million, vinod Khosla, one of Excites venture capitalists, talked the duo down to $750,000, but Bell still rejected it. Googles initial public offering took place five years later, on August 19,2004, at that time Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt agreed to work together at Google for 20 years, until the year 2024
25.
Google Maps
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Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets, real-time traffic conditions, Google maps began as a C++ desktop program designed by Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen at Where 2 Technologies. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application, after additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a realtime traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005. The services front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and Ajax, Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and offers a locator for urban businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. Google Map Maker allows users to expand and update the services mapping worldwide. Much of the satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis. Google Maps uses a variant of the Mercator projection. The current redesigned version of the application was made available in 2013. Google Maps for mobile was released in September 2008 and features GPS turn-by-turn navigation, in August 2013, it was determined to be the worlds most popular app for smartphones, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it at least once. In 2012, Google reported having over 7,100 employees, Google Maps provides a route planner under Get Directions. Up to four modes of transportation are available depending on the area, driving, public transit, walking, in combination with Google Street View, issues such as parking, turning lanes, and one-way streets can be viewed before traveling. China mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Jordan, Lebanon, only public transit directions are provided for South Korea. All countries of mainland North and Central America are covered contiguously, all countries of mainland South America are covered. All countries including Trinidad and Tobago* are treated contiguously, all inhabited countries and territories in the Caribbean are covered, though in general there are no connections between islands. Like many other Google web applications, Google Maps uses JavaScript extensively, as the user drags the map, the grid squares are downloaded from the server and inserted into the page. When a user searches for a business, the results are downloaded in the background for insertion into the panel and map. Locations are drawn dynamically by positioning a red pin on top of the map images, a hidden IFrame with form submission is used because it preserves browser history. The site also uses JSON for data rather than XML
France
Wallis and Futuna
