1.
Germany
–
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
2.
Joseph Kentenich
–
Father Joseph Kentenich was a Pallottine priest and founder of the Schoenstatt Movement. He attempted to teach Christians how to live out their faith and he was born on November 16,1885, in Gymnich, near Cologne, and christened Peter Josef Kentenich November 19 at the parish church of St. Kuniberts. His mother was Katharina Kentenich, his father, Matthias Köp, a manager on a farm lived in Oberbolheim, where Katharina was one of the domestic staff. Because his parents were not married, Joseph was born in the house of his grandparents, Anna Maria and Matthias Kentenich. The boy attended a school there for a few months, after her brother remarried on 25 June 1892, Katharina and her son returned to Gymnich. Katharina had to look for a permanent job in order to support her child, Joseph Kentenich was sent to St. Vincent orphanage in Oberhausen on 12 April 1894. In 1897, Joseph for the first time expressed the wish to become a priest, two years later, he entered the Pallottines Minor Seminary of Ehrenbreitstein. In 1904, he enters in the novitiate of the Pallottines in Limburg an der Lahn, in his diary, he formulates his spiritual journey, God is my only goal, He must also be the star that guides my life. However, the novice faces great difficulties because of his intellectualist character and he is obsessed by the primary philosophical question, Is there a truth, and how to know it. He has an aspiration for perfection, but feels great insensitivity. Marian devotion allows him to overcome this crisis and discover the personal love that God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary have for him, admitted to religious profession in 1909, Joseph Kentenich was ordained priest in Limburg an der Lahn, on 8 July 1910. Although he wished to become a missionary in Africa with the Pallottines and he was first a professor at the Minor Seminary of Ehrenbreistein. Then, from 1912 to 1919, Spiritual Director at the Minor Seminary of the Pallottine Fathers in Vallendar-Schoenstatt, near Koblenz and his charism of education manifested in the first years of his priesthood. Indeed, a storm stirred the seminarians of Vallendar-Schoenstatt, students protest against the regulations that they consider too severe. Two priests in charge of their spiritual direction resign, under this situation, a young Father, Joseph Kentenich, is named for replacing to try to restore confidence among the seminarians. In his first talk, he says to his students, I am at your disposal with all that I am and all that I have, my knowledge and my ignorance, my competence and my incompetence, but especially my heart. We will learn to educate ourselves under the protection of Mary, to strong, free. What makes unique this approach is that this Covenant is conceived not as a pious symbol, moreover, through the voice of the young priest, the Holy Virgin is requested to kindly establish Her throne in the chapel to spread Her treasures
3.
Catholic Marian movements and societies
–
These societies, form part of the fabric of Roman Catholic Mariology. This article reviews the major Marian movements and organizations, the Sodality of Our Lady was formed in 1563 in Rome by members of the Society of Jesus and has remained the official Marian society of the Holy See for centuries. In 1584, Pope Gregory XIII issued a Papal Bull commending this Sodality, granting it indulgences, over several centuries the organization listed many saints, several popes and various royal figures as members. Until the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the Sodality of Our Lady or the Children of Mary as it was known, was a part of the life of Catholic Communities worldwide. After the Second Vatican Council, many sodalities were transformed by the Jesuits, since then, the number of active sodalities has dwindled, as other Marian organizations have grown. They are a religious institute and pledge support to the Pope and their aim is to spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception, pray for the souls in purgatory and undertake a variety of apostolic work. Marians were the first Catholic men’s religious institute dedicated to the honor of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, the organization was formed in 1673 by Saint Stanislaus Papczyński. Pope Innocent XII granted his approval for the institute in 1699 with solemn vows under the French Rule of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the experience had left him with a lifelong respect and admiration for the Marian Fathers. The new Constitutions for the institute were approved by Pope Pius X in 1910 and their role in spreading the Divine Mercy message was acknowledged by Pope John Paul II in a Papal Blessing in 2001, the 70th anniversary of the revelation of the Divine Mercy Message and Devotion. Marian Fathers are well known as Official promoters of the authentic Divine Mercy message since 1941, the Company of Mary, also called the Montfort Missionaries is the earliest Marian society based on the influence of Saint Louis de Montfort. The organization was formed in 1705 by Saint Louis himself with just one missionary disciple, during the intervals between his missions Montfort wrote the Rule of the Company of Mary. After he died in 1716, two priests and sometime collaborators, Father Adrien Vatel and Father Rene Mulot continued his mission. From 1718 till 1781 the Mulotins, although few in number, gave over 430 missions throughout western France, after the French Revolution Montforts community was reorganized by Father Gabriel Deshayes, elected superior general in 1821. He received from Pope Leo XII a brief of praise for the Company of Mary and for the Daughters of Wisdom, the company has since grown to an international congregation of missionary priests and brothers serving in nearly 30 countries and numbering near 1,000 men. The Marianists, also called the Society of Mary was founded in 1801 by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, there are currently 500 priests and over 1,500 religious in the organization. The Society is one of the four branches of the Marianist Family, Marianists can be classified as priests, teaching brothers, or working brothers, but, regardless of classification, most members of the institute work in schools or programs for young people. In all of their institutions, the Characteristics of Marianist Education guide the curriculum. The society has many affiliated organizations, such as, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, the society has branches on every continent
4.
Koblenz
–
Koblenz, also spelled Coblenz or Coblence, is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated. As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the name Koblenz originates from Latin confluentes, confluence or merging of rivers. Subsequently, it was Covelenz and Cobelenz, in the local dialect the name is Kowelenz. After Mainz and Ludwigshafen am Rhein, it is the third largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate, around 1000 BC, early fortifications were erected on the Festung Ehrenbreitstein hill on the opposite side of the Moselle. In 55 BC, Roman troops commanded by Julius Caesar reached the Rhine, about 9 BC, the Castellum apud Confluentes, was one of the military posts established by Drusus. Remains of a bridge built in 49 AD by the Romans are still visible. The Romans built two castles as protection for the bridge, one in 9 AD and another in the 2nd century, north of Koblenz was a temple of Mercury and Rosmerta, which remained in use up to the 5th century. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city was conquered by the Franks, after the division of Charlemagnes empire, it was included in the lands of his son Louis the Pious. In 860 and 922, Koblenz was the scene of ecclesiastical synods, at the first synod, held in the Liebfrauenkirche, the reconciliation of Louis the German with his half-brother Charles the Bald took place. The city was sacked and destroyed by the Norsemen in 882, in 925, it became part of the eastern German Kingdom, later the Holy Roman Empire. In 1018, the city was given by the emperor Henry II to the archbishop-elector of Trier after receiving a charter and it remained in the possession of his successors until the end of the 18th century, having been their main residence since the 17th century. Emperor Conrad II was elected here in 1138, in 1198, the battle between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV took place nearby. In 1216, prince-bishop Theoderich von Wied donated part of the lands of the basilica and the hospital to the Teutonic Knights, the city was a member of the league of the Rhenish cities which rose in the 13th century. The Teutonic Knights founded the Bailiwick of Koblenz in or around 1231, Koblenz attained great prosperity and it continued to advance until the disaster of the Thirty Years War brought about a rapid decline. After Philip Christopher, elector of Trier, surrendered Ehrenbreitstein to the French, however, this force was soon expelled by the Swedes, who in their turn handed the city over again to the French. Imperial forces finally succeeded in retaking it by storm in 1636, the city was the residence of the archbishop-electors of Trier from 1690 to 1801. In 1786, the last archbishop-elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, greatly assisted the extension and improvement of the city, the archbishop-elector approved of this because he was the uncle of the persecuted king of France, Louis XVI. Among the many royalist French refugees who flooded into the city were Louis XVIs two younger brothers, the Comte de Provence and the Comte dArtois
5.
Bartolo Longo
–
Blessed Bartolo Longo was an Italian lawyer who has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. He was a former Satanist priest who returned to the Christian faith and became a third order Dominican, dedicating his life to the Rosary and he was eventually awarded a papal knighthood of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Bartolo Longo was born into a family on February 10,1841 in the small town of Latiano, near Brindisi. His parents were devout Roman Catholics, in 1851, Longos father died and his mother remarried a lawyer. Despite Longos stepfather wanting him to become a teacher, Longo was set on becoming a lawyer, in 1861, Longo succeeded in convincing his stepfather and was sent to the University of Naples to study law. In the 1860s, the Catholic Church in Italy found itself at odds with a nationalistic movement. The Catholic Church in Europe was also competing with a popularity in Spiritualism and Occultism. Because of this, many students at the University of Naples took part in demonstrations against the pope, dabbled in witchcraft, Longo became involved with a movement that he claimed led him into a Satanist cult. After some study and several spiritual experiences Longo said that he was ordained as a satanic priest, in the following years, Longos life became one of depression, nervousness, and confusion. Bothered by paranoia and anxiety, he turned to a friend, Vincenzo Pepe. It was Pepe who convinced him, in Longos account, to abandon Satanism, on October 7,1871, Longo became a Dominican tertiary and took the name “Rosario”. Around this time, he visited a séance and held up a rosary, declaring, “I renounce spiritualism because it is nothing but a maze of error and falsehood. ”He also came to know some Franciscans with whom he helped the poor. Bartolo also kept up his law practice, which took him to the village of Pompei. He went to Pompei to take care of the affairs of Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco, in Pompei, Longo later recounted, he was shocked at the erosion of the people’s faith. He wrote, “Their religion was a mixture of superstition and popular tradition and they would go to a witch, a sorceress, in order to obtain charms and witchcraft. ”Through talking to the citizens, Bartolo came to recognize their severe lack of catechesis. When he asked one man if there was only one God, now, after so many years, I don‘t know if one of them is dead or one has married. ”Longo wrote of his personal struggles with mental illness, paranoia, depression and anxiety. At one point, he noted struggling with suicidal thoughts, but rejected them by recalling the promise of Saint Dominic, Longo wrote that this promise is what convinced him to encourage public devotion to the rosary. With the help of Countess Mariana di Fusco, he inaugurated a confraternity of the Rosary and he sponsored a festival in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary
6.
Louis de Montfort
–
Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort was a French Roman Catholic priest and Confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI, as well as preaching, Montfort found time to write a number of books which went on to become classic Catholic titles and influenced several popes. Montfort is known for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Montfort is considered as one of the writers in the field of Mariology. His most notable works regarding Marian devotions are contained in The Secret of Mary, the Roman Catholic Church, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII canonized Montfort on July 20,1947. A founders statue created by Giacomo Parisini is located in a niche of the south nave of Saint Peters Basilica. He was born in 1673 in Montfort-sur-Meu, the eldest surviving child of eighteen born to Jean-Baptiste, Louis-Marie passed most of his infancy and early childhood in Iffendic, a few kilometers from Montfort, where his father had bought a farm. At the age of 12, he entered the Jesuit College of St Thomas Becket in Rennes, at the end of his ordinary schooling, he began his studies of philosophy and theology, still at St Thomas in Rennes. Listening to the stories of a local priest, the Abbé Julien Bellier, about his life as an itinerant missionary, and, under the guidance of some other priests he began to develop his strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was then given the opportunity, through a benefactor, to go to Paris to study at the renowned Seminary of Saint-Sulpice towards the end of 1693. After less than two years, he became ill and had to be hospitalized, but survived his hospitalization. Upon his release from the hospital, to his surprise he found himself with a place reserved at the Little Saint-Sulpice, Saint-Sulpice had been founded by Jean-Jacques Olier, one of the leading exponents of what came to be known as the French school of spirituality. This later led to his focus on the Holy Rosary and his book the Secret of the Rosary. Even as a seminarian in Paris, Montfort was known for the veneration he had toward the angels, he urged his confreres to show marks of respect and tenderness to their guardian angels. He often ended his letters with a salutation to the angel of the person to whom he was writing. He also saluted all the angels in the city of Nantes, one of the reasons why Saint Louis Marie de Montfort had such devotion to the angels is that veneration of the pure spirits was an integral part of his training and also of his culture. His college teachers, the Jesuits, were known for their zeal in propagating devotion to the angels, Montforts seminary training under the Sulpicians brought him into contact with the thought of Cardinal de Bérulle and Olier, both of whom had deep veneration for the angels. Furthermore, in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, manuals of piety and he was ordained a priest in June 1700, and assigned to Nantes
7.
Dachau concentration camp
–
Dachau concentration camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of a munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly 100 sub-camps, which were work camps or Arbeitskommandos. The camps were liberated by U. S. forces on 29 April 1945, There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented. Approximately 10,000 of the 30,000 prisoners were sick at the time of liberation, in the postwar years the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement. It was finally closed in 1960, There are several religious memorials within the Memorial Site, which is open to the public. After the takeover of Bavaria on 9 March 1933, Heinrich Himmler, then Chief of Police in Munich, began to speak with the administration of an unused gunpowder and he toured the site to see if it could be used for quartering protective-custody prisoners. The Concentration Camp at Dachau was opened 22 March 1933, with the arrival of about 200 prisoners from Stadelheim Prison in Munich and it became the first regular concentration camp established by the coalition government of the National Socialist German Workers Party and the German National Peoples Party. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and emigrants were sent to Dachau after the 1935 passage of the Nuremberg Laws which institutionalized racial discrimination, in early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex capable of holding 6,000 prisoners. The construction was completed in mid-August 1938. More political opponents, and over 11,000 German and Austrian Jews were sent to the camp after the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938. Sinti and Roma in the hundreds were sent to the camp in 1939, the prisoners of Dachau concentration camp originally were to serve as forced labor for a munition factory, and to expand the camp. It was used as a center for SS guards and was a model for other concentration camps. The camp was about 300 m ×600 m in rectangular shape, the prisoners entrance was secured by an iron gate with the motto “Arbeit macht frei”. This reflected Nazi propaganda, which trivialized concentration camps as labor and re-education camps, as of 1938, the procedure for new arrivals occurred at the Schubraum, where prisoners were to hand over their clothing and possessions. One former Luxembourgian prisoner, Albert Theis, reflected about the room, everything had to be handed over, money, rings, watches. The camp included a building that contained offices for the Gestapo trial commissioner, SS authorities
8.
Salus Populi Romani
–
Salus Populi Romani is a Roman Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Christ Child holding a Gospel book and is enshrined within the Borghese Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the image arrived in Rome in the year 590 AD during the reign of Pope Gregory I. Pope Gregory XVI granted the image a Canonical Coronation on 15 August 1838 through the Papal bull Cælestis Regina, recent papal devotion includes Pope John Paul II who highlighted its iconography during the World Youth Day for the Jubilee Year of 2000. Pope Benedict XVI also venerated the image on various occasions with that specific Marian title, Pope Francis also made this icon one of his first places of pilgrimage the day after his election to the Papacy. The phrase Salus Populi Romani goes back to the legal system, after the legalisation of Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great through the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, the phrase was sanctioned as a Marian title for the Blessed Virgin Mary. For centuries it was placed above the door to the basilicas baptistery chapel, later it was moved to the nave, and from the 13th century it was preserved in a marble tabernacle. Since 1613, it has located in the altar tabernacle of the Cappella Paolina that was built specifically for it. The church, Saint Maria Maggiore, is considered the third of the Roman patriarchal basilicas, the church and its Marian shrine are under the special patronage of the popes. It was afterward called Saint Mary Major and it is the oldest church in the West dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Roman Pontifical gives the account, The Liberian basilica. … Pope Liberius selected a venerated picture that hung in the pontifical oratory and it had allegedly been brought to Rome by Saint Helena. Salus Populi Romani is one of the so-called Luke images of which there are throughout the world. These were believed to have been painted from life by Saint Luke himself, when pious virgins of Jerusalem prevailed upon St. Luke to paint a portrait of the Mother of God, it was the top of this table that was used to memorialize her image. While applying his brush and paints, St. Luke listened carefully as the Mother of Jesus spoke of the life of her son, legend also tells us that the painting remained in and around Jerusalem until it was discovered by St. Helena in the 4th century. Together with other sacred relics, the painting was transported to Constantinople where her son, Emperor Constantine the Great, the image is five feet high by three and a quarter feet wide - very large for an icon, especially one with an early date. It is painted on a cedar panel. Mary wears a dark blue mantle over a purple/red tunic. The letters in Greek at the top identify Mary as Mother of God, Christ is holding a book in his left hand, presumably a Gospel Book
9.
Africa
–
Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
10.
Asia
–
Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
11.
Europe
–
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
12.
North America
–
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
Catholicism portal
