WHERE DO THEY SPEAK ENGLISH II
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The Republic of South Africa is on the Southern tip of Africa bounded to the North by Namibia, Bostwana and Zimbabwe, and to the North East by Swaziland and Mozambique.
CAPITAL Pretoria. NB Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center
POPULATION
The largest nations are the Zulus, Xhosas, Sortho and Tswana. The whites form 18% of the population. 10% of the population is of mixed ancestry and 3% are asiatic. The annual growth rate is 2.5%.
LANGUAGES
Various Bantu languages are spoken, but only English and Afrikaans are the official languages.
GOVERNMENT
Formerly based on the Apartheid
system of racial discrimination initiated by Daniel Malan in 1948, South
Africa is now a Republic conducted by President
.
On 10 December 1996, a new constitution was signed by then President
MANDELA.
Nelson Mandela was
the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and he spent 27 years in
jail. He was released in 1990,
and was inaugurated as the first democratically elected State
President of South Africa on 10 May 1994.
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Canada is a
land of vast distances and rich natural resources.
After Russia, it is the second
largest country in the world. It has a strategic location between
Russia and the USA via North polar route. In 1867, Canada
became a self-governing dominion but retained ties to the British
crown. Since then, Canada
has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an
unfortified border. Its
main political problem continues to be the relationship of the province of
Quebec, with its French-speaking residents and unique culture, to the
remainder of the country.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon Territory.
CAPITAL Ottawa
POPULATION
31,902,268 (July 2002) Approximately 85% of the population is concentrated within 300 km of the US/Canada border.
LANGUAGES
English and French are the two official languages. English is spoken by 59.3% of the population, French is spoken by 23.2% of the Canadians. Other languages are spoken by 17.5% of the population.
GOVERNMENT
Canada
combines a confederation with a parliamentary democracy. The chief
of state
is Queen ELIZABETH II. The Queen is represented by a Governor
General (Adrienne CLARKSON since 7 October 1999). There are no elections
to designate the chief of state for the monarchy is hereditary. The
governor general is appointed by the monarch
on the advice of the prime minister for a five-year term. Following
legislative elections, the governor general automatically designates the
leader of the majority party in the House of Commons to become Prime Minister.Prime
Minister Jean CHRETIEN became PM on 4 November 1993, and ;John MANLEY
became Deputy Prime Minister in January 2002. the Federal Ministry
(cabinet) is chosen by the prime minister from among the members of his
own party sitting in Parliament
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Cette page n'est pas terminée, mais vous pouvez faire le USA Virtual Tour.
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy comprising England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Great Britain was the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century. It developped parliamentary democracy, advanced literature and science, and at its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. During the second half of the 20th century, the Empire was dismantled, and the UK rebuilt itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. The UK is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. It was a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth. Although it is a member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the European Monetary Union for the time being.
England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century The union between England and Wales was enacted under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. In the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanent union as Great Britain. The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland, and six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. The current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927. In1999, a constitutional reform established the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Location
The
UK is located in Western Europe. It is composed with islands (the British
Isles including the northern one-sixth of Ireland), between the
North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France. GB is only 35
km from France and is now linked by tunnel under the English Channel.
Administrative divisions
England
- 47 boroughs, 36 counties, 29 London boroughs, 12 cities and boroughs, 10
districts, 12 cities, 3 royal boroughs
Scotland
- 32 council areas
Northern
Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities, 6 counties
Wales
- 11 county boroughs, 9 counties, 2 cities and counties
POPULATION
59,778,002 (July 2002 est.)
The English make 81.5% of the population, the
Scottish 9.6%, the Irish 2.4%, the Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, the West
Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%
LANGUAGES
English is the official language but in
Wales, about 26% of the population speak Welsh, and about 60,000 Scots
speak a Scottish form of Gaelic in Scotland.
GOVERNMENT
The
UK political regime is a constitutional monarchy. Queen ELIZABETH II has been the chief of state since 6
February 1952, and the Heir Apparent is Prince CHARLES (born 14
November 1948, Prince of Wales and son of the queen, ). There are no
elections to designate the chief of state for the monarchy is hereditary.
On 2 May 1997, Anthony (Tony) BLAIR was appointed Prime Minister. The
common rule in the UK is that the leader of the majority party in the House
of Commons becomes Prime Minister. The cabinet of Ministers
comprises the ministers appointed by the prime minister.
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John Bull
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Prince of Wales
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Queen Elizabeth II
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Queen Elizabeth II
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Aussie (nickname for Australia) is the smallest continent and the largest island in the world. It is situated South of Indonesia between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1775, Captain Cook sailed to Australia. A few years later, the first settlers began to arrive. Many of them were criminals. The English sent thousands of them to Australia because their prisons were full. Independance was acquired on 9 July 1900, and it became effective with a constitution on 1 January 1901.
CAPITAL Cambera
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
6 states and 2 territories - Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia.
POPULATION
19,546,792 (July 2002.)
Caucasian 92%,
Asian 7%,
Aboriginal and other 1%
LANGUAGES
English and native language
GOVERNMENT
Australia is an independant sovereign nation within the Commonwealth. It has a democratic, federal-state system recognizing the British monarch as sovereign. Since 6 February 1952, the chief of state is Queen ELIZABETH II ; the Queen is represented by a Governor General. The head of government is Prime Minister John Winston HOWARD (since 11 March 1996), and the Deputy Prime Minister is John ANDERSON (since 20 July 1999)
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Glossy harbour
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Tane Mahnuta
COUNTRY: NEW
ZEALAND
NZ was a British colony who became an independent dominion in 1907. It comprises 6 Islands which are located in the Pacific Ocean , on the south east of Australia : Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands. ....The Kiwi country is renowned for the unforgettable natural beauty of its landscapes.
POPULATION
The archipelago has been settled by a diverse number of immigrants including people from England, the Pacific Islands, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, China, India, Germany, Dalmatia and Bohemia. The New Zealand Europeans represent 74.5% of the population; the Maori are 9.7%. The rest of the population is from various Pacific islands (3.8%), from Asia and other places (7.4%)
CAPITAL Wellington, the capital, is the southernmost national capital in the world.
LANGUAGE English and Maori are the two official languages.FAMOUS WRITERS
Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), the famous Short Story writer, was born in Wellington.
GOVERNMENT
The chief of state is Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952). On 4 April 2001, the Queen appointed Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT as Governor General, and Helen CLARK was appointed Prime Minister, at the head of government on 10 December 1999 with James (Jim) ANDERTON as Deputy Prime Minister.
The Executive Council is appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The monarch is hereditary and the Governor General is appointed by the monarch.
The rule is that, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed Prime Minister by the Governor General for a three-year term. The Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General.
The Parliament obeys a unicameral system with a single House of Representatives whose members are elected by popular vote to serve a three-year term.
The government still has to face longstanding native Maori grievances, especially land issues between Maori and Pakea (non Maori person of european origin) concerned with violations of the Treaty of Waitangi (signed in 1840).
Since
its creation in 1975 , the
Waitangi Tribunal has
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Helen Clark
20,000 kms to London
Kiwi
themes & topics
Mohandas Gandhi
Going back at least 5,000 years, the Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest in the world. The classical Indian culture is derived from the invasions of northwest Aryan tribes and their merger with the earlier inhabitants about 1500 B.C.
Arab incursions started in the 8th century and Turkish ones followed in the 12th century.
In the 15th century, European traders began to arrive, and by the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands.
After Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU 's nonviolent resistance to British colonialism , the country gained its independance in 1947.
The subcontinent was then divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. In 1971, a third war opposed the two countries, which resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. The dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir is one of the fundamental concerns in India.
CAPITAL: New Delhi
POPULATION
1,045,845,226 (2002 est.)
The Indo-Aryan represent 72% of the total population, the
Dravidian are 25%, the Mongoloid and other ethnic groups are 3%.
LANGUAGES
Hindu is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people. English enjoys associate status and is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. There are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language
RELIGIONS
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)
GOVERNMENT
India is a federal republic.
The President is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a five-year term.
The Prime Minister is elected by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections.
The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the prime minister.
The bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (250 members) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha which comprises 545 members elected by popular vote (2 appointed by the president) to serve five-year terms)
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Ireland is located in Western Europe, West of Great Britain, in the North Atlantic Ocean. This country gained its independence from the UK in 1921 after several years of guerrilla warfare which the failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion had triggered. It only occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland for after the independence, Ulster (the six northern counties) remained part of Great Britain. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth. It joined the European Community in 1973.
CAPITAL
Dublin
POPULATION
3,883,159 (July 2002 est.)
INDEPENDENCE
6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
LANGUAGES
English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
GOVERNMENT
Mary Mcaleese was elected President on 11 November 1997 (for a seven-year term), and Bertie Ahern has been the Prime Minister since 26 June 1997.The Irish Parliament (or Oireachtas) obeys a bicameral system consisting of the Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats) and the House of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats) whose members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve a five-year term.
Irish governments have aimed at a peaceful unification of Ireland. In 1998, a peace settlement for Northern Ireland, known as the Good Friday Agreement was approved.
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Mary Mcaleese
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Connemara landscape
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Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, is a political division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain on the west peninsula of the island of GB.
Covering a total area of 8,015 square miles, Wales is a small 'horseshoe'- shaped country, with a west-facing 732-mile coastline consisting of bays, beaches, peninsulas and cliffs.
Its maximum
length is 140 miles,
with only 100 miles
across at its widest.
With one
quarter of the land above 1,000ft , Wales is also a mountainous
country. The peak of Snowdon (in the north) rises to 3,560ft, and is the
highest point in England and Wales.
81% of the land is used for agriculture, 12% is covered in woodland, and only 8% is categorised as urban.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The Celts had fled westwards under sustained invasions from Romans, Vikings and Anglo-Saxons.
The Romans defeated the druids in Wales and under the Romano-British territory, Roman Citizenship was granted to the Welsh in 212AD.
From 400AD to 13th Century Wales was a collection of Small kingdoms and principalities. For a long time there was no official boundary with England.
In 1267, the Anglo-Normans recognised the Principality of Wales (Treaty of Montgomery), but the treaty was broken and Wales made a Dominion of the English King. From 1282-1535, Wales was ruled by King's officials and marcher lords.
Despite opposition and uprising, England
increased its intervention in Wales.
Since then, the country has been ruled by English law and government, and become part of the United Kingdom.
In the 18th century, the exploitation of coal and iron brought the Industrial revolution to Wales, and Cymru ceased to be a rural backwater.
In 1997, the Welsh were seen to be equally split on the subject of devolution. Analysis of the referendum on limited devolution which took place at the time shows that the more rural Welsh areas are for devolution, and the more industrial areas are against it.
CAPITAL CITY : Cardiff
The capital city is Cardiff (population of 270,000), but Swansea (population of 177,000) and Newport (population of 130,000) equally owe their growth to the industries of South Wales and their location as ports in the South Wales.
POPULATION
Wales has a population of 2.8 million, mainly concentrated in the south-eastern corner around the capital city of Cardiff. The city, population , grew up in the 19th century as a coal-exporting port. South Wales is where The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries had its major impact, iron and steel factories and coalmines being concentrated there.
LANGUAGES
The need for labour in the south Wales coalfields brought an influx of English which brought about an erosion of the Welsh language. Today the mining of Welsh coal has all but disappeared, but it is estimated that 20% of the population still speak Welsh fluently.
"Croeso i Gymru" (Welcome to Wales on road signs), accompanied by the red dragon (the ancient badge of Wales), is how the visitor is welcomed to Wales. On entering the country you may rightly feel like discovering a new territory where people speak an incomprehensible language. The pronunciation and spelling of place names, for example, can really seem baffling. You cannot but be puzzled by names such as Pwllehli, Pontcysyllte, Pen y Mynydd , or Glynceiriog. For amusement with language, it is worth visiting :"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwrndrobwyll-llantisiliogogogoch", the village which has long claimed the fame of having the longest name in the world. The name translates as "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave".
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Portmeirion
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the longest name in the world
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The following text mirrors Greenpeace's own presentation at their website. It is reproduced here for teaching purposes only. Read on or click on the Greenpeace logo to learn more about the activity of this unique organisation.
Greenpeace is a
non-profit organisation, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe,
the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
To maintain its independence, Greenpeace does not accept donations from
governments or corporations but relies on contributions from individual
supporters and foundation grants.
As a global organisation, Greenpeace focuses on the the most crucial
worldwide threats to our planet's biodiversity and environment.
We campaig to:
-stop
climate changes
Greenpeace has been
campaigning against environmental degradation since 1971 when a small boat
of volunteers and journalists sailed into Amchitka, an area north of
Alaska where the US Government was conducting underground nuclear tests.
This tradition of 'bearing witness' in a non-violent manner continues
today, and our ships are an important part of all our campaign work.
We exist to expose environmental criminals, and to challenge government
and corporations when they fail to live up to their mandate to safeguard
our environment and our future.
In pursuing our mission, we have no permanent allies or enemies. We
promote open, informed debate about society's environmental choices. We
use research, lobbying, and quiet diplomacy to pursue our goals, as well
as high-profile, non-violent conflict to raise the level and quality of
public debate.
And we believe that the struggle to preserve the future of our planet is
not about us. It's about you. Greenpeace speaks for 2.8 million supporters
worldwide, and encourages many millions more than that to take action
every day.
We take the name of our flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, from a North
American Cree Indian legend. It described a time when humanity's greed has
made the Earth sick. At that time, a tribe of people known as the Warriors
of the Rainbow would rise up to defend her.
As one of the longest banners we've ever made summed things up, "When
the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we
will discover that we can't eat money."
Visit The Greenpeace website : http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/
Copyright Stichting Greenpeace Council
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Rainbow Warrior
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ORGANISATION :African American
