1.
Fiji
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Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealands North Island. Fiji is an archipelago of more than 330 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital, Suva on Viti Levu, serves as Fijis principal cruise port, about three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levus coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi or Lautoka. Viti Levus interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain, Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry. The countrys currency is the Fijian dollar, Fijis local government, in the form of city and town councils, is supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development. The majority of Fijis islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago, today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, and was settled first by Austronesians and later by Melanesians, Europeans visited Fiji from the 17th century, and, after a brief period as an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as a Commonwealth realm, a republic was declared in 1987, following a series of coups détat. In a coup in 2006, Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power, later in 2009, Iloilo was replaced as President by Ratu Epeli Nailatikau. After years of delays, an election was held on 17 September 2014. Bainimaramas FijiFirst party won with 59. 2% of the vote, Fijis main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name Fiji is derived, though the common English pronunciation is based on that of their island neighbours in Tonga. Its emergence can be described as follows, Fijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of the members of the expeditions of Cook who met them in Tonga. They were described as warriors and ferocious cannibals, builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific. They inspired awe amongst the Tongans, and all their Manufactures, especially bark cloth and clubs, were highly valued and much in demand. They called their home Viti, but the Tongans called it Fisi, and it was by this foreign pronunciation, Fiji, first promulgated by Captain James Cook, that these islands are now known. Feejee, the Anglicised spelling of the Tongan pronunciation, was used in accounts and other writings until the late 19th century, by missionaries and other travellers visiting Fiji. Pottery art from Fijian towns shows that Fiji was settled before or around 3500 to 1000 BC, the first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago
2.
Alfred Thomas Agate
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Alfred Thomas Agate was a noted American artist, painter and miniaturist. Agate lived in New York from 1831 to 1838 and he studied with his brother, Frederick Styles Agate, a portrait and historical painter. He later went on to study with Thomas Seir Cummings, by the late 1830s, Agate was exhibiting his work at the National Academy of Design in New York, and established himself as a skilled painter in oils. He was elected into the National Academy of Design as a member in 1840. Agate drew landscapes, portraits, and scientific illustrations, for much of his landscapes, Agate used a camera lucida, a device which projected the scene onto a piece of paper for purposes of tracing. Agate created many artworks during his service with the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 under Charles Wilkes and he was especially good at botanical illustrations, and was the designated portrait and botanical artist of the expedition. The United States Exploring Expedition passed through the Ellice Islands and visited Funafuti, Nukufetau, during the visit of the expedition to the Ellice Islands Alfred Thomas Agate recorded the dress and tattoo patterns of men of Nukufetau. Agate created the first known picture of Mount Shasta, Agate contributed more than half of the sketches and paintings reproduced as lithographs illustrating the five volumes of the expeditions reports. Agate lived in Washington, D. C. from 1842 onward, on Agates death in 1846, the drawings passed to his widow, Elizabeth Hill Kennedy Agate, who later married Dr. William J. C. In 1926, one of her daughters from this marriage, Elizabeth A, du Hamel, sold them to the Naval Historical Foundation. The Naval Historical Foundation donated Agates artwork to the Navy Art Collection in 1998, in 1841, Agate Passage near Bainbridge Island, Washington was named by Lt. Charles Wilkes in honor of Agate. Agate Island in Fiji was also named in honor of Agate, botanist Asa Gray used Agates drawings and the expeditions specimens for botanical reports, and named a violet, Agatea violaris, after him. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume 1607–1896, Alfred Thomas Agate at American Art Gallery Exhibit, The Alfred Agate Collection, The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 from the Navy Art Gallery
3.
Punishment
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Punishment may be self-inflicted as with self-flagellation and mortification of the flesh in the religious setting, but is most often a form of social coercion. The unpleasant imposition may include a fine, penalty, or confinement, the individual may be a person, or even an animal. The authority may be either a group or a single person, negative consequences that are not authorized or that are administered without a breach of rules are not considered to be punishment as defined here. Research into punishment often includes similar research into prevention, justifications for punishment include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. The last could include such measures as isolation, in order to prevent the wrongdoers having contact with potential victims, if only some of the conditions included in the definition of punishment are present, descriptions other than punishment may be considered more accurate. Inflicting something negative, or unpleasant, on a person or animal, in addition, the word punishment is used as a metaphor, as when a boxer experiences punishment during a fight. In other situations, breaking a rule may be rewarded, finally the condition of breaking the rules must be satisfied for consequences to be considered punishment. Corporal punishment refers to punishments in which pain is intended to be inflicted upon the transgressor. Punishments may be judged as fair or unfair in terms of their degree of reciprocity and proportionality to the offense, Punishment can be an integral part of socialization, and punishing unwanted behaviour is often part of a system of pedagogy or behavioral modification which also includes rewards. Various philosophers have presented definitions of punishment, introduced by B. F. Skinner, punishment has a more restrictive and technical definition. Along with reinforcement it belongs under the operant conditioning category, operant conditioning refers to learning with either punishment as a negative rienforcer or a reward that serves as a positive reinforcement of the lesson to be learned. In psychology, punishment is the reduction of a behavior via application of an unpleasant stimulus or removal of a pleasant stimulus, extra chores or spanking are examples of positive punishment, while removing an offending students recess or play privileges are examples of negative punishment. The definition requires that punishment is only determined after the fact by the reduction in behavior, if the behavior of the subject does not decrease. There is some conflation of punishment and aversives, though an aversion that does not decrease behavior is not considered punishment in psychology, additionally, aversive stimulus is a label behaviorists generally apply to negative reinforcers, rather than punishers. During a period of heavy fishing and tourism that encroached on their territory, they started to live in groups, learning from each other, especially hunting techniques. Small, younger octopuses could be near the fully grown octopuses without being eaten by them, even though they, the authors also note that the octopuses adopted observational learning without any evolutionary history of specialized adaptation for it. There are also arguments against the notion of punishment requiring intelligence, there is proof of honey bee workers with mutations that makes them fertile laying eggs only when other honey bees are not observing them, and that the few that are caught in the act are killed. The authors argue that this falsifies the claim that punishment evolved as a strategy to deal with individuals capable of knowing what they are doing, certain scientists argue that this disproves the notion of humans having a biological feeling of intentional transgressions deserving to be punished
4.
Revenge
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Revenge is a form of primitive justice usually assumed to be enacted in the absence of the norms of formal law and jurisprudence. Often, revenge is defined as being an action against a person or group in response to a grievance. It is used to right a wrong by going outside of the law and this is because the individual taking revenge feels as though the law will not do justice. Francis Bacon described it as a kind of justice that does. Offend the law putteth the law out of office, primitive justice or retributive justice is often differentiated from more formal and refined forms of justice such as distributive justice and divine judgment. Detractors argue that revenge is simply wrong, of the design as two wrongs make a right. They dont want to lose face, some societies encourage vengeful behavior, which is called feud. These societies usually regard the honor of individuals and groups as of central importance, thus, while protecting of his reputation an avenger feels as if he restores the previous state of dignity and justice. According to Michael Ignatieff, revenge is a profound desire to keep faith with the dead. Thus, honor may become a heritage that passes from generation to generation, whenever it is compromised, the affected family or community members might feel compelled to retaliate against an offender to restore the initial balance of honor that preceded the perceived injury. This cycle of honor might expand by bringing the family members and they still persist in some areas, notably in Albania with its tradition of gjakmarrja or blood feuds. Blood feuds are still practiced in parts of the world, including Kurdish regions of Turkey. Honoring ones family, clan, or lord through the practice of revenge killings and these killings could also involve the relatives of an offender. Today, katakiuchi is most often pursued by means. The motto of Scotland is Nemo me impune lacessit, Latin for Nobody shall provoke/injure me with impunity, the origin of the motto reflects the feudal clan system of ancient Scotland, particularly the Highlands. Modern Western legal systems usually state as their goal the reform or reeducation of a convicted criminal, Sudan has suffered cycles of revenge for many years, for example tribal conflicts in Darfur. South Sudan is torn by conflicts with ethnic cleansing between the Nuer and Dinka peoples, fueled by appetite for revenge. The French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord has been credited with the saying, La vengeance est un met que lon doit manger froid and it has been wrongly credited to the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses
5.
Colonialism
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Colonialism is the establishment of a colony in one territory by a political power from another territory, and the subsequent maintenance, expansion, and exploitation of that colony. The term is used to describe a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous peoples. The European colonial period was the era from the 16th century to the century when several European powers established colonies in Asia, Africa. At first the countries followed a policy of mercantilism, designed to strengthen the economy at the expense of rivals. By the mid-19th century, however, the powerful British Empire gave up mercantilism and trade restrictions and introduced the principle of free trade, collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as the policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions, including something characteristic of a colony, in the book, Osterhammel asks, How can colonialism be defined independently from colony. He settles on a definition, Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting the lives of the people are made. Rejecting cultural compromises with the population, the colonizers are convinced of their own superiority. Historians often distinguish between two overlapping forms of colonialism, Settler colonialism involves large-scale immigration, often motivated by religious, political, exploitation colonialism involves fewer colonists and focuses on access to resources for export, typically to the metropole. Surrogate colonialism involves a settlement project supported by a colonial power, internal colonialism is a notion of uneven structural power between areas of a state. The source of exploitation comes from within the state, as colonialism often played out in pre-populated areas, sociocultural evolution included the formation of various ethnically hybrid populations. In fact, everywhere where colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence, notable examples in Asia include the Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indian, Burgher, Eurasian Singaporean, Filipino mestizo, Kristang and Macanese peoples. In the Dutch East Indies the vast majority of Dutch settlers were in fact Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans, the Other, or othering is the process of creating a separate entity to persons or groups who are labelled as different or non-normal due to the repetition of characteristics. Othering is the creation from those who discriminate, to distinguish, label, several scholars in recent decades developed the notion of the other as an epistemological concept in social theory. For example, postcolonial scholars, believed that colonizing powers explained an ‘other’ who were there to dominate, civilize, political geographers explain how colonial/ imperial powers othered places they wanted to dominate to legalize their exploitation of the land. During the rise of colonialism and after, post colonialism, the Western powers perspectives of the East as the other, different and this viewpoint and separation of culture had divided the Eastern and Western culture creating a dominant/ subordinate dynamic, both being the other towards themselves. The word metropole comes from the Greek metropolis —mother city, the word colony comes from the Latin colonia—a place for agriculture
6.
Bombardment of Algiers (1816)
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The Bombardment of Algiers was an attempt by Britain and the Netherlands to end the slavery practices of Omar Agha, the Dey of Algiers. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth bombarded ships, there was a continuing campaign by various European navies and the American navy to suppress the piracy against Europeans by the North African Barbary states. The specific aim of this expedition, however, was to free Christian slaves, to this end, it was partially successful, as the Dey of Algiers freed around 3,000 slaves following the bombardment and signed a treaty against the slavery of Europeans. However, this practice did not end completely until the French conquest of Algeria, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Royal Navy no longer needed the Barbary states as a source of supplies for Gibraltar and their fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. This freed Britain to exert political pressure to force the Barbary states to end their piracy. The Deys of Tunis and Tripoli agreed without any resistance, but the Dey of Algiers was more recalcitrant, Exmouth believed that he had managed to negotiate a treaty to stop the slavery of Christians and returned to England. However, due to confused orders, Algerian troops massacred 200 Corsican, Sicilian and this caused outrage in Britain and Europe, and Exmouths negotiations were seen as a failure. As a result, Exmouth was ordered to sea again to complete the job and he gathered a squadron of five ships of the line, one 50-gun spar-decked frigate, four conventional frigates, and five bomb ships. HMS Queen Charlotte—100 guns—was his flagship and Rear Admiral David Milne was his second in command aboard HMS Impregnable,98 guns and he believed that more large ships would have interfered with each other without being able to bring much more fire to bear. In addition to the fleet, there were four sloops, eight ships boats armed with Congreve rockets. When the British arrived in Gibraltar, a squadron of five Dutch frigates, Exmouth decided to assign them to cover the main force from Algerian flanking batteries, as there was insufficient space in the mole for the Dutch frigates. The day before the attack, the frigate Prometheus arrived and its captain W. B, dashwood attempted to secretly rescue the British Consul and his wife and infant. Some of the party was discovered and arrested. The attack was described by the U. S. Consul, the plan of attack was for the larger ships to approach in a column. They were to sail into the zone where the majority of the Algerian guns could not be brought to bear, then, they were to come to anchor and bombard the batteries and fortifications on the mole to destroy the defences. Simultaneously, HMS Leander—50 guns—was to anchor off the mouth of the harbour, to protect Leander from the shore battery, frigates HMS Severn and Glasgow were to sail inshore and bombard the battery. Troops would then storm ashore on the mole with sappers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Exmouth in Queen Charlotte anchored approximately 80 yd off the mole, facing the Algerian guns. However, a number of the ships anchored out of position, notably Admiral Milne aboard HMS Impregnable
7.
Barbary slave trade
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The Ottoman provinces in North Africa were nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but in reality they were mostly autonomous. The North African slave markets were part of the Arab slave trade, European slaves were acquired by Barbary pirates in slave raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from Italy to the Netherlands, as far north as Iceland and east into the Mediterranean. The Ottoman eastern Mediterranean was the scene of intense piracy, as late as the 18th century, piracy continued to be a consistent threat to maritime traffic in the Aegean. For centuries, large vessels on the Mediterranean relied on galley slaves supplied by North African and Ottoman slave traders, Davis estimates that 1 million to 1. Sixteenth- and 17th-century customs statistics suggest that Istanbuls additional slave import from the Black Sea may have totaled around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700, the Kingdom of Morocco had already suppressed piracy and recognized the United States as an independent country in 1776. The slave trade had existed in North Africa since antiquity, with a supply of African slaves arriving through trans-Saharan trade routes, the towns on the North African coast were recorded in Roman times for their slave markets, and this trend continued into the medieval age. The Barbary Coast increased in influence in the 15th century, when the Ottoman Empire took over as rulers of the area, coupled with this was an influx of Sephardi Jews and Moorish refugees, newly expelled from Spain after the Reconquista. With Ottoman protection and a host of immigrants, the coastline soon became reputed for piracy. Crews from the ships were either enslaved or ransomed. Between 1580 and 1680, there were in Barbary around 15,000 renegades, Christian Europeans who converted to Islam, some of them were slaves that converted to Islam but most had probably never been slaves and had come to North Africa looking for opportunity. Without a large central authority and its laws, the pirates themselves started to gain much influence. In 1785 when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripolis envoy, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, pirate raids for the acquisition of slaves occurred in towns and villages on the African Atlantic seaboard, as well as in Europe. It is estimated that between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers, the slave trade in Europeans in other parts of the Mediterranean is not included in this estimation. The attack was led by a Dutch captain, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, Janszoon also led the 1627 raid on Iceland. Such raids in the Mediterranean were so frequent and devastating that the coastline between Venice to Malaga suffered widespread depopulation, and settlement there was discouraged, in fact, it was said that this was largely because there was no one left to capture any longer. The power and influence of these pirates during this time was such that nations including the United States of America paid tribute in order to stave off their attacks, supplies from the Black Sea appear to have been even larger. A compilation of statistics and patchy estimates indicates that a little fewer than 2 million Russians, Ukrainians. Additionally, there were slaves from the Caucasus obtained by a mixture of raiding and trading, 16th- and 17th-century customs statistics suggest that Istanbuls slave import from the Black Sea may have totaled around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700
8.
French Navy
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The French Navy, informally La Royale, is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces. As of June 2014, the French Navy employed a total of 36,776 personnel, the reserve element of the French Navy consisted of 4,827 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The French naval fleet includes more than a hundred vessels and nuclear type submarines, the history of the French Navy dates back to the History of the French Navy of Antiquity to the Renaissance, part of the History of the French Navy. The French Royal Navy was quasi inexistent prior 1624, the Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, which was both a religious and military order, had its own respective international war fleet which assured the policing of the seas in the Mediterranean. The members which had satisfied obligations for periods in service at sea fulfilling their service, were granted the rank of Knights Hospitaller, however, many considered the naval service formation to integrate later, while being well formed, their respective navy. The Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem was one of the ancestors of the French naval schools and in principal, the Order accordingly formed most of the ships Captains, Officers of the French Royal Navy and Admirals of the Marine française de guerre de la Méditerranée. During the Revolution, the French Navy succeeded to the French Royal Navy, under the First French Empire and the Second French Empire, the navy was designated as the Imperial French Navy. The French Navy is still designated today familiarly as La Royale and this expression was used by commercial sailors due to their military service at the corps of the navy by the institution of maritime inscription. The implementation then of the Ministère de la Marine later the de la Marine de guerre française at rue Royale. The symbol of the French Navy, which was since origin a golden anchor » and this symbol featured on all naval vessels, the arms, uniforms, the couriers, equipment, and general arms of the navy. This symbol was replaced in 1990 by a logo featuring a bow section of a warship with two ascending red and blue spray foams, and the inscription Marine nationale. The Chief of Staff of the French Navy was Admiral Bernard Louzeau, the navy became a consistent instrument of national power around the seventeenth century with Richelieus efforts under Louis XIII, and Colberts under Louis XIV. Under the tutelage of the Sun King, the French Navy was well-financed and -equipped, managing to score several victories in the Nine Years War against the Royal Navy. Financial troubles, however, forced the navy back to port and allowed the English, before the Nine Years War, in the Franco-Dutch War, it managed to score a decisive victory over a combined Spanish-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Palermo. The French Navy scored various successes, as in the campaigns led in the Atlantic by Picquet de la Motte, in 1766, Bougainville led the first French circumnavigation. During the American Revolutionary War the French Navy played a role in supporting the Americans. French warships participated in the battle by bombarding British ground forces, in India, Suffren waged campaigns against the British, successfully contending for supremacy against Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes. In the Mediterranean, the French Navy waged a campaign during a 1798 French invasion of Egypt
9.
Battle of Veracruz (1838)
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For other battles at Veracruz see Battle of Veracruz. Having crossed the Atlantic to settle a dispute between France and Mexico, the squadron anchored off Veracruz and negotiated until all diplomatic means to resolve the dispute appeared exhausted, after announcing that hostilities would begin, Baudin had his squadron bombard the fort. French fire, particularly heavy mortars mounted on vessels and Paixhans guns on frigates, silenced the citadel and forced it to surrender on 28 November. Mexican authorities, however, refused to cave in to French demands, despite its limited ground forces, the French squadron succeeded in capturing Gen. Mariano Arista and in wounding Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. Politically, the attack undermined the Mexican regime while bolstering the prestige of Santa Anna, in France the battle attracted considerable public attention at the moment, but was later overshadowed by the much more considerable French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s. The Mexican War of Independence concluded with Mexico gaining independence from Spain, several generals took power through force of arms, resulting in 20 different Presidents of Mexico in 20 years. Civilian populations suffered from these struggles for power, as well as expatriates, as the country had attracted considerable investments. In particular, the 6000 French that had settled in Mexico periodically requested intervention on their behalf from the French government, between 1828-38 a rash of killings, expropriations, forced borrowings, arbitrary arrests and other abuses were committed. The French government made attempts at settling the matter by commercial agreements, demands for compensations and even threats of armed interventions. In 1837 a French pastry cook named Remontel, established in Tacubaya, had his stocks pillaged by drunken Mexican soldiers, the Mexican government refused, and because of the triggering incident, the conflict was nicknamed the Pastry War. On 16 April 1838 diplomatic relations between France and Mexico broke down, leaving military action as a last recourse, however, the fortress of San Juan de Ulua was much too strong for Bazoches forces, who were further exhausted by months of campaigning and suffered from Yellow fever. A stronger second squadron, under Rear Adm. Charles Baudin, was sent the next year, frigates were chosen because they were deemed strong enough to carry out a serious military mission but were sufficiently light to avoid challenging British naval supremacy. Furthermore, the squadron had two steamers, Météore and Phaéton, to maneuvers in the harbor, and two corvettes armed en flûte, Fortune and Caravane, for logistics. Baudin had his flag on Néréide, the squadron sported 380 guns, some of them heavy mortars mounted on the bomb vessels and newly introduced Paixhans guns on the frigates. It also transported three artillery companies and one engineering company, but no naval infantry, the bulk of the squadron left Toulon in the summer of 1838, stopping in Cadix to rendezvous with the ships inbound from Brest, and sailed for the Caribbean. A storm partially scattered the fleet en route, whose main forces reached Veracruz on 29 October, the city of Veracruz was defended by the fort of San Juan de Ulúa, a strong fortress located about a kilometre from the city and protected by a reef. The citadel was deemed invulnerable to attacks and thought of highly enough to be nicknamed the Gibraltar of the Indies. However, many of these guns were by then obsolete, and with the civil turmoil endured by the country, many of the soldiers were equipped and poorly armed, in addition to being hungry
10.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
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