1.
Communes of France
–
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
Communes of France
–
Road sign marking the end of the village of
Y in the
Somme department of
Picardy
Communes of France
–
Map of the 36,569 communes of metropolitan France
Communes of France
–
Mittelhausbergen in
Alsace
Communes of France
–
Vacqueyras in
Provence, showing double French/
Provençal name
2.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
3.
France
–
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
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
4.
Regions of France
–
France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
Regions of France
5.
Departments of France
–
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Departments of France
–
Geometrical proposition rejected
Departments of France
–
The 101 departments of France
Departments of France
–
The three Algerian departments in 1848
6.
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Seine-Saint-Denis is a French department located in the Île-de-France region. Locally, it is referred to colloquially as quatre-vingt treize or neuf trois. The learned and rarely used demonym for the inhabitants is Séquano-Dionysiens, Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has an area of only 236 km², making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne. They form, together with Paris the Greater Paris since January 1st 2016, Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 40 communes, Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road, Seine-Saint-Denis has a history as a veritable left-wing stronghold, belonging to the ceinture rouge of Paris. The French Communist Party especially has maintained a strong presence in the department. A commune of Seine-Saint-Denis, Clichy-sous-Bois, was the scene of the death of two youths which sparked the riots of autumn 2005. In October - November,9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 rioters were arrested, Seine-Saint-Denis is the French department with the highest proportion of immigrants,21. 7% at the 1999 census. This figure does not include the children of immigrants born on French soil as well as some native elites from former French colonies, the ratio of ethnic minorities is difficult to estimate accurately as French law prohibits the collection of ethnic data for census taking purposes. However estimates suggest there are 500,000 Muslims out of a population of 1.53 million. Saint-Denis is home to the Union of French Islamic Organizations in the Bourget district, in 2005,56. 7% of young people under 18 were of foreign origin including 38% of African origin. Islam is believed to be the most practiced religion in the department, Seine-Saint-Denis was scheduled to be the site of a 2004 International Exhibition. Website of the General council Prefecture website Seine-Saint-Denis Tourist Board
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Prefecture building of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, in Bobigny
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Memorial to King
Louis XVI and Queen
Marie Antoinette,in
Basilica of St Denis
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Aerospace Museum in
Le Bourget
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Canal de l'Ourcq
7.
Grand Paris
–
The Métropole du Grand Paris is an administrative structure for cooperation covering the City of Paris and its nearest suburbs. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometers and has a population of 7 million persons, the Métropole is administered by a Metropolitan Council of 210 members, not directly elected, but chosen by the councils of the member Communes. Its responsibilities include urban planning, housing, and protection of the environment, the Métropole du Grand Paris should not be confused with the Grand Paris Express, a new transportation system being developed independently to connect the Departments in the Paris suburbs. The Métropole du Grand Paris was defined by the law of 27 January 2014 on the modernization of public territorial action and affirmation of cities as part of Act III of decentralization. The plans were modified in December 2015, and the passage into action in two competences, economic development and protection of the environment, was delayed from 2016 to 2017. The project was organized by the French state, with the Minister of Culture, in 2008 an international urban and architectural competition for the future development of metropolitan Paris was launched. The Métropole of Grand Paris is developing a metropolitan project, the residents are associated with its development according to the guidelines determined by the metropolitan council as laid down by the development council. This metropolitan project defines the guidelines of the policy pursued by the Métropole of Grand Paris. It forms part of the implementation of the scheme of the Ile-de-France region. It includes a general, social, economic and environmental analysis of the metropolitan area, independently to the process described above, a position of Minister for Le Grand Paris was created and Christian Blanc was appointed to occupy it. Blanc and his team prepared a plan, announced on April 29,2009. The Île-de-France region had already published its own transportation plan, later, the architects of the consultation joined together to present a third transportation plan. After much negotiation, a compromise between the government the Île-de-France regional government was announced in January 2011 and the final plan subsequently approved. The transport plan will be carried out in ten years, at a cost of 35 billion euros funded by the state, local governments, another 14 billion euros will be spent in the extension and re-equipment of existing metro, regional and suburban lines. In October 2011, Delanoë stated that the President is trying to claim for himself an urban dynamic begun long ago by the local governments, political opposition was also strong from the Green Party, led in the Île-de-France region by Cécile Duflot
Grand Paris
–
The map of Grand Paris
8.
Daylight saving time
–
Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
Daylight saving time
–
Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
9.
Central European Summer Time
–
It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
Central European Summer Time
–
light blue
10.
Kilometre Zero
–
In many countries, Kilometre Zero or similar terms in other languages is a particular location, from which distances are traditionally measured. They were markers where drivers could set their odometers to follow directions in early guide books, a similar notion also exists for individual roads, and for individual cities. The most famous such marker of any part survives from ancient times is the Milliarium Aureum of the Roman Empire. Argentina marks Kilometre Zero with a monolith in Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires. The work of the brothers Máximo and José Fioravanti, the structure was placed on the side of Plaza Lorea on October 2,1935. Highways in Australia are usually built and maintained by the states and territories, in the state of New South Wales, highway distances were traditionally measured from a sandstone obelisk in Macquarie Place in Sydney, designed by Francis Greenway in 1818. The obelisk lists the distances to locations in New South Wales at the time. For the railway, it is located at platform 1 of Sydney Central Station, the Byzantine Empire had an arched building, the Milion of Constantinople, as the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the other cities. In the 1960s, some fragments were discovered and erected in its location, now in the district of Eminönü, Istanbul. The kilometre zero marker of the origin of the Trans-Canada Highway is located in St. Johns. Coordinates, 47°33′39. 78″N 52°42′44. 33″W Altitude,14.02 m The western origin of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, Mile zero of the Trans Canada Trail is located adjacent to the Railway Coastal Museum in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Coordinates, 47°33′14. 0″N 52°42′50. 5″W Altitude,4.5 m Mile zero for the Alaska Highway is located in Dawson Creek, all national distances from Santiago originate at the Km.0 plaque, located at the Plaza de Armas main square in downtown Santiago. Chiles Autopista Central – Eje Norte-Sur has its Kilometre Zero at the intersection with the Alameda del Libertador Bernardo OHiggins, China Railways 0 km is located at the entrance to the Fengtai Yard on the Jingguang Line just outside Beijing. This point was historically the start of the line, the marker is a concrete marker. The kilometre zero point for highways is located at Tiananmen Square and it is marked with a plaque in the ground, with the four cardinal points, four animals, and Zero Point of Highways, China in English and Chinese. Cubas Kilometre Zero is located in its capital Havana in El Capitolio, embedded in the floor in the centre of the main hall is a replica 25 carat diamond, which marks Kilometre Zero for Cuba. It was replaced in El Capitolio by a replica in 1973, dR-1, DR-2, and DR-3 all depart from Kilometre Zero from Santo Domingos Parque de Independencia. Kilometre Zero in Egypt is located at the Attaba Square Post Office in 1st of Abdel Khaliq Sarwat Pasha Street, Cairo
Kilometre Zero
–
Kilometre Zero, Buenos Aires
Kilometre Zero
–
Reconstruction of Constantinople's Milion based on historical accounts and surviving fragments.
Kilometre Zero
–
The Mile 0 point for the
Alaska Highway in
Dawson Creek
Kilometre Zero
–
Kilometre Zero at Plaza de Armas in
Santiago, Chile.
11.
Roman Empire
–
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
Roman Empire
–
The
Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)
Roman Empire
–
Aureus of
Augustus, the first
Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire
–
A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England
Roman Empire
–
A 5th-century
papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by
Cicero
12.
Romainville
–
Romainville is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 7.2 km from the center of Paris. On 24 July 1867, a part of the territory of Romainville was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Pantin, Romainville is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest stations to Romainville are Mairie des Lilas station on Paris Métro Line 11, there are plans to extend Paris Métro Line 11 beyond its terminus at Mairie des Lilas station, reaching the town center of Romainville and beyond to Rosny-sous-Bois. As of 2016 there were 1,147 preschool students and 1,637 elementary students in Romainville communal primary schools, Romainville is twinned with, Pápa, Hungary Benfleet, England since 1962 Tour Hertzienne TDF de Romainville Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Official website
Romainville
–
The church of
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, designed by
Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart
13.
Bagnolet
–
Bagnolet is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 5.2 km from the center of Paris, on 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a part of the commune of Bagnolet was annexed to the city of Paris. At the same time, the commune of Charonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Bagnolet, and Montreuil, Bagnolet received a small part of the territory of Charonne. On 24 July 1867, a part of the territory of Bagnolet was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Romainville, the town used to be the home of the Château de Bagnolet. Bagnolet is served by Gallieni station on Paris Metro line 3, international and National coaches serve Bagnolet at Gallieni Metro station. In July 2014, the court in Montreuil revoked the citys motion to grant Abdallah honorary citizenship. The commune has ten public preschools, nine elementary schools. Bagnolet is twinned with, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Official website 48°52′07″N 2°25′04″E aerial photos
Bagnolet
–
The Mercurial Towers and Bagnolet town hall, in 2004
14.
Les Lilas
–
Les Lilas is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 5.7 km from the centre of Paris. The commune of Les Lilas was created on 24 July 1867 by detaching a part of the territory of Romainville and merging it with a part of the territory of Pantin, Les Lilas is served by Mairie des Lilas station on Paris Métro Line 11. It is the home of the royal family of Montenegro. It is the birthplace of French actress Maïwenn Le Besco, blanstel Koussalouka, footballer Les Lilas is known for the hit 1958 song by Serge Gainsbourg, Le Poinçonneur des Lilas, about a ticket puncher at the Porte des Lilas Métro station. This Métro station is actually in Paris, one away from the Mairie des Lilas Métro station which is in Les Lilas. Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Official website
Les Lilas
–
Les Lilas town hall
15.
Bassin de la Villette
–
The Bassin de la Villette is the largest artificial lake in Paris. It was filled with water on 2 December 1808, the other components of the network are the Canal de lOurcq, the Canal Saint-Denis, the Canal Saint-Martin, and the Bassin de lArsenal. Together, these canals and basins extend roughly 130 kilometres, river cruise boats tie-up here and the shores of the basin are also the location of the MK2 Quai de Loire and MK2 Quai de Seine theatre complexes which are the most modern in France. A small electric passenger ferry, the Zéro de conduite, is available for transporting people from one side of the basin to the other. The basin is bordered in the north by the Quai de la Seine and in the south by the Quai de la Loire, which are linked in the middle of the basin by a footbridge, the first Bassin de la Villette is 699 metres long and 70 metres wide. Its original function was to serve as a reserve of drinking water for Parisians and its secondary function, in association with the second basin, was to provide water for navigation on the canals of Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin. At the beginning of the 19th century the first basin was surrounded by gardens where Parisians came to spend pleasant interludes, but the industrial era of the 1850s saw the disappearance of this aspect of recreation. Goods depots were built on the banks, in 1832 Paris was hit by a great epidemic of cholera. In the late 19th century, commercial activities developed at the basin, in the same period the Moselle footbridge was built by Armand Moisant. It was decorated with a clock 3 metres in diameter and this bridge was replaced in 1966. The Lifting bridge of the Rue de Crimée or Pont de Flandre and it allows traffic on the Rue de Crimée to cross the canal and connects the Quai de lOise on the north-west side to the Quai de la Marne on the south-east side. When the bridge is raised pedestrian traffic can continue on a fixed elevated walkway. At the time of its construction it was the third largest lifting bridge to be built in France and it is now the last one in Paris and is registered as an historical monument. The second basin measures 30 m wide and 730 m long and this basin, which is often prematurely named the Canal de lOurcq, originally ran along the back of the old village of La Villette. There are two buildings at the end of the Bassin de la Villette that were built between 1845 and 1853 as commercial warehouses, but which had a certain utilitarian beauty and they were known as general merchandise warehouses and they were first used to store grain and flour. Later, they gradually lost their purpose and at the end of the 20th century were transformed into artists studios and workshops, small offices. In 1990 the building on the Quai de la Seine side was burned beyond repair, for security reasons the storehouse on the quai de la Loire side was also closed. These warehouses have now replaced by the MK2 cinema complexes
Bassin de la Villette
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Le Bassin de la Villette
Bassin de la Villette
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The Saint-Martin barrier and the canal at the beginning of the 19th century
Bassin de la Villette
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View from the Rotonde de la Villette toward the old magasins généraux
Bassin de la Villette
16.
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.6 km from the center of Paris and it is the fourth most populous suburb of Paris. Montreuil is located near the Bois de Vincennes park, the name Montreuil was recorded for the first time in a royal edict of 722 as Monasteriolum, meaning little monastery in Medieval Latin. The settlement of Montreuil started as a group of houses built around a small monastery, under the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XVI the Peach Walls which provided the royal court with the fruits were located in Montreuil. It was also home to the Lumière brothers and George Méliès whose workshops were located in lower Montreuil. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes, on that occasion, the commune of Charonne was disbanded and divided between the city of Paris, Montreuil, and Bagnolet. Montreuil received a part of the territory of Charonne. Today Montreuil is divided into districts, Le bas Montreuil (which joins together the old workshops. Decorations in the state school Voltaire by Maurice Boitel, montreuils inhabitants often exaggeratedly nickname the town the second Malian town after Bamako, or sometimes Mali-sous-Bois or Bamako-sur-Seine even if the Seine doesnt cross the town. 10% of the population is Malian or has Malian origins, the city is divided into two cantons, canton of Montreuil-1 and canton of Montreuil-2. Video game company Ubisoft has its head office in Montreuil. The Air France Paris office is in Montreuil, the communes educational services are operated out of the Opale B Administrative Building. Montreuil has eight collèges, three lycées, two techniques, and the IUT of the University of Paris 8. Robert-Desnos, in a park near the town hall, is the largest library in the commune. It houses a disco and Internet access points, daniel-Renoult, near Montreau Park, serves the Montreau-Ruffins Théophile Sueur community. Colonel-Fabien, in the Ramenas-Fabien-Léo Lagrange community, is near the Intercommunal Hospital, paul-Eluard is near the La Grande Porte shopping centre and is within 50 metres of the Robespierre Paris Métro station and Rue de Paris. Montreuil is twinned with, Bistriţa in Romania Cottbus in Germany Hornec gang Gaston-Auguste Schweitzer Birthplace of this sculptor Pierre de Montreuil INSEE Official website
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Skyline of Montreuil
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Streets in Montreuil
17.
Bobigny
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Bobigny is a commune, or town, in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.1 km from the center of Paris, Bobigny is the préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Bobigny. It is only the 12th-largest commune in Seine-Saint-Denis and its name is derived from Roman-period Balbiniacum, the place of Balbo or Balbinus or Balbinius, or of the dumb or silent man/men. Bobigny is served by two stations on Paris Métro Line 5, Bobigny – Pantin – Raymond Queneau and Bobigny – Pablo Picasso and it was also the manufacturing base by Meccano of French Dinky Toys from 1933 to 1970 when the factory was closed and later demolished. Production of Dinky Toys was transferred to the Meccano factory in Calais until 1972 when the last new model, during World War II, approximately 20,000 Jews were shipped from a railway station in Bobigny. Their ultimate destination was the Nazi camps, the commune has 14 public preschools,15 public elementary schools, four public junior high schools, three public senior high schools/sixth-form colleges, and one private school
Bobigny
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Prefecture building
18.
Bondy
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Bondy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.9 km from the centre of Paris, the name Bondy was recorded for the first time around AD600 as Bonitiacum, meaning estate of Bonitius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. During the Middle Ages Bondy was primarily forest, the forest of Bondy was a well-known haunt of bandits and robbers and was extremely dangerous. On 3 January 1905, a third of the territory of Bondy was detached, on 30 October 2007, a gas explosion killed one person and injured 47 people. Bondy and its integration into Paris is the subject of part of the second-last chapter of Graham Robbs book Parisians, Bondy is served by Bondy station on Paris RER line E and the Line 4 of the Tramways in Île-de-France. As of 2016 the commune had 27 public primary schools with 6,900 students, there are also five public junior high schools and three public senior high schools. Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Town council website
Bondy
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The commercial zone of Bondy on the
N3 road
19.
Rosny-sous-Bois
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Rosny-sous-Bois is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.1 km from the center of Paris and it is the seat of the national centre of road information of the national gendarmerie. Rosny-sous-Bois is served by two stations on Paris RER line E, Rosny – Bois-Perrier and Rosny-sous-Bois, the commune has seven public primary school groups, with each having a preschool and an elementary school. There is also a private Montessori French-English bilingual primary school, Ecole maternelle privée «Les merveilles»
Rosny-sous-Bois
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Rosny-sous-Bois war memorial
20.
World Health Organization
–
The World Health Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, the WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations, the constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by 61 countries on 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. It incorporated the Office international dhygiène publique and the League of Nations Health Organization, since its creation, it has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, an international publication on health, the worldwide World Health Survey. The head of WHO is Margaret Chan, the 2014/2015 proposed budget of the WHO is about US$4 billion. About US$930 million are to be provided by member states with a further US$3 billion to be from voluntary contributions, after failing to get a resolution passed on the subject, Alger Hiss, the Secretary General of the conference, recommended using a declaration to establish such an organisation. Dr. Sze and other delegates lobbied and a declaration passed calling for a conference on health. The use of the world, rather than international, emphasised the truly global nature of what the organisation was seeking to achieve. The constitution of the World Health Organization was signed by all 51 countries of the United Nations and it thus became the first specialised agency of the United Nations to which every member subscribed. Its constitution formally came into force on the first World Health Day on 7 April 1948, the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of US$5 million for the 1949 year. Andrija Stampar was the Assemblys first president, and G. Brock Chisholm was appointed Director-General of WHO and its first priorities were to control the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, and to improve maternal and child health, nutrition and environmental hygiene. Its first legislative act was concerning the compilation of statistics on the spread. The logo of the World Health Organization features the Rod of Asclepius as a symbol for healing, in 1947 the WHO established an epidemiological information service via telex, and by 1950 a mass tuberculosis inoculation drive using the BCG vaccine was under way. In 1955, the eradication programme was launched, although it was later altered in objective. 1965 saw the first report on diabetes mellitus and the creation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In 1958, Viktor Zhdanov, Deputy Minister of Health for the USSR, called on the World Health Assembly to undertake an initiative to eradicate smallpox. At this point,2 million people were dying from smallpox every year, in 1966, WHO moved into its headquarters building
World Health Organization
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Three former directors of the
Global Smallpox Eradication Programme read the news that smallpox had been globally eradicated, 1980
World Health Organization
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World Health Organization
World Health Organization
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WHO Headquarters in Geneva
World Health Organization
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Demonstration on
Chernobyl disaster day near WHO in
Geneva
21.
Metropolitan France
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Metropolitan France, also known as European France, is the part of France in Europe. It comprises mainland France and nearby islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, Overseas France is the collective name for the part of France outside Europe, French overseas regions, territories, collectivities, and the sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia. Metropolitan France and Overseas France together form the French Republic, Metropolitan France accounts for 82. 2% of the land territory,3. 3% of the exclusive economic zone, and 95. 9% of the population of the French Republic. The five overseas regions—Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Guiana, in overseas France, a person from metropolitan France is often called a métro, short for métropolitain. Similar terms existed to describe other European colonial powers and this usage of the words metropolis and metropolitan itself came from Ancient Greek metropolis, which was the name for a city-state from which originated colonies across the Mediterranean. By extension metropolis and metropolitan came to mean motherland, a nation or country as opposed to its colonies overseas, today there are some people in overseas France who object to the use of the term la France métropolitaine due to its colonial origins. They prefer to call it the European territory of France, as the Treaties of the European Union do, likewise, they oppose treating overseas France and metropolitan France as separate entities. As a result, since the end of the 1990s INSEE has included the five departments in its figures for France. Other branches of the French administration may have different definitions of what la France entière is, the World Bank refers to this as France only, and not the whole of France as INSEE does. According to the French government,64,860,000 people lived in metropolitan France as of January 2017, Metropolitan France covers a land area of 551,695 km². At sea, the economic zone of metropolitan France covers 334,604 km², while the EEZ of overseas France covers 9,821,231 km². In the second round of the 2007 French presidential election,37,342,004 French people cast a ballot. 35,907,015 of these cast their ballots in metropolitan France,1,088,679 cast their ballots in overseas France, and 346,310 cast their ballots in foreign countries. The French National Assembly is made up of 577 deputies,539 of whom are elected in metropolitan France,27 in overseas France, and 11 by French citizens living in foreign countries. Mainland France, or just the mainland, does not include the French islands in the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel or Mediterranean Sea, in Corsica, people from the mainland part of Metropolitan France are referred to as les continentaux. A casual synonym for the part of Metropolitan France is lHexagone, for its approximate shape. French colonial empire Mainland Wildlife of Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
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Metropolitan France
22.
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
Overseas France
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Gustavia in
Saint Barthélemy
Overseas France
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Flag
Overseas France
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A street in
Saint-Pierre, capital of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Overseas France
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Route des Tamarins motorway near
Saint-Paul,
Réunion
23.
EU-15
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The 1995 enlargement of the European Union saw Austria, Finland and Sweden accede to the European Union. This was the EUs fourth enlargement and came into effect on the 1 January of that year, all these states were previous members of the European Free Trade Association and had traditionally been less interested in joining the EU than other European countries. Norway had negotiated to join alongside the three but following the signing of the treaty, membership was turned down by the Norwegian electorate in the 1994 national referendum. Switzerland also applied for membership on 26 May 1992, but withdrew it after a referendum result on 6 December 1992. After the 1970s Europe experienced a downturn led to leaders launching of the Single European Act which set to create a single market by 1992. The effect of this was that EFTA states found it harder to export to the EEC, EFTA states began to discuss closer links with the EEC despite its domestic unpopularity. Finally, Austria, Finland and Sweden were neutral in the Cold War so membership of an organisation developing a common foreign, as that obstacle was removed, the desire to pursue membership grew stronger. However membership was still unpopular and the then-EEC was also uninterested in another enlargement. The EEC had begun working on the creation of a common currency, commission President Jacques Delors proposed the European Economic Area to give EFTA access to the EUs internal market without full membership. While they would not have a say in the creation of EU law, however businesses did not accept that the EEA members would be equal members of the single market and investment flows did not return to normal. The large manufacturers in Sweden were instrumental in pushing government policy further towards membership rather than remaining with the EEA, the economic pressures overcame long standing opposition from the social democrat governments which saw the EU as too neo-liberal and a danger to Nordic capitalism. Firms were only kept within Sweden by devaluations of the Swedish krona, the EEA was damaged further with the Swiss electorate voted against it. Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden all applied for membership of the EU. On 30 March 1994, accession negotiations concluded with Austria, Sweden, Finland and their accession treaties were signed on 25 June of that year. Sweden held their elections to the European Parliament for its MEPs later that year on 17 September, the following year, Austria held its elections on 13 October and Finland on 20 October. The impact of the 1995 enlargement was smaller than most as the members were wealthy, as net contributors to the EU budget, they also increased the voice for budgetary reform. Before the 1995 enlargement, the EU had ten treaty languages, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, however, due to the 1995 enlargement, two new official languages were added, Swedish and Finnish. This resulted in the increase in the minority in the Council
EU-15
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The 1995 enlargement: Austria, Finland and Sweden in yellow.
24.
Pieds-noirs
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The term usually includes the North African Jews, who had been living there for many centuries but were awarded French citizenship by the 1870 Crémieux Decree. More specifically, the term pied-noir is used for those of European ancestry who returned to mainland France as soon as Algeria gained independence, the term pied-noir began to be commonly used shortly before the end of the Algerian War in 1962. As of the last census in Algeria, taken on 1 June 1960, the conflict contributed to the fall of the French Fourth Republic and the mass exodus of Algerian Europeans and Jews to France. After Algeria became independent in 1962, about 800,000 Pieds-Noirs of French nationality were evacuated to mainland France while about 200,000 chose to remain in Algeria. Of the latter, there were still about 100,000 in 1965, in popular culture, the community is often represented as feeling removed from French culture while longing for Algeria. Thus, the recent history of the Pieds-Noirs has been imprinted with a theme of alienation from both their native homeland and their adopted land. Though the term rapatriés dAlgérie implies that once lived in France. Many families had lived there for generations, and the Algerian Jews, the actual origin of the term pied-noir is unknown and therefore debated. The Le Robert dictionary states that in 1901 the word indicated a sailor working barefoot in the room of a ship. In the Mediterranean, this was often an Algerian native, thus the term was used pejoratively for Algerians until 1955 when it first began referring to French born in Algeria and this usage originated from mainland French as a negative nickname. There is also a theory that the term comes from the boots of French soldiers compared to the barefoot Algerians. Other theories focus on new settlers dirtying their clothing by working in areas, wearing black boots when on horseback. European settlement of Algeria began during the 1830s, after France had commenced the process of conquest with the seizure of the city of Algiers in 1830. The invasion was instigated when the Dey of Algiers struck the French consul with a fly-swatter in 1827, in 1830 the government of Charles X blockaded Algeria and an armada sailed to Algiers, followed by a land expedition. A troop of 34,000 soldiers landed on 18 June 1830, following a three-week campaign, the Hussein Dey capitulated on 5 July 1830, and was exiled. In the 1830s the French controlled only the part of the country. Entering the Oran region, they faced resistance from Emir Abd al-Kader, in 1839 Abd al-Kader began a seven-year war by declaring jihad against the French. The French signed two treaties with al-Kader, but they were broken because of a miscommunication between the military and the Parisian government
Pieds-noirs
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Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built by the French Pieds-Noirs in Algeria
Pieds-noirs
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Bombardment of Algeria by
Admiral Duperré's forces in 1830
Pieds-noirs
–
Four children in a wagon pulled by two
donkeys, circa 1905. The first Pieds-Noirs were the
French Army of Africa personnel's children.
Pieds-noirs
–
Map of
French Algeria
25.
Northwest Africa
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The Maghreb, or the Greater Maghreb, is usually defined as much or most of the region of western North Africa or Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. Historical terms for the region or various portions of the Maghreb include Mauretania, Numidia, Libya, the term maghrib is Arabic for west, from the verb gharaba. In the strict sense, the definite form al-maghrib denotes the country of Morocco in particular and it identified the westernmost territories that fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. Today, it is a noun for the present region of the Maghreb. The Berber languages alternative term for the region, Tamazgha, has been popularized by Berber activists since the second half of the 20th century. As recently as the late 19th century it was used to refer to the Western Mediterranean region of coastal North Africa in general, and to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in particular. The region was unified as an independent political entity during the rule of the Berber kingdom of Numidia. The most enduring rule was that of the local Berber empires of the Almoravids, Almohads, Hammadids, Zirids, Marinids, Saadi, the Ottoman Turks ruled the region as well. Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya established the Maghreb Union in 1989 to promote cooperation and it was envisioned initially by Muammar Gaddafi as a superstate. The union included Western Sahara implicitly under Moroccos membership, putting Moroccos long cold war with Algeria to a rest, however, this progress was short-lived, and the union is now frozen. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara re-emerged strongly, reinforced by the unsolved borderline issue between the two countries and these two main conflicts have hindered progress on the unions joint goals and practically made it inactive as a whole. Around 3,500 BC a tilt in the Earths orbit created a rapid desertification of the Sahara, the Maghreb or western North Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers since from at least 10,000 BC. Maghreb coast ports were predominantly occupied or constructed by the Phoenicians, the main Phoenician settlements centered in the Gulf of Tunis along the North African littoral between the Pillars of Hercules and the Libyan coast east of ancient Cyrenaica. They dominated the trade and intercourse of the Western Mediterranean for centuries, Rome was greatly helped by the defection of King Massinissa and Carthaginians eastern Numidian Massylii client-allies. A century later, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent a force under General Belisarius that succeeded in destroying the Vandal kingdom, the Berbers contested outside-the-area control although after the 640s-700 AD period the Arabs controlled the entire region. The Arabs reached the Maghreb in early Umayyad times, Arab expansion and the spread of Islam pushed the development of trans-Saharan trade. While restricted due to the cost and dangers, the trade was highly profitable, commodities traded included such goods as salt, gold, ivory, and slaves. Arab control over the Maghreb was quite weak, various Islamic variations, such as the Ibadis and the Shia, were adopted by some Berbers, often leading to scorning of Caliphal control in favour of their own interpretation of Islam
Northwest Africa
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Magreb head ornament (Morocco)
Northwest Africa
–
The
Arab Maghreb Union countries
Northwest Africa
–
The
Great Mosque of Kairouan, founded by the Arab general Uqba Ibn Nafi (in 670), is the oldest mosque in the Maghreb city of
Kairouan,
Tunisia.
Northwest Africa
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1707 map of northwest Africa by
Guillaume Delisle, including the Maghreb
.svg)
