1.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
2.
Polo
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Polo is a team sport played on horseback. The objective is to score goals against an opposing team, players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing teams goal using a long-handled mallet. The traditional sport of polo is played on a grass field up to 300 by 160 yards, each polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. Field polo is played with a plastic ball which has replaced the wooden version of the ball in much of the sport. In arena polo, only three players are required per team and the game involves more maneuvering and shorter plays at lower speeds due to space limitations of arenas. Arena polo is played with a small air-filled ball, similar to a small football, the modern game lasts roughly two hours and is divided into periods called chukkas. Polo is played professionally in 16 countries and it was formerly an Olympic sport. Its invention is dated variously from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, Persian Emperor Shapur II learnt to play polo when he was seven years old in 316 AD. The game was learnt by the neighbouring Byzantine Empire at an early date, a tzykanisterion was built by emperor Theodosius II inside the Great Palace of Constantinople. Emperor Basil I excelled at it, Emperor Alexander died from exhaustion while playing, naqsh-i Jahan Square in Isfahan is a polo field which was built by king Abbas I in the 17th century. Qutubuddin Aibak, the Turkic slave from Central Asia who later became the Sultan of Delhi in Northern India, ruled as a Sultan for only four years, from 1206 to 1210, but died accidentally in 1210. While he was playing a game of polo on horseback, his horse fell and he was buried near the Anarkali bazaar in Lahore. Aibaks son Aram died in 1211 CE, so Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, another ex-slave of Turkic ancestry who was married to Aibaks daughter, after the Muslim conquests to the Ayyubid and Mameluke dynasties of Egypt and the Levant, their elites favoured it above all other sports. Notable sultans such as Saladin and Baybars were known to play it, Polo sticks were features on the Mameluke precursor to modern day playing cards. Valuable for training cavalry, the game was played from Constantinople to Japan by the Middle Ages. It is known in the East as the Game of Kings, the name polo is said to have been derived from the Balti word pulu, meaning ball. The modern game of polo is derived from Manipur, India and it was the anglicised form of the last, referring to the wooden ball that was used, which was adopted by the sport in its slow spread to the west. The first polo club was established in the town of Silchar in Assam, India, the origins of the game in Manipur are traced to early precursors of Sagol Kangjei. This was one of three forms of hockey in Manipur, the ones being field hockey and wrestling-hockey
3.
Lacrosse
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Lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick. The mens version is considered as a sport, with slashes and intense checks to the stick. The head of the stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch. There are many different ways to put mesh on the head of the stick, also known as stringing the stick. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into a goal past the goalie, using the lacrosse stick to catch, cradle. Defensively, the objective is to keep the team from scoring and to gain the ball through the use of stick checking. The sport has four types, mens field lacrosse, womens lacrosse. The sport consists of four positions, midfield, attack, defense, long stick middies only play defense and come off of the field on offense. As a result of its origins, it is traditionally a Northeastern US, or east coast sport, but in recent years has grown into the South, Midwest. Lacrosse may have developed as early as 1100 AD among indigenous peoples on the North American continent. By the seventeenth century, it was well-established and it was documented by Jesuit missionary priests in the territory of present-day Canada. The game has many modifications since that time. In the traditional aboriginal Canadian version, each consisted of about 100 to 1,000 men on a field that stretched from about 500 m to 3 km long. These games lasted from sunup to sundown for two to three days straight and these games were played as part of ceremonial ritual, a kind of symbolic warfare, to give thanks to the Creator or Master. Lacrosse played a significant role in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent for many years, early lacrosse was characterized by deep spiritual involvement, befitting the spirit of combat in which it was undertaken. Those who took part did so in the role of warriors, with the goal of bringing glory and honor to themselves, the game was said to be played for the Creator or was referred to as The Creators Game. The French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf saw Iroquois tribesmen play the game during 1637 in present-day New York and he was one of the first Europeans to write about the game. The name seems to be originated from the French term for field hockey, a crosse in French is any stick curved at its end In 1855, William George Beers, a Canadian dentist, founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club
4.
Australian Stock Horse
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The Australian Stock Horse, has been especially bred for Australian conditions. It is a breed of horse noted for endurance, agility. Its ancestry dates to the arrival of the first horses in Australia, brought from Europe, Africa and it is used today in a wide variety of disciplines, and is still valued as a working horse by stockmen throughout Australia. The roots of the Australian Stock Horse date back to the earliest importation of nine horses to Australia, some of the original horse breeds in these early imports included the Thoroughbred, Cape of Good Hope Horse, Arabian, Timor Pony and Welsh Mountain pony. Horses in Australia were bred for their stamina and strength, with weaker animals culled, in the 1830s, additional Thoroughbreds were imported into Australia to improve the local strains, and the mid-20th century saw infusions from the American Quarter Horse. The Australian Stock Horse and the Waler horse come from similar roots, the station horse that was an ancestor of both breeds was used by the Australian Army in the First World War and was renowned for its toughness and endurance. However, the modern Australian Stock Horse differs from the Waler horse in that it is not as big, some of the heaviest animals were also required pull water carts and carriages. However, the characteristics of toughness and endurance remain with the Australian Stock Horse of today, many of these people bred stock horses using bloodlines tracing back to native stock, along with some Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and a few ponies of outstanding merit. Most of the early ASH registrations were of horses bred with bloodlines that excelled at both campdrafting and cattle work in the rugged Great Dividing Range, initially, horses were inspected for registration by three classifiers who assessed them for conformation, breeding and athletic ability. The best were accepted for inclusion in the Stud Book, some were approved for the appendix. These included horses bred from stock, Saladin, Cecil and his son Radium, Medlow. The others were Thoroughbreds, Rivoli, Commandant, Panzer, Midstream, Young Valais, Gibbergunyah, Bushfire, Silvius, since then Rivoli Ray, Blue Moon Mystic, Eliotts Creek Cadet, Warrenbri Romeo and some American Quarter Horses have also had a large influence on the breed. The use of Quarter Horse bloodlines is somewhat controversial, with some preferring to stay with older lines. Those who wish to bring in outside blood are required to pay high fees to the Society. The Australian Stock Horse is bred for intelligence, courage, toughness, the horse will be sound, agile and quick moving with a sure-footed walk. It will have a calm, responsive temperament, height ranges from 14 to 16.2 hands. The ideal Australian Stock Horse is well proportioned in all respects according to its size, desired traits include a finely cut, expressive head with large eye and a broad forehead. The neck is long, arched, with head well set on, the withers should be well defined
5.
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
6.
Kingston Vale
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Kingston Vale is a district in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in the south west of London. It is an area between Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common and Coombe Hill. The main road is the A308 which is a route for traffic passing to. Many of the roads are cul-de-sacs. The area was known as Kingston Bottom up until the middle of the 19th Century, the earliest record of the change from Kingston Bottom to Kingston Vale occurs in the 1861 Census Returns, where the area is referred to as Kingston Vale Hamlet. By the time of the 1891 Census, the area is described as a civil parish, Kingston Vale is located north east of Kingston on the A308, the village straddles both the A308 and the A3 London - Portsmouth Road. The closest junction of the A3 is the Robin Hood Roundabout, bus connections are also available within a short walk of the stations at Kingston, New Malden, Surbiton, Tolworth and Barnes. The nearest Tube station is Putney Bridge station on the District line, an indirect connection with South Wimbledon station on the Northern line is also possible, via New Malden, Coombe Lane or Kingston. Kingston Vale benefits from a primary school, the Robin Hood Primary School. The Village Hall plays host to the Oranges and Lemons Nursery School, whilst a Montessori nursery school, for education in Kingston Vale see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article. The first church in the area was built in 1839 and became the centre of its own Parish in 1847 and it is an Anglican church within the Deanery of Kingston and the Archdiocese of Southwark. In addition to its religious functions, the acts as a focal point for community activities in Kingston Vale, which are held within the Village Hall. These include social clubs, dancing and table tennis, as well as providing facilities for local associations and for two local nursery schools. Every year the Church holds a fete and a fireworks night event. The Parish Office manages the booking of four halls, which are used for parties, there are no known facilities for other faiths within the village of Kingston Vale. A guide to the places of worship in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames can be found via the Kingston Inter-Faith Forum, the site is also home to the annual National Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament. It has a local amenity group - the Kingston Vale Residents Association. This is a body which deals with matters such as planning, conservation, transport, environment
7.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
8.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
9.
Ingleburn, New South Wales
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Ingleburn is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 44 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of City of Campbelltown. It is part of the Macarthur region, Ingleburn is located approximately halfway between the two commercial centres of Liverpool and Cambelltown. The land in the Ingleburn area was inhabited by the Tharawal people prior to the arrival of settlers from the First Fleet in 1788. The first land grants in the area were made in 1809 to William Hall, William Neale, Joshua Alliot and Timothy Loughlin, as such, the area became known as Soldier Flat. In 1869, a platform was built on the old Neale grant. However, in 1881 the Macquarie Fields estate subdivided to become the new village of Macquarie Fields, the fact that the station was a long way from the village caused confusion so a new name was sought for the station and Ingleburn was chosen in 1883. One theory has it was named after a house formerly owned by Mary Ruse. Other records indicate it was named after a British town although the town hasnt been identified. Ingleburn is Scottish for bend in the river, referring to the significant bend in the nearby Georges River, the village of Ingleburn was established in 1885 when the land owned by a developer called FitzStubbs was subdivided. A public school was opened in 1887, Ingleburn Post Office opened on 15 November 1886. By 1896, the town was large enough to have its own municipal council, town improvements such as street lights and water did not arrive until after World War I. In 1948 the Council was merged with the City of Campbelltown Council, in 1969, a large area west of the railway line was rezoned to become an industrial estate. Protests from local saw the plan halted temporarily but within ten years. More housing subdivisions were made on the outskirts of town in the 1970s including Housing Commission developments, Ingleburn is the home of television playout centre MediaHub, a facility established through a joint partnership with WIN Television and ABC Television. Apart from the two networks, it also houses HD-ready playout for Prime7, Imparja Television, and Fox International channels, Ingleburn is home to the heritage-listed Ingleburn railway station. The station is serviced by the Airport, Inner West & South Line, bus services to and from Ingleburn are provided by Interline bus service. Ingleburn has many themes for the naming of streets, Ingleburn North Public School Ingleburn Public School Ingleburn High School Sackville Street Public School Holy Family Primary School. Milton Park, shared by the boundaries of Ingleburn and Macquarie Fields is a venue for football and softball teams
10.
Walcha, New South Wales
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Walcha is a town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. The town serves as the seat of Walcha Shire, Walcha is located 425 kilometres by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way. The Apsley River passes through the town to tumble over the Apsley Falls before joining the Macleay River further on, originally the river caused flooding in the town prior to a levee bank being constructed and saving the town from more floods. At the 2011 census, Walcha had a population of 1,482 people, the Main North railway line is located some distance away, at a separate village called Walcha Road which serves as the railhead. This is served by the daily NSW TrainLink Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale, the railway line was built at Walcha Road, because it was the closest point they could get to the town, due to the steep climb over the Great Dividing Range. The area is thought to have been occupied by the Danggadi Aborigines prior to European settlement, in 1818, John Oxley became the first white person to discover the area and the falls which were later to be named Apsley Falls. Hamilton Collins Sempill was the first settler in the New England area when he took up the Wolka run in 1832, other early runs around the district were Bergen-op-Zoom, Ohio, Europambela, Surveyor’s Creek, Emu Creek, Ingalba, Orandumbie, Tiara and Winterbourne. A severe depression from 1841 to 1843, and low demand for wool created hardship for many of early settlers. In 1848 Walcha run is recorded as being 64,000 acres, during 1854 Walcha was sold to Rundle and Dangar who held the mortgage for Jamison and Connal. Later John Fletcher acquired Walcha and moved from Branga Plains to Oorundumby, after being sold in 1905, Oorundumby was resumed for soldier settlement in 1947 and subdivided into 22 holdings. A ‘wool’ road to Port Macquarie was under construction in 1842 for the transportation of wool from New England to the coast, Walcha Post Office opened on 1 July 1850. The mail arrived from Macdonald River, Walcha was gazetted as a village site in 1852, when town allotments were sold, with annual sales following. At that time there was a shop, a general store. A Roman Catholic chapel was erected in 1854, a station and the first Presbyterian church was built in 1857. In 1861 the population was recorded at 355 and the Anglican church was built in 1862 of stone taken from the homestead, Villa Walcha. The old church has fine stained-glass windows which bear tribute to some of the towns pioneers, the population dropped in the 1860s but the town soon began to grow for two reasons, firstly, red cedar getters were active in the areas rainforests by about 1870. Gold was discovered near Walcha in the 1870s at Glen Morrison, Tia, The Cells River, antimony, copper, graphite, manganese, silver and high quality slate was also mined in the district. On 5 April 1878 Walcha was proclaimed a town, when it was gazetted, the boundaries defined, a rail link to Sydney and Uralla opened at Walcha Road in 1882
11.
Australian Red Cross
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The Australian Red Cross is a leading humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. His Excellency General The Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK, MC, Governor-General of Australia, is the Patron of the Australian Red Cross Society, the National Council is the peak governance decision-making body and is made up of 53 voting members including the President and the National Board. The National Council delegates operational and management decisions and other responsibilities to the National Board, a branch of the British Red Cross was established in Australia in 1914, nine days after the start of World War I, by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson. The British Red Cross Australian Branch changed its name to the Australian Red Cross Society and was incorporated by charter on 28 June 1941. The organisation grew at a rapid rate, Lady Helen wrote to the mayors of every shire and municipality in Australia asking them to initiate a local branch. Typically, a letter was published in the newspaper and a meeting called. By November 1914, New South Wales had 88 city or suburban branches and 249 country branches, the Society was accepted by the community from the beginning. Much of the World War I home front activities such as knitting socks, the Red Cross Information Bureau was established in 1915 in order to coordinate information gathered on the dead and their burial beyond what was provided by the armed forces. The Red Cross Wounded and Missing files were extensive with searchers sometimes sent overseas to clarify information, make better judgements and to resolve conflicting accounts. In 1916 the Australian Red Cross Society sent a team of 21 civilian nurses to France, during World War II the Red Cross provided assistance to the sick, wounded, maimed and their dependents. By agreement with the government they provided hostel accommodation to those with no living relatives or friends to support them upon returning home from war. At the time the majority of the volunteers were unemployed married women, high rates of membership in the organisation were attributed to their annual, national, recruitment drive. Membership grew from 260,000 in 1941 to 450,000 in 1944, the Australian Red Cross proved to be an important link between the public and Japanese prisoners of war. In 2005, the made a agreement with the Maldives Government to help clear debris created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In December 2010, aid workers from the Australian Red Cross were sent to Christmas Island to assist the survivors of the 2010 Christmas Island boat disaster. Australian Red Cross volunteers were active after Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin, the Ash Wednesday bushfires, the Black Saturday bushfires. The Australian Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the movement comprises over 97 million volunteers worldwide and prides itself on being neutral, impartial and independent. The passion and commitment of the volunteers is widely acknowledged and they rise to natural disaster or personal crisis from bushfire to flood or drought
12.
New England
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New England is a geographical region comprising six states of the northeast United States, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and south, the Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Its largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston, which also includes Worcester, Manchester, ten years later, more Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston, thus forming Massachusetts Bay Colony. Over the next 126 years, people in the region fought in four French and Indian Wars, until the British and their Iroquois allies defeated the French and their Algonquin allies in North America. In 1692, the town of Salem, Massachusetts and surrounding areas experienced one of the most infamous cases of hysteria in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The Boston Tea Party was a protest to which Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government, the confrontation led to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, and the expulsion of the British authorities from the region in spring 1776. Each state is subdivided into small incorporated municipalities known as towns. The only unincorporated areas in the region exist in the populated northern regions of Vermont, New Hampshire. The region is one of the U. S. Census Bureaus nine regional divisions, the earliest known inhabitants of New England were American Indians who spoke a variety of the Eastern Algonquian languages. Prominent tribes included the Abenaki, Mikmaq, Penobscot, Pequot, Mohegans, Narragansett Indians, Pocumtuck, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Western Abenakis inhabited New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as parts of Quebec and western Maine. Their principal town was Norridgewock in present-day Maine, the Penobscot lived along the Penobscot River in Maine. The Narragansett and smaller tribes under Narragansett sovereignty lived in most of modern-day Rhode Island, west of Narragansett Bay, the Wampanoag occupied southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the islands of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket. The Pocumtucks lived in Western Massachusetts, and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes in the Connecticut region, the Connecticut River Valley includes parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and linked different indigenous communities culturally, linguistically, and politically. As early as 1600, French, Dutch, and English traders began exploring the New World, trading metal, glass, on April 10,1606, King James I of England issued a charter for each of the Virginia Companies, London and Plymouth. These were privately funded ventures, intended to land for England, conduct trade. In 1620, Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts was settled by Pilgrims from the Mayflower, in 1616, English explorer John Smith named the region New England. As the first colonists arrived in Plymouth, they wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to dominate the area and was established by royal charter in 1629 with its major town and port of Boston established in 1630. Massachusetts Puritans began to settle in Connecticut as early as 1633, roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for heresy, led a group south, and founded Providence Plantation in the area that became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1636
13.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
14.
Rhodesia
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Rhodesia, commonly known from 1970 onwards as the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territorial terms to modern Zimbabwe. With its capital in Salisbury, Rhodesia was considered a de facto successor state to the former British colony of Southern Rhodesia, the UDI administration initially sought recognition as an autonomous realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, but reconstituted itself as a republic in 1970. Following a brutal guerrilla war fought with two African nationalist organisations, Rhodesian premier Ian Smith conceded to bi-racial democracy in 1978, however, a provisional government subsequently headed by Smith and his moderate colleague Abel Muzorewa failed in appeasing international critics or halting the bloodshed. It finally achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980, the nation was renamed the Republic of Zimbabwe. A wholly landlocked area, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, the state was named after Cecil Rhodes, whose British South Africa Company acquired the land in the late 19th century. The official name of the country, according to the constitution adopted concurrently with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, was Rhodesia and this naming dispute dated back to October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became independent from Britain and concurrently changed its name to Zambia. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government in Salisbury felt that in the absence of a Northern Rhodesia, Salisbury went on using the shortened name in an official manner nevertheless, while the British government continued referring to the country as Southern Rhodesia. This situation continued throughout the UDI period, the shortened name was used by many people including the British government in the House of Commons. Southern Rhodesia subsequently gained international recognition of its independence in April 1980, in 1922, faced with the decision to join the Union of South Africa as a fifth province or accept nearly full internal autonomy, the electorate cast its vote against South African integration. In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923, shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. By colonial standards, public services were well-organised and praised for their efficiency, as it began to appear that decolonisation was inevitable and indigenous black populations were pressing heavily for change, the federation was dissolved in 1963. Rhodesian colonials initially balked at the suggestion, some felt they had a right to political control, at least for the time being. The authorities were also disturbed by the chaos which was plaguing other African nations at the time. Harold Wilson and his incoming Labour government took a harder line on demanding that these points be legitimately addressed before an independence agenda could be set. By 1964, growing dissatisfaction with the ongoing negotiations ousted Salisburys incumbent Winston Field, replacing him with Ian Smith, Smith, the colonys first Rhodesian-born leader, soon came to personify resistance to liberals in British government and those agitating for change at home. Emboldened by the results of referendum and the subsequent general election. Harold Wilson countered by warning that such a procedure would be considered treasonous, although he specifically rejected using armed force against the English kith. Wilsons refusal to consider a military option encouraged Smith to proceed with his plans, on 11 November 1965, following a brief but solemn consensus, Rhodesias leading statesmen issued their countrys unilateral declaration of independence
15.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
16.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
17.
Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, although it does not border Namibia, less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River separates it from that country. The capital and largest city is Harare, a country of roughly 13 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used. Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a route for migration. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during the 1890s, in 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. Zimbabwe then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations—which it withdrew from in 2003 and it is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU-PF party won the following the end of white minority rule. Under Mugabes authoritarian regime, the security apparatus has dominated the country. Mugabe has maintained the revolutionary socialist rhetoric from the Cold War era, the name Zimbabwe stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruined city in the countrys south-east whose remains are now a protected site. Two different theories address the origin of the word, many sources hold that Zimbabwe derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as large houses of stone. The Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in the province of Masvingo. Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, a further alternative, put forward by nationalists in Matabeleland, had been Matopos, referring to the Matopos Hills to the south of Bulawayo. In a 2001 interview, black nationalist Edson Zvobgo recalled that Mawema mentioned the name during a rally, and it caught hold. The black nationalist factions subsequently used the name the during the Second Chimurenga campaigns against the Rhodesian government during the Rhodesian Bush War of 1964-1979, major factions in this camp included the Zimbabwe African National Union, and the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union. Proto-Shona-speaking societies first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands, the Zimbabwean plateau eventually became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, the main archaeological site uses a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of sophisticated trade states developed in Zimbabwe by the time of the first European explorers from Portugal and they traded in gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass. From about 1300 until 1600, Mapungubwe was eclipsed by the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and this Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwes stone architecture, which survives to this day at the ruins of the kingdoms capital of Great Zimbabwe
18.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
19.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
20.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
21.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
22.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
23.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
24.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
25.
Papua New Guinea
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Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua, Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. There are 852 known languages in the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers, most of the population of more than 7 million people live in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its live in urban centres. The country is one of the worlds least explored, culturally and geographically and it is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted peoples, and researchers believe there are many undiscovered species of plants and animals in the interior. Papua New Guinea is classified as an economy by the International Monetary Fund. Strong growth in Papua New Guineas mining and resource sector led to the becoming the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011. Growth was expected to slow once major resource projects came on line in 2015, mining remains a major economic factor, however. Local and national governments are discussing the potential of resuming mining operations in Panguna mine in Bougainville Province, nearly 40 percent of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital. Most of the still live in strong traditional social groups based on farming. Their social lives combine traditional religion with modern practices, including primary education, at the national level, after being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea established its sovereignty in 1975. This followed nearly 60 years of Australian administration, which started during the Great War and it became an independent Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in its own right. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago and they were descendants of migrants out of Africa, in one of the early waves of human migration. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC, a major migration of Austronesian-speaking peoples to coastal regions of New Guinea took place around 500 BC. This has been correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, in the 18th century, traders brought the sweet potato to New Guinea, where it was adopted and became part of the staples. Portuguese traders had obtained it from South America and introduced it to the Moluccas, the far higher crop yields from sweet potato gardens radically transformed traditional agriculture and societies. Sweet potato largely supplanted the previous staple, taro, and resulted in a significant increase in population in the highlands. In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, missionary Harry Dauncey found 10,000 skulls in the islands Long Houses, traders from Southeast Asia had visited New Guinea beginning 5,000 years ago to collect bird of paradise plumes
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Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
27.
Uruguay
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Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.42 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the area of its capital and largest city. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres, Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, only larger in size than Suriname. Uruguay was inhabited by the Charrúa people for approximately 4000 years before the Portuguese established Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest European settlements in the region, in 1680. Montevideo was founded as a stronghold by the Spanish in the early 18th century. Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a struggle between Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil. It remained subject to influence and intervention throughout the 19th century. Modern Uruguay is a constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government. Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, lack of corruption, e-government, on a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peace-keeping missions than any other country. It ranks second in the region on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income, Uruguay is the third-best country on the continent in terms of HDI, GDP growth, innovation and infrastructure. It is regarded as a country by the UN. Uruguay is also the third-best ranked in the world in e-Participation, Uruguay is an important global exporter of combed wool, rice, soybeans, frozen beef, malt and milk. Nearly 95% of Uruguays electricity comes from energy, mostly hydroelectric facilities. The Economist named Uruguay country of the year in 2013, acknowledging the innovative policy of legalizing the production, sale, the name of the namesake river comes from the Spanish pronunciation of the regional Guarani word for it. There are several interpretations, including bird-river, the name could also refer to a river snail called uruguá that was plentiful in the water. The only documented inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrúa, the Portuguese discovered the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1516, the indigenous peoples fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited their settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries
28.
Vanuatu
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Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people, the first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island in 1606. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was founded in 1980, Vanuatus name is derived from the word vanua, which occurs in several Austronesian languages, and the word tu. Together the two indicated the independent status of the new country. The prehistory of Vanuatu is obscure, archaeological evidence supports the theory that people speaking Austronesian languages first came to the islands about 3,300 years ago, pottery fragments have been found dating to 1300–1100 BC. The Spanish established a settlement at Big Bay on the north side of the island. The name Espiritu Santo remains to this day, Europeans did not return until 1768, when Louis Antoine de Bougainville rediscovered the islands. In 1774, Captain Cook named the islands the New Hebrides, during the 1860s, planters in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Samoa Islands, in need of labourers, encouraged a long-term indentured labour trade called blackbirding. At the height of the trade, more than one-half the adult male population of several of the islands worked abroad. Fragmentary evidence indicates that the current population of Vanuatu is greatly reduced compared to pre-contact times, in the 19th century, Catholic and Protestant missionaries from Europe and North America went to the islands to work with the people. John Gibson Paton was a Scottish missionary who devoted his life to the region, settlers came looking for land on which to establish cotton plantations. When international cotton prices collapsed, planters switched to coffee, cocoa, bananas, initially, British subjects from Australia made up the majority of settlers, but the establishment of the Caledonian Company of the New Hebrides in 1882 attracted more French subjects. By the start of the 20th century, the French outnumbered the British two to one, the jumbling of French and British interests in the islands brought petitions for one or another of the two powers to annex the territory. In 1906, France and the United Kingdom agreed to administer the islands jointly, called the Anglo-French Condominium, it was a unique form of government. The separate governmental systems came together only in a joint court, melanesians were barred from acquiring the citizenship of either power. Challenges to this form of government began in the early 1940s, the arrival of Americans during the Second World War, with their informal habits and relative wealth, contributed to the rise of nationalism in the islands. The belief in a messianic figure named John Frum was the basis for an indigenous cargo cult promising Melanesian deliverance. Today, John Frum is both a religion and a party with a member in Parliament
29.
Zambia
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The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom, Kaundas socialist United National Independence Party maintained power from 1964 until 1991. Kaunda played a key role in diplomacy, cooperating closely with the United States in search of solutions to conflicts in Rhodesia, Angola. From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a one-party state with the UNIP as the legal political party under the motto One Zambia. Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, beginning a period of social-economic growth, after Mwanawasas death, Rupiah Banda presided as Acting President before being elected President in 2008. Holding office for three years, Banda stepped down after his defeat in the 2011 elections by Patriotic Front party leader Michael Sata. Sata died on 28 October 2014, the second Zambian president to die in office, Guy Scott served briefly as interim president until new elections were held on 20 January 2015, in which Edgar Lungu was elected as the sixth President. In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the worlds fastest economically reformed countries, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is headquartered in Lusaka. The territory of what is now Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 and it was renamed Zambia at independence in 1964. The new name of Zambia was derived from the Zambezi river, the area of modern Zambia is known to have been inhabited by the Khoisan until around AD300, when migrating Bantu began to settle around these areas. These early hunter-gatherer groups were either annihilated or absorbed by subsequent more organised Bantu groups. Archaeological excavation work on the Zambezi Valley and Kalambo Falls show a succession of human cultures, in particular, ancient camping site tools near the Kalambo Falls have been radiocarbon dated to more than 36,000 year ago. The fossil skull remains of Broken Hill Man, dated between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC, further shows that the area was inhabited by pre-historic man. The early history of tribes of modern-day Zambia can only be gleaned from knowledge passed down by successive generations through word of mouth, in the 12th century, major waves of Bantu-speaking immigrants arrived during the Bantu expansion. Among them, the Tonga people were the first to settle in Zambia and are believed to have come from the east near the big sea, by the late 12th century, more advanced kingdoms and empires had been established in most regions of modern-day Zambia
30.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
31.
Equestrianism
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Equestrianism, more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding, refers to the skill of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in sports including, but not limited to, dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving. Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows, Horses are used for non-competitive recreational riding such as fox hunting, trail riding or hacking. There is public access to trails in almost every part of the world, many parks, ranches. Horses are also used for therapeutic purposes, both in specialized paraequestrian competition as well as non-competitive riding to improve health and emotional development. Horses are also driven in harness racing, at shows and in other types of exhibition, historical reenactment or ceremony. In some parts of the world, they are used for practical purposes such as farming. Horses continue to be used in service, in traditional ceremonies, police and volunteer mounted patrols. Riding halls enable the training of horse and rider in all weathers as well as indoor competition riding, though there is controversy over the exact date horses were domesticated and when they were first ridden, the best estimate is that horses first were ridden approximately 3500 BC. Indirect evidence suggests that horses were ridden long before they were driven, however, the most unequivocal early archaeological evidence of equines put to working use was of horses being driven. Chariot burials about 2500 BC present the most direct evidence of horses used as working animals. In ancient times chariot warfare was followed by the use of war horses as light, the horse played an important role throughout human history all over the world, both in warfare and in peaceful pursuits such as transportation, trade and agriculture. Horses lived in North America, but died out at the end of the Ice Age, Horses were brought back to North America by European explorers, beginning with the second voyage of Columbus in 1493. Humans appear to have expressed a desire to know which horse were the fastest. Gambling on horse races appears to go hand-in hand with racing and has a history as well. Thoroughbreds have the pre-eminent reputation as a breed, but other breeds also race. Under saddle, Thoroughbred horse racing is the most popular form worldwide, in the UK, it is known as flat racing and is governed by the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom
32.
County Wexford
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County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region and it is named after the town of Wexford and was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella, whose capital was Ferns. Wexford County Council is the authority for the county. The population of the county is 145,273 according to the 2011 census, the county is rich in evidence of early human habitation. Portal tombs exist at Ballybrittas and at Newbawn — and date from the Neolithic period or earlier, remains from the Bronze Age period are far more widespread. Early Irish tribes formed the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnsealaig, an area that was larger than the current County Wexford. County Wexford was one of the earliest areas of Ireland to be Christianised, later, from 819 onwards, the Vikings plundered many Christian sites in the county. Wexford town became a Viking settlement near the end of the 9th century, the native Irish began to regain some of their former territories in the 14th century, especially in the north of the county, principally under Art MacMurrough Kavanagh. Under Henry VIII the great houses were dissolved, 1536–41, in County Wexford this included Glascarrig Priory, Clonmines Priory, Tintern Abbey. On 23 October 1641, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. Oliver Cromwell and his English Parliamentarian Army arrived 1649 in the county, the lands of the Irish and Anglo-Normans were confiscated and given to Cromwells soldiers as payment for their service in the Parliamentarian Army. At Duncannon, in the south-west of the county, James II, after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, embarked for Kinsale, the famous ballad Boolavogue was written in remembrance of the Wexford Rising. At Easter 1916, a rebellion occurred at Enniscorthy town. During World War II, German planes bombed Campile, in 1963 John F. Kennedy, then President of the United States, visited the county and his ancestral home at Dunganstown, near New Ross. Wexford is the 13th largest of Irelands thirty-two counties in area and it is the largest of Leinsters 12 counties in size, and fourth largest in terms of population. The county is located in the south-east corner of the island of Ireland and it is bounded by the sea on two sides—on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by St. Georges Channel and the Irish Sea. The River Barrow forms its western boundary, the Blackstairs Mountains form part of the boundary to the north, as do the southern edges of the Wicklow Mountains. The adjoining counties are Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wicklow and this has resulted in Wexford becoming one of the most popular places in Ireland in which to reside
33.
County Limerick
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County Limerick is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster, and is part of the Mid-West Region. It is named after the city of Limerick, Limerick City and County Council is the local council for the county. The countys population at the 2016 census is 195,175 of which 58,319 live in Limerick City, Limerick borders four other counties, Kerry to the west, Clare to the north, Tipperary to the east and Cork to the south. It is the fifth largest of Munsters six counties in size, the River Shannon flows through the city of Limerick into the Atlantic Ocean at the north of the county. Below the city, the waterway is known as the Shannon Estuary, because the estuary is shallow, the countys most important port is several kilometres west of the city, at Foynes. Limerick City is the county town and is also Irelands third largest city and it also serves as a regional centre for the greater Mid-West Region. Newcastle West, Killmallock & Abbeyfeale are other important towns in the county, there are fourteen historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, the highest point in the county is located in its south-east corner at Galtymore, which separates Limerick from County Tipperary. The county is not a simply a plain, its topography consists of hills, the eastern part of the county is part of the Golden Vale, which is well known for dairy produce and consists of rolling low hills. This gives way to flat land around the centre of the county. Towards the west, the Mullaghareirk Mountains push across the county offering extensive views east over the county, tributaries of the Shannon drainage basin located in the county include the rivers Mulkear, Loobagh, Maigue, Camogue, Morning Star, Deel, and the Feale. It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, the arrival of the Celts around 400 BC brought about the division of the county into petty kingdoms or túatha. The OBriens retained their power until late in the 1100s. The ancestors of both Michael Collins and the famous OConnells of Derrynane were also among the septs of the Uí Fidgenti. As the Ui Fidgenti were the clan in the Limerick after 400 a. d. the Uí Fidgenti still made a substantial contribution to the population of the central. Their capital was Dún Eochair, the earthworks of which still remain and can be found close to the modern town of Bruree
34.
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
35.
Equitation
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Equitation is the art or practice of horse riding or horsemanship. More specifically, equitation may refer to a position while mounted. In horse show competition, the rider, rather than the horse is evaluated, such classes go by different names, depending on region, including equitation classes, rider classes, or horsemanship classes. The performance of the horse is not judged per se, but a poorly performing horse is considered to reflect the ability of the rider, Equitation classes occur in the Hunt seat, Saddle seat, Dressage, and Western disciplines. In the United States, the largest organizer of equestrian competitions is the United States Equestrian Federation, the organization offers equitation classes at its recognized shows, including those in hunt seat, dressage seat, saddle seat, and Western. The hunt seat style of riding is derived from the hunt field and it is correct for the riders to have a light and steady contact with their horses mouth the entire ride. Incorrect leads, break of pace, and wrong diagonals are penalized, loss of a stirrup or dropping the reins are also faults, and may be cause for elimination. In over fences classes, the competitor rides over a course of at least six jumps. Equitation over fence classes rarely have fences higher than 3 feet 6 inches, classes for more accomplished riders may require at least one flying lead change, and one or more combinations. The rider is judged not only on position and effectiveness of riding aids and these championships and their qualifying classes may include bending lines, roll back turns, narrow fences, and fences with a long approach to test the rider. Fences must be at least 36 and may be up to 5 wide, the course may include liverpool or open water elements, depending on the class specifications. Equitation tests may be chosen by the judge to place the top riders. These tests are required in the medal classes, riders may also be asked to switch horses at higher levels of competition, such as at a national final. Switching of horses is no longer common at competitions, usually only championships. Today it is seen most often at horse shows organized for exhibitors of the American Saddlebred, Morgan, Arabian, Tennessee Walking Horse, and it is also sometimes seen in competition for Andalusian horses. There are open and breed-specific national championships as well as a championship held every other year. Gaits shown in Saddle Seat classes include the walk, trot, some competitions may call for extended gaits, particularly the trot. In some cases, breeds who can perform five gaits add equitation classes that require two additional gaits, the gait and rack. All classes require Rail work, where competitors show and are judged as a group going both ways of the arena, Saddle seat equitation may include individual tests or a pattern to be ridden
36.
International Federation for Equestrian Sports
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The International Federation for Equestrian Sports is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, an FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abuse or doping. Jumping, Dressage and Eventing have been a part of the Olympics since 1912, para-Equestrian Dressage has been part of the Paralympic games since 1996. The FEI has organized the FEI World Equestrian Games every four years since 1990, the idea of the World Equestrian Games came into being in the mid-1980s and was strongly supported by HRH Prince Philip, who was then FEI President. The WEG encompasses the World Championship titles in all the FEI global disciplines, the FEI World Cup is an indoor series and takes place throughout the world with qualifying leagues leading to a final in each of the disciplines. The FEI World Cup series began with Show jumping in 1978 and has since extended to the disciplines of Dressage. Today, there are 134 National Equestrian Federations affiliated with the FEI, there have been 13 different presidents of the organization. Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford is the individual to have served twice. Nowadays, a President can serve for a maximum of two terms, since 2014, the President of the FEI is Ingmar De Vos from Belgium. Official website FEI TV, Official Video Website Official Facebook Page
37.
Equestrian at the Summer Olympics
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Equestrianism made its Summer Olympics debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. It disappeared until 1912, but has appeared at every Summer Olympic Games since, the current Olympic equestrian disciplines are Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded, women and men compete together on equal terms. Equestrian disciplines and the component of Modern Pentathlon are also the only Olympic events that involve animals. The horse is considered as much an athlete as the rider, the International Governing Body for equestrian sports is the Fédération Équestre Internationale. The 1924 Olympics were the first at which equestrian competitions were held under the authority of the FEI, equestrian events were first held at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, although it did not include any of the disciplines seen today. There were 4 different equestrian events, the polo competition consisted of 4 teams made up of players from Britain, France, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Grand Prix Jumping, which was similar to show jumping event, for which 45 competitors entered. The first and second place was taken by riders from Belgium, while a French rider, Louis de Champsavin, on his mount Terpsichore, got the third place. However, Constant van Langendonck and Extra Dry were able to clinch the gold in the Long Jump competition, clearing a distance of 6.10 meters. Trissino and Oreste won the silver, clearing 5.70 meters, equestrian competition was dropped from the 1904 Olympic Games, and owed its return to Count Clarence von Rosen, Master of the Horse to the King of Sweden, for bringing it back. The 1906 IOC Congress agreed to his proposal to add dressage, eventing, however, due to problems with the newly formed International Horse Show Committee, they were not introduced until the 1912 Games in Stockholm and only a polo event was held in 1908. These three disciplines would be held at every Summer Olympic Games through to the present day, in 1952, however, all men were permitted to compete in all equestrian disciplines, and women were permitted to compete in Dressage. Women were later permitted to compete in Jumping in 1956 and in Eventing in 1964, since then, equestrianism has been one of the very few Olympic sports in which men and women compete with and directly against one another. Following the 1900 Olympic Games, polo would be held an additional 4 times, at the 1908 London Games, the 1920 Antwerp Games, the 1924 Paris Games, the 1908 Olympics had just 3 polo teams, all representing Great Britain. The 1920 Games included a team from Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, and it was not until 1924, after Argentina sent a team to Paris, that the gold changed hands. Argentina also won gold at the 1936 Olympic Games, vaulting was only held once, at the 1920 Antwerp Games. Vaulting included both a team and a competition, with the entrants having to perform movements at the canter and at the halt
38.
Dressage
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Dressage is a highly skilled form of riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the Olympic Games, at the peak of a dressage horses gymnastic development, the horse responds smoothly to a skilled riders minimal aids. The rider is relaxed and appears effort-free while the horse performs the requested movement. The discipline has a history with ancient roots in the writings of Xenophon. Much about training systems used today reflects practices of classical dressage, in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of tests, prescribed series of movements ridden within a standard arena. A score of 9 is very good and is a high mark, all riding horses can benefit from use of dressage principles and training techniques. The most popular horse breeds seen at the Olympics and other international FEI competitions are warmblood horses bred for dressage, in classical dressage training and performances that involve the airs above the ground, the baroque breeds of horses are popular and purposely bred for these specialties. There are two sizes of arenas, small and standard, each has letters assigned to positions around the arena for dressage tests to specify where movements are to be performed. Cones with letters on them are positioned on the sidelines of the arena for reference as to where a movement is to be performed. The small arena is 20 by 40 m and is used for the levels of eventing in the dressage phase. Its letters around the edge, starting from the point of entry. Letters also mark locations along the line in the middle of the arena. Moving down the line from A, they are D-X-G. The standard arena is 20 by 60 m, and is used for tests in both dressage and eventing. The standard dressage arena letters are A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F, the letters on the long sides of the arena, nearest the corners, are 6 m in from the corners, and are 12 m apart from each other. The letters along the line are D-L-X-I-G, with X again being halfway down the arena. There is speculation as to why these letters were chosen, most commonly it is believed because the German cavalry had a 20 × 60-meter area in-between the barracks which had the letters posted above the doors. At the start of the test, the horse enters the arena at an opening at A, ideally this opening is then closed for the duration of the test, however, this is not always logistically possible, particularly at smaller competitions with few volunteers
39.
Eventing
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Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combination compete against other combinations across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding, Eventing was previously known as Combined Training, and the name persists in many smaller organizations. The term Combined Training is sometimes confused with the term Combined Test which refers to a combination of just two of the phases, most commonly dressage and show jumping. Eventing is a triathlon, in that it combines three different disciplines in one competition set out over one, two, or three days, depending on the length of courses and number of entries. This sport follows a format in Australia, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom. The test is judged by one or more judges who are looking for balance, rhythm, suppleness, and most importantly, obedience of the horse and its harmony with the rider. The challenge is to demonstrate that a fit horse, capable of completing the cross country phase on time, also has the training to perform in a graceful, relaxed. The tests may not ask for Grand Prix movements such as piaffe or passage, therefore, if one movement is poorly executed, it is still possible for the rider to get a good overall score if the remaining movements are very well executed. The marks are added together and any errors of course deducted, if all four feet of the horse exit the arena during the test, this results in elimination. If the horse more than 20 seconds during the test. This phase consists of approximately 12–20 fences, or 30–40 at the higher levels, sometimes, particularly at higher levels, fences are designed that would not normally occur in nature. However, these are designed to be as solid as more natural obstacles. Safety regulations mean that some obstacles are now being built with a frangible pin system, speed is also a factor, with the rider required to cross the finish line within a certain time frame. Crossing the finish line after the optimum time results in penalties for each second over, at lower levels, there is also a speed fault time, where penalties are incurred for horse and rider pairs completing the course too quickly. For every disobedience a horse and rider incur on course, penalties will be added to their dressage score, after four disobediences altogether or three disobediences at one fence the pair is eliminated, meaning they can no longer participate in the competition. A horse and rider pair can also be eliminated for going off course, if the horses shoulder and hind-quarter touch the ground, mandatory retirement is taken and they are not allowed to participate further in the competition. If the rider falls off the horse they are eliminated, however, in the US this rule is currently being revised for the Novice level and below. The penalties for disobediences on cross country are weighted relative to the other phases of competition to emphasize the importance of courage, endurance
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Show jumping
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Show jumping, also known as stadium jumping, open jumping, or simply jumping, is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are seen at horse shows throughout the world. International competitions are governed by the rules of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, Show jumping events have hunter classes, jumper classes and hunt seat equitation classes. Hunters are judged subjectively on the degree to which they meet a standard of manners, style. Jumper courses tend to be more complex and technical than hunter courses because riders. Courses often are colorful and at times, quite creatively designed, hunters have meticulous turnout and tend toward very quiet, conservative horse tack and rider attire. Hunter bits, bridles, crops, spurs, and martingales are tightly regulated, formal turnout always is preferred, a neat rider gives a good impression at shows. In addition to hunters and jumpers, there are classes, sometimes called hunt seat equitation. The equipment, clothing, and fence styles used in more closely resemble hunter classes. Jumper classes are held over a course of show jumping obstacles, including verticals, spreads, the intent is to jump cleanly over a set course within an allotted time. Time faults are assessed for exceeding the time allowance, Jumping faults are incurred for knockdowns and blatant disobedience, such as refusals. Horses are allowed a number of refusals before being disqualified. A refusal may lead to a rider exceeding the time allowed on course, placings are based on the lowest number of points or faults accumulated. A horse and rider who have not accumulated any jumping faults or penalty points are said to have scored a clear round. Tied entries usually have a jump-off over a raised and shortened course, and the course is timed, if entries are tied for faults accumulated in the jump-off, the fastest time wins. In most competitions, riders are allowed to walk the initial course, going off course will cost time if minor errors are made and major departures will result in disqualification. The higher levels of competition, such as A or AA rated shows in the United States, or the international Grand Prix circuit, present more technical and complex courses. Not only is the height and width of an obstacle increased to present a challenge, technical difficulty also increases with tighter turns
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Combined driving
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Combined driving is an equestrian sport involving carriage driving. In this discipline, the driver sits on a vehicle drawn by a single horse, the sport has three phases, dressage, cross-country marathon and obstacle cone driving, and is most similar to the mounted equestrian sport of eventing. It is one of the ten international equestrian sport horse disciplines recognized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale, the FEI classification system denotes driving competitions as Concours dAttelage, which may be either National or International. A National Event is limited to competitors of that nation, who take part according to the regulations of their National Federation. Foreign athletes may take part by invitation, an International Event must be organised under the FEI Statutes, General Regulations and Sport Rules, and may be open to competitors of all NFs. CAIs are primarily for individual athletes, however, at World Championships, competitions for national teams of three or four members run concurrently with the individual competition. There are two categories of international competitions – CAI-A and CAI-B, the CAI-A category denotes a higher level of organisation and facilities provided. Normally, it is assumed that a CA classified competition is for horses, if pony classes are involved, the letter P is added to the classification. Numbers denote the arrangement of horses in the class, World championships are denoted as Championnat du Monde Attelage. There are three World Championships for horses – Singles, Pairs and Four-in-Hand and these are held every two years, with Single Horse and Four-in-Hand Championships in an even-numbered year and Horse Pairs every odd year. In addition, a World Combined Pony Championships are held every odd-numbered year, FEI World Cup Driving, is a series of competitions for four-in-hand horse teams. Introduced in 2001, it provides a style of competition which takes place in an indoor arena. The course combines marathon and cone driving obstacles, five or six drivers, each with a team of four horses take turns to drive the course against the clock. World Cup Driving events are classified as CAI-W and take place throughout the winter months, competitions for drivers with disabilities are classified as CPEAI and the championships are held in every odd-numbered year. At the National level the sport is governed by each countrys National Federation, sometimes through a body, which will have rules based on the FEI Rulebook. Most countries hold their own National Championships, most people will start driving by joining a local organisation or club, who organise training sessions and one- or two-day competitions. Keen drivers can qualify to take part in events from which they may put themselves forward to be selected to represent their country at international competitions or World Championships. Because a driver needs a groom, its possible to take part as such
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Endurance riding
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Endurance riding is an equestrian sport based on controlled long-distance races. It is one of the international recognized by the FEI. There are two types of long-distance riding, competitive trail riding and endurance rides. In the United States, most endurance rides are either 50 or 100 miles long, shorter rides, called Limited Distance rides, are organized for new riders to the sport or young horses being trained. However, LDs have evolved into a competition of their own, in more experienced riders. There are also longer, usually multi-day, rides as well, as with human marathon running, many riders will participate to improve their horses personal best performance and consider finishing the distance with a proper vet completion record to be a win. In the USA, the American Endurance Ride Conference sanctions endurance rides, in the UK, Endurance GB is the governing body. Winning riders can complete 100-mile rides in 14 to 15 hours, any breed can compete, but the Arabian generally dominates the top levels because of the breeds stamina and natural endurance abilities. Endurance rides and races can be any distance, though they are rarely over 160 km for a one-day competition. Organized endurance riding as a sport began in 1955, when Wendell Robie. They followed the historic Western States Trail and this ride soon became known as the Tevis Cup, and it remains the most difficult of any 100-mile ride in the world because of the severe terrain, high altitude, and 100-degree temperatures. Endurance riding first was brought to Europe in the 1960s, before the ride, horses are inspected by a veterinarian to ensure they are fit to perform in the ride. Riders may be given a map or GPS waypoints for the course, which shows the route, the places for compulsory halts, the trails frequently are marked with colored surveyors tape ribbons at regular intervals with additional ribbons or small arrow markers at turns in the trail. The ride is divided into sections, with different names, depending on sanctioning organization, after each section, horses are stopped for a veterinary inspection, where they are checked for soundness and dehydration, with their pulse and respiration taken. The riders time keeps running until their horses reach the required target, any horse deemed unfit to continue is eliminated from further competition. After the veterinary inspection, the horse must be held for a hold time. If the veterinary inspection is on the rather than at base camp, ride management usually delivers to the inspection location a cache of riders personal gear, food. While riders may compete without additional aid, sometimes referred to as riding cavalry, in upper level competition this is particularly important to efficiently prepare the horse for the vet as well as care of both horse and rider during the mandatory hold times
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Horseball
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Horseball is a game played on horseback where a ball is handled and points are scored by shooting it through a hoop with a diameter of 1m. The sport is like a combination of polo, rugby, and it is one of the ten disciplines officially recognized by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. The sports predecessor, pato, originated in Argentina in the early 1700s and it was outlawed in 1790 due to high mortality among players. In 1941 the Federacion Argentina de Pato was created, in 1953 was declared as Argentinas national game. The name of the game derives from the use of a live duck instead of the six-handled ball which is used in the modern sport. The game as its known today, including the use of a instead of an animal, was defined in the 1930s. It gained success and has spread across Europe and overseas, the International Horseball Federation has eighteen members including eight outside of Europe, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Kyrgyzstan and Mexico. The basic rules involve a team of 4 players making a minimum of 3 passes between 3 different players of their team and then scoring a goal through a vertical hoop goal, the game is played on a soft, non slip surface, usually sand. The pitch is rectangular, approximately 65m x 25m, a match begins with a pick up, the rules for the first pick up are simple, the horse has to be cantering. In this situation, each rider must remain seated in the saddle, if both stay seated and the defender manages to keep hold of the ball for 3 seconds then their team earns a penalty. Simple tactics of the game involve the attacking team going towards goal crossing paths as this helps to manoeuvre the defence. Players can return home if they feel an attack is failing, when the ball is dropped or falls to the ground, anyone can pick it up so long as they are travelling in the same direction as play was when the ball was dropped. This is to avoid any riders coming head on whilst someone is picking up, whilst picking the ball up during the game the player must not come to a stand still. This is a teams tournament. There have been seventeen editions of this tournament with Saint-Lô2013, France is the only national team to have won this tournament, the Portuguese team has the most Silver, and Belgium the most Bronze. Currently the titles are, Gold for France, Silver for Spain, the European Lady Championship is the female only tournament, the first was in 2003 in Abano Terme 2003. There have been eight editions of this tournament with Saint-Lô2013, France is again the only national team to have won this tournament, tied for most silver are Belgium, Germany and Spain, and tied with the most bronze are Belgium, Great Britain and Spain. Currently the titles are, Gold for France, Silver for Spain, the European Under-16 Championship is the youth tournament with mixed-sex teams, the first was in 2004 in Lamotte-Beuvron 2004
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Reining
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Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope, or the gallop, the horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. Cattle were moved, branded, doctored, sorted, and herded, often on open range without the benefit of fences, a good cowboy needed a quick and nimble horse, one that could change directions quickly, stop on a dime, and sprint after an errant cow. Other nations with traditions of herding livestock on vast areas, such as Australia and Argentina, the reining pattern includes an average of eight to twelve movements which must be executed by the horse. Patterns require the following movements, Circles, the horse must perform large, fast circles at a near-gallop and smaller and they should be perfectly round, with the rider dictating the pace of the horse. There should be an easily seen change of speed as the rider transitions from the large, fast to the small, most circles incorporate changes of direction that require a flying change of lead. Flying lead change, the horse changes its leading front and hind legs at the lope mid-stride, the horse should not break gait nor change speed. Rundown, the horse gallops or runs along the side of the arena. A rundown is a required movement prior to a sliding stop, the back should be raised upward and hindquarters come well underneath. A particularly powerful stop may, depending on conditions, produce flying dirt. The movement should finish in a line, and the horses position should not change. This movement is a favorite, along with spins. Back or Backup, the backs up quickly for at least 10 feet. The horse must back in a straight line, stop when asked. It is judged on how quick, smooth and straight the line is, rollback, the horse immediately, without hesitation, performs a 180-degree turn after halting from a sliding stop, and immediately goes forward again into a lope. The horse must turn on its hindquarters, bringing its hocks well under, spins or Turnarounds, beginning from a standstill, the horse spins 360 degrees or more in place around its stationary inside hind leg. The hind pivot foot remains in essentially the same throughout the spin, though the horse will pick it up. Spins are judged on correctness, smoothness, and cadence, speed adds to the difficulty and will improve the score of a correctly done spin
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Tent pegging
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Tent pegging is a cavalry sport of ancient origin, and is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognised by the International Equestrian Federation. Used narrowly, the term refers to a mounted game with ground targets. More broadly, it refers to the class of mounted cavalry games involving edged weapons on horseback. Cavaliers have practised the specific game of tent pegging since at least the 4th century BC, as a result, the games date and location of origin are ambiguous. In all accounts, the sport evolved out of cavalry training exercises designed to develop cavaliers prowess with the sword. However, whether tent pegging developed cavaliers generic skills or prepared them for combat situations is unclear. However, other sources suggest that the sport originated earlier in Central Asia or the Middle East and was later on popularised in India. However, there are few accounts of a cavalry squadron ever employing such tactics. The specific game of tent pegging has a mounted horseman riding at a gallop and using a sword or a lance to pierce, pick up, the broader class of tent pegging games also includes ring jousting, lemon sticking, quintain tilting, and Parthian archery. Today, tent pegging is practised around the world, but is popular in Australia, India, Israel, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa. The Olympic Council of Asia included tent pegging as a sport in 1982. From the results of the 2008 International Tent Pegging Championships, the three leading national teams are currently Canada, India, and Oman. Members of cavalry regiments and mounted police forces remain dominant in world-class tent pegging, the United States Tent Pegging Federation is working on introducing tent pegging on the sidelines of polo in the United States. In late 1990s, many efforts were mostly solo efforts by individuals like H. E Prince Malik Ata Khan and Maharaja of Dunlod. EFI tent pegging pioneers provided much encouragement to export tent pegging to the USA, also H. E Prince Malik Ata Khan, the icon of modern-day tent pegging supported the idea of formation of a Tent Pegging as an organized sport in the USA. All of their thrust was to establish an organization in the United States so that USA could represent itself on the international front, at present the USTPF, working hard to promote Tent Pegging in the USA. The promotion efforts include two Tent Pegging Training Clinics initiated in October 2014 and June 2015 to compete in the international Arena, the USTPF was recognized by the USEF as Alliance Partner in 2015 and an NGB for Tent Pegging in the USA. The USEF granted the Alliance Partnership to the USTPF with permanent Alliance Partnership number 5347848, New and emerging national tent pegging associations have helped spread the sports popularity
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Equestrian vaulting
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Equestrian vaulting, or simply Vaulting, is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, which can be practiced both competitively or non-competitively. Vaulting has a history as an act at circuses. It is open to men and women, and is one of ten equestrian disciplines recognized by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Therapeutic or interactive vaulting is also used as an activity for children and adults who may have balance, attention, gross motor skill, vaultings enthusiasts are concentrated in Europe and other parts of the Western world. It is well established in Germany and Switzerland and is growing in other western countries, Vaulting was first introduced in the United States in the 1950s and 60s but was limited only to California and other areas of the west coast. More recently, it is beginning to gain popularity in the United States northeast and it is believed by some that the origins of vaulting could be traced to the ancient Roman games, where acrobats usually displayed their skills on cantering horses. Others, however, believe that vaulting originated in ancient Crete, in either case, people have been performing acrobatic and dance-like movements on the backs of moving horses/animals for more than 2,000 years. Renaissance and Middle Ages history include numerous references to vaulting or similar activities, the present name of the sport/art comes from the French la voltige, which it acquired during the Renaissance, when it was a form of riding drill and agility exercise for cavalry riders. Modern vaulting developed in post-war Germany as an initiative to introduce children to equestrian sports, in 1983, vaulting became one of the disciplines recognized by the FEI. European championships were first held in Ebreichsdorf, Austria in 1984, Vaulting was included in the World Equestrian Games in Stockholm in 1990 and in all subsequent editions of the games. It was demonstrated as an art during the 1984 and 1996 Olympic Games events and it has been included in the Inter-Africa Cup since 2006. The first World Cup Vaulting competition was held in Leipzig on 29–30 April 2011, in competitive vaulting, vaulters compete as individuals, pairs, and teams. Beginning vaulters compete at the walk or trot while experienced vaulters compete at the canter, the vaulting horse moves in a 15-metre circle and is directed by a lunger who stands in the center. In competitive vaulting, the rider will first be judged on a score from 1 to 10, if two competitors tie, then the horse is judged. Vaulting competitions consist of compulsory exercises and choreographed freestyle exercises done to music, there are seven compulsory exercises, mount, basic seat, flag, mill, scissors, stand and flank. Each exercise is scored on a scale from 0 to 10, horses also receive a score and are judged on the quality of their movement as well as their behavior. Vaulters compete in team and individual freestyles, an individual Kur is a 1-minute freestyle and team is 4 minutes. They are both choreographed to music, the components of a freestyle vaulting routine may include mounts and dismounts, handstands, kneeling and standing and aerial moves such jumps, leaps and tumbling skills
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Para-equestrian
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The other is para-equestrian driving, which operates under the same basic rules as combined driving but places competitors in various grades based on their functional abilities. The first official Paralympic Games was held in Rome in 1960, the Games were initially open only to athletes in wheelchairs, at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. Competitors with cerebral palsy classifications were allowed to compete at the Paralympic games for the first time at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, para-equestrian dressage was added to the Paralympic Games program at the 1996 Summer Paralympics. The FEI brought para-equestrian sport under its umbrella in 2006, riders with physical disabilities may compete on the same team as people with vision impairment. There are two separate para-equestrian events sanctioned by FEI, the governing body. Dressage events include Walk Only Tests for Grade 1 and Walk, the dressage events open to Grade 3 classification included Walk and Trot but Canter allowed in Freestyle. The dressage events open to Grade 4 classification included Walk, Trot and Canter, in these three grades, participants use a 40 x 20 metre arena. The dressage events open to Grade 5 classification included Walk, Trot, Canter, Canter Half-Pirouettes,3 and 4 sequence changes, at Grade 5 participants move up to the 60 x 20 metre arena. All class events are mixed gendered, for national team competitions such as the Paralympics, each team consists of three riders, one of whom must be a Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 rider. As of 2012, people with physical and visual disabilities are eligible to compete, the other para-equestrian event is para-driving. It was previously called Carriage Driving, all class events are mixed gendered. The sport is the one with one of the highest rates of injury, for this reason, much of the equipment for the sport is developed with this in mind. Much of the equipment uses Velcro and rubber bands so that things can easily breakaway, there is also a constant balance in developing equipment for para-equestrian to assure that the rider remains in control, and that they are not dragged along by the horse. One of the made to saddles for para-equestrian is extra padding. One of the companies that specializes in making saddles for people with disabilities is Superacor, in addition to saddles, para-equestrian riders may use some other form of padding such as a fleece covering for the saddle. Para-equestrian competitors have both a class and a disability profile number, the profile number impacts which equipment a rider can use, with equipment differences existing in the same class. The Paralympic games host a para-equestrian dressage competition, and have done so since 1996, the Paralympic Games are the second largest equestrian event in the world, only behind the Olympic Games. It is the sport on the Paralympic program that includes a live animal
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Horse racing
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Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys or driven over a set distance for competition. Horse races vary widely in format, often, countries have developed their own particular horse racing traditions. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, Horse racing has a long and distinguished history and has been practised in civilisations across the world since ancient times. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in Ancient Greece, Babylon, Syria and it also plays an important part of myth and legend, such as the contest between the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC and were important in the other Panhellenic Games. This was despite the fact that racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries, fifteen to 20 riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ran the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street, in about 2½ minutes. In later times, Thoroughbred racing became, and remains, popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, historically, equestrians honed their skills through games and races. Equestrian sports provided entertainment for crowds and honed the excellent horsemanship that was needed in battle, Horse racing of all types evolved from impromptu competitions between riders or drivers. The various forms of competition, requiring demanding and specialized skills from both horse and rider, resulted in the development of specialized breeds and equipment for each sport. The popularity of sports through the centuries has resulted in the preservation of skills that would otherwise have disappeared after horses stopped being used in combat. There are many different types of racing, including, Flat racing. Jump racing, or Jumps racing, also known as Steeplechasing or, in the UK and Ireland, National Hunt racing, Harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a sulky. Breeds that are used for flat racing include the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Paint, Jump racing breeds include the Thoroughbred and AQPS. In harness racing, Standardbreds are used in Australia, New Zealand and North America, light cold blood horses, such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian coldblood trotter are also used in harness racing within their respective geographical areas. There also are races for ponies, both flat and jump and harness racing, Flat racing is the most common form of racing seen worldwide. Track surfaces vary, with turf most common in Europe, dirt more common in North America and Asia, individual flat races are run over distances ranging from 440 yards up to two and a half miles, with distances between five and twelve furlongs being most common. Short races are referred to as sprints, while longer races are known as routes in the United States or staying races in Europe
