Dresden
Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated near the border with the Czech Republic. Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs; the city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed 25,000 people, many of whom were civilians, destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger and the famous Semper Oper. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural and political centre of Germany and Europe; the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative.
The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and ranks first in Saxony. It is dominated by high-tech branches called “Silicon Saxony”; the city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4.3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe. Main sights are the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle; the most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche. Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II; the remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Dresden has nearly 560,000 inhabitants, the agglomeration is the largest in Saxony with 780,000 inhabitants. According to the Hamburgische Weltwirtschaftsinstitut and Berenberg Bank in 2017, Dresden has the fourth best prospects for the future of all cities in Germany. Although Dresden is a recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, the area had been settled in the Neolithic era by Linear Pottery culture tribes ca. 7500 BC.
Dresden's founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from meaning people of the forest. Dresden evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, it was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, as Altendresden, both "old Dresden". Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene". After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate, it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319. From 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, from 1547 the electors as well.
The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in 1697. He gathered many of the best musicians and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden, his reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. During the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland most of the city's baroque landmarks were built; these include the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Japanese Palace, the Taschenbergpalais, the Pillnitz Castle and the two landmark churches: the Catholic Hofkirche and the Lutheran Frauenkirche. In addition significant art collections and museums were founded. Notable examples include the Dresden Porcelain Collection, the Collection of Prints and Photographs, the Grünes Gewölbe and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon. In 1726 there was a riot for two days after a Protestant clergyman was killed by a soldier who had converted from Catholicism.
In 1729, by decree of King Augustus II the first Polish Military Academy was founded in Dresden. In 1730, it was relocated to Warsaw. Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War, following its capture by Prussian forces, its subsequent re-capture, a failed Prussian siege in 1760. Friedrich Schiller wrote his Ode to Joy for the Dresden Masonic lodge in 1785. During the decline of Poland Dresden was site of preparations for the Polish Kościuszko Uprising; the city of Dresden had a distinctive silhouette, captured in famous paintings by Bernardo Bellotto and by Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl. Between 1806 and 1918 the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. During the Napoleonic Wars the French emperor made it a base of operations, winning there the famous Battle of Dresden on 27 August 1813. Following the November Uprising many Poles, including writers Juliusz Słowacki, Stefan Florian Garczyński, Klementyna Hoffmanowa and composer Frédéric Chopin, fled from the Russian Partition of Poland to Dresden.
National poet Adam Mickiewicz stayed several months in Dresden, starting in March 1832. He wrote the poetic drama Dziady, P
East Germany
East Germany the German Democratic Republic, was a country that existed from 1949 to 1990, when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state", the territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II — the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line; the Soviet zone did not include it. The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany was a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949. However, Soviet forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War; until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties nominally participated in its alliance organisation, the National Front of Democratic Germany.
The SED made the teaching of Marxism -- the Russian language compulsory in schools. The economy was centrally planned and state-owned. Prices of housing, basic goods and services were set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the USSR, it became the most successful economy in the Eastern Bloc. Emigration to the West was a significant problem – as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, it further weakened the state economically; the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by border guards or booby traps, such as landmines. Several others were imprisoned for many years. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of a government committed to liberalisation; the following year, open elections were held, international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany.
The GDR dissolved itself, Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990, becoming a sovereign state again. Several of the GDR's leaders, notably its last communist leader Egon Krenz, were prosecuted in reunified Germany for crimes committed during the Cold War. Geographically, the German Democratic Republic bordered the Baltic Sea to the north. Internally, the GDR bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin, known as East Berlin, administered as the state's de facto capital, it bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989; the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik abbreviated to DDR. Both terms were used in East Germany, with increasing usage of the abbreviated form since East Germany considered West Germans and West Berliners to be foreigners following the promulgation of its second constitution in 1968.
West Germans, the western media and statesmen avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone, sogenannte DDR. The centre of political power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, the abbreviation DDR was increasingly used colloquially by West Germans and West German media; the term Westdeutschland, when used by West Germans, was always a reference to the geographic region of Western Germany and not to the area within the boundaries of the Federal Republic of Germany. However, this use was not always consistent. Before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt. Explaining the internal impact of the DDR regime from the perspective of German history in the long term, historian Gerhard A. Ritter has argued that the East German state was defined by two dominant forces – Soviet Communism on the one hand, German traditions filtered through the interwar experiences of German Communists on the other.
It always was constrained by the powerful example of the prosperous West, to which East Germans compared their nation. The changes wrought by the Communists were most apparent in ending capitalism and transforming industry and agriculture, in the militarization of society, in the political thrust of the educational system and the media. On the other hand, there was little change made in the independent domains of the sciences, the engineering professions, the Protestant churches, in many bourgeois lifestyles. Social policy, says Ritter, became a critical legitimization tool in the last decades and mixed socialist and traditional elements about equally. At the Yalta Conference during World War II, the Allies (the U. S. the UK and
Intercultural relations
Intercultural Relations, sometimes called Intercultural Studies, is a new formal field of social science studies. It is a practical, multi-field discipline designed to train its students to understand and accomplish specific goals outside their own cultures. Intercultural Relations involves, at a fundamental level, learning how to see oneself and the world through the eyes of another, it is a broad rather than deep discipline that seeks to prepare students for interaction with cultures both similar to their own or different from their own. Some aspects of intercultural relations include, their power and cultural identity with how the relationship should be upheld with other foreign countries; the study of intercultural relations incorporates many different academic disciplines. As a field, it is most tied to anthropology and sociology, although a degree program in Intercultural Relations or Intercultural Studies may include the study of history, research methods, urban studies, gender studies, public health, many various natural sciences, human development, political science, religion and linguistics or other language training.
Intercultural programs are designed to translate these academic disciplines into a practical training curricula. Graduate programs will prepare students for academic research and publication. In today's global and multicultural world, students of Intercultural Relations can use their training in many fields both internationally and domestically, pursue careers in social work, community development, religious work, urban development. Intercultural relations offers the opportunity to direct you in experiencing and learning about the diverse relations within our world; the origins of the practical use of multi-field Intercultural Relations can be traced back to Christian missionaries seeking to relate the Christian gospel to other cultures in effective and culturally sensitive ways. Many Intercultural Studies programs are offered at religious institutions as training for missionaries and religiously motivated international development workers, therefore include some training in theology and evangelism.
However, in an globalized world, the broader discipline attracts persons from many backgrounds with many different career goals. Both bachelor's and master's degrees are offered in the discipline; some of the main topics of study are: Anthropology and Sociology Culture Theory Development of cultural competence Analyzing cultural patterns around the world World Religions Gender Studies Strategies for adapting Intercultural communication Teaching social skills to reduce cultural misunderstandings Research methodology in order to produce academic works and increase access to a culture Linguistics Intercultural relationships Interethnic relationships Interracial relationships Interreligious relationships Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Cross-cultural Cultural assimilation Cultural diversity Ethnocentrism Intercultural competence Interculturality Metacommunicative competence Racial integration Transculturation Intercambio Intercultural Universities in Mexico Stories about Intercultural Experiences and Cultural Exchange Compiled by The Glimpse Foundation CICB Center of Intercultural Competence Articles on Intercultural Communication
World War II
World War II known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China, it included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared war on the other. World War II is said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history; this Eastern Front trapped most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U. S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers declared war on the U.
S. in solidarity with their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests over much of the Western Pacific ensued, perceived by many in Asia as liberation from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories; the Axis advance in the Pacific halted in 1942. Key setbacks in 1943, which included a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands; the war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals were set up by fiat by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese. World War II changed the political social structure of the globe; the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia.
Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic expansion. Political integration in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity; the start of the war in Europe is held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred and the two wars merged in 1941; this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935; the British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the fo
J-1 visa
A J-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States to research scholars and exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange to obtain medical or business training within the U. S. All applicants must meet eligibility criteria, English language requirements, be sponsored either by a university, private sector or government program. 343,800 J-1 visas were issued in 2017. J-1 visitors may remain in the United States until the end of their exchange program, as specified on form DS-2019. Once a J-1 visitor's program ends, he or she may remain in the United States for an additional 30 days referred to as a "grace period", in order to prepare for departure from the country; the actual J-1 visa certificate does not document this 30-day post-study/exam "grace period", some airline counter staff have refused to issue a boarding pass to an embarking student. In particular, when the student's return ticket is departing after the J-1 visa has expired. For example: the return date is the next day after the students last exam.
If the visitor leaves the United States during these 30 days, the visitor may not re-enter with the J-1 visa. The minimal and the maximal duration of stay are determined by the specific J-1 category under which an exchange visitor is admitted into the United States; as with other non-immigrant visas, a J-1 visa holder and his or her dependents are required to leave the United States at the end of the duration of stay. Many persons in the United States on J-1 visa are subject to the two-year home residency requirement found in Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the Section 212, before a person on a J-1 visa with the two-year home residency requirement can change to nonimmigrant status, or adjust to U. S. permanent resident status, the J-1 person must either return to the country of last residence for two years or obtain a waiver of the two-year home residency requirement. Upon their departure from the United States, many J-1 visa holders are required to complete a mandatory two-year home-country physical presence prior to re-entry into the United States under dual intent visas, such as H-1B.
This applies for those whose exchange program was funded by either their government or the U. S. government, involves specialized knowledge or skills deemed necessary by their home country or if they received graduate medical training. The two-year stay can be served in several intervals; this mandatory two-year home-country stay can be waived under the following conditions: No objection statement issued by the government of the home country of the J visa holders. Exceptional hardship: If a J-1 holder can demonstrate that his or her departure would cause exceptional hardship to his U. S. citizen or legal permanent resident dependents. Persecution: If a J-1 holder can demonstrate that he or she can be persecuted in his home country. Interested government agency: A waiver issued for a J-1 holder by a U. S. Federal Government agency that has determined that such person is working on a project for or of its interest and the person's departure will be detrimental to its interest. Conrad program: A waiver issued for a foreign medical graduate who has an offer of full-time employment at a health care facility in a designated health care professional shortage area or at a health care facility which serves patients from such a designated area.
For the No Objection Statement J-1 waiver, the exchange visitor's home country government should issue a No Objection Statement through its embassy in Washington, DC directly to the Waiver Review Division that it has no objection to the exchange visitor not returning to the home country to satisfy the INA 212 two-year foreign residence requirement, does not object to the possibility of the exchange visitor becoming a resident of the United States. J-1 visa sponsors are required to monitor the welfare of their participants; the J-1 visa sponsors should ensure that the participants' activities are consistent with the program category identified on the participants' Form DS-2019. Sponsors are to require their participants to provide current contact information and to maintain this information in their files. All exchange visitor applicants must have a SEVIS-generated DS-2019 issued by a DOS designated sponsor, which they submit when they are applying for their exchange visitor visa; the consular officer verifies the DS-2019 record electronically through the SEVIS system in order to process your exchange visitor visa application to conclusion.
Unless otherwise exempt, exchange visitor applicants must pay a SEVIS I-901 Fee to DHS for each individual program. Electronic records on J-1 visitors and their dependents are maintained in Student and Exchange Visitor Information System of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program by their program sponsor. J-1 visitors must report certain information, such as a change in legal name or a change of address, within 10 days. Failure is considered a violation of the J-1 visitor's immigration status and may result in the termination of the visitor's exchange program. Different categories exist within the J-1 program, each defining the type of exchange. While most J-1 categories are explicitly named in the federal regulations governing the J-1 program, others have been inferred from the regulatory language. Private sector programs: Student, Secondary School Au pair and EduCare Camp Counselor Intern Work/Travel Teacher Trainee Flight Training Alien PhysicianGovernment and academic programs: Student, College/University Government Visitor International Visitor Professor and Research Scholar Short-Term Scholar Specialist Taxation of
AIESEC
AIESEC is the world's largest youth-run organization. It is an international non-governmental and Not-for-profit that provides young people with leadership development, cross-cultural global internships, volunteer exchange experiences across the globe; the organization focuses on empowering young people to make a positive impact on society. The AIESEC network includes 38,000 members in 127 countries. AIESEC is a non-governmental in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, is affiliated with the UN DPI and UN's Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, member of ICMYO, is recognized by UNESCO. AIESEC's international headquarters are in Canada. AIESEC was a French acronym for Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales; the full name is no longer used, as members can now be graduate and undergraduate from any university background. The idea behind AIESEC started in 1948, when representatives from schools across Europe exchanged information about various programs and schools that specialized in business and economics.
Students were carrying out internships in other countries. On their own initiative but it came to a standstill with the onslaught of World War II. In 1944, the neutral Scandinavian countries were still exchanging students. In Stockholm, Bertil Hedberg, an official at the Stockholm School of Economics, students Jaroslav Zich, Jean Choplin and Stanislas Callens founded AIESEC; this was the predecessor of AIESEC, founded in 1948. At the time, the organization's stated mission was “to expand the understanding of a nation by expanding the understanding of the individuals, changing the world one person at a time.”At the time of AIESEC's founding at the conclusion of the 1940s, Europe was in the midst of recovery from the war that dealt grave losses to its population. Factories and enterprises were in desperate need of executives and leaders; the continent needed more than just business development, however. AIESEC was formed to address both of these concerns. Students from seven nations: Belgium, Finland, Netherlands and Sweden came together in March 1949 for the first International Congress of AIESEC in Stockholm.
The founders composed a constitution for the new organization and defined a purpose: "AIESEC is an independent, non-political, international organization which has as its purpose to establish and promote the friendly relations between the members."In the first year of AIESEC's existence, 89 students were exchanged among the member nations. The organization grew exponentially in the following years, with more than 1,000 exchanges took place in 1955 alone. In the following few years, AIESEC became global by establishing its first North American member, the United States, in 1957, its first South American and African members, Colombia and South Africa in 1958. For the first years of its existence, AIESEC had no central governing body, but was instead managed jointly by a Presiding Country Committee composed of the National Committee Presidents of each member nation; as the organization grew, a central governing body was created and led by democratically elected Secretary General. Morris Wolff, from the United States, was chosen as the first Secretary General in 1960, established the first permanent international office for AIESEC in Geneva, Switzerland.
Over the following decade, AIESEC expanded to eastern Asia and deeper within Europe, North America, South America, having a presence in 43 countries by 1969. As of 2015, AIESEC has since expanded to 127 territories across the globe. AIESEC annually offers over 27,500 leadership positions and delivers over 500 leadership conferences to its membership of over 100,000 student, it is present in over 2,400 universities in its 127 member countries and its international exchange program that enables over 27,500 students and recent graduates the opportunity to work or volunteer in another country. AIESEC is supported by over 8,000 partner organizations. AIESEC provides a platform for young people in different universities and colleges, by going on an international internship and/or by joining various local chapters; these young individuals can develop their leadership potential by working and leading international teams. Associate membership opportunities allow young people to work with various NGO partners of AIESEC, represent their country as a part of campus ambassador program.
The organizations products are Global Talent, Global Entrepreneur, Global Volunteer. Each year members have an opportunity to work in a foreign country. Participants can choose to work in areas of management, education, or development. AIESEC hosts over 500 conferences every year that range in demographic scope; the purpose of conferences are to bring the international community of AIESEC members together to enhance their professional skills, provide networking opportunities, work on organizational strategy. Topics of interest the organization focuses on include: Leadership, Sustainable development, Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility, youth impact on modern society; the "Global Volunteer" portfolio in AIESEC is an international volunteer program which allows youth aged 18–29 to contribute to the United Nations' sustainable development goals of 2030. The Global Volunteering programs are short-
Travel visa
A visa is a conditional authorisation granted by a territory to a foreigner, allowing them to enter, remain within, or to leave that territory. Visas may include limits on the duration of the foreigner's stay, areas within the country they may enter, the dates they may enter, the number of permitted visits or an individual's right to work in the country in question. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a territory and thus are, in most countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country. In each instance, a visa is subject to entry permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry, can be revoked at any time. A visa most takes the form of a sticker endorsed in the applicant's passport or other travel document. Immigration officials were empowered to permit or reject entry of visitors on arrival at the frontiers. If permitted entry, the official would issue a visa, when required, which would be a stamp in a passport.
Today, travellers wishing to enter another country must apply in advance for what is called a visa, sometimes in person at a consular office, by post or over the internet. The modern visa may be a sticker or a stamp in the passport, or may take the form of a separate document or an electronic record of the authorisation, which the applicant can print before leaving home and produce on entry to the visited territory; some countries do not require visitors to apply for a visa in advance for short visits. Visa applications in advance of arrival give countries a chance to consider the applicant's circumstances, such as financial security, reason for travelling, details of previous visits to the country. Visitors may be required to undergo and pass security or health checks upon arrival at the port of entry; some countries require that their citizens, as well as foreign travellers, obtain an "exit visa" to be allowed to leave the country. Uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty.
Some countries—such as those in the Schengen Area—have agreements with other countries allowing each other's citizens to travel between them without visas. The World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists requiring a visa before travelling was at its lowest level in 2015. In Western Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century and visas were not necessary for moving from one country to another; the high speed and large movements of people traveling by train would have caused bottlenecks if regular passport controls had been used. Passports and visas became necessary as travel documents only after World War I. Long before that, in ancient times and visas were the same type of travel documents. In the modern world, visas have become separate secondary travel documents, with passports acting as the primary travel documents; some visas can be granted on arrival or by prior application at the country's embassy or consulate, or through a private visa service specialist, specialised in the issuance of international travel documents.
These agencies are authorised by the foreign authority, embassy, or consulate to represent international travellers who are unable or unwilling to travel to the embassy and apply in person. Private visa and passport services collect an additional fee for verifying customer applications, supporting documents, submitting them to the appropriate authority. If there is no embassy or consulate in one's home country one would have to travel to a third country and try to get a visa issued there. Alternatively, in such cases visas may be pre-arranged for collection on arrival at the border; the need or absence of need of a visa depends on the citizenship of the applicant, the intended duration of the stay, the activities that the applicant may wish to undertake in the country he visits. The issuing authority a branch of the country's foreign ministry or department, consular affairs officers, may request appropriate documentation from the applicant; this may include proof that the applicant is able to support himself in the host country, proof that the person hosting the applicant in his or her home exists and has sufficient room for hosting the applicant, proof that the applicant has obtained health and evacuation insurance, etc.
Some countries ask for proof of health status for long-term visas. The exact conditions depend on the category of visa. Notable examples of countries requiring HIV tests of long-term residents are Uzbekistan. In Uzbekistan, the HIV test requirement is sometimes not enforced. Other countries require a medical test that includes an HIV test for a short-term tourism visa. For example, Cuban citizens and international exchange students require such a test approved by a medical authority to enter Chilean territory; the issuing authority may require applicants to attest that they have no criminal convictions, or that they not participate in certain activities. Some countries will deny visas if travellers' passports show evidence of citizenship of, or travel to, a country, considered hostile by that country. For example, some Arabic-oriented countries will not issue visas to nationals of Israel and those whose passports bear evidence of visiting Israel. Many countries demand strong evid
