1.
Great Depression
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The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the economy can decline. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4,1929. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s, however, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%, unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 optimism persisted for some time, john D. Rockefeller said These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come, prosperity has always returned and will again. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April and this was still almost 30% below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom had suffered losses in the stock market the previous year. In addition, beginning in the mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U. S, by mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. By May 1930, automobile sales had declined to below the levels of 1928, prices in general began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930
2.
2011 Christchurch earthquake
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An earthquake occurred in Christchurch on 22 February 2011 at 12,51 p. m. local time and registered 6.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake caused damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nations fifth-deadliest natural disaster. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt, the earthquake was felt across the South Island and parts of the lower and central North Island. Subsequent population loss saw the Christchurch main urban area fall behind the Wellington equivalent to decrease from second to third most populous area in New Zealand,185 people from more than 20 countries died in the earthquake. Over half of the deaths occurred in the six-storey Canterbury Television Building, an additional 28 people were killed in various places across the city centre, and twelve were killed in suburban Christchurch. Due to the injuries sustained some bodies remained unidentified, between 6,600 and 6,800 people were treated for minor injuries, and Christchurch Hospital alone treated 220 major trauma cases connected to the quake. Rescue efforts continued for over a week, then shifted into recovery mode, the last survivor was pulled from the rubble the day after the quake. The nationalities of the deceased are as follows, road and bridge damage occurred and hampered rescue efforts. Soil liquefaction and surface flooding also occurred, road surfaces were forced up by liquefaction, and water and sand were spewing out of cracks. A number of cars were crushed by falling debris, in the central city, two buses were crushed by falling buildings. Because the earthquake hit during the hour, some people on the footpaths were buried by collapsed buildings. Damage occurred to older buildings, particularly those with unreinforced masonry. Of the 3,000 buildings inspected within the four avenues of the city by 3 March 2011. Many heritage buildings were given red stickers after inspections, as of February 2015, there had been 1240 demolitions within the four avenues since the September 2010 earthquakes. The six-storey Canterbury Television building collapsed in the earthquake, leaving only its lift shaft standing,115 people died in the building, which housed a TV station, a medical clinic and an English language school. On 23 February police decided that the damage was not survivable, fire-fighting and recovery operations resumed that night, later joined by a Japanese search and rescue squad. Twelve Japanese students from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages died in the building collapse, a government report later found that the buildings construction was faulty and should not have been approved. The four-storey Pyne Gould Guinness House on Cambridge Terrace, headquarters of Pyne Gould Corporation, collapsed, on Wednesday morning,22 hours after the quake, a survivor was pulled from the rubble
3.
European New Zealanders
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European New Zealanders, or White New Zealanders, are New Zealanders of European descent. The term European New Zealander also includes people who are of indirect European descent, such as Americans, Canadians. The Māori term Pākehā is sometimes used as a synonym for European New Zealander, Cook claimed New Zealand for Britain on his arrival in 1769. The establishment of British colonies in Australia from 1788 and the boom in whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean brought many Europeans to the vicinity of New Zealand. Whalers and sealers were often itinerant and the first real settlers were missionaries, some of the early visitors stayed and lived with Māori tribes as Pākehā Māori. Often whalers and traders married Māori women of status which served to cement trade and political alliances as well as bringing wealth. By 1830 there was a population of about 800 non Māori which included a total of about 200 runaway convicts, the seamen often lived in New Zealand for a short time before joining another ship a few months later. In 1839 there were 1100 Europeans living in the North Island, by this time, many Māori, especially in the north, could read and write Māori and to a lesser extent English. European migration has resulted in a deep legacy being left on the social and political structures of New Zealand, early visitors to New Zealand included whalers, sealers, missionaries, mariners, and merchants, attracted to natural resources in abundance. They came from the Australian colonies, Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, The United States, British sovereignty was then proclaimed over New Zealand in May 1840. Some would later argue that the proclamation of sovereignty was in conflict with the treaty which in its Maori version had guaranteed sovereignty to the Maori who signed it. By the end of the 1850s the European and Mäori populations were of a size as immigration. Following the formalising of British sovereignty, the organised and structured flow of migrants from Great Britain, government-chartered ships like the clipper Gananoque and the Glentanner carried immigrants to New Zealand. Ships would then head north once in the vicinity of New Zealand, the Glentanner migrant ship of 610 tonnes made two runs to New Zealand and several to Australia carrying 400 tonne of passengers and cargo. Travel time was about 3 to 3 1/2 months to New Zealand, cargo carried on the Glentanner for New Zealand included coal, slate, lead sheet, wine, beer, cart components, salt, soap and passengers personal goods. On the 1857 passage the ship carried 163 official passengers, most of government assisted. On the return trip the ship carried a cargo worth 45,000 pounds. In the 1860s discovery of gold started a rush in Otago
4.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
5.
Statistics New Zealand
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Statistics New Zealand is the public service department of New Zealand charged with collecting and producing information of a statistical nature. Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, there is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services, manages publishing and customer services, industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills. Many of the powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a state organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the Statistics Act 1975. The department conducts the census five years. The census is officially done on one day, the most recent census was on 5 March 2013. This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, the department supplies a wide variety of information. In addition, it analyzes trends and publishes forecasts, the agency does not involve itself with political polling generally. The agency provides information to the public, many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website, users can download spreadsheets electronically. Information from demographers is used as material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy, for example, Statistics New Zealand demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote, Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events. Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples and their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline New Zealand women stop having babies. The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Statistics New Zealand information is used by government to explore tough problems, agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in Connecting the Clouds - the Internet in New Zealand, author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases, data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source and this information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programmes such as Radio New Zealand National have quoted agency data, some agency policies result in controversy
6.
Wizard of New Zealand
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The Wizard of New Zealand QSM is a New Zealand educator, comedian, magician and politician. Ian Brackenbury Channell was born on 4 December 1932 in London, shortly afterwards, he was recruited by the University of Western Australia Adult Education Board to run their community arts programme. In 1967 he joined the staff of the newly opened School of Sociology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. During the student upheavals, which began at this time, he created a direct action reform movement called Alf, the result was a revitalisation of the university referred to in the Sydney Morning Herald as the university that swings. His head of department, convinced he was mad, dismissed him without consultation for insufficient progress in his thesis in the sociology of art and he began to experiment with his own identity and allowed his driving licence, social security ID, passport and other important documents to lapse. After travelling to the World University Service headquarters in Geneva he received their backing to travel round Australian universities to promote his new revitalisation movement. In a condition of considerable hardship, he was able to persuade Melbourne University Union Activities Department to appoint him their unpaid Cosmologer, Living Work of Art. He founded the Imperial British Conservative Party to provide a counterbalance to international capitalism, in 1974 the Wizard migrated to Christchurch in New Zealand and began to speak on a ladder in Cathedral Square. The city council attempted to have him arrested but he became so popular that they made the square a public speaking area. Wearing his costume as a prophet of the Church of England or his wizards pointy hat, he has been speaking there at lunchtimes in the summer months ever since. Soon afterwards, accompanied by 42 assistant wizards, he came down by gondola from the Port Hills with tablets bearing the address of his new website. In 1990 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mike Moore and he had been providing his services free until recently, when the Christchurch City Council granted him a modest annual honorarium. The Wizard has received support from his partner, Alice Flett. On 8 September 2003 the Wizards large wooden house was destroyed by a fire, the Wizard, his partner and two boarders were lucky to escape with their lives and the Wizards extensive book and video collections were destroyed. The Wizardmobile, constructed from the front halves of two VW Beetles, was attacked and damaged. After the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake the Wizard planned to retire and leave Christchurch for good, saying that the town he loved had gone and that it was the end of an era. After it was announced by CERA and the Anglican bishop that the remains of Christchurch Cathedral would be demolished, the Wizard continues to speak on the need to preserve Christchurchs heritage buildings. The Wizard was awarded the Queens Service Medal in the 2009 Birthday Honours, the Wizard performed in Cathedral Square on weekdays from 1–2pm from November to Easter
7.
Demographics of New Zealand
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The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 4.7 million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders, informally known as Kiwis, predominantly live in areas on the North Island. The five largest cities are Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton, few New Zealanders live on New Zealands smaller islands. Waiheke Island is easily the most populated island with 9,150 residents, while Great Barrier Island. New Zealand is part of a realm and most people born in the external territories of Tokelau, the Ross Dependency. In 2006, more people who identified themselves with these islands lived in New Zealand than on the Islands themselves, the majority of New Zealands population is of European descent, with the indigenous Māori being the largest minority, followed by Asians and non-Māori Pacific Islanders. This is reflected in immigration, with most new migrants coming from Britain and Ireland, in 2001 an estimated 460,000 New Zealanders lived abroad, mostly in Australia, representing nearly one-quarter of NZs highly skilled workforce. The largest Māori iwi is Ngapuhi with 122,211 people or 24 percent of the Māori population. Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand with 56.5 percent identifying as Europeans,18.9 percent as Asian,11.1 percent as Māori and 14.4 percent as other Pacific Islanders. The ethnicity of the aged under 18 years is more diverse than the population aged 65 years or older. Recent increases in interracial marriages have resulted in more people identifying with more than one ethnic group, approximately three-quarters of the population of New Zealand during the census were of European ethnicity. English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages, New Zealand English is mostly non-rhotic and sounds similar to Australian English, with a common exception being the centralisation of the short i. The Maori language has undergone a process of revitalisation and is spoken by 4.1 percent of the population, New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent and over half of the population aged 15 to 29 hold a tertiary qualification. As of the 2013 census, just under half the population identify as Christians, with Hinduism, Buddhism, New Zealand has no state religion and just over 40% of the population do not have a religion. Farming is an occupation in New Zealand, although more people are employed as sales assistants. Most New Zealanders earn wage or salary income, with a personal income in 2013 of $28,500. Unemployment stood at 5.1 percent in June 2016, while the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is New Zealander, the informal Kiwi is commonly used both internationally and by locals. The name derives from the kiwi, a flightless bird
8.
Census
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A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population, the term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses, other common censuses include agriculture, business, and traffic censuses. United Nations recommendations also cover census topics to be collected, official definitions, classifications, the word is of Latin origin, during the Roman Republic, the census was a list that kept track of all adult males fit for military service. Current administrative data systems allow for other approaches to enumeration with the level of detail but raise concerns about privacy. A census can be contrasted with sampling in which information is obtained only from a subset of a population, typically main population estimates are updated by such intercensal estimates. Modern census data are used for research, business marketing, and planning. Census counts are necessary to adjust samples to be representative of a population by weighting them as is common in opinion polling, similarly, stratification requires knowledge of the relative sizes of different population strata which can be derived from census enumerations. In some countries, the census provides the official used to apportion the number of elected representatives to regions. In many cases, a carefully chosen random sample can provide accurate information than attempts to get a population census. A census is often construed as the opposite of a sample as its intent is to count everyone in a rather than a fraction. However, population censuses rely on a frame to count the population. This is the way to be sure that everyone has been included as otherwise those not responding would not be followed up on. The fundamental premise of a census is that the population is not known, the use of a sampling frame is counterintuitive as it suggests that the population size is already known. However, a census is also used to collect data on the individuals in the nation. This process of sampling marks the difference between historical census, which was a house to house process or the product of a decree. The sampling frame used by census is almost always an address register, thus it is not known if there is anyone resident or how many people there are in each household. Depending on the mode of enumeration, a form is sent to the householder, as a preliminary to the dispatch of forms, census workers will check any address problems on the ground. While it may seem straightforward to use the postal service file for this purpose, a particular problem is what are termed communal establishments which category includes student residences, religious orders, homes for the elderly, people in prisons etc
9.
New Zealand census
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The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 2013 census took place on Tuesday,5 March 2013. Since 1926, the census has always held on a Tuesday. Since 1966, the census officially occurs at midnight on a Tuesday in March and these are statistically the month and weekday on which New Zealanders are least likely to be travelling. All census forms are hand-delivered by census workers during the lead-in to the census, with one form per person, in addition, teams of census workers attempt to cover all hospitals, camp grounds, workplaces and transport systems where people might be found at midnight. The smallest geographic unit used in the census for population data is the mesh block, which there are 39,300 of, with an average of 110 people in each. The 2013 Census collected data on the topics, The first full census in New Zealand was conducted in 1851. The 1931 census was cancelled due to the effects of the Great Depression, the 1946 census was brought forward to Tuesday 25 September 1945, so that the results could be used for an electoral redistribution before the 1946 election. Results for those censuses before 1966 have been destroyed with a few exceptions, the 2006 census was held on Tuesday,7 March. For the first time, respondents had the option of completing their census form via the Internet rather than by a printed form, the 2011 census was to be held on Tuesday,8 March. However, due to the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011, for the first time ever, all 2011 census forms would have been digitally archived. On 27 May 2011 Statistics New Zealand announced that a census would take place in March 2013, the legislation required to change the census date was introduced to Parliament in August 2011. The 2013 census took place on Tuesday 5 March 2013, the next census will take place in 2018. A few people object to the census and attempt to evade it, following the 2006 Census, Statistics New Zealand prosecuted 72 people for failing to return their forms, with 41 convictions. After the 2013 Census, they wrote to 450 people in July 2013 who had failed to return the forms, of whom 99 were prosecuted, most of those convicted faced two charges and were fined $50 to $500 per charge. Results of the 2013 census are being released over an 18-month period, Statistics New Zealand - census page New Zealand 2013 Census
10.
Demography
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Demography is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. As a very general science, it can analyse any kind of dynamic living population, Demography encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, ageing, and death. Based on the research of the earth, earths population up to the year 2050 and 2100 can be estimated by demographers. Demographics are quantifiable characteristics of a given population, demographic analysis can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as education, nationality, religion, and ethnicity. Educational institutions usually treat demography as a field of sociology, though there are a number of independent demography departments, demographic thoughts can be traced back to antiquity, and were present in many civilizations and cultures, like Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, India and China. In ancient Greece, this can be found in the writings of Herodotus, Thucidides, Hippocrates, Epicurus, Protagoras, Polus, Plato and Aristotle. In Rome, writers and philosophers like Cicero, Seneca, Pliny the elder, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Cato, in the Middle ages, Christian thinkers devoted much time in refuting the Classical ideas on demography. Important contributors to the field were William of Conches, Bartholomew of Lucca, William of Auvergne, William of Pagula, and Ibn Khaldun. One of the earliest demographic studies in the period was Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality by John Graunt. Among the studys findings were that one third of the children in London died before their sixteenth birthday, mathematicians, such as Edmond Halley, developed the life table as the basis for life insurance mathematics. Richard Price was credited with the first textbook on life contingencies published in 1771, followed later by Augustus de Morgan, at the end of the 18th century, Thomas Robert Malthus concluded that, if unchecked, populations would be subject to exponential growth. He feared that population growth would tend to outstrip growth in production, leading to ever-increasing famine. He is seen as the father of ideas of overpopulation. Later, more sophisticated and realistic models were presented by Benjamin Gompertz, the period 1860-1910 can be characterized as a period of transition wherein demography emerged from statistics as a separate field of interest. There are two types of data collection—direct and indirect—with several different methods of each type, direct data comes from vital statistics registries that track all births and deaths as well as certain changes in legal status such as marriage, divorce, and migration. In developed countries with good registration systems, registry statistics are the best method for estimating the number of births and deaths, a census is the other common direct method of collecting demographic data. A census is conducted by a national government and attempts to enumerate every person in a country. Analyses are conducted after a census to estimate how much over or undercounting took place and these compare the sex ratios from the census data to those estimated from natural values and mortality data
11.
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
