1.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
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
4.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
5.
Burgomaster
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The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign city-state, contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as mayor. Bürgermeister, in German, in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland, in Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century, various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Oberbürgermeister is the most common version for a mayor in a big city in Germany, the Ober- prefix is used in many ranking systems for the next level up including military designations. The mayors of cities, which comprise one of Germanys 112 urban districts usually bear this title. Urban districts are comparable to independent cities in the English-speaking world, however, also the mayors of some cities, which do not comprise an urban district, but often used to comprise one until the territorial reforms in the 1970s, bear the title Oberbürgermeister. In the Netherlands nominated by the council but appointed by the crown. In theory above the parties, in practice a high-profile party-political post, bourgmestre in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bürgermeister Burmistras, derived from German. Burmistrz, a title, derived from German. The German form Oberbürgermeister is often translated as Nadburmistrz, the German-derived terminology reflects the involvement of German settlers in the early history of many Polish towns. Borgmästare, kommunalborgmästare, the title is not used in Sweden in present times, boargemaster Pormestari In history in many free imperial cities the function of burgomaster was usually held simultaneously by three persons, serving as an executive college. One of the three being burgomaster in chief for a year, the second being the prior burgomaster in chief, präsidierender Bürgermeister is now an obsolete formulation sometimes found in historic texts
6.
Social Democratic Party of Germany
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Martin Schulz since 2017, has one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union. The SPD has governed at the level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents, the SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world. The General German Workers Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers Party of Germany. From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, in 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, by 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party. Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, after 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic, although it took part in coalition governments only in few years. Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act – party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile, in exile, the party used the name Sopade. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a party with the Communists. In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties, with the other being the Christian Democratic Union. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats, the SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions. With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism. The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, according to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis of social democracy. The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be distributed fairly, the party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to protect the poor with a welfare state
7.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
8.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
9.
Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin
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Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federal states. Since a 2001 administrative reform, it has made up of twelve boroughs or districts, each with its own local government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city. Each borough is governed by a council with five councillors and a borough mayor, the borough council is elected by the borough assembly. The borough governments power is limited, and subordinate to the Berlin Senate, the borough mayors form a council of mayors, which advises the Senate. Each borough is made up of several officially recognized subdistricts or neighborhoods, the neighborhoods do not have their own governmental bodies, but are recognized by the city and the boroughs for planning and statistical purposes. Berliners often identify more with the neighborhood where they live than with the borough that governs them, the neighborhoods are further subdivided into statistical tracts, which are mainly used for planning and statistical purposes. The statistical tracts correspond roughly but not exactly with neighbourhoods recognized by residents, by 2000, Berlin comprised 23 boroughs, as three new boroughs had been created in East Berlin. Today Berlin is divided into boroughs, reduced from 23 boroughs before Berlins 2001 administrative reform. An administrative reform in 2001 merged the existing boroughs into the current 12 boroughs, the power of the borough governments is limited and their performance of assigned tasks is subject to a regulatory supervision by the Senate. The BVV assembly is elected by the boroughs population and therefore acts as a borough parliament. It elects the members of the council, checks its daily administration and is able to make applications and recommendations. The twelve borough mayors regularly meet in the Council of Mayors, led by the citys Governing Mayor, the localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher, were taken over by the borough mayors. Only the unchanged boroughs of Neukölln, Reinickendorf and Spandau havent changed their field, the coat of arms of Pankow was created with a new design in 2008, having been the only district without an emblem for 7 years. As of 2012, the boroughs are made up of a total of 96 officially recognized localities. Almost all of them are subdivided into several other zones. The largest Ortsteil is Köpenick, the smallest one is Hansaviertel, the most populated is Neukölln, the least populated is Malchow
10.
Confluence
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In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. The term is used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water. A one-mile portion of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans accommodates the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada is at the confluence of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. The junction of the Green River and Colorado River forms the heart of Canyonlands National Park in Utahs Canyon Country, the Sangam, near Allahabad, India, where the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna meet to create one of the holiest places in Hinduism. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, located in Pittsburgh, the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers in Three Forks, Montana form the confluence of the Missouri River, one of the longest rivers in the United States. Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is at the confluence of the Gombak River and the Klang River. Passau known also as the Dreiflüssestadt, because the Danube River is joined there by the Inn River from the South, manaus, Brazil is on the Rio Negro near its confluence with the Amazon. It is the port and a hub for the regions extensive river system. Osijek, Croatia, is on the bank of the river Drava 25 km upstream of its confluence with the Danube. Belgrade, the capital of Serbia lies at the confluence of the Sava, the Hochelaga Archipelago, including the island and city of Montreal, is located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada. Winnipeg, Canada, is at the confluence of the Red River, the area is referred to as The Forks by locals, and has been an important trade location for over 6000 years. The confluence of the rivers Danube and Morava in Devín on the border between Slovakia and Austria, triangle of Three Emperors, former tripoint in Europe. Cairo, Illinois, in the United States, where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River, St. Louis, Missouri, is built just south of the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. Lyon, France is located on the confluence of the Saône and Rhone rivers, lytton, British Columbia, Canada, is located at the confluence of the muddy Fraser River and the clearer Thompson River. The confluence between the Franklin River and Gordon River in south-western Tasmania The confluence of the Snake and Columbia River at the Tri-Cities of Washington, the confluence of the rivers Pivka and Rak is one of the largest subterranean confluences in Europe. The confluence at Lokoja, Nigeria, where the Niger and Benue rivers merge, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, located at the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. This merging point is the beginning of the Nile, columbus, Ohio, in the United States is at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Luang Prabang in Laos is at the confluence of the Mekong, River Kabul and River Swat at Attock, in Pakistan
11.
Havel
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The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a tributary of the Elbe river and 325 kilometres long. However, the distance from its source to its mouth is only 94 kilometres. For much of its length, the Havel is navigable, the source of the Havel is located in the Mecklenburg Lake District, between Lake Müritz and the city of Neubrandenburg. From there the river flows southward, eventually joining the Elbe. Every river north-east of it flows to the Baltic Sea, the river enters Brandenburg near the town of Fürstenberg. In its upper course and between Berlin and Brandenburg an der Havel the river forms several lakes. The Havels main tributary is the Spree river, which joins the Havel in Spandau, a borough of Berlin. The second largest tributary is the Rhin, named in the Middle Ages by settlers from the lower Rhine, the region around and north of the middle Havel is called the Havelland. It consists of hills, often called Ländchen, and low marshes. A few kilometres of the river before its confluence with the Elbe near Havelberg are in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, due to its minimal gradient it is susceptible to high waters in the Elbe. Unless in extreme floods, if the dike of the Elbe is submerged, by this canal, the mouth of the Havel, that naturally would be near Havelberg, is placed 11 km downstream. As the course of the Elbe has a higher gradient than the Havel, towns along the river include, Fürstenberg, Zehdenick, Oranienburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Werder, Ketzin, Brandenburg, Premnitz, Rathenow and Havelberg. In earlier Greek or Latin sources, such as Tacitus Germania, the river name Havel is related to German Haff, habe, hafen, MHG Hafen meaning port, harbor). The Slavic people who moved into the Havel river area were referred to in German sources as Heveller. Among others, there are four important bridges, in Spandau, in Potsdam, in Brandenburg and in a suburb of that town. The River Havel is navigable from the Mecklenburg Lake District to its confluence with the River Elbe, from a navigation perspective, the River Havel can be split into four sections with somewhat different characteristics and different administrative arrangements. The Havel is navigable to canoes and similar small craft from close to its source, motor craft are prohibited above the first lock at Zwenzow, which links the Useriner See to the Großer Labussee
12.
Spree
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The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic. Approximately 400 kilometres in length, it is a left tributary of the River Havel. It is the river on which the centre of Berlin was built. The reach of the river between the Dämeritzsee and Müggelsee to the east of Berlin is known as the Müggelspree, the source of the Spree is located in Neugersdorf, Germany, in the Lusatian Highlands near the Czech border. It runs on the border for a distance at two points before leaving the hills and passing through the old city of Bautzen/Budyšin, the center of the Sorbs in Upper Lusatia. Just to the north of Bautzen the river flows through the Bautzen Reservoir, further north the river passes through the city of Spremberg and the Spremberg Reservoir before reaching the city of Cottbus. To the north of Cottbus the river enters the Spreewald, a wetlands area in Lower Lusatia. In the Spreewald the river passes through the towns of Lübbenau, Lübben, just below Leibsch, the Dahme Flood Relief Canal diverts water from the Spree to run into the River Dahme at Märkisch Buchholz. The Spree continues north from Leibsch before flowing into the Neuendorfer See at the edge of the Spreewald. From the Neundorfer See it then flows in a direction to the Schwielochsee. From Fürstenwalde the river continues to flow westwards, through the Dämeritzsee and Müggelsee, to Köpenick in the part of Berlin, where it is joined by its tributary. The final reach of the Spree is where it is best known, on its route through Berlin, the river passes Berlin Cathedral, the Reichstag and the Schloss Charlottenburg. The renowned Museum Island, with its collection of five museums, is actually an island in the Spree. The Badeschiff is a swimming pool moored in the Spree. Small craft, such as punts, are used in wetlands of the Spreewald. Larger craft can reach as far upstream as Leibsch, although the upper reaches are relatively shallow and are only used by leisure craft. Some intermediate reaches are unnavigable and by-passed by canals, for a stretch of about 20 kilometres east of and flowing through Fürstenwalde, the river forms part of the Oder-Spree Canal. On this reach, and on the reach west of the confluence with the River Dahme at Köpenick, the canal diverges from the Spree just east of Fürstenwalde and later joins the River Dahme at the Seddinsee
13.
BMW Motorrad
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BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle brand of the German company BMW, part of its Corporate and Brand Development division. The current General Director of the unit is Hendrik von Kuenheim, in May 2011, the 2,000, 000th motorcycle produced by BMW Motorrad was an R1200GS. The company began as an engine manufacturer in the early 20th century. BMW manufactured its first motorcycle in 1923, the R32, which featured a flat-twin boxer engine, BMW Motorrad still uses the flat-twin boxer configuration, but now manufactures motorcycles with a variety of engine configurations. All BMW Motorrads motorcycle production takes place at its plant in Berlin, Germany, although some engines are manufactured in Austria, China, and Taiwan. Most of the current motorcycles in BMW Motorrads range were designed by David Robb, who was the companys chief designer from 1993 to 2012 when he was replaced by Edgar Heinrich. Current production includes a variety of shaft, chain, and belt driven models, with engines from 310 cc to 1,649 cc, and models designed for off-road, dual-purpose, sport, and touring activities. In 2008, BMW introduced the DOHC Boxer HP2 Sport, BMW Motorrad motorcycles are categorized into product families, and each family is assigned a different letter prefix. The current families are, C series – Maxi-scooters called Urban Mobility Vehicles by BMW F series – parallel-twin engines of 798 cc capacity, models are F650GS, F700GS, F800GS, F800R, F800S, F800GT and F800ST. The F650GS was powered by a single cylinder 652cc Austrian built Rotax engine, G series – single-cylinder engines of 449 to 652 cc capacity featuring chain drive. Models are G450X, G650GS, G650 Sertão, G650 Xmoto, G650 Xchallenge, the 450 cc engines are manufactured by Kymco in Taiwan. The 2009 and 2010650 cc engine parts were manufactured by Rotax in Austria, with the engine being assembled by Loncin Holdings, arriving in 2016 is the BMW G310R, a single-cylinder liquid-cooled model manufactured in India by TVS Motor Company. R series – twin-cylinder boxer engines of 1,170 cc capacity featuring shaft drive, models are R1200GS, R1200R, R1200RT, BMW R1200RS, R1200S and R nineT. K series – four-cylinder engines of 1,157 to 1,649 cc capacity featuring shaft drive, models are K1200LT, K1300GT, K1300R and K1300S. In 2011, BMW Motorrad launched the six-cylinder 1,649 cc K1600GT, S series – S1000RR – sport bike with transverse-mounted,999 cc inline-four engine. Models included S1000R, S1000XR BMW Motorrad achieved record sales for the time in succession in 2015. With a total of 136,963 vehicles sold in 2015, the biggest single market in 2015 was once again Germany, followed by USA, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain. With an aim for 2020 to supply 200,000 vehicles to customers, as it was the case until now, BMWs most successful motorcycle is still the R1200 GS with 23,681 units sold in 2015
14.
Rayong
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Rayong is a city on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers the tambon Tha Pradu and Pak Nam and parts of tambon Choeng Noen and Noen Phra, as of 2005 the population was 54,641. The main industry is fishing, and it is the producer of Thailands fish sauce. It is also the center of the chemical and auto industries, in 2012 Ford Motor Company opened an assembly plant in Rayong to expand Fords presence in the ASEAN area, employing some 2,200 people. He was later anointed King in Rayong, phaya Tak later became King Taksin of the Kingdom of Thonburi, after which he returned to Ayutthaya, defeated the Burmese and set up a new capital in Thonburi. Rayong is growing as a tourist destination, particularly among Thai people living in Bangkok who see Pattaya as too becoming overrun by Western tourists
15.
Manaus
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Manaus or Manaós before 1939 or Barra do Rio Negro, is the capital city of the state of Amazonas in the North Region of Brazil. It is situated near the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers, with a population of more than 2 million, it is the most populous city of both the Brazilian state of Amazonas and the Amazon rainforest. The city was founded in 1693–94 as the Fort of São José do Rio Negro, on September 4,1856 it returned to its original name. Manaus is located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, and this isolation helped preserve both the natural environment as well as the culture of the city. The culture of Manaus, more than in any urban area of Brazil. The city is the access point for visiting the fauna. Few places in the world such a variety of plants, birds, insects. It was known at the beginning of the century, as Heart of the Amazon, currently its main economic engine is the Industrial Park of Manaus, the famous Free Economic Zone. The city has a port and an international airport. Its manufactures include electronics, chemical products, and soap, there are distilling, Manaus also exports Brazil nuts, rubber, jute and rosewood oil. It has a cathedral, opera house, zoological and botanical gardens, with a population of 2 million people in 2014, Manaus is the most populous city in the Brazilian Amazon area and the 7th most populous in the country. It is located on the bank of the Negro River,18 km above the meeting of the rivers where the Negro merges with the Solimões. Manaus is 1,400 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean and it is the hub of tourism for the rivers, the jungle lodges and the river cruises. The Solimões and Negro rivers meet just east of Manaus and join to form the Amazon River, rubber made it the richest city in South America during the late 1800s. Rubber also helped Manaus earn its nickname, the Paris of the Tropics, many wealthy European families settled in Manaus and brought their love for sophisticated European art, architecture and culture with them. Manaus is also a zone, which has encouraged development in the region. Manaus was one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the history of the European colonization of Manaus began in 1499 with the Spanish discovery of the mouth of the Amazon River. The Spanish then continued to colonize the north of Brazil
16.
Rathaus Spandau
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The Rathaus Spandau is the town hall of the borough of Spandau in the western suburbs of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It was designed by Heinrich Reinhardt and Georg Süßenguth, and was built between 1910 and 1913, until 1920, when Spandau was incorporated into Greater Berlin, it was the city hall of the independent city of Spandau. The Rathaus Spandau is situated on Carl-Schurz-Straße at the edge of the Altstadt Spandau. The Rathaus Spandau station, on U-Bahn line U7, and the Berlin-Spandau station, served by S-Bahn, regional and intercity railway routes, are both situated nearby
17.
Spandau Citadel
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The Spandau Citadel is a fortress in Berlin, Germany, one of the best-preserved Renaissance military structures of Europe. Built from 1559–94 atop a medieval fort on an island created by the meeting of the Havel and the Spree, it was designed to protect the town of Spandau, in recent years it has been used as a museum and has become a popular tourist spot. Italian architect Francesco Chiaramella de Gandino started to plan the citadel in 1557 and was replaced by his compatriot Rochus Graf zu Lynar one year later, with four bastions, symmetrically arranged and connected by curtain walls, the Spandau citadel is an ideal example of a 16th-century fortress. Due to the formation, there is no blind spot for enemies to hide. In 1580, first troops were assigned to the Spandau Citadel which was completed only in 1594, swedish troops were the first to besiege the citadel in 1675 and Napoleon was the first to conquer it in 1806. During the French attack it was almost completely destroyed and had to be restored, in 1935, a gas laboratory was installed for military research on nerve gas. Close to the end of the Second World War, during the battle in Berlin, although several hundred years old, the Citadels tracé à litalienne design made the structure difficult to storm. So instead of bombarding and storming the Citadel, the Soviets invested it, after the Second World War, the Spandau Citadel was first occupied by Soviet troops. With the division of Berlin, Spandau and its Citadel was part of the British sector, the citadel was used as a prison for Prussian state prisoners such as German nationalist Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. It was not used as the prison for National Socialist war criminals, the citadel is composed of different buildings all related to defence or representative housing. The gate house with a bridge used to hinder attackers to enter the citadel. The Gothic hall building palace was used as residential building, in the bastion Königin,70 medieval gravestones were found bearing witness of Jewish life in the important trade town and the function of the citadel as a refuge. Julius tower is Spandaus most famous sight, originally built as a keep or watchtower, it was also used as a residence tower. Its castellated top was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1838 and is an example of Romantic architecture. After the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71, part of the war reparations paid by France,120 million marks in gold coin, was stored at Julius tower until its restitution to France in 1919, the word Juliusturm has since been used in Germany for governmental budget surpluses. From 1950 to 1986, the citadel housed vocational school Otto Bartning, subsequently, more and more buildings were redesigned for museums and exhibition. Today, Spandau Citadel is famous for its open-air concerts during the Citadel Music Festival, scenes from the 1985 action film Gotcha. were filmed at and around Spandau Citadel
18.
MG 08
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The Maschinengewehr 08, or MG08, was the German Armys standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaptation of Hiram S. Maxims original 1884 Maxim gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war, the MG08 served during World War II as a heavy machine gun in many German infantry divisions, although by the end of the war it had mostly been relegated to second-rate fortress units. The Maschinengewehr 08 —so-named after 1908, its year of adoption—was a development of the license made Maschinengewehr 01, the firing rate depends on the lock assembly used and averages 500 rounds per minute for the Schloss 08 and 600 rounds per minute for the Schloss 16. Using a separate attachment sight with range calculator for indirect fire, additional telescopic sights were also developed and used in quantity during the war. The MG08, like the Maxim gun, operated on the basis of short barrel recoil and its practical range was estimated at some 2,000 metres up to an extreme range of 3,600 metres. The MG08 was mounted on a mount that was ferried between locations either on carts or else carried above mens shoulders in the manner of a stretcher. Pre-war production was by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken in Berlin and by the government Spandau arsenal, when the war began in August 1914, approximately 12,000 MG 08s were available to battlefield units, production, at numerous factories, was however markedly ramped up during wartime. It also had a range of round about 2-4,000 yards.5 millimeters — was tested as a prototype in 1915 by a team of weapon designers under the direction of an Oberst Friedrich von Merkatz—the MG 08/15. The MG 08/15 had been designed to be manned by four trained infantrymen spread on the ground around the gun, to accomplish that purpose, the MG 08/15 featured a short bipod rather than a heavy four-legged sled mount, plus a wooden gunstock and a pistol grip. At 18 kg, the MG 08/15 was lighter and less cumbersome than the standard MG08 and it nevertheless remained a bulky water-cooled weapon that was quite demanding on the quality and training of its crews. Accurate fire was difficult to achieve and usually in short bursts only and it was first introduced in battle during the French Chemin des Dames offensive in April 1917, where it contributed to the very high casualty count among the French assailants. Its deployment in large numbers with all front line infantry regiments continued in 1917 and during the German offensives of the spring. The MG 08/15 became, by far, the most common German machine gun deployed in World War I since it reached a full allocation of six guns per company or 72 guns per regiment in 1918. By that time, there were four times as many MG 08/15 light machine guns than heavy MG08 machine guns in each infantry regiment. To attain this goal, about 130,000 MG 08/15 had to be manufactured during World War I, most of them by the Spandau and Erfurt government arsenals. An air-cooled and thus water-free and lighter version of the MG 08/15, the MG 08/18s barrel was heavier and it could not be quick-changed, thus overheating was inevitably a problem. The word 08/15 lives on as an idiom in colloquial German, 08/15, being used today as an adjective to denote something totally ordinary. However, this is one of possible origins of the idiom. I through the E. III production versions of the Fokker Eindecker
19.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
20.
Spandau Prison
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Spandau Prison was located in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin. It was constructed in 1876 and demolished in 1989 after the death of its last prisoner, Rudolf Hess, the site was later rebuilt as a shopping centre for the British forces stationed in Germany. Spandau Prison was built in 1876 on Wilhelmstraße and it initially served as a military detention center. From 1919 it was used for civilian inmates. It held up to 600 inmates at that time, in the aftermath of the Reichstag fire of 1933, opponents of Hitler and journalists such as Egon Kisch and Carl von Ossietzky were held there in so-called protective custody. Spandau Prison became a sort of predecessor of the Nazi concentration camps, while it was formally operated by the Prussian Ministry of Justice, the Gestapo tortured and abused its inmates, as Egon Erwin Kisch recalls in his memories of Spandau Prison. After World War II it was operated by the Four-Power Authorities to house the Nazi war criminals sentenced to imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials, only seven prisoners were finally imprisoned there. Arriving from Nuremberg on 18 July 1947, they were, Of the seven, between 1966 and 1987, Rudolf Hess was the only inmate in the prison and his only companion was the warden, Eugene K. Bird, who became a close friend. Bird wrote a book about Hesss imprisonment titled The Loneliest Man in the World, Spandau was one of only two Four-Power organizations to continue to operate after the breakdown of the Allied Control Council, the other was the Berlin Air Safety Center. The four occupying powers of Berlin alternated control of the prison on a monthly basis, observing the Four-Power flags that flew at the Allied Control Authority building could determine who controlled the prison. All materials from the prison were ground to powder and dispersed in the North Sea or buried at the former RAF Gatow airbase. In 2013 a single brick turned up on the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow, as of 2006, a Kaisers Supermarket, ALDI, and a Media Markt consumer electronics store occupied the former prison grounds. In late 2008, Media Markt left the main shopping complex, in 2011 the new owner, a development company applied for permission to demolish the cinema complex of the Britannia Centre, which is used by ALDI. The contracts for both, the complex and the shopping complex, with Kaisers, were terminated. In addition, some of the sixty soldiers on guard duty manned 6 machine-gun armed guard’s towers 24 hours a day, due to the number of cells available, an empty cell was left between the prisoners cells, to avoid the possibility of prisoners communicating in Morse code. Other remaining cells in the wing were designated for other purposes, with one being used for the prison library, the cells were approximately 3 metres long by 2.7 metres wide and 4 metres high. The highlight of the prison, from the perspective, was the garden. Dönitz favoured growing beans, Funk tomatoes and Speer daisies, although, by regulation, all of the produce was to be put toward use in the prison kitchen, but prisoners and guards alike often skirted this rule and indulged in the gardens offerings
21.
New Romantic
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New Romanticism was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began as a nightclub scene around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Ultravox were also identified as New Romantics by the press although they did not exhibit the same visual styles of the movement. Japan and Adam and the Ants were also labeled as New Romantic artists by the press, there were attempts to revive the movement from the 1990s, including the short-lived romo movement. New Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to punk, and was influenced by former glam rock stars of the 1970s such as David Bowie. In terms of style it rejected the austerity and anti-fashion stance of punk, both sexes often dressed in counter-sexual or androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics such as eyeliner and lipstick, partly derived from earlier punk fashions. This gender bending was particularly evident in such as Boy George of Culture Club. Common hairstyles included quiffs, mullets and wedges, soon after they began to gain mainstream attention, however, many New Romantic bands dropped the eclectic clothes and make-up in favour of sharp suits. However, the post-punk Adam Ant himself has denied being a New Romantic. In an October 1981 interview, vocalist David Sylvian commented Theres a period going past at the moment that may make us look as though were in fashion, in another interview, he stated I dont like to be associated with them. The attitudes are so very different, of Japans fashion sense, Sylvian said For them, fancy dress is a costume. But ours is a way of life and we look and dress this way every day. Similarly, the electronic duo Soft Cell also denied any connection to the New Romantic scene and it was just a trendy London club thing with Steve Strange. While some contemporary bands, particularly those of the 2 Tone ska revival, dealt with issues of unemployment and urban decay, New Romantics adopted an escapist, as the scene moved beyond a single club the media settled on the name New Romantics. The New Romantic movement developed almost simultaneously in London and Birmingham, in London it grew out of David Bowie and Roxy Music nights, run during 1978 in the nightclub Billys in Dean Street, London. Its patrons dressed as uniquely as they could in an attempt to draw the most attention, Steve Strange worked as the clubs doorman and Egan was the DJ at the Blitz. The club became known for its exclusive door policy and strict dress code, Strange would frequently deny potential patrons admission because he felt that they were not costumed creatively or subversively enough to blend in with those inside the club. In a highly publicised incident, Mick Jagger tried to enter the club while under the influence of alcohol, the club spawned several spin-offs and there were soon clubs elsewhere in the capital and in other major British cities, including Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. While still at Billys, Strange and Egan joined Billy Currie, before forming Culture Club, Boy George and Marilyn worked as cloakroom attendants at the Blitz
22.
Spandau Ballet
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Spandau Ballet /ˈspændaʊ ˈbæl. eɪ/ are an English band formed in London in 1979. The band were inspired by, and a part of. They became one of the most successful groups to emerge during the New Romantic era, the bands classic line-up features brothers Gary Kemp and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material, at the height of their popularity in 1984, they received the Brit Award for technical excellence. The band split in 1990 and the members pursued solo careers, since their reformation in 2009, the band have been recognised at the Q Awards and Gary Kemps songwriting has been honoured by the Ivor Novello Awards. The band was formed in 1976 as The Cut, with Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on guitar, later saxophone and percussion. Kemp and Norman were attending Dame Alice Owens School in Islington North London, and were friends, as they shared a similar interest in music. They were joined by fellow student John Keeble, who met Norman when he stored his drum kit in the music room. They were joined by bass player Michael Ellison and by Tony Hadley, after a few months, Richard Miller replaced Ellison on bass, before Kemps younger brother Martin Kemp took over the role a couple of years later. By this time, the band had gained some live experience. Steve Dagger, a school friend of the band members, was asked by Norman. He was to be a part of the bands success. The band changed its name to The Makers in late-1976 and played as a band at the Roxy in their early years. In 1978 they became a pop band and changed the name to Gentry, under which they played a few gigs. The name also refers to Spandau Prison and the many hangings there, especially in 1945–46 of Nazi war criminals, the new Spandau Ballet, with Martin Kemp and Hadley, began performing with this name around London. Spandau Ballet was involved in a bidding war, but signed to Chrysalis Records and released To Cut a Long Story Short. Released 10 days after the band emerged from the studio, To Cut a Long Story Short became a top 5 hit in late 1980 and this was followed by further top 20 hits with The Freeze, Musclebound, and the Gold-certified debut album Journeys to Glory in 1981. The follow-up album, Diamond, also produced by Burgess, was released in 1982 and this album was certified Gold by the BPI and featured the funk-flavoured Top 3 hit Chant No.1
23.
Rudolf Hess
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Rudolf Walter Richard Hess, was a prominent politician in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, he served in this position until 1941 and he was taken prisoner and eventually was convicted of crimes against peace, serving a life sentence, until his death by suicide. Hess enlisted in the 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment as an infantryman at the outbreak of World War I and he was wounded several times over the course of the war, and won the Iron Cross, 2nd class, in 1915. Shortly before the war ended, Hess enrolled to train as an aviator and he left the armed forces in December 1918 with the rank of Leutnant der Reserve. Hess joined the NSDAP on 1 July 1920, and was at Hitlers side on 8 November 1923 for the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed Nazi attempt to seize control of the government of Bavaria. Whilst serving time in jail for this coup, Hess helped Hitler write his book, Mein Kampf. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Hess was appointed Deputy Führer of the NSDAP and he was the third most powerful man in Germany, behind only Hitler and Hermann Göring. Hess continued to be interested in aviation, learning to fly the advanced aircraft that were coming into development at the start of World War II. On 10 May 1941 he undertook a flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton. During much of the trial, he claimed to be suffering from amnesia, Hess was convicted of crimes against peace and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes and was transferred to Spandau Prison in 1947, where he served a life sentence. Repeated attempts by members and prominent politicians to win him early release were blocked by the Soviet Union. Still in custody in Spandau, he died by suicide in 1987 at the age of 93, after his death the prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. Hess, the oldest of three children, was born on 26 April 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt, into the ethnic German family of Fritz Hess, a merchant from Bavaria. His brother, Alfred, was born in 1897 and his sister, the family lived in a villa on the Egyptian coast near Alexandria, and visited Germany often from 1900, staying at their summer home in Reicholdsgrün in the Fichtel Mountains. Hess attended a German language Protestant school in Alexandria from 1900 to 1908, after a year there, Hess took an apprenticeship at a trading company in Hamburg. Within weeks of the outbreak of World War I, Hess enlisted in the 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment and his initial posting was against the British on the Somme, he was present at the First Battle of Ypres. On 9 November 1914 Hess transferred to the 1st Infantry Regiment and he was awarded the Iron Cross, second class, and promoted to Gefreiter in April 1915. After additional training at the Munster Training Area, he was promoted to Vizefeldwebel, returning to the front lines in November, he fought in Artois, participating in the battle for the town of Neuville-Saint-Vaast
24.
Oberhavel
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Oberhavel is a Kreis in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. The district is located on the course of the Havel river from its source to the outskirts of Berlin. The north is characterised by many including the Großer Stechlinsee. The district was created on 6 December 1993 through the merging of the old Gransee, the district is home to three rugby union clubs, the RU Hohen Neuendorf, Veltener RC and Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby. The latter was the most successful club in East Germany. Media related to Oberhavel at Wikimedia Commons Official website
25.
Havelland (district)
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Havelland is a district or county in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Ostprignitz-Ruppin and Oberhavel, the city-state of Berlin, the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the city of Brandenburg, the district was established in 1993 by merging the former districts of Nauen and Rathenow. The district mainly consists of the north of the Havel river
26.
Potsdam
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Potsdam is the capital and largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. It directly borders the German capital Berlin and is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region and it is situated on the River Havel,24 kilometres southwest of Berlins city centre. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. The Potsdam Conference in 1945 was held at the palace Cecilienhof, the Filmstudio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century, today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city. The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period, today, the city is three-quarters green space, with just a quarter as urban area. There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See, the highest point is the 114-metre high Kleiner Ravensberg. Potsdam is divided into seven city districts and nine new Ortsteile. The appearances of the city districts are quite different, the districts in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings. Potsdam has an Oceanic climate, with cool, snowy winters, the average winter high temperature is 3.5 °C, with a low of −1.7 °C. Snow is common in the winter, summers are mild, with a high of 23.6 °C and a low of 12.7 °C. The name Potsdam originally seems to have been Poztupimi, a common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning beneath the oaks, i. e. the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi. The area around Potsdam shows occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and it was first mentioned in a document in 993 AD as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda. By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town and it gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a market town of 2,000 inhabitants. Potsdam lost nearly half of its due to the Thirty Years War. After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration and its religious freedom attracted people from France, Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia
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Brandenburg
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Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federated states of Germany. It lies in the northeast of the country covering an area of 29,478 square kilometers and has 2.48 million inhabitants, the capital and largest city is Potsdam. Brandenburg surrounds but does not include the capital and city-state Berlin forming a metropolitan area. Brandenburg is one of the states that was re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former East Germany. Governed by the Hohenzollern dynasty from 1415, it contained the future German capital Berlin, after 1618 the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were combined to form Brandenburg-Prussia, which was ruled by the same branch of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1701 the state was elevated as the Kingdom of Prussia, Brandenburg is situated in territory known in antiquity as Magna Germania, which reached to the Vistula river. By the 7th century, Slavic peoples are believed to have settled in the Brandenburg area, the Slavs expanded from the east, possibly driven from their homelands in present-day Ukraine and perhaps Belarus by the invasions of the Huns and Avars. They relied heavily on river transport, the two principal Slavic groups in the present-day area of Brandenburg were the Hevelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east. Beginning in the early 10th century, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River, Slavic settlements such as Brenna, Budusin, and Chośebuz came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the eastern marches, in 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg, the Northern March was founded as a northeastern border territory of the Holy Roman Empire. However, an uprising of Wends drove imperial forces from the territory of present-day Brandenburg in 983. The region returned to the control of Slavic leaders, the Roman Catholic Church brought bishoprics which, with their walled towns, afforded protection from attacks for the townspeople. With the monks and bishops, the history of the town of Brandenburg an der Havel, in 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends, the German magnate, Albert the Bear, was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothar III. He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav, after crushing a force of Sprevane who occupied the town of Brandenburg in the 1150s, Albert proclaimed himself ruler of the new Margraviate of Brandenburg. Albert, and his descendants the Ascanians, then made progress in conquering, colonizing, Christianizing. Within this region, Slavic and German residents intermarried, during the 13th century, the Ascanians began acquiring territory east of the Oder, later known as the Neumark. In 1320, the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained the status of a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire
28.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
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Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf. Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the city centre of Berlin and the adjacent affluent suburbs. It borders on the Mitte borough in the east, on Tempelhof-Schöneberg in the southeast, Steglitz-Zehlendorf in the south, Spandau in the west, the district includes the inner city localities of Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf and Halensee. As of 2012, the borough had a population of 326,354, of whom about 110,000 were of non-German origin. The largest ethnic minorities were Turks at 4%, Poles at 3. 5%, Arabs, former Yugoslavians and Afro-Germans at 2. 5% each, Russians at 1. 5%, and Ukrainians and Iranians at 1. 0% each. Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is divided into seven localities, The localities of Schmargendorf, Air Berlin has its headquarters in Building 2 of the Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Nord. As of 2006 Air Berlin employed 1,200 employees at its headquarters, germania has its headquarters in Charlottenburg-Nord. Comenius-Schule, a school, is in Wilmersdorf. Halensee-Grundschule, a school, is in Halensee. The Japanische Ergänzungsschule in Berlin e. V, a weekend Japanese supplementary school, is held at Halensee-Grundschule. Zentrale Schule für Japanisch Berlin e. V, another weekend Japanese supplementary school, is held at the Comenius-Schule - Established April 1997. Berlin portal Berlin Charlottenburg – Wilmersdorf Berlin Spandau – Charlottenburg North Official homepage of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Official homepage of Berlin
29.
Spandau (locality)
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Spandau is a locality of Berlin in the homonymous borough of Spandau. The historic city is situated, for the most part, on the banks of the Havel river. As of 2008 the estimated population of Spandau was 33,433, the locality is situated in the middle of its borough. It borders Wilhelmstadt in the south, Staaken and Falkenhagener Feld in the west, Hakenfelde in the north as well as Haselhorst, Siemensstadt and Westend in the east. Spandau proper is subdivided into four neighbourhoods, Altstadt Spandau Neustadt Spandau Stresow Kolk-Spandau The city was founded at the confluence of the rivers Spree. The settlement of the area can be traced back to the 6th century when the territories of the Elbe river were populated by several Slavic tribes. The history of Spandau begins in the 7th or 8th century and it was conquered in 928 by the German King Henry I, but returned to Slavic rule after the rebellion of 983. In 1156, the Ascanian count Albert the Bear took possession of the region and is believed to have established a fortress here and it was around this fortress that the city of Spandow developed, becoming the centre of the entire region. It was first mentioned as Spandowe in 1197 in a deed of Otto II, Spandau was given city rights in 1232. During the Ascanian Rule the construction of the Spandau Citadel began, in 1558 the village of Gatow became part of Spandau. During the Thirty Years War Spandau was surrendered to the Swedes in 1634, in 1806, after the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt, French troops under Napoleon took possession of the city and stayed there until 1807. In 1812, Napoleon returned and the Spandau Citadel was besieged in 1813 by Prussian and Russian troops. The poet and revolutionary Gottfried Kinkel was an inmate of the Spandau town prison from 1849 and it was also a garrison town with numerous barracks, home of the 5th Guards Infantry Brigade and the 5th Foot Guards of the German Army. In 1920, the independent city of Spandau was incorporated into Greater Berlin as a borough, after World War II until 1990, when Berlin was divided into four sections administered by the victorious Allies, Spandau was part of the British Occupation Sector in West Berlin. The Spandau Prison, built in 1876, was used to house Nazi war criminals who were sentenced to imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials. After the death of its last inmate, Rudolf Hess in 1987, Spandau Prison was completely demolished by the Allied powers and this date is commonly regarded as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The Baroque spire was attached in 1744 and refurbished by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1839, Spandau Old Town with medieval Gotisches Haus of the 15th century Rathaus Spandau, the town hall, finished in 1913. Spandau is served by the Berliner S-Bahn line S5 and by the U-Bahn line U7, the main railway station is Berlin Spandau, one of the most important of the city
30.
Haselhorst
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Haselhorst is a locality in the borough of Spandau in Berlin. It is located between Siemensstadt and the Old Town of Spandau and is separated from the Hakenfelde locality by the River Havel, the manor of Haselhorst was incorporated into the City of Spandau in 1910 and together with it became a part of Greater Berlin in 1920. The Spandau Citadel is located in Haselhorst, the kings of Prussia kept barracks in Haselhorst. Today industries such as BMW motorcycles, Siemens and Osram are located there, Haselhorst is served by the U7 line of the Berlin U-Bahn at the stations Paulsternstraße, Haselhorst and Zitadelle. Media related to Haselhorst at Wikimedia Commons Haselhorst page on www. berlin. de
31.
Siemensstadt
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Siemensstadt is a locality of Berlin in the district of Spandau. On the initiative of Georg Wilhelm von Siemens S & H started to build new factories in 1899, soon also residential buildings were erected. The locality was incorporated into Berlin on 1 October 1920 by the Greater Berlin Act, Siemensstadt is situated in the eastern side of Spandau district. It borders with Spandau, Haselhorst, Tegel, Charlottenburg-Nord and Westend, the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt is situated close to Siemensstadt but in Charlottenburg-Nord. Siemensstadt is served by the Berliner U-Bahn line U7 at the stations of Paulsternstrasse, Siemens Großsiedlung Siemensstadt Media related to Siemensstadt at Wikimedia Commons Siemensstadt page on www. berlin. de
32.
Staaken
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Staaken is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau. Staaken borders on the localities of Spandau proper, Falkenhagener Feld, in the west it shares border with the Brandenburg municipalities of Falkensee and Dallgow-Döberitz with the village of Seeburg, part of Havelland district. Buildings range from small detached houses and a city around the historic village centre in the west to larger 1960s and 1970s housing estates in the east. Staaken is served by RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn trains of the Deutsche Bahn AG at the stations Staaken, a S-Bahn connection to Albrechtshof is planned. The Bundesstraße 5 federal highway runs through the locality along Heerstraße, first mentioned in a 1273 deed as Stakene in the Mittelmark region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the linear settlement probably arose around 1200 in the course of the German eastward migration. The estates were held by the Benedictine nunnery of Spandau. The former village became part of Berlin by the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, the development of the area started with the construction of the Staaken garden city by architect Paul Schmitthenner in 1914. VI biplane strategic bombers built by the firm. In 1919 the regulations of the Treaty of Versailles finished the production, there had been regular Zeppelin flights to Friedrichshafen and even to London from 1919 on, though in the following years most of the aviation moved to Tempelhof Airport. The former zeppelin manufacturing halls were turned into the Staaken Studios and used as the location for film productions. In 1929 the estate was sold to the City of Berlin, while parts of the airport were still used by the Deutsche Luft Hansa for flight training and maintenance purposes. After World War II Staaken was divided by an exchange contract between the Allies United Kingdom and Soviet Union of 30 August 1945. In return the so-called Dorf Staaken and Albrechtshof, nowadays called West Staaken was de jure assigned to the Soviets, the geographically eastern Staaken remained with the political West. However, the de facto administration remained with the Borough of Spandau in the British sector, so all inhabitants of Staaken could vote for West-Berlins city state elections in 1948 and 1950. East Germany then moved up its border checkpoint towards West Berlin from Dallgow more eastwards to West Staaken, on 1 June 1952 West Staakens de facto administration was conveyed to neighbouring East German Falkensee, which incorporated West Staaken on 1 January 1961. From August 13 the same year until its opening and removal after 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall cut through the two parts of Staaken, with one East German border crossing on Heerstraße. Since 1 January 1971 western Staaken, officially simply named Staaken, formed a municipality of its own, with a population amounting to 4,146 at that time. On 3 October 1990, the day of unification of East Germany, the event was dramatized in the 1963 West German film Durchbruch Lok 234. The route to Albrechtshof was only reconnected in 1995 after German reunification, in 1976 the GDR opened a separate rail border crossing station Staaken for rail transit to western Germany farther away from the border to West Berlin
33.
Gatow
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Gatow, a district of south-western Berlin is located west of the Havelsee lake and has forested areas within its boundaries. It is within the borough of Spandau, on 31 December 2002, it had 5,532 inhabitants. Gatows existence was first recorded in 1258 under the name of Gatho, in 1558, the village of Gatow became part of Spandau. Following the division of Berlin into four sectors at the end of the Second World War, the airfield was handed back to the Luftwaffe on 7 September 1994 and was kept in use as an airfield for a very short time, being closed to air traffic in 1995. It is now called General-Steinhoff-Kaserne and is home to some non-flying Luftwaffe units, and this is the museum of the Luftwaffe which has many displays and much information on German military aviation and the history of the airfield. Admission to the museum is free, and full details of the museum, the history of RAF Gatow and of western forces in Berlin from 1945 to 1994 is told in the Alliierten Museum. Also on the site of the former RAF station, but not part of General-Steinhoff-Kaserne, is a school, the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium and this has been from 2003 part of the district of Berlin-Kladow
34.
Kladow
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Kladow is the southernmost district of the Borough of Spandau in Berlin. The district of Kladow is bordered by the District of Gatow to the north, by the Havel to the east and southeast and by the State of Brandenburg to the west, the neighbouring village of Sacrow and main part of Groß Glienicke are located in Brandenburg. With around 11,500 residents, Kladow has managed to keep its village character, Kladow was first mentioned as Clodow in 1267, which makes it the oldest section of Spandau. Intensive settlement of what had previously been farming villages began in the early 19th century, at the border of Greater Berlin, Kladow was annexed into Spandau in 1920. Kladow has since 2003 contained part of the airfield of RAF Gatow. Today, Kladow describes itself as a village in a city of millions, the newest housing estate in the area is the former Gatow Airport, known as the Landstadt for civil servants. Most of the plots are still available due to a lack of demand. With the dedication of a new shopping center, life has moved out from the villages center. Nevertheless, this area offers a rich, long-established selection of stores. Kladow is well connected to the rest of Berlin with the Berlin Metro system and it was connected by bus as early as 1924, and it is now possible to reach the city centre in around 45 minutes using the Express Bus Line. In addition, the F10 ferry travels hourly between Kladow and Wannsee, potsdam is around 40 minutes away by bus, but by car it can take only 30 minutes to reach Brandenburgs capital. They are complemented by an independent Waldorf school, the Eugen Kolisko School, Groß Glienicker See The information in this article is based on its German equivalent. Kladow official website Kladow page on www. berlin. de Kladower Chronicle Pictures of Kladow Eugen Kolisko School
35.
Hakenfelde
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Hakenfelde is a German locality of Berlin in the borough of Spandau. The name Hakenfelde is derived a dairy-farm built in 1730 on the outskirts of Spandau, part of the town of Spandau it merged into Berlin in 1920 with the Greater Berlin Act. Due to its position at the borders of West Berlin within East Germany it was crossed, from 1961 to 1989. In 2003 it became an autonomous Ortsteil, separated from the one of Spandau, located in the northeastern suburb of the city, Hakenfelde is surrounded by the Spandauer Forest and separated from the district of Reinickendorf by the river Havel. It borders with the Brandenburger municipalities of Falkensee, Schönwalde-Glien and Hennigsdorf, the bordering Ortsteil are Falkenhagener Feld, Haselhorst, Spandau, Reinickendorf and Konradshöhe. On the Havel there is an island and 3 islets belonging to Hakenfelde, eiswerder, situated in the middle of the Lake Spandau, is linked to Hakenfelde and Haselhorst by 2 bridges. It is served by lines of the bus network and by some private ferry lines. Media related to Hakenfelde at Wikimedia Commons Hakenfelde page on www. berlin. de
36.
Falkenhagener Feld
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Falkenhagener Feld is a German locality of Berlin in the borough of Spandau. The project to build a complex in the rural area of west Spandau and close to the village of Falkenhagen. The locality, situated at the borders of West Berlin with East Germany, was crossed by the Berlin Wall until 1989, in 2003 it became an autonomous Ortsteil, separated from the one of Spandau. Located in the suburb of Berlin, Falkenhagener Feld borders with the Brandenburger town of Falkensee and its parish Falkenhagen. Its bordering localities of Berlin are Hakenfelde, Spandau and Staaken, close to the boundary with this one there are located the little lakes Spektelake and Großer Spektesee. Falkenhagener Feld is not served by railways, it is traversed by the industrial track of the Osthavelländische Eisenbahn. It is served by the bus lines M37,130,131,134,237 and 337, media related to Falkenhagener Feld at Wikimedia Commons Falkenhagener Feld page on www. berlin. de
37.
Wilhelmstadt
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Wilhelmstadt is a German locality of Berlin in the borough of Spandau. In the year 1945 the allied armed forces from the Soviet Union and this new quarter was crossed, from 1961 to 1989 by the Berlin Wall, due to its position at the borders of West Berlin with East Germany. It became an autonomous Ortsteil in 2003, separated from the one of Spandau, Wilhelmstadt is situated in the western suburb of Berlin, close to the central area of Spandau. It borders with the Brandenburg municipality of Dallgow-Döberitz and with the localities of Staaken, Spandau, Gatow, Westend, traversed by the Havel river, Wilhelmshaven counts a former floodplain named Tiefwerder Wiesen and the lakes Scharfe Lanke, Grimnitzsee, Pichelssee, Südparkteich and part of Stößensee. The peninsula of Pichelswerder, part of its Ortslage Pichelsdorf borders with the Grunewald forest, media related to Wilhelmstadt at Wikimedia Commons Wilhelmstadt page on www. berlin. de
38.
Germans
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Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history. German is the mother tongue of a substantial majority of ethnic Germans. The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages, before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. Thus, the number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied. Today, people from countries with German-speaking majorities most often subscribe to their own national identities, the German term Deutsche originates from the Old High German word diutisc, referring to the Germanic language of the people. It is not clear how commonly, if at all, the word was used as an ethnonym in Old High German, used as a noun, ein diutscher in the sense of a German emerges in Middle High German, attested from the second half of the 12th century. The Old French term alemans is taken from the name of the Alamanni and it was loaned into Middle English as almains in the early 14th century. The word Dutch is attested in English from the 14th century, denoting continental West Germanic dialects, while in most Romance languages the Germans have been named from the Alamanni, the Old Norse, Finnish and Estonian names for the Germans were taken from that of the Saxons. In Slavic languages, the Germans were given the name of němьci, originally with a meaning foreigner, the English term Germans is only attested from the mid-16th century, based on the classical Latin term Germani used by Julius Caesar and later Tacitus. It gradually replaced Dutch and Almains, the latter becoming mostly obsolete by the early 18th century, the Germans are a Germanic people, who as an ethnicity emerged during the Middle Ages. Originally part of the Holy Roman Empire, around 300 independent German states emerged during its decline after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years War and these states eventually formed into modern Germany in the 19th century. The concept of a German ethnicity is linked to Germanic tribes of antiquity in central Europe, the early Germans originated on the North German Plain as well as southern Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the number of Germans was significantly increasing and they began expanding into eastern Europe, during antiquity these Germanic tribes remained separate from each other and did not have writing systems at that time. In the European Iron Age the area that is now Germany was divided into the La Tène horizon in Southern Germany and the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany. By 55 BC, the Germans had reached the Danube river and had either assimilated or otherwise driven out the Celts who had lived there, and had spread west into what is now Belgium and France. Conflict between the Germanic tribes and the forces of Rome under Julius Caesar forced major Germanic tribes to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman-held territories with Germanic populations, the Germanic and Roman peoples intermarried, and Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions intermingled. The adoption of Christianity would later become an influence in the development of a common German identity
39.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
40.
Arab League
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The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Arabia. It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members, Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22 members, but Syrias participation has been suspended since November 2011, the League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents promoting economic integration. One example is the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter, which outlines the principles for economic activities in the region, each member state has one vote in the League Council, and decisions are binding only for those states that have voted for them. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to coordination of military defence measures. In March 2015, the Arab League General Secretary announced the establishment of a Joint Arab Force with the aim of counteracting extremism, the decision was reached while Operation Decisive Storm was intensifying in Yemen. Participation in the project is voluntary, and the army intervenes only at the request of one of the member states. The growing militarization of the region and the increase in violent civil wars as well as terrorist movements are the reason behind the creation of the JAF, financed by the rich Gulf countries. In the early 1970s, the Economic Council of the League of Arab States put forward a proposal to create the Joint Arab Chambers of Commerce across the European states and that led, under the decree of the League of Arab States no. Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945 and it aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes and coordinating political aims. Other countries later joined the league, each country was given one vote in the council. It was followed by the creation of a defence treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965, the Arab League member states cover over 13,000,000 km2 and straddles two continents, Africa and Asia. The area largely consists of deserts, such as the Sahara. The area comprises deep forests in southern Arabia and parts of the worlds longest river, the Charter of the Arab League, also known as the Pact of the League of Arab States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that the League of Arab States shall be composed of the, starting with only six members in 1945, the Arab League now occupies an area spanning around 14 million km² and counts 22 members, and 4 observer states. The 22 members today include three of the largest African countries and the largest country in the Middle East, there was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th century, with an additional 15 Arab states being admitted. Syria was suspended following the 2011 uprising, as of 2016, there are a total of 22 member states
41.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
42.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
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Luton, United Kingdom since 1950
Siegen, Germany since 1952
Asnières-sur-Seine, France since 1959
Ashdod, Israel since 1968
Boca Raton, Florida, United States 1979 until May 2003
Iznik, Turkey since 1987
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Lichtenberg
Marzahn-Hellersdorf
Mitte
Neukölln
Pankow
Reinickendorf
Spandau
Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Tempelhof-Schöneberg
Treptow-Köpenick