1.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
2.
Oceania
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Oceania, also known as Oceanica, is a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The term is used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia. The term was coined as Océanie circa 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, the word Océanie is a French word derived from the Latin word oceanus, and this from the Greek word ὠκεανός, ocean. Natives and inhabitants of this region are called Oceanians or Oceanicans, as an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, part of the Philippine islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, in geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania. Australia and Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania along with the Maluku Islands, puncak Jaya in Papua is often considered the highest peak in Oceania. Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean and it comprised four regions, Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia, and Melanesia. The area extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south. Not included are the Pacific islands of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago, all on the margins of Asia, and the Aleutian Islands of North America. The islands at the extremes of Oceania are Bonin, a politically integral part of Japan, Hawaii, a state of the United States. There is also a geographic definition that excludes land on the Sunda Plate. Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone or the Pacific ecozone, Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasian ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone, related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania which is more recently settled. The term is used to denote a continent comprising Australia. New Zealand forms the corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia, the history of Oceania in the medieval period was synonymous with the history of the indigenous peoples of Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
3.
Landespolizei
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Landespolizei is the term used to refer to all police of any one of the states of Germany. The Landespolizei in the meaning of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century Germany, various towns and cities also maintained police forces as the increasing number of new laws and regulations made controlling urban life more complicated. In Nazi Germany, all state and city forces were absorbed into the Ordnungspolizei which existed from 1936 to 1945, after World War II, massive numbers of refugees and displaced persons, hunger and poverty characterised everyday life in Germany. Attacks by armed gangs, robbery, looting and black-marketing were commonplace, in all three Western zones, the emphasis was to decentralise, demilitarise and democratise the police. Some restrictions were lifted as Cold War tensions grew and certain police functions necessitated central rather than local direction, the Landespolizei became the police force for the federal states in the West. East Germany created a national force in the form of the Volkspolizei. All state police forces are subordinate to the Land Minister of the Interior, the internal structures of these police forces differ somewhat, but usually immediately subordinate to the interior ministries are the regional police headquarters. These direct operations over an area or in a big city and have administrative. The Präsidium often has direct control of the force’s specialist units such as patrols, mounted police detachments. Under the regional headquarters, there are district police headquarters serving communities of from 200,000 to 600,000 citizens. Subordinate to each Direktion, there are several stations or precincts that are manned on a 24-hour basis, conduct day-to-day policing. Below this level, the Polizeiposten is a police office manned by one or two officers, normally only during office hours. The State Police wear the patch on the uniform sleeve. Police officers can be transferred anywhere within their state, once skilled, officers of the state police can be moved theoretically nationwide. In practice, such requests are made by the officers themselves and they usually swap workplaces with an exchange partner from another federal state. Such an exchange is thus possible nationwide and is not dependent on the state, State police forces are divided into the following branches, Schutzpolizei - the uniformed police officers who patrol the streets and respond to emergency calls etc. In 1950 the Bepo was founded as an organized, armed and trained police force. In some states the police academy is part of the Bepo
4.
North Rhine-Westphalia
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
5.
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
6.
Australian Capital Territory
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The Australian Capital Territory is the federal district in the south east of Australia, enclaved within New South Wales. Its only city is Canberra, the city of Australia. The ACT also has a strip of territory around the southern end of the Beecroft Peninsula. The need for a territory was flagged by colonial delegates during the Federation conventions of the late 19th century. Section 125 of the Australian Constitution provided that, following Federation in 1901, the territory was transferred to the Commonwealth by the state of New South Wales in 1911, two years prior to the naming of Canberra as the national capital in 1913. The floral emblem of the ACT is the royal bluebell and the emblem is the gang-gang cockatoo. The economic activity of the Australian Capital Territory is heavily concentrated around Canberra and this trend continued into 2016, when the territory was ranked the third best performing out of all of Australias states and territories. There is a proportion of young adults in the region compared with other Australian states or territories. Approximately one-fifth of ACT residents were born outside of Australia, mainly in the United Kingdom, almost one-fifth speak a language other than English at home, the most common being Chinese. The ACT also has a strip of territory around the southern end of the Beecroft Peninsula. Apart from the city of Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory also contains agricultural land, small townships and communities located within the ACT include Williamsdale, Naas, Uriarra, Tharwa and Hall. There are a range of mountains, rivers and creeks in the Namadgi National Park. These include the Naas and Murrumbidgee Rivers, Canberra is noted for its warm to hot, dry summers, and cold winters with occasional fog and frequent frosts. Many of the mountains in the territorys south-west are snow-covered for at least part of the winter. Thunderstorms can occur between October and March, and annual rainfall is 623 mm, with rainfall highest in spring and summer, the highest maximum temperature recorded in the ACT was 42.8 °C at Acton on 11 January 1939. The lowest minimum temperature was −14.6 °C at Gudgenby on 11 July 1971, notable geological formations in the Australian Capital Territory include the Canberra Formation, the Pittman Formation, Black Mountain Sandstone and State Circle Shale. In the 1840s fossils of brachiopods and trilobites from the Silurian period were discovered at Woolshed Creek near Duntroon, at the time, these were the oldest fossils discovered in Australia, though this record has now been far surpassed. Other specific geological places of interest include the State Circle cutting, the oldest rocks in the ACT date from the Ordovician around 480 million years ago
7.
Jervis Bay Territory
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The Jervis Bay Territory is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. It was surrendered by the state of New South Wales to the Commonwealth Government in 1915 so the capital at Canberra would have access to the sea. It was administered by the Department of the Interior as if it were part of the Australian Capital Territory, although it has always been a separate Commonwealth territory. The perception that it is part of the ACT stems from the fact that under the terms of the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act, the bay was sighted by Lieutenant James Cook aboard HMS Endeavour on 25 April 1770 and he named the southern headland Cape St George. In August 1791 the bay was entered and named by Lieutenant Richard Bowen aboard the transport ship Atlantic of the Third Fleet in honour of Admiral John Jervis. In November 1791 Master Matthew Weatherhead aboard the Matilda entered the bay to undertake repairs, survivors of the Sydney Cove shipwreck in 1797 reached the area by foot, heading to Port Jackson. Explorer George Bass entered the bay on 10 December 1797, John Oxley, an English explorer and surveyor, travelled from Sydney by sea to explore the bay in 1819. Jervis Bay was selected to be that federal port, the crown land in the area was granted by New South Wales to the Commonwealth in 1909 at the same time that the ACT was surrendered to the Commonwealth. In 1915 the jurisdiction over the Jervis Bay Territory was also surrendered to the Commonwealth, NSW also granted to Commonwealth permission to build a rail corridor linking the two territories but this was never implemented. At the 2011 census, an estimated 377 people lived in the territory, the area of land and water owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council in the JBT is approximately 68 km2, which is about 90% of the land. The remaining land in the JBT is managed by the Department of Infrastructure, There is an Aboriginal community at Wreck Bay in the Booderee National Park. Vincentia is the nearest town, roughly 3 km north of the border, Jervis Bay Territory is administered by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. However, it is counted as part of the ACT for the purpose of the ACTs representation in the Senate, residents have access to the courts of the ACT, but are not separately represented in the ACT Legislative Assembly. The Jervis Bay Territory is in the Commonwealth Electoral Division of Fenner, Jervis Bay Territory residents are not represented at the local or State government level but have access to the decision-making process through community organisations. Having 65.7 km2 of land and 8.9 km2 marine reserve, Jervis Bay is a natural harbour 16 km north-south and 10 km east-west, opening to the east onto the Pacific Ocean. The bay is situated about 198 km south of the city of Sydney, the nearest city is Nowra, about 40 km on the Shoalhaven River to the north. The majority of Jervis Bay embayment is part of Jervis Bay Marine Park, the park itself encompasses approximately 90% of the territory of Jervis Bay and covers the overlap between Australias northern and southern climatic zones. Ancient sand dunes overlay the bedrock formations formed from upheaval of the surrounding marine environment 280–225 million years ago
8.
Norfolk Island
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The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia. Together with two neighbouring islands, it one of Australias external territories. It has 1,796 inhabitants living on an area of about 35 km2. Norfolk Island was first settled by East Polynesians but was long unpopulated when it was also settled by Great Britain as part of its settlement of Australia from 1788. The island served as a penal settlement from 6 March 1788 until 5 May 1855. On 8 June 1856, permanent civilian residence on the island began when it was settled from Pitcairn Island, in 1914 the UK handed Norfolk Island over to Australia to administer as an external territory. The evergreen Norfolk Island pine is a symbol of the island, native to the island, the pine is a key export for Norfolk Island, being a popular ornamental tree on mainland Australia, where two related species grow, and also worldwide. Norfolk Island was settled by East Polynesian seafarers either from the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand or from the North Island of New Zealand and they arrived in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and survived for several generations before disappearing. The first European known to have sighted and landed on the island was Captain James Cook, on 10 October 1774 and he named it after Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. Sir John Call argued the advantages of Norfolk Island in that it was uninhabited, in 1786 the British government included Norfolk Island as an auxiliary settlement, as proposed by John Call, in its plan for colonisation of New South Wales. The decision to settle Norfolk Island was taken due to Empress Catherine II of Russias decision to restrict sales of hemp, practically all the hemp and flax required by the Royal Navy for cordage and sailcloth was imported from Russia. They arrived on 6 March 1788, during the first year of the settlement, which was also called Sydney like its parent, more convicts and soldiers were sent to the island from New South Wales. As early as 1794, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales Francis Grose suggested its closure as a settlement, as it was too remote and difficult for shipping. The first group of left in February 1805, and by 1808 only about 200 remained. A small party remained to slaughter stock and destroy all buildings, so there would be no inducement for anyone, especially from other European powers, to visit. From 15 February 1814 to 6 June 1825 the island was abandoned, in 1824 the British government instructed the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane, to occupy Norfolk Island as a place to send the worst description of convicts. Its remoteness, previously seen as a disadvantage, was now viewed as an asset for the detention of recalcitrant male prisoners, furthermore, the overwhelming majority of convicts sent to Norfolk Island had committed non-violent property sentences, and the average length of detention was three years. The second penal settlement began to be wound down by the British government after 1847, the island was abandoned because transportation from the United Kingdom to Van Diemens Land had ceased in 1853, to be replaced by penal servitude in the UK
9.
Christmas Island
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Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean, around 350 kilometres south of Java and Sumatra and it has an area of 135 square kilometres. Christmas Island has a population of just over 2,000 residents, the main settlement is Flying Fish Cove. Around two-thirds of the population are Malaysian Chinese, with significant numbers of Malays. Several languages are in use, including English, Malay, and various Chinese dialects, while Buddhism is the primary religion, the first European to sight the island was Richard Rowe of the Thomas in 1615. The island was named on Christmas Day 1643 by Captain William Mynors. Its geographic isolation and history of human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna. The majority of the island is included in the Christmas Island National Park, Phosphate, deposited originally as guano, has been mined on the island since 1899. Located at 10°30′S 105°40′E, the island is about 19 kilometres in greatest length and 14.5 km in breadth, the total land area is 135 square kilometres, with 138.9 km of coastline. The island is the summit of an underwater mountain more than 4,500 metres high. The mountain was originally a volcano, and some basalt is exposed in places such as The Dales and Dolly Beach, the karst terrain supports numerous anchialine caves. Steep cliffs along much of the coast rise abruptly to a central plateau, elevation ranges from sea level to 361 m at Murray Hill. The island is tropical rainforest, 63% of which is national park land. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island poses a maritime hazard, Christmas Island lies 2,600 kilometres northwest of Perth, Western Australia,500 km south of Indonesia,975 km ENE of the Cocos Islands, and 2,748 km west of Darwin, Northern Territory. Its closest point to the Australian mainland is 1,560 km from the town of Exmouth, Christmas Island has 80 kilometres of shoreline but only small parts of the shoreline are easily accessible. The islands perimeter is embodied by sharp cliff faces, making many of the beaches difficult to get to. As Christmas Island is located towards the edge of the equatorial region, climate is tropical. The highest temperature is usually around 29 °C in March and April, while the lowest temperature is 23 °C, there is a dry season from July to November with only occasional showers
10.
Federation of Australia
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Fiji and New Zealand were originally part of this process, but they decided not to join the federation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the efforts to bring about federation in the mid-19th century were dogged by the lack of popular support for the movement. A number of conventions were held during the 1890s to develop a constitution for the Commonwealth, Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, was instrumental in this process. The election returned Barton as prime minister, though without a majority and this period has lent its name to an architectural style prevalent in Australia at that time, known as Federation architecture, or Federation style. A serious movement for Federation of the colonies arose in the late 1880s, a time there was increasing nationalism amongst Australians. The idea of being Australian began to be celebrated in songs and this was fostered by improvements in transport and communications, such as the establishment of a telegraph system between the colonies in 1872. The Australian colonies were influenced by other federations which had emerged around the world, notably in Argentina, Canada, Switzerland. Sir Henry Parkes, then Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, the Federation had the potential to ensure that throughout the continent, trade, and interstate commerce would be unaffected by protectionism and measurement and transport would be standardised. The final push for the Federal Council came at a conference in 1883, called to debate the strategies needed to counter the activities of the German and French in New Guinea, Sir Samuel Griffith, the Premier of Queensland, drafted a bill to constitute the Federal Council. The conference successfully petitioned the Imperial Parliament to enact the bill as the Federal Council of Australasia Act 1885, as a result, a Federal Council of Australasia was formed, to represent the affairs of the colonies in their relations with the South Pacific islands. New South Wales and New Zealand did not join, the self-governing colonies of Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria, as well as the Crown Colonies of Western Australia and Fiji, became involved. South Australia was briefly a member between 1888 and 1890, furthermore, the absence of the powerful colony of New South Wales weakened its representative value. Nevertheless, it was the first major form of inter-colonial co-operation and it provided an opportunity for Federalists from around the country to meet and exchange ideas. The means by which the Council was established endorsed the continuing role that the Imperial Parliament would have in the development of Australias constitutional structure, the individual colonies, Victoria excepted, were somewhat wary of Federation. Queensland, for its part, worried that the advent of national legislation would restrict the importing of kanaka labourers and these were not the only concerns of those resistant to federation. Smaller colonies also worried about the abolition of tariffs, which would deprive them of a proportion of their revenue. New South Wales, traditionally free-trade in its outlook, wanted to be satisfied that the federations tariff policy would not be protectionist, Victorian Premier James Service described fiscal union as the lion in the way of federation. A further fundamental issue was how to distribute the excess customs duties from the government to the states
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