El Salvador

El Salvador; Republic of The Savior) is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. It is currently undergoing rapid industrialization. El Salvador borders the Pacific Ocean betweenGuatemala and Honduras and lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as do Honduras and Nicaraguafurther south. El Salvador has a population of approximately 5,744,113 people, as of 2009, composed predominantly Mestizo, mixed biracial Native American/European ancestry.[2] The capital city ofSan Salvador is the largest city of the Republic. The coln was the currency of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001, when El Salvador adopted the U.S. Dollar. The people from El Salvador are called Salvadorans and/or Central Americans. The country has a long history, with origins dating back to the Spanish conquest of the Pipil people of Cuzcatln, which means The Place of Precious Diamonds and Jewels. The term Cuzcatleco is commonly used to identify someone of Salvadoran heritage. The country is also popularly known in Spanish as "La Tierra de Volcanes Soberbios" which means "The land of Proud and Arrogant Volcanoes" in English, and it is also referred as El Pequeo Coloso (The Small Colossus).

The flag of El Slvador

was inspired by the flag of the Federal Republic of Central America, and by the flag of Argentina, the country that sent one of the first fleets to help consummate the independence of Central American republics from Spain. There are two versions of the flag, one containing the national coat of arms and the other the words "DIOS UNION LIBERTAD" (Spanish: God, Union, Liberty). The one bearing the coat of arms is used by the government and state organizations. The other version is used for civil purposes. Both flags have a 3:5 aspect ratio. From 1865 to 1912, a different flag was in use, with a field of alternating blue and white stripes and a red canton containing white stars. The actual blue and white stripes in flag are based on the importance of ail exports, ail was commonly used as a source for indigo dye.

History
Pre-Columbian In pre-Columbian times, territory was inhabited by various Native Americans, highlighting the Pipil, a Nahuatl-origin population that occupied the central and western regions of the territory; who settled in the east of the country. But the larger domain until the Spanish conquest of the kingdom was Cuzcatln. The Maya inhabited El Salvador with ruins such as Tazumal, Joya De Ceren, San Andres, Casa Blanca, Cihuatan, and Chalchuapa.

Spanish rule
Dios Union Libertad (God Union Liberty) El Salvador 1912 Flag In the early sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadorsventured into ports to extend their dominion to the area. They called the land "Provincia De Nuestro Seor Jesus Cristo, El Salvador Del Mundo" ("Province Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Savior Of The World"), which was subsequently abbreviated to "El Salvador".

Main Political Parties

Although El Salvador has 6 political parties, the main ones, or the one which receive the most votes are ARENA, and FMLN, the retired GANA, PDC, PCN, and CD. El Salvador Political Parties (alphabetical order) Acronym Name

ARENA

Alianza Republicana Nacionalista

FMLN

Frente Farabundo Mart para la Liberacin Nacional

GANA

Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional

PCN

Partido de Conciliacin Nacional

PDC

Partido Demcrata Cristiano

Department of El Salvador
El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (departamentos), which, in turn, are subdivided into 262municipalities (municipios). Department names and abbreviations for the 14 Salvadoran Departments: 1. AH Ahuachapn 2. CA Cabaas 3. CH Chalatenango 4. CU Cuscatln 5. LI La Libertad 6. PA La Paz 7. UN La Unin 8. MO Morazn 9. SM San Miguel 10. SS SanSalvador 11. SV San Vicente 12. SA Santa Ana 13. SO Sonsonate 14. US Usulutn

Geography
Torogoz is El Salvador national bird. (photographed by Leonardo C. Fleck) El Salvador is located in Central America. It has a total area of 8,123 square miles (21,040 km) (about the size of Massachusetts or Wales). It is the smallest country in continental America and is affectionately called ("Pulgarcito de America"), the "Tom Thumb of the Americas". It has 123.6 square miles (320 km) of water within its borders. It lies between latitudes 13 and 15N, and longitudes 87 and 91W.

Several small rivers flow through El Salvador into the Pacific Ocean, including the Goascorn, Jiboa, Torola,Paz and the Ro Grande de San Miguel. Only the largest river, the Lempa River, flowing from Guatemala andHonduras across El Salvador to the ocean, is navigatable for commercial traffic.

Volcanic craters enclose lakes, the most important of which are Lake Ilopango(70 km/27 sq mi) and Lake Coatepeque (26 km/10 sq mi). Lake Gija is El Salvador's largest natural lake (44 km/17 sq mi). Several artificial lakes were created by the damming of the Lempa, the largest of which is Embalse Cerrn Grande (135 km). El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala and Honduras. It is the only Central American country that does not have a Caribbean coastline. The highest point in the country is Cerro El Pital at 8,957 feet (2,730 m), which shares a border with Honduras.

Climate
El Salvador has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary primarily with elevation and show little seasonal change. The Pacific lowlands are uniformly hot; the central plateau and mountain areas are more moderate. The rainy season extends from May to October. Almost all the annual rainfall occurs during this time, and yearly totals, particularly on southern-facing mountain slopes, can be as high as 2,170 millimetres (85.4 in). The best time to visit El Salvador would be at the beginning or end of the dry season. Protected areas and the central plateau receive less, although still significant, amounts. Rainfall during this season generally comes from low pressure over the Pacific and usually falls in heavy afternoon thunderstorms. Hurricanes occasionally form in the Pacific with the notable exception of Hurricane Mitch.

From November through April, the northeast trade winds control weather patterns. During these months, air flowing from the Caribbean has lost most of the precipitation while passing over the mountains in Honduras. By the time this air reaches El Salvador, it is dry, hot, and hazy.

Biodiversity and endangered species

Globally there are eight species of sea turtles, six nests on the coast of Central America and four in the Salvadoran coast: the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green sea turtle (Chelonia agasizzii) and the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). Of these four the most common is the olive ridley, followed by the brown (black). The other two species are much more difficult to find as they are critically endangered (hawksbill and leatherback), while the olive ridley and brown (black), are in danger of extinction. Recent conservation efforts provide hope for the future of the country's biological diversity. In 1997 the government established the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. A general environmental framework law was approved by the National Assembly in 1999. Specific legislation to protect wildlife is still pending. In addition, a number of non-governmental organizations are doing important work to safeguard some of the country's most important forested areas. Foremost among these is SalvaNatura which manages El Impossible, the country's largest national park, under an agreement with El Salvador's environmental authorities. Despite these efforts much remains to be done. In El salvador it is estimated that there are 500 species of birds, 1,000 species of butterflies, 400 species of orchids, 800 species of trees, and 800 species of marine fish.

Natural disasters
El Salvador lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, and is thus subject to significanttectonic activity, including frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. Recent examples include the earthquake on January 13, 2001, that measured 7.7 on the Richter scale and caused a landslide that killed more than 800 people; and another earthquake only a month after the first one, February 13, 2001, killing 255 people and damaging about 20% of the nation's housing. Luckily, many families were able to find safety from the landslides caused by the earthquake. The San Salvador area has been hit by earthquakes in 1576, 1659, 1798, 1839, 1854, 1873, 1880, 1917, 1919, 1965, 1986, 2001 and 2005. The 5.7 Mw-earthquake of 1986 resulted in 1,500 deaths, 10,000 injuries, and 100,000 people left homeless.[ El Salvador's most recent destructive volcanic eruption took place on October 1, 2005, when the Santa Ana Volcano spewed up a cloud of ash, hot mud and rocks, which fell on nearby villages and caused two deaths.[12][16] The most severe volcanic eruption in this area occurred in the 5th century A.D. when the Ilopango erupted with a VEI strength of 6, producing widespread pyroclastic flows and devastating Mayan cities. El Salvador's position on the Pacific Ocean also makes it subject to severe weather conditions, including heavy rainstorms and severe droughts, both of which may be made more extreme by the El Nio and La Niaeffects. In the summer of 2001, a severe drought destroyed 80% of the country's crops, causing famine in the countryside. On October 4, 2005, severe rains resulted in dangerous flooding and landslides, which caused a minimum of fifty deaths. El Salvador's location in Central America also makes it vulnerable tohurricanes coming off the Caribbean, however this risk is much less than for other Central American countries. The Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador is currently dormant, the last eruptions were in 1904 and 2005. Lago de Coatepeque (one of El Salvador's lakes) was caused by a massive eruption.

The British Imperial College's El Salvador Project aims to build earthquake-proof buildings in remote areas of the country.

Economy
According to the IMF and CIA World Factbook, El Salvador has the third largest economy in the region (behind Costa Rica and Panama) when comparing nominal Gross Domestic Product and purchasing power GDP.[20]El Salvador's GDP per capita stands at US$4,365.

Most of El Salvador's economy has been hampered by natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, but El Salvador currently has a steadily growing economy.

GDP in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2008 was estimated at $ 25.895 billion USD. The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 64.1%, followed by the industrial sector at 24.7% (2008 est.). Agriculture represents only 11.2% of GDP (2010 est.). The GDP has been growing since 1996 at an annual rate that averages 3.2% real growth. The government has recently committed to free market initiatives, and the 2007 GDP's real growth rate was 4.7% In December 1999, net international reserves equaled US$1.8 billion or roughly five months of imports. Having this hard currency buffer to work with, the Salvadoran government undertook a monetary integration plan beginning January 1, 2001 by which the U.S. dollar became legal tender alongside the Salvadoran coln and all formal accounting was done in U.S. dollars. This way, the government has formally limited its possibility of implementing open market monetary policies to influence short term variables in the economy. As of September 2007, net international reserves stood at $2.42 billion.[ In 2004, the coln stopped circulating and is now never used in the country for any type of transaction. A challenge in El Salvador has been developing new growth sectors for a more diversified economy. In the past the country produced gold and silver. [25] As many other former colonies, for many years El Salvador was considered a mono-export economy (an economy that depended heavily on one type of export). During colonial times, the Spanish decided that El Salvador would produce and export indigo, but after the invention of synthetic dyes in the 19th century, Salvadoran authorities and the newly created modern state turned to coffee as the main export. El Salvador signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) negotiated by the five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic with the United States in 2004. CAFTA requires that the Salvadoran government adopt policies that foster free trade. El Salvador has signed free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Panamaand increased its trade with those countries. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada. In October 2007, these four countries and Costa Rica began free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union. Negotiations started in 2006 for a free trade agreement with Colombia. The government has focused on improving the collection of its current revenues with a focus on indirect taxes. A 10% value-added tax (IVA in Spanish), implemented in September 1992, was raised to 13% in July 1995.

Inflation has been steady and among the lowest in the region. Since 1997 inflation has averaged 3%, with recent years increasing to nearly 5%. As a result of the free trade agreements from 2000 to 2006 total exports have grown 19% from $2.94 billion to $3.51 billion, and total imports have risen 54% from $4.95 billion to $7.63 billion. This has resulted in a 102% increase in the trade deficit from $2.01 billion to $4.12 billion.[26] Remittances from Salvadorans living and working in the United States, sent to family in El Salvador, are a major source of foreign income and offset the substantial trade deficit of $4.12 billion. Remittances have increased steadily in the last decade and reached an all-time high of $3.32 billion in 2006 (an increase of 17% over the previous year). approximately 16.2% of gross domestic product(GDP). Remittances have had positive and negative effects on El Salvador. In 2005 the number of people living inextreme poverty in El Salvador was 20%,[28] according to a United Nations Development Program report, without remittances the number of Salvadorans living in extreme poverty would rise to 37%. While Salvadoran education levels have gone up, wage expectations have risen faster than either skills or productivity. For example, some Salvadorans are no longer willing to take jobs that pay them less than what they receive monthly from family members abroad. This has led to an influx of Hondurans and Nicaraguans who are willing to work for the prevailing wage. Also, the local propensity for consumption over investment has increased. Money from remittances has also increased prices for certain commodities such as real estate. Many Salvadorans abroad earning much higher wages can afford higher prices for houses in El Salvador than local Salvadorans and thus push up the prices that all Salvadorans must pay. Despite being the smallest country geographically in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy with a per capita income that is roughly two-thirds that of Costa Rica and Panama, but more than double that of Nicaragua. Growth has been modest in recent years and the economy contracted nearly 3% in 2009. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita with inflows equivalent to nearly all export income and about a third of all households receive these financial inflows. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA has bolstered exports of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector, which faced Asian competition with the expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. In anticipation of the declines in the apparel sector's competitiveness, the previous administration sought to diversify the economy by promoting the country as a regional distribution and logistics hub, and by promoting tourism investment through tax incentives. El

Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In late 2006, the government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year, $461 million compact to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty in the country's northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education, public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in 2001, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy. Any counter-cyclical policy response to the downturn must be through fiscal policy, which is constrained by legislative requirements for a two-thirds majority to approve any international financing.

Language
Spanish is the official language and is spoken by virtually all inhabitants. Some indigenous people still speak their native tongues, salvadoran indigenous are extremely low in number, almost extinct, however all speak Spanish. Q'eqchi' is spoken as the result of recent migrations ofGuatemalan and Belizean indigenous people looking for a better life opportunities in El Salvador. There have also been recent large migrations of Hondurans and Nicaraguans.[44] English is also spoken by many throughout the republic. German, Dutch and French are taught as a secondary language only in private international schools, such as the Liceo Frances (France), Escuela Alemana (Germany), Academia Britanica Cuscatleca (U.K.) and the Escuela Americana (United States). English has been taught by Americans and the British in El Salvador for several decades, at least 50 years. However most formal education is given in private schools, which sometime may make it hard to access for most of the population, who have to attend public schools and receive a very elementary level of English. There has been anAmerican school in the country for a few decades.[citation needed] Japanese is also spoken. There has been a small Japanese community in El Salvador since World War II.[citation needed], as well as a considerable Taiwanese community. The local Spanish vernacular is called Caliche. Salvadoreans use voseo, which is also used in Uruguay and Argentina. This refers to the use of "vos" as the second person pronoun, instead of "t".However "caliche" is considered informal and some people choose not to use it.Nahuat is the indigenous language that has survived, though it is only used by small communities of some elderly Salvadorans in western El Salvador.

Religion
scar Romero was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chvez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980. According to a survey in 2008, 52.6% of El Salvador's residents are Catholic and 27.9% are Protestant. Pentecostals and Latter-Day Saints or Mormons are new religious beliefs since the Salvadoran post-civil war era.

Health
For the period 2005-2010 El Salvador has the third lowest birth rate in Central America, 22.8 per 1,000. However, it has the highest death rate in Central America during the same period, 5.9 per 1,000. According to the most recentUnited Nations survey, life expectancy for men was 68 years and 74 years for women. Healthy life expectancy was 57 for males and 62 for females in 2003. There are about 148 physicians per 100,000 people.

Cultura.

Mestizo culture dominates the country heavy in Native American Indigenous and European Spanish influences. A new mix of population began as a result of the

European settlers intermixing at great extent with the nativeMesoamericans population of Cuzcatlan. The Catholic Church plays an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Archbishop Oscar Romero is a national hero for his role in resisting human rights violations that were occurring in the lead-up to the Salvadoran Civil War. Significant foreign personalities in El Salvador were theJesuit priests and professors Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martn-Bar, and Segundo Montes, who were murdered in 1989 by the Salvadoran Army during the height of the civil war. Painting, ceramics and textile goods are the main manual artistic expressions. Writers Francisco Gavidia(18631955), Salarru (Salvador Salazar Arru) (1899 1975), Claudia Lars, Alfredo Espino, Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Manlio Argueta, Jos Roberto Cea, and poet Roque Dalton are among the most important writers to stem from El Salvador. Notable 20th century personages include the late filmmaker Baltasar Polio, female film director Patricia Chica, artist Fernando Llort, and caricaturist Too Salazar. Amongst the more renowned representatives of the graphic arts are the painters Augusto Crespin, Noe Canjura, Carlos Caas, Julia Daz, Mauricio Mejia, Maria Elena Palomo de Mejia, Camilo Minero, Ricardo Carbonell, Roberto Huezo, Miguel Angel Cerna, (the painter and writer better known as MACLo), Esael Araujo, and many others. For more information on promiment citizens of El Salvador check the List of Salvadorans.

Cuisine
One of the Salvadoran notable dishes is the Pupusa. Pupusas are a thick hand-made corn tortilla (made using masa de maz or masa de arroz, a maize or rice flour dough used in Latin American cuisine) stuffed with one or more of the following: cheese (usually a soft Salvadoran cheese, a popular example is Quesillo con loroco,or mozarella), chicharrn, and refried beans. Pupusas Revueltas are Pupusas filled with beans, cheese and pork. Loroco is a vine flower bud native to Central America. There are also vegetarian options. Some adventurous restaurants even offer pupusas stuffed with shrimp or spinach. Pupusa comes from the pipil-nahuatl word, pupushahua. The pupusa's exact origins are debated, although its presence in El Salvador is known to predate the arrival of Spaniards.

Two other typical Salvadoran dishes are yuca frita and panes rellenos. Yuca frita, which is deep fried cassava root served with curtido (a pickled cabbage, onion and carrot topping) and pork rinds with pescaditas (fried baby sardines). The Yuca is sometimes served boiled instead of fried. Panes con Pavo (turkey sandwiches) are warm turkey submarines. The turkey is marinated and then roasted with Pipilspices and handpulled. This sandwich is traditionally served with chicken, tomato, and watercress along with cucumber, onion, lettuce,mayonnaise, and mustard. One of the most noticeable breakfast plates in El Salvador is fried plantain, usually accompanied with cream and cheese. This is one of El Salvador's typical breakfasts, common in Salvadoran restaurants and homes extending across the United States. Maria Luisa is an elegant dessert in El Salvador. It is a layered cake that is soaked in orange marmalade and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Another drink that Salvadorans enjoy is Horchata. Horchata is most commonly made of the Morro seed, ground into a powder and added to milk or water, and sugar. Horchata is drunk year round and can be drunk anytime of day. It mostly is accompanied by a plate of pupusas or fried yucca. Horchata from El Salvador has a very distinct taste and is not to be confused with Mexican horchata, which is rice based. Coffee is also a common drink in the morning.

Colombia

Colombia officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: Repblica de Colombia, is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela[ and Brazil;[ to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[10][11] With a population of over 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. Colombia has the third largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico and Spain. The territory of what is now "Colombia" was originally inhabited by indigenous people including the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogot. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Panama seceded in 1903 under pressure to fulfill financial responsibilities towards the United States government to build the Panama Canal. Colombia has a long tradition of constitutional government. The Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably in the Thousand Days War (18991902) and La Violencia, beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces, left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been engaged in the continent's longestrunning armed conflict. Fuelled by the cocaine trade, this escalated dramatically in the 1980s. Nevertheless, in the recent decade (2000s) the violence has decreased significantly. Many paramilitary groups have demobilized as part of a controversial peace process with the government, and the guerrillas have lost control in many areas where they once dominated. Meanwhile Colombia's homicide rate, for many years one of the highest in the world, almost halved between 2002 and 2006. 2009 and 2010 saw an increase in the urban homicide rate, particularly in the city of Medelln, attributed to gang warfare and paramilitary successor groups.[14][15][16] According to the Maplecroft research institute, in 2010 Colombia had the world's sixth highest risk of terrorism.

Colombia is a standing middle power with the fourth largest economy in Latin America. However, inequality and unequal distribution of wealth are still widespread. In 1990, the ratio of income between the poorest and richest 10 per cent was 40-to-one. Following a decade of economic restructuring and a recession, this ratio had climbed to 80-to-one in the year 2000. By 2009, Colombia had reached a Gini coefficient of 0.587, which was the highest in Latin America. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "there has been a decrease in the poverty rate in recent years, [but] around half of the population continues to live under the poverty line" as of 2008-2009. Official figures for 2009 indicate that about 46% of Colombians lived below the poverty line and some 17% in "extreme poverty". Colombia is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves and twentiethcentury immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries (the most biodiverse per unit area).

Etymology
The word "Colombia" comes from Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristbal Coln). It was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those territories and colonies under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was later adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819, formed out of the territories of the old Viceroyalty of New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador). In 1835, when Venezuela and Ecuador broke away, the Cundinamarca region that remained became a new country the Republic of New Granada. In 1858 New Granada officially changed its name to the Grenadine Confederation, then in 1863 the United States of Colombia, before finally adopting its present name the Republic of Colombia in 1886.

Geography
Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by Panama and the Caribbean Sea; and to the west by Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean.

Including its Caribbean islands, it lies between latitudes 14N and 5S, and longitudes 66 and 82W. Part of the Ring of Fire, a region of the world subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, Colombia is dominated by the Andes mountains. Beyond the Colombian Massif (in the south-western departments of Cauca and Nario) these are divided into three branches known as cordilleras (mountain ranges): the Cordillera Occidental, running adjacent to the Pacific coast and including the city of Cali; the Cordillera Central, running between the Cauca and Magdalena river valleys (to the west and east respectively) and including the cities of Medelln, Manizales, Pereira and Armenia ; and the Cordillera Oriental, extending north east to the Guajira Peninsula and including Bogot, Bucaramanga and Ccuta. Peaks in the Cordillera Occidental exceed 13,000 ft (3,962 m), and in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental they reach 18,000 ft (5,486 m). At 8,500 ft (2,591 m), Bogot is the highest city of its size in the world. East of the Andes lies the savanna of the Llanos, part of the Orinoco River basin, and, in the far south east, the jungle of the Amazon rainforest. Together these lowlands comprise over half Colombia's territory, but they contain less than 3% of the population. To the north the Caribbean coast, home to 20% of the population and the location of the major port cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena, generally consists of low-lying plains, but it also contains the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, which includes the country's tallest peaks (Pico Cristbal Coln and Pico Simn Bolvar), and the Guajira Desert. By contrast the narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal lowlands, backed by the Serrana de Baud mountains, are covered in dense vegetation and sparsely populated. The principal Pacific port is Buenaventura.

History
Pre-Columbian era Approximately 10,000 BC, hunter-gatherer societies existed near present-day Bogot (at "El Abra" and "Tequendama") which traded with one another and with cultures living in the Magdalena River Valley.[ Beginning in the first millennium BC, groups of Amerindians developed the political system of "cacicazgos" with a pyramidal structure of power headed by caciques. Within Colombia, the two cultures with the most complex cacicazgo systems were the Tayronas in the Caribbean Region, and the Muiscas in the highlands around Bogot, both of which were of the Chibcha language family. The Muisca people are considered to have had one of the most developed political systems in South America, after the Incas.

Independence from Spain

Francisco de Paula Santander, Simn Bolivar and other heroes of the Independence of Colombia in the Congress of Ccuta. Since the beginning of the periods of Conquest and Colonization, there were several rebel movements under Spanish rule, most of them either being crushed or remaining too weak to change the overall situation. The last one which sought outright independence from Spain sprang up around 1810, following the independence of St. Domingue in 1804 (present-day Haiti), who provided a non-negligible degree of support to the eventual leaders of this rebellion: Simn Bolvar and Francisco de Paula Santander. A movement initiated by Antonio Nario, who opposed Spanish centralism and led the opposition against the viceroyalty, led to the independence of Cartagena in November 1811. This led to the formation of two independent governments which fought a civil war, a period known as La Patria Boba. The following year Nario proclaimed the United Provinces of New Granada, headed by Camilo Torres Tenorio. Despite the successes of the rebellion, the emergence of two distinct ideological currents among the liberators (federalism and centralism) gave rise to an internal clash between these two, thus contributing to the reconquest of territory by the Spanish, allowing restoration of the viceroyalty under the command of Juan de Samano, whose regime punished those who participated in the uprisings. This stoked renewed rebellion, which, combined with a weakened Spain, made possible a successful rebellion led by Simn Bolvar, who finally proclaimed independence in 1819. The pro-Spanish resistance was finally defeated in 1822 in the present territory of Colombia and in 1823 in Venezuela. The territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Colombia organized as a union of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela (Panama was then an integral part of Colombia). The Congress of Cucuta in 1821 adopted a constitution for the new Republic. The first President of Colombia was the Venezuelan-born Simn Bolvar, and Francisco de Paula Santander was Vice President. However, the new republic was very unstable and ended with the rupture of Venezuela in 1829, followed by Ecuador in 1830.

Administrative divisions

Department 1 Amazonas 2 Antioquia 3 Arauca 4 Atlntico 5 Bolvar 6 Boyac 7 Caldas

Capital city Leticia Medelln Arauca Barranquilla Cartagena Tunja Manizales

Department 18 La Guajira 19 Magdalena 20 Meta 21 Nario Norte 22 Santander 23 Putumayo

Capital city Riohacha Santa Marta Villavicencio Pasto de Ccuta Mocoa

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Caquet Florencia Casanare Yopal Cauca Popayn Cesar Valledupar Choc Quibd Crdoba Montera Cundinamarca Bogot Guaina Inrida San Jos Guaviare Guaviare Huila Neiva

Quindo Armenia Risaralda Pereira San Andrs, 26 Providencia San Andrs and Santa Catalina 27 Santander Bucaramanga 28 Sucre Sincelejo 29 Tolima Ibagu Valle del Cauca Cali del 30 31 Vaups Mit 32 Vichada Puerto Carreo Bogot Capital Bogot Capital 33 District District

24 25

Colombia is divided into 32 departments and one capital district, which is treated as a department (Bogot also serves as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca). Departments are subdivided into municipalities, each of which is assigned a municipal seat, and municipalities are in turn subdivided into corregimientos. Each department has a local government with a governor and assembly directly elected to four-year terms. Each municipality is headed by a mayor and council, and each corregimiento by an elected corregidor, or local leader. In addition to the capital nine other cities have been designated districts (in effect special municipalities), on the basis of special distinguishing features. These are Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Ccuta, Popayn, Bucaramanga, Tunja, Turbo, Buenaventura and Tumaco. Some departments have local administrative subdivisions, where towns have a large concentration of population and municipalities are near each other (for example in Antioquia and Cundinamarca). Where departments have a low population and there are security problems (for example Amazonas, Vaups and Vichada), special administrative divisions are employed, such as "department corregimientos", which are a hybrid of a municipality and a corregimiento.

Politics
For over a century Colombian politics were monopolized by the Liberal Party (founded in 1848 on an anti-clerical, broadly economically liberal and federalist platform), and the Conservative Party (founded in 1849 espousing Catholicism,

protectionism, and centralism). This culminated in the formation of the National Front (19581974), which formalized arrangements for an alternation of power between the two parties and excluded non-establishment alternatives (thereby fueling the nascent armed conflict). By the time of the dissolution of the National Front, traditional political alignments had begun to fragment. This process has continued since, and the consequences of this are exemplified by the results of the presidential election of 28 May 2006, which was won with 62% of the vote by the incumbent, lvaro Uribe. President Uribe was from a Liberal background but he campaigned as part of the Colombia First movement with the support of the Conservative Party, and his hard line on security issues and liberal economics place him on the right of the modern political spectrum[citation needed]. In second place with 22% was Carlos Gaviria of the Alternative Democratic Pole, a newly formed social democratic alliance which includes elements of the former M-19 guerrilla movement. Horacio Serpa of the Liberal Party achieved third place with 12%. Meanwhile in the congressional elections held earlier that year the two traditional parties secured only 93 out of 268 seats available. Despite a number of controversies, most notably the ongoing parapolitics scandal, dramatic improvements in security and continued strong economic performance have ensured that former President lvaro Uribe remained popular among Colombian people, with his approval rating peaking at 85%, according to a poll in July 2008. However, having served two terms, he was constitutionally barred from seeking reelection in 2010. The Colombian Congress, with overwhelming support of the Colombian people, had attempted to hold a referendum allowing a vote that would overturn the 2-term limit for presidents, but this attempt was ruled unconstitutional by the Colombian constitutional court on February 27, 2010. President Uribe stated that he respects the decision, one that cannot be appealed. On presidential elections performed as of May 30, 2010 people voted 46%. For the former Minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos for being the president from 2010 to 2014, but according to the current laws, since he does not have 50% of the votes, there was a second round on June 20, 2010 against the second most voted candidate, Antanas Mockus with 21%. The winning candidate was Juan Manuel Santos, who became Colombia's president beginning on August 7, 2010.

Economy

Bogot D.C., Colombia's largest city, and financial heart; one of the most influential cities in Latin America.

In spite of the difficulties presented by serious internal armed conflict, Colombia's market economy grew steadily in the latter part of the twentieth century, with gross domestic product (GDP) increasing at an average rate of over 4% per year between 1970 and 1998. The country suffered a recession in 1999 (the first full year of negative growth since the Great Depression), and the recovery from that recession was long and painful. However, in recent years growth has been impressive, reaching 8.2% in 2007, one of the highest rates of growth in Latin America. Meanwhile the Colombian stock exchange climbed from 1,000 points at its creation in July 2001 to over 7,300 points by November 2008.[48] According to International Monetary Fund estimates, in 2010 Colombia's nominal GDP (PPP) was US$429.866 billion (28th in the world and third in South America). Adjusted for purchasing power parity, GDP per capita stands at $7,968, placing Colombia 82nd in the world. However, in practice this is relatively unevenly distributed among the population, and, in common with much of Latin America, Colombia scores poorly according to the Gini coefficient, with UN figures placing it 119th out of 126 countries. In 2003 the richest 20% of the population had a 62.7% share of income/consumption and the poorest 20% just 2.5%, and 17.8% of Colombians live on less than $2 a day.

GDP growth 20012007. Government spending is 37.9% of GDP. Almost a quarter of this goes towards servicing the country's relatively high government debt, estimated at 52.8% of GDP in 2007. Other problems facing the economy include weak domestic and foreign demand, the funding of the country's pension system, and unemployment (10.8% in November 2008). Inflation has remained relatively low in recent years, standing at 5.5% in 2007. Historically an agrarian economy, Colombia urbanised rapidly in the twentieth century, by the end of which just 22.7% of the workforce were employed in agriculture,

generating just 11.5% of GDP. 18.7% of the workforce are employed in industry and 58.5% in services, responsible for 36% and 52.5% of GDP respectively. Colombia is rich in natural resources, and its main exports include petroleum, coal, coffee and other agricultural produce, and gold. Colombia is also known as the world's leading source of emeralds, while over 70% of cut flowers imported by the United States are Colombian. Principal trading partners are the United States (a controversial free trade agreement with the United States is currently awaiting approval by the United States Congress), Venezuela and China. All imports, exports, and the overall balance of trade are at record levels, and the inflow of export dollars has resulted in a substantial re-valuation of the Colombian peso. Economic performance has been aided by liberal reforms introduced in the early 1990s and continued during the presidency of lvaro Uribe, whose policies included measures designed to bring the public sector deficit below 2.5% of GDP. In 2008, The Heritage Foundation assessed the Colombian economy to be 61.9% free, an increase of 2.3% since 2007, placing it 67th in the world and 15th out of 29 countries within the region. Meanwhile the improvements in security resulting from President Uribe's controversial "democratic security" strategy have engendered an increased sense of confidence in the economy. On 28 May 2007 the American magazine BusinessWeek published an article naming Colombia "the most extreme emerging market on Earth". Colombia's economy has improved in recent years. Investment soared, from 15% of GDP in 2002 to 26% in 2008. private business has retooled. However unemployment at 12 % and the poverty rate at 46% in 2009 are above the regional average. According to a recent World Bank report, doing business is easiest in Manizales, Ibagu and Pereira, and more difficult in Cali and Cartagena. Reforms in custom administration have helped reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare documentation by over 60% for exports and 40% for imports compared to the previous report. Colombia has taken measures to address the backlog in civil municipal courts. The most important result was the dismissal of 12.2% of inactive claims in civil courts thanks to the application of Law 1194 of 2008 (Ley de Desistimiento Tcito).

Tourism

Cartagena de Indias, one of the most popular touristic destinations in the country For many years serious internal armed conflict deterred tourists from visiting Colombia, with official travel advisories warning against travel to the country. However, in recent years numbers have risen sharply, thanks to improvements in security resulting from President lvaro Uribe's "democratic security" strategy, which has included significant increases in military strength and police presence throughout the country and pushed rebel groups further away from the major cities, highways and tourist sites likely to attract international visitors. Foreign tourist visits were predicted to have risen from 0.5 million in 2003 to 1.3 million in 2007, while Lonely Planet picked Colombia as one of their top ten world destinations for 2006. Colombia Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism Luis Guillermo Plata said his country had received 2,348,948 visitors in 2008. He expected 2,650,000 tourists for 2009. In November 2010 the U.S. State Department travel warning for the country stated that security conditions had improved significantly in recent years and kidnappings had been noticeably reduced from their previous peak, but cautioned travelers about continuing terrorist threats and the dangers of common crime, including hostagetaking. Rising murder rates in Cali and Medellin were also highlighted and U.S. citizens were urged to travel between cities by air instead of using ground transportation. Popular tourist attractions include the historic Candelaria district of central Bogot, the walled city and beaches of Cartagena, the colonial towns of Santa Fe de Antioquia, Popayn, Villa de Leyva and Santa Cruz de Mompox, and the Las Lajas Sanctuary and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquir. Tourists are also drawn to Colombia's numerous festivals, including Medelln's Festival of the Flowers, the Barranquilla Carnival, the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto and the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogot. Meanwhile, because of the improved security, Caribbean cruise ships now stop at Cartagena and Santa Marta. The great variety in geography, flora and fauna across Colombia has also resulted in the development of an ecotourism industry, concentrated in the country's national parks. Popular ecotourist destinations include: along the Caribbean coast, the Tayrona National Natural Park in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range and Cabo de la Vela on the tip of the Guajira Peninsula; the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, the Cocora valley and the Tatacoa Desert in the central Andean region; Amacayacu National Park

in the Amazon River basin; and the Pacific islands of Malpelo and Gorgona. Colombia is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Biofuels
Colombia is discussing current trends and challenges as well as recent international developments in the befouls sector with the intention of contributing to the development of a sustainable and competitive befouls strategy for Colombia and the region.

Demographics
With an estimated 46 million people in 2008, Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. It is also home to the fourth-largest number of Spanish speakers in the world after Mexico, the United States, and Spain. It is slightly ahead of Argentina. The population increased at a rate of 1.9% between 1975 and 2005, predicted to drop to 1.2% over the next decade. Colombia is projected to have a population of 50.7 million by 2015. These trends are reflected in the country's age profile. In 2005 over 30% of the population was under 15 years old, compared to just 5.1% aged 65 and over. The population is concentrated in the Andean highlands and along the Caribbean coast. The nine eastern lowland departments, comprising about 54% of Colombia's area, have less than 3% of the population and a density of less than one person per square kilometer (two persons per square mile). Traditionally a rural society, movement to urban areas was very heavy in the mid-twentieth century, and Colombia is now one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America. The urban population increased from 31% of the total in 1938 to 60% in 1975, and by 2005 the figure stood at 72.7%. The population of Bogot alone has increased from just over 300,000 in 1938 to approximately 8 million today. In total thirty cities now have populations of 100,000 or more. As of 2010 Colombia has the world's largest populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs), estimated up to 4.5 million people.

Largest cities of Colombia 1 2 3 4 Bogot 5 6 7 8 9 Medelln 1 0 1 1 Cali Bogot Medelln Cali Barranquilla Cartagena Ccuta Pereira 8,840,11 6 3,374,34 0 2,728,43 1 1,946,35 9 1,198,66 5 918,942 576,329

Bucaramang 566,598 a Ibagu Santa Marta Pasto 518,401 455,270 445,180

Barranquilla

Cartagena

Bucaramanga

Ccuta

Pereira

Religion
Da de las Velitas, (Little candles' day) one of the traditional holidays in Colombia. It is the Christmas opening day of the country

The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) does not collect religious statistics, and accurate reports are difficult to obtain. However, based on various studies, more than 95% of the population adheres to Christianity, the vast majority of which (between 81% and 90%) are Roman Catholic. About 1% of Colombians adhere to indigenous religions and under 1% to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. However, despite high numbers of

adherents, around 60% of respondents to a poll by El Tiempo reported that they did not practice their faith actively. While Colombia remains an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, the Colombian constitution guarantees freedom and equality of religion. Religious groups are readily able to obtain recognition as organized associations, although some smaller ones have faced difficulty in obtaining the additional recognition required to offer chaplaincy services in public facilities and to perform legally recognised marriages.

Health
Life expectancy at birth in 2005 was 72.3; 2.1% would not reach the age of 5, 9.2% would not reach the age of 40. Health standards in Colombia have improved greatly since the 1980s. A 1993 reform transformed the structure of public health-care funding by shifting the burden of subsidy from providers to users. As a result, employees have been obligated to pay into health plans to which employers also contribute. Although this new system has widened population coverage by the social and health security system from 21 percent (pre-1993) to 56 percent in 2004 and 66 percent in 2005, health disparities persist, with the poor continuing to suffer relatively high mortality rates. In 2002 Colombia had 58,761 physicians, 23,950 nurses, and 33,951 dentists; these numbers equated to 1.35 physicians, 0.55 nurses, and 0.78 dentists per 1,000 populations, respectively. In 2005 Colombia was reported to have only 1.1 physicians per 1,000 populations, as compared with a Latin American average of 1.5. The health sector reportedly is plagued by rampant corruption, including misallocation of funds and evasion of health-fund contributions.[

Culture
Colombia lies at the crossroads of Latin America and the broader American continent, and as such has been hit by a wide range of cultural influences. Native American, Spanish and other European, African, American, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern influences, as well as other Latin American cultural influences, are all present in Colombia's modern culture. Urban migration, industrialization, globalization, and other political, social and economic changes have also left an impression. Historically, the country's imposing landscape left its various regions largely isolated from one another, resulting in the development of very strong regional identities, in many cases stronger than the national. Modern transport links and means of communication have mitigated this and done much to foster a sense of nationhood, but social and political instability, and in particular fears of armed groups and bandits on intercity highways, have contributed to the maintenance of very clear regional differences. Accent, dress, music, food, politics and general attitude vary greatly between the Bogotanos and other residents of the central highlands, the paisas of Antioquia and the coffee region, the costeos of the Caribbean coast, the llaneros of the eastern plains, and the inhabitants of the Pacific coast and the vast Amazon region to the south east.

An inheritance from the colonial era, Colombia remains a deeply Roman Catholic country and maintains a large base of Catholic traditions which provide a point of unity for its multicultural society. Colombia has many celebrations and festivals throughout the year, and the majority is rooted in these Catholic religious traditions. However, many are also infused with a diverse range of other influences. Prominent examples of Colombia's festivals include the Barranquilla Carnival, the Carnival of Blacks and Whites, Medelln's Festival of the Flowers and Bogot's Ibero-American Theater Festival The mixing of various different ethnic traditions is reflected in Colombia's music and dance. The most well-known Colombian genres are cumbia and vallenato, the latter now strongly influenced by global pop culture. A powerful and unifying cultural medium in Colombia is television. Most famously, the telenovelaBetty La Fea has gained international success through localized versions in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere. Television has also played a role in the development of the local film industry. As in many Latin American countries, Colombians have a passion for football. The Colombian national football team is seen as a symbol of unity and national pride, though local clubs also inspire fierce loyalty and sometimes-violent rivalries. Colombia has "exported" many famous players, such as Freddy Rincn, Carlos Valderrama, Ivn Ramiro Crdoba, and Faustino Asprilla. Other Colombian athletes have also achieved success, including Formula 1 Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya, Major League Baseball's Edgar Rentera and Orlando Cabrera, and the PGA Tour's Camilo Villegas. Other famous Colombians include the Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garca Mrquez, the artist Fernando Botero, the writers Fernando Vallejo, Laura Restrepo, lvaro Mutis and James Can, the musicians Shakira, Juanes, Carlos Vives and Juan Garcia-Herreros, and the actors Catalina Sandino Moreno, John Leguizamo, Catherine Siachoque and Sofa Vergara. The cuisine of Colombia developed mainly from the food traditions of European countries. Spanish, Italian and French culinary influences can all be seen in Colombian cooking. The cuisine of neighboring Latin American countries, Mexico, the United States and the Caribbean, as well as the cooking traditions of the country's indigenous inhabitants, have all influenced Colombian food. For example, cuy or guinea pig, which is an indigenous cuisine, is eaten in the Andes region of south-western Colombia. Many national symbols, both objects and themes, have arisen from Colombia's diverse cultural traditions and aim to represent what Colombia, and the Colombian people, have in common. Cultural expressions in Colombia are promoted by the government through the Ministry of Culture.

Cuisine
Dishes & drinks from Colombia

Aguardiente.

Sancocho de mondongo.Ajiaco.

Tamal.

Bandeja Paisa.

Arepa.

Colombia's cuisine, influenced heavily by the Spanish and Indigenous populations, is not as widely known as other Latin American cuisines such as Peruvian or Brazilian, but to the adventurous traveler there are plenty of delectable dishes to try, not to mention fruits, rum, and especially Colombian coffee.

Australia

officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the northeast and New Zealand to the southeast. For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, formally founded on 7 February 1788 (although formal possession of the land had occurred on 26 January 1788). The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22 million, with approximately 60 per cent concentrated in and around the mainland state

capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. Approximately 56 per cent of Australia's population live in either Victoria or New South Wales, and approximately 77 per cent live on the mainland's east coast. A prosperous developed country, Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy. Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance such as human development, quality of life, health care, life expectancy, public education, economic freedom and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, OECD, APEC, Pacific Islands Forum and the World Trade Organization.

Religion in Australia
In the 21st century, religion in Australia remains dominated demographically by Christianity, with 64% of the population claiming at least nominal adherence to the Christian faith as of 2007, although less than a quarter of those attend church weekly. 18.7% of Australians declared 'no-religion' on the 2006 Census, (with a further 11.2% failing to answer the question) and the remaining population is a diverse group that includes fast-growing Islamic and Buddhist communities. The Constitution of Australia prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion; however, states are free under their own constitutions to interfere or establish a church as they see fit,] although none ever has. Nevertheless, the relationship between the Commonwealth government and religion is much freer than in the United States, with governments working with religious organisations that provide education, health and other public services.

Flag of Australia
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. The flag's original design was chosen in 1901 from entries in a worldwide competition held following Federation. It was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. A slightly different design was approved by King Edward VII in 1902. Over the next few years, the exact specifications of the flag were changed several times both intentionally and as a result of confusion. The current specifications were formally gazetted in 1934, and in 1954 the flag became recognised by, and legally defined in, the Flags Act 1953, as the "Australian National Flag".

Geography
Australia is a country, an island, and a continent. It is located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean at 27S 144E. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,686,850 square kilometres (2,967,909 sq. mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), making it slightly smaller than the contiguous 48 states of the United States and 31.5 times larger than the United Kingdom.

The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,876 km (22,292 mi) with an additional 23,859 km (14,825 mi) of island coastlines. There are 758 estuaries around the country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones. Australia claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres

(3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory. Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on earth. It has no land borders. The northernmost points of the country are the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory.

Australian cuisine
Australian cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding

indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australians have

occupied the lands of Austalia for some 40,000-60,000 years, during which time they developed a unique hunter gatherer diet, known as "bush tucker", drawn from regional Australian flora and faunasuch as the kangaroo. Australia's long coastline has ensured that seafood has been an important staple. Australia was, from 1788 to 1900, a collection of British colonies in which culinary tastes were strongly influenced by British and Irish traditions - and agricultural products such as beef cattle, sheep and wheat became staples in the national diet. Post-war Australia's multicultural immigration program lead to a diversification of the cuisine of Australia, particularly under the influence of Mediterranean and South East Asian migrants. Australian cuisine of the first decade of the 21st century shows the influence of globalisation. Organic and biodynamic, kosher and halal foods have become widely available and there has been a revival of interest in bushfoods. British traditions persist to varying degrees in domestic cooking and the takeaway food sector, with roast dinners, the Australian meat pie and fish and chips remaining popular, but there are

also new elements featured in these foods. To barbecue meats in the open air is considered a treasured national tradition. While fast food chains are abundant, Australia's metropolitan centres possess many famed haute cuisine and nouvelle cuisine establishments. Restaurants whose product includes contemporary adaptations, interpretations or fusions of exotic influences are frequently termed "Modern Australian".

Politics of Australia
The Politics of Australia take place within the framework of a parliamentary democracy, with electoral procedures appropriate to a two-party system. Australia is governed as a federation and as a constitutional monarchy, with an adversarial

legislature based upon the Westminster system. Australians elect parliamentarians to the Parliament of Australia, a bicameral body which is a hybrid of the parliamentary mechanisms carried over from the United Kingdom with the uniquely federalist element of the Australian Senate. Australia operates a system of compulsory voting.

Australian dollar
The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of the Commonwealth of

Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. Within Australia it is almost always abbreviated with the dollar sign ($), with A$ sometimes used to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents. The Australian dollar is currently the fifth-most-traded currency in the world foreign exchange markets behind the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound sterling. The Australian dollar is popular with currency traders, because of the comparatively high interest rates in Australia, the relative freedom of the foreign exchange market from government intervention, the general stability of Australia's economy and political system, and the prevailing view that the Australian dollar offers diversification benefits in a portfolio containing the major world currencies, especially because of its greater exposure to Asian economies and the commodities cycle. The currency is commonly referred to by foreign-exchange traders as the "Aussie."

Education
School attendance is compulsory throughout Australia. All children receive 11 years of compulsory education from the age of 6 to 16 (Year 1 to 10), before they can undertake two more years (Years 11 and 12), contributing to an adult literacy rate that is assumed to be 99%. A preparatory year prior to Year 1, although not compulsory, is almost universally undertaken. In the Programme for International Student Assessment, Australia regularly scores among the top five of thirty major developed countries (member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Government grants have supported the establishment of Australia's 38 universities; all but one is public.] OECD places Australia as among the most expensive nations to attend university. There is a state-based system of vocational training, known as TAFE Institutes, and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople. Approximately 58% of Australians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiary qualifications, and the tertiary graduation rate of 49% is the highest among

OECD countries. The ratio of international to local students in tertiary education in Australia is the highest in the OECD countries.

Germany

Flag of germany
Geography Germany lies in Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. Roughly the size of Montana and even located farther north, unified Germany has an area of 356,959 square kilometers. Extending 853 kilometers from its northern border with Denmark to the Alps in the south, is the sixth largest country in Europe. At its widest, Germany is about 650 kilometers from the Belgian-German border in the west to the Polish border in the east.

Food
Typical foods in Germany. The typical food in Germany for excellence is the sausage in the country having more than 1,500 different types of sausages, which are highlighted in Frankfurt that are softer, the Nuremberg-roasted and Bavaria, which has the distinction of being color white. Each region of Germany has gourmet tastes and dishes. Other dishes in Germany are smoked fish, sauerkraut sauerkraut which is a used to accompany most dishes, also cheeses from the region of Mainz, the famous apple strudel, etc.

Currency
Currently the currency of Germany is the euro, since it belongs to the European Union. Before the currency used by the germans was the deutschmark

German Economy.
The Germans proudly labeled its economy a "soziale Marktwirtschaft," or "social market economy," to demonstrate that the system as it has developed after World War II has - or human - a social dimension and material . Stress the importance of "market" because after the Nazi experience wanted an economy free of state intervention and domination. The only role of state in the new economy R. F. Germany was to protect the competitive environment from monopolistic or oligopolistic tendencies - including his own.

He term "social" is stressed because West Germans wanted an economy that would not only help the wealthy but also care for the workers and others who might not prove able to cope with the strenuous competitive demands of a market economy. The term "social" was chosen rather than "socialist" to distinguish their system from those in which the state claimed the right to direct the economy or to intervene in it. Germany remains a power in the world economy. Germany has industries of fishing and forestry important. In agriculture, the german economy does not represent a very large role, the country imports a third of their food consumption. In the mining industry also represents a small role. What dominates the economy of Germany is the industrial sector, producing a large variety of articles. The products manufactured are the main machinery, chemicals, processed foods, transport equipment and electronics.

Religious Beliefs in Germany

In Germany there are more than 160 different religious communities.The majority are catholics and protestants, most lutherans. The protestanismo lutheran is a church founded by Martin Luther in the century XVITambien there are 3 million Muslims and about 100.000 Jews. The rest are orthodox Christians, Hindus, Bahais and Buddhists.

German Politics
As of mid 1995, Germany was a country coming to terms with the recent unification of western and eastern portions that followed four decades of Cold War division. Reached in October 1990, German unification was, in effect, the incorporation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany). Thus, the unified country, rather than reflecting a mix of systems in both states, represented in many ways a continuation of political and economic system of the R. F. German. The chancellor of the R. F. German Helmut Kohl chose this "fast track" to unification, outlined in Article 23 of the Organic Law of the R. F. German, or the constitution, because he feared that international circumstances might change and the chance for unification might be missed. The alternative path to unification, detailed in Article 146, would have required the replacement of the Basic Law with a constitution developed specifically for a unified Germany. During the summer of 1990, the governments of the two German states drafted a 1,000-page treaty outlining the terms of political union. The document explained how the political structures and policies of the Federal Republic of Germany would be extended to the east, how to coordinate with other institutions - such as the education system - and that public would be resolved later - for example, abortion policy . The

parliaments of both German states ratified the treaty, and the territory of East Germany joined the Federal Republic under Article 23 on October 3, 1990.

Germany: typical dances

while Germany does not have a national dance typical, dance in general plays a major role in the wedding parties and peasant. Despite the fact that the modern rhythms are widespread in rural areas, the ancient folk dances still remain in force. Proof of this is that there are many folk bands that played, they sing and practiced traditional dances specific to each region. For example, the "Schuhplattler" of Bavaria, waltz, polka, etc. The german polka is no different from the viennese, except that the pace is much more marked than in the viennese compositions. Among the popular dances, the first place is occupied by the "Schwertertanz" or dance of the swords, of very ancient origin. Very old. Their age is confirmed in the writings of Tacitus, who spoke of a strange sport that young people practiced with great skill and that was to jump naked in the middle of spears and swords.

City of germany
Berlin is the capital and seat of government Germany. As a city-state of Berlin is country and is the center of the metropolitan region Berlin/Brandenburg. In Berlin, with 3.4 million inhabitants, the

most populated city and largest in the area Germany, as well as the second largest population and by area of the largest city in the European Union.

National Anthem of Germany

Germany, Germany above all, about everything in the world, if always remains attached fraternally for the protection and defense. Since the river Meuse until river niemen, from the Adige river until the Belt, |: Germany, Germany above all, especially in the world Women in germany, german loyalty, german Wine and german songs will continue very highly esteemed throughout the world, and will inspire us to noble deeds throughout our life. German Women, loyalty german, german Wine and german songs! :| Unity and justice and freedom for the german homeland; That is why we pursue all fraternally with heart and hand. Unity and justice and freedom are the vote of happiness; |: Flowers in the glory of this blessing, Flourishes, german homeland. :|

Coat of Arms of Germany

The coat of arms of Germany is, along with his flag, one of the most distinctive and important national symbols of Germany, over time has experienced several modifications and the current version was newly consolidated in the year 1950. The coat of arms of Germany is composed of a yellow field where a golden eagle in black, with the extended wings, as well as pico open. This eagle was called "Eagle of Weimar", because it was modified during this stage of Germany, but then the Federal Republic of Germany became a call it Federal Eagle or Bundesadler, in german. The eagle as a symbol has a rich history, since it is used since remote times and in addition is part of the symbology of Austria, precisely the one that serves as a model and inspiration for the shield of Germany. Within the history of Germany, the symbol of the eagle has been in constant change, the highlight being the variant of the twoheaded eagle, present in the shields of the Holy Roman Empire or in the German Confederation.

Events and festivities in the country of Germany

The carnival This festivity is carried out especially in the german regions where most of its residents are catholic, and Rhineland. The carnival ( "Fasching", "Fasnacht" or "Karneval") is a celebration that dates back to ancient times, particularly in the cities of Cologne and Bonn, Mainz and Dusseldorf. Celebration typical that starts the November 11 (the fifth season of the year), culminating on Ash Wednesday. The "Monday carnival" carried out endless parades by the streets, where people attends disguised not only with typical clothes or traditional but also with funny clothes. This is an ancient custom to eject the winter. The fairs are conducted in Germany at the time of the spring and until the autumn, some only during the weekends, while others remain open throughout the week in the fairgrounds or in the central areas of the different cities. There are many posts of fast food where you can take snacks and sweets in addition to typical positions, shot huts, trains of terror, roller coasters and entertainment live music performed in tents or scenarios.

Cuba

Economy
The Cuban state adheres to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend towards more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981. Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods. Any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the employee in Cuban pesos. Cubans can not change jobs without government permission. The average wage at the end of 2005 was 334 regular pesos per month ($16.70 per month) and the average pension was $9 per month.

Cuba relied heavily on trade with the Soviet Union. From the late 1980s, Soviet subsidies for Cuban goods started to dry up. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports. The removal of these subsidies sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. In 1992 the United States tightened the trade embargo, hoping to see democratization of the sort that took place in Eastern Europe. Like some other Communist and post-Communist states following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba took limited free market-oriented measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. These steps included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, the legalization of the use of the US dollar in business, and the encouragement of tourism. Cuba has developed a unique urban farm system (the organopnicos) to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. In recent years, Cuba has rolled back some of the market oriented measures undertaken in the 1990s. In 2004 Cuban officials publicly backed the Euro as a "global counter-balance to the US dollar", and eliminated U.S. currency from circulation in its stores and businesses. Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid". Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal until 1997. In 1996 tourism surpassed the sugar industry as the largest source of hard currency for Cuba. Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last decade; as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of $2.1 billion. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy. The Medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year. The communist agricultural production system was ridiculed by Ral Castro in 2008. Cuba now imports up to 80% of food used for rations.[111] Before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people. For some time, Cuba has been experiencing a housing shortage because of the state's failure to keep pace with increasing demand. The government instituted food rationing policies in 1962, which were exacerbated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. embargo. Studies have shown that, as late as 2001, the average Cuban's standard of living was lower than before the downturn of the postSoviet period. Paramount issues have been state salaries failing to meet personal needs under the state rationing system, chronically plagued with shortages. The variety and quantity of available rationed goods declined. Under Venezuela's Mission Barrio Adentro, Hugo Chvez has supplied Cuba with up to 80,000 barrels (13,000 m3) of oil per day in exchange for 30,000 doctors and teachers.

In 2005 Cuba had exports of $2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of $6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries. Its major export partners are China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007). Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee; imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13 billion, approximately 38% of GDP. According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country. Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors, including a global sugar commodity price drop that made Cuba less competitive on world markets. At one time, Cuba was the world's most important sugar producer and exporter. As a result of diversification, underinvestment, and natural disasters, Cuba's sugar production has seen a drastic decline. In 2002 more than half of Cuba's sugar mills were shut down. Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for nickel, which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports. A 2005 US Geological Survey report estimates that the North Cuba Basin could contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In 2010, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses. According to Raul Castro, they will be able to improve their houses with this new permission, but the government will not endorse these new houses or improvements.

Government and politics

The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is guided by the ideas of Jos Mart, Marx, Engels and Lenin. The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state". The first secretary of the Communist Party is concurrently President of the Council of State (President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as Prime Minister of Cuba). Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and there is no limit to the number of terms of office. The Supreme Court of Cuba serves as the nation's highest judicial branch of government. It is also the court of last resort for all appeals against the decisions of provincial courts. Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve fiveyear terms. The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts". Votes are cast by secret ballot and counted in public view. Nominees are chosen at local gatherings from multiple candidates before gaining approval from election committees. In the subsequent

election, there is only one candidate for each seat, who must gain a majority to be elected. No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, though the Communist Party of Cuba has held five party congress meetings since 1975. In 1997 the party claimed 780,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal and illegal. The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Ro, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities. 1. Pinar del Ro 2. Artemisa 3. Havana 4. Mayabeq ue 5. Matanzas 6. Cienfuego s 7. Villa Clara 8. Sancti Spritus 9. Ciego de vila 10. Camagey 11. Las Tunas 12. Granma 13. Holgun 14. Santiago de Cuba 15. Guantna mo 16. Isla de la Juventud

Cuisine or food Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Food rationing, which has been the norm in Cuba for the last four decades, restricts the common availability of these dishes. The traditional Cuban meal is not served in courses; all food items are served at the same time. The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and rice, ropa vieja (shredded beef), Cuban bread, pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as Platillo Moros y Cristianos (or moros for short), and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Many of the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaves are the dominant spices.

Religion in Cuba

Christianity in Cuba Episcopal Church of Cuba Protestantism in Cuba Roman Catholicism in Cuba Hinduism in Cuba Islam in Cuba Judaism in Cuba Cuba is traditionally a Catholic country. In some instances Catholicism is much modified and influenced through syncretism. A common syncretic belief is Santera, which was brought to Cuba by the slaves from Africa and spread to neighboring islands; it shows similarities to Brazilian Umbanda and has been receiving a degree of official support. The Roman Catholic Church estimates that 70 percent of the population is Catholic. Membership in Protestant churches is estimated to be 6 percent and includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and Lutherans. Other groups include the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Baha'is, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

Entrance to the Catedral de San Cristbal de la Habana (Cathedral of Saint Christopher of Havana)

Our Lady of Charity, Patroness of Cuba

Cuba is home to a variety of syncretic religions of largely African cultural origin. According to a US State Department report,[1] some sources estimate that as much as 80 percent of the population consults with practitioners of religions with West African roots, such as Santeria or Yoruba. Santera developed out of the traditions of the Yoruba, one of the African peoples who were imported to Cuba during the 16th through 19th centuries to work on the sugar plantations. Santera blends elements of Christianity and West African beliefs and as such made it possible for the slaves to retain their traditional beliefs while appearing to practice Catholicism. La Virgen de la

Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady Of Charity) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and is greatly revered by the Cuban people and seen as a symbol of Cuba. In Santera, she has been syncretized with the goddess Ochn. The important religious festival "La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8 September. Other religions practised are Palo Monte, and Abaku, which have large parts of their liturgy in African languages. Santeria in Cuba The arrival and endurance of Santeria (also known as Regla de Ocha) in Cuba is the result of multiple contributing factors. The roots of Santeria stem from Nigeria and were transported to Cuba by way of the Lucumi people. However, the Lucumi people only consisted of about 8% of the overall slave population in Cuba from 1760 until about 1850. With such low numbers to draw upon the religion was under constant attack in the form of dilution through more dominant numbers in the form of reproductive outsourcing and the cruelty inflicted through the employment of slavery. Between 1800 and 1850 almost the entire population in Cuba consisted of people of African descent. This factor created a sense of uncertainty for Plantation owners because of tensions amongst the slave population. The slave rivalries eventually resulted in an ever-rising loss in production. The method for combating the losses yielded that an increase in the Lucumi population would serve the plantation best. Lucumi people are known to be hard workers and are mild mannered. As result of increasing import of slaves the population of the Lucumi rose sharply to about 34%. Attributing to the increase of Santeria was that many other slaves and freemen began to practice the religion of Santeria thereby increasing the span of influence and affiliation in a more diverse manner. The disposition of colonialism brought a significant strain on all religions outside of Catholicism. Over the course of a 90-year span the Lucumi maintained the practice of the religion of Santeria. The religion of Santeria encompasses sacrificial food, song, dance, costumes, spiritual deities and the use of artifacts. In the beginning the Lucumi and other worshippers of Santeria would have to practice in secret. They would create hasty areas in which they would conduct structuralized practice of Santeria and return to their colonial life after. However, the practice of Santeria on a more regular basis takes place not on the sugar plantations but in the urban areas. The syncretism that modernized Santeria was introduced when high-class Mulattoes needed to find ways to alleviate ailments such as stress or sickness. There was no formal medical aid available to the community at the time. In light of this disposition high-class Mulattoes pulled from whatever resources that they could find. They employed the practices of Christian taught house slaves with AfroCuban healers and Spanish curanderos.The Afro-Cuban healers and Spanish curanderos served as the only medical practitioners in Cuba and were responsible for treating both the Black and White population. The distance between the city and the countryside made it very difficult for the opportunity of slaves to participate in the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity. This was due to geographic reference. Most of the European religious practice and churches were located the urban areas or towns and to attend services would require traveling over long distances, which would interfere with the sugar production. In the urban areas slaves worked alongside freemen and White Cubans in a less restricted atmosphere. They

were educated and trusted to perform skilled labor and given a great deal of responsibility. Their presence served in a number of diverse jobs, which acted as a catalyst for the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity.[5] Not every slave in Cuba complied with the employment of slavery. Cimmarones, as the Cuban slave owners labeled them, were a group of slaves who fled captivity and formed communities consisting of thousands of people. They took refuge in the wilderness and the mountains of Cuba where they maintained the practice of Santeria. They were considered a very serious threat to the colonial government's hold on slavery and oppression. The Cimarrones were able to elude capture and to provide aid and shelter to other escaped slaves. Over the course of time they developed the means to communicate with other surrounding secret camps via the plantation slaves and friendly White Cubans. Other slaves and freemen who lived in rural areas formed secret societies and groups in which they would exercise their religious beliefs of Santeria out of the public view to avoid colonial reform and oppression. After the abolishment of slavery Palenque, the Cimarrones establishment was converted into a town named El Cobre after surviving for fifty years. In the religion of Santeria the emphasis of conscious existence binds the understanding of nature, the higher powers, and the channels of lineage together through ritual practice and clairvoyance. The circle is a symbol that is divided into three sections that begin at the core with people and extend out into two other sections being ancestors and finally divinities. The significance of people at the inner core stand to represent the present day of existence and understanding in the form of perception with in the individual as he or she can interpret the information surrounding them. The outer layer of the ancestor represents the heritable understanding that the individual carries with them as a source of how and why to interpret values of perception with in a given realm. The outmost layer represents divinity is the value of knowledge, direction and understanding that is acquired from Orishas and personal experience. The existence the circle represents is not a fixed plain of understanding but stands as an interchangeable ever evolving and rotating sense of awareness and being. Santeria lineage is structured in the connection through Sibs (a group of kin) with each Sib being traced back to a common male ancestor linking the bloodlines to the religion. There were three different routes for the transmission of Orisha worship. A child could inherit an Orisha from either its mother or father and continue their worship of it. In this case a triangular relationship existed between the child, the parent, and the Orisha.

History
After the communist revolution of 1959, Cuba restricted religious practice, this led to persecution of many Catholics at universities and jobs. On paper, the government "recognizes" the right of citizens to profess and practice any religious belief within the framework of respect for the law; however, in law and in practice, the Government places restrictions on freedom of religion. From 1959 to 1961 eighty percent of the professional Catholic priests and Protestant ministers left Cuba for the United States. Relationships between the new government

and congregations were tense, the new Cuban government was very limiting and suspicious of church operations, blaming them for collaboration with the CIA during the Bay of Pigs invasion and stockpiling arms provided for a "counter-revolution". In accordance with the traditional antireligious doctrine of marxist-leninist ideology, the state adopted a policy of promoting atheism. Religious beliefs were considered backward, reactionary, ignorant, and superstitious. The 'Committees for Defense of the Revolution' said Studies appeared that attempted to link Afro-Cuban religions with mental illness [3]. The campaign for the eradication of racial discrimination in Cuba was (and still is) used as grounds to forbid the creation of Afro-Cuban institutions, because doing so was labelled as racially divisive. Religious believers suffered from discrimination at schools and at work. The decade following the 1960s was turbulent, and many believers chose to hide their faith in response to the state persecution. Many parents did not wish to burden their children with the difficulties that they would inherit if they were baptized Christians, and therefore did not raise them as such. The archdiocese of Havana in 1971 reported only 7000 baptisms. In 1989 this figure had increased to 27,609 and in 1991 to 33,569. In 1985 the Council of State in Havana published a best-selling book called Fidel y la Religion, which was the condensed transcription of 23 hours of interviews between Fidel Castro and a Brazilian liberation theology friar named Frei Betto, O.P. He claimed responsibility for excluding non-atheists from Communist party membership on grounds that: What we were demanding was complete adherence to Marxism-Leninism...It was assumed that anybody who joined the party would accept the party's policy and doctrine in all aspects. In the years following and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the state adopted a more conciliatory position towards religion and lessened its promotion of atheism. In November 1991, the Communist pary began to allow believers into its ranks. In July 1992, the constitution was amended to remove the definition of Cuba as being a state based on Marxism-Leninism, and article 42 was added, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of religious belief. Small worship centres were legally permitted to exist again. Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, after three decades of state atheism, Cuban society had become almost totally secularized. Weekly church attendance on the island of 11 million was estimated at around 250,000 or about 2% of the population (with an even division between catholics and protestants). Cuba had fewer priests per inhabitant than any other Latin American country.

Since 1992, restrictions have been eased and direct challenges by state institutions to the right to believe eased somewhat, though the church still faces restrictions of written and electronic communication, and can only accept donations from stateapproved funding sources. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Cuban Catholic Bishops' Conference (ccbc), led by Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana. It has eleven dioceses, 56 orders of nuns and 24 orders of priests. The Cuban Bishops' conference has been very critical of the US embargo against Cuba and has claimed that the entire population has suffered from it. The US catholic bishops' conference has been influenced by this and has argued that food and medicine should be excluded from the embargo. In January 1998, Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban government and Catholic Church. He criticized the US embargo during his visit. On October 20, 2008, the first Orthodox Church in Cuba opened during an official ceremony attended by Raul Castro.

Spain

Geographic of Spain.
Official name: Kingdom of Spain Area: 505,988 Km2 Geographical location: Spain is in southern Europe, occupying most of the Iberian

peninsula it shares with Portugal. Besides the mainland, includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Africa and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean Population: 41,837,894 (Local Census of 2002) Population growth rate: 1.8% Density: 82.7 inhabitants per km2 Languages: Castilian (official nationwide), Euskera, Catalan and Gallego (language used in those regions). Capital: Madrid (3.01 million inhabitants) Main Cities: Barcelona (1.52 million), Valencia (0.76 million), Sevilla (0.7 million), Zaragoza (0.62 million), Mlaga (0.53 million), Murcia (0.37 million ), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (0.37 million) Palma de Mallorca (0.36 million), Bilbao (0.35 million) Currency: EURO, valid from 01.01.2002 Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron, uranium, mercury, pyrites, zinc, tungsten, copper, potassium, fluoride, lead, gypsum, water resources. Social Indicators Urban Population: 77% Gender distribution: 49.2% male, 50.8% women Life expectancy: 78 years Religion: Catholic 85% Spain is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Share this with mainland Portugal, occupying 80% of it. Apart from the peninsula, including the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza) in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands (composed of 7 islands and several islets) in the Atlantic Ocean, southwest of the peninsula, off the coast of Morocco and North Africa with the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Is the 3 rd European country in area and 5 th in population. To the north it borders France and Andorra, finding its natural border in the Pyrenees. Geographically has five major mountain ranges that cross and almost 50% of its territory lies on a plateau. Its shores are washed by the Mediterranean Sea in the east, from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar, the Atlantic Ocean on its west coast on the peninsula that stretches from Gibraltar to Galicia, with a majority of the coast of Portugal, and the northern coast of the Cantabrian Sea.

His landscapes offer an extraordinary variety, going from desert areas to the most fresh green fields, where mountains, valleys, rivers and beaches originate a variety of climates.

Country of Spain.
Known for its history, art, bullfighting, flamenco, beaches and many hours of sunshine a year, is Spain, however, not only this, but much more. This land is and has been for millennia one of the cultural centers of Europe. Many of their cities, and even more lost enclaves, home to monuments of exceptional historical and artistic value, not to mention the extraordinary natural scenery that this ancient peninsula counts. It has been used to saturation the topic of "Spain is different ", but here the question is: ""Spain is different "from what? It's actually different from everything in Europe, the world, and especially herself. Since it is a country full of contrasts, beginning with its climate and diverse landscapes which have brought him the epithet of "little Europe. " Indeed in Spain climates and landscapes are reminiscent of very remote points of the European continent or even African, nothing strange if we consider that is only separated from Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar. But the most special is that all these contrasts, we sometimes find in a very small area, such as the province of Granada, which despite having the country's highest peak, Mulhacn, covered with perpetual snow, is located far south along the Mediterranean coast facing Africa. This can give us an idea of how to pass in a few kilometers of alpine landscapes African landscapes.

Policy of Spain.
Spain's policy is the set of administrative requirements that dictate the laws of Spain for the operation of the legislative organs considered suitable for the country. According to the classification of systems of government in the world, Spain has the form of constitutional monarchy, as its legislative branch (represented by the figure of the Cortes Generales), carries most of the legislative and government responsibility. It is a parliamentary system because after the parliamentary elections the monarch should the proposal of the Prime Minister to the Congress of Deputies and if he approves it, the choice remains in office while maintaining the confidence of Members, otherwise he should resign.

Flag of Spain
The Spanish flag has a central yellow stripe that is twice as wide as tall as each red band beside it. The coat of arms of Spain is on the yellow band, towards the flagpole side. The Spanish coat of arms consists of two crown-topped Pillars of Hercules with red banners wrapped round them displaying the Latin words, "PLUS ULTRA," meaning "More Beyond," referring to Columbus' discovery of the New World. The two columns are on either side of a shield of 4 quarters - a castle, a lion with a crown, red and yellow vertical stripes, chain mail, with three fleurs-de-lis in an oval in the center. A red and golden crown sits on top of the shield. The columns are the Pillars of Hercules, which represent Gibraltar and Ceuta on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Legend says that the colors of the Spanish flag come from the bullfight arena - with the red representing the blood and the yellow the sand of the arena. The colours of the flag of Spain were more likely to have been chosen as they were the colours of King Ferdinands coat of arms. The current flag has changed slightly over the years, but its basic evolution has been:

The design for the flag of Spain was selected on May 25th 1785 for a new Spanish war ensign by King Charles III Up till then the Spanish war ensign was plain white with the Spanish arms in the centre, and was not easily differentiated from other European Bourbon-ruled countries like France, Parma, Tuscany or Two Sicilies It became the lag for Spanish Navy buildings by the General Navy Regulations 1793. State and War Flag and Ensign by Royal Decree of October 13th 1843; State and War Flag (including civil use) and Ensign by Decree July 27th 1938 National flag 1977 National flag (with the current arms) 1981. In 1981 the eagle disappeared from the Spanish national flag.

Meaning of the Colours

It is fairly clear the the colours have not been arrived at from any symbolism such as "red for the bullfighters' blood on the sand of the bullfighting ring" or "red for the blood shed by Spaniards and yellow for the Spanish sun". The more prosaic answer is probably that the colours originated from Spanish kingdoms' coats-of-arms. Castile has a yellow castle on a red field, Leon has a purple sometimes dark red lion carrying a yellow crown on a white field, Catalonia/Aragon has four red vertical pallets on a

yellow field, Navarre a yellow chain on a red field. In other words they were probably chosen when the flag evolved in 1785 as common colours to house the coat of arms that was to be placed on the flag. The colours chosen in the 1785 contest were consistant among all the 12 designs Red, yellow, white and blue were preferred to other colours. It may have been that long distance recognition capability played a role as important as tradition, given that the brief was to develop a war flag that could be recognized as different from other nations during sea battles.

The Spanish coat of arms

The Spanish Coat of Arms is a composition of six other coat of arms:

Gold castle in a red background of Castile Red lion in white background of Len The red and yellow stripes of Aragon The golden chains of Navarre The pomegranate flower of Granada The fleur-de-lis of the House of Bourbon. The escutcheon represents the currently reigning dynasty today that of Bourbon-Anjou.

On either side of the Coat of Arms are the Pillars of Hercules, the mythological name given to the Straits of Gibraltar. The banner round the pillars says "Plus Ultra" which means more beyond' in Latin, referring to the Americas and the former Spanish territories. Over the pillars are two crowns, one an Imperial Crown and the other a Royal Crown. King Charles I of Spain was also the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, hence the Imperial Crown. Before the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the motto was "Ne plus ultra", nothing more beyond, because the Pillars marked a limit of the known world. Quarterly, 1. Gules a castle embattled Or gate and windows Azure masoned Sable (Castile); 2. Argent a lion Purpure langued and armed Gules crowned Or (Leon); 3. Or four pallets Gules (Aragon); 4. Gules on a chain in cross saltire and orle Or an emerald Proper (Navarre). Base: Argent a pomegranate Proper seeded Gules slipped with two leaves Vert (Granada). Inescutcheon: Azure three fleurs-de-lys (2,1) Or a bordure Gules (Bourbon-Anjou).

The colours of the Spanish Arms

were regulated by Royal Decree No. 2267/1982: Real Decreto 2267/1982, de 3 de septiembre (BOE n 221). Especificacin tcnica de los colores del escudo de Espaa. Artculo 1. Los colores del escudo de Espaa, especificados en el sistema internacional CIELAB, sern los siguientes: Color Denominacin color Tono H en Croma C Claridad L Sinople Verde bandera 165.0 41.0 31.0 Azur Azul bandera 270.0 35.0 26.0 Oro Oro bandera 90.0 37.0 70.0 Plata Plata bandera 255.0 3.0 78.0 Sable Negro bandera 0.0 10.0 Gules Rojo bandera 35.0 70.0 37.0 Prpura Prpura bandera 0.0 52.0 50.0 Artculo 2. La correspondencia de las especificaciones del sistema internacional CIELAB con el sistema internacional CIE-1931, se establecer de la siguiente manera: Denominacin color Verde bandera Azul bandera Oro bandera Plata bandera Negro bandera Rojo bandera Prpura bandera 18.42 0.426 0.263 Y 6.7 4.7 40.7 53.2 1.1 9.5 0.223 0.168 0.395 0.303 0.310 0.614 x y 0.438 0.171 0.403 0.311 0.316 0.320

Royal Standard, Spain

The King's standard in Spain is a square flag, dark blue field with the coat-of-arms in the middle. On his yachts, the King flies the normal yachting flag, the well bicolour flag with a blue royal crown in the centre of it. He also flies the burgee of his local sailing club (Palma de Mallorca). Until 1931, the King (Alfonso XIII, and before him his father Alfonso XII) always used the flag of the Spanish Federation of Nautical Clubs at the stern on the royal yacht Giralda. The 1971 and 1977 regulations make reference to two flags: the guin which may be translated as 'guidon' in the medieval sense of 'flag which indicates the king's position' and the estandarte or standard. The guidon is defined as a very specific flag with a fringe and fixed dimensions 80cm square, coat-of-arms 44cm high, fringe

22mm wide. The standard is defined as any flag which looks like the guidon without the fringe, within a certain range of sizes, rather than just one size

Tourism in Spain
During the last four decades the Spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in the world, worth approximately 40 billion Euros, about 5% of GDP, in 2006[Today, the climate of Spain, historical and cultural monuments and its geographic position together with its facilities make tourism one of Spain's main national industries and a large source of stable employment and development. The Spanish hotel star rating system has requirements much more demanding than other European countries, so at a given rating Spanish accommodations worth higher

Religions of Spain
Roman Catholicism has long been the main religion of Spain, and although it no longer has official status by law, in all public schools in Spain students have to choose either religion or ethics and Catholic is the only religion officially taught although in some schools there are large numbers of Muslim students together. According to a July 2009 study by the Spanish Center of Sociological Research about 73% of Spaniards selfidentify as Catholics, 2.1% other faith, and about 22% identify with no religion among which 7.3% are atheists. Most Spaniards do not participate regularly in religious services. This same study shows that of the Spaniards who identify themselves as religious, 58% hardly ever or never go to church, 17% go to church some times a year, 9% some time per month and 15% every Sunday or multiple times per week. Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (A Corua), the destination of the Way of St. James But according to a December 2006 study, 48% of the population declared a belief in a supreme being, while 41% described themselves as atheist or agnostic. Altogether, about 22% of the entire Spanish population attends religious services at least once per month Though Spanish society has become considerably more secular in recent decades, the influx of Latin American immigrants, who tend to be strong Catholic practitioners, has helped the Catholic Church to recover. Protestant churches have about 1,200,000 members. There are about 105,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has approximately 46,000 adherents in 133 congregations in all regions of the country and has a temple in the Moratalaz District of Madrid. The recent waves of immigration have also led to an increasing number of Muslims who number approximately one million in Spain. Presently, Islam is the second largest

religion in Spain, accounting for approximately 2.3% of the total population. After their expulsion in 1492, Muslims did not live in Spain for centuries. Late 19th-century colonial expansion in northwestern Africa gave a number of residents in Spanish Morocco and Western Sahara full citizenship. Their ranks have since been bolstered by recent immigration, especially from Morocco and Algeria. Judaism was practically non-existent in Spain from the 1492 expulsion until the 19th century, when Jews were again permitted to enter the country. Currently there are around 62,000 Jews in Spain, or 0.14% of the total population. Most are arrivals in the past century, while some are descendants of earlier Spanish Jews. Approximately 80,000 Jews are thought to have lived in Spain on the eve of the Spanish Inquisition Currently, Jews of Sephardic origin are given preferential status in the acquisition of Spanish citizenship

Clothes
What to the present time it has been taken as I brought traditional Asturian they are those articles that the town used from 1780 to 1880. According to the region, the clothes varied thus being able to divide Asturias in three separated zones by the rivers Sella and Narcea. The Eastern one goes from the limit with Cantabria to Sella, the central zone from Sella to the Narcea, and the western one from the Narcea to Galicia. Each zone has a form to sing, to dance and to dress different. The footwear, the averages and the underclothes as much for men as for women were equal in all Asturias. In holidays the women dressed leather shoe natural or black color and the men dressed escarpinos, in madreas or without them. The underclothes were done with linen of the country. At the beginning of XIX century, the woman took a shirt similar to a nightgown and that little by little went away turning in two articles: shirt and enagua. The man used underpants until underneath the knee that sometimes showed below the trousers and were held to the leg with tapes. To all this it would be necessary to add the rest of clothes that varied of the rest of the zone, thus is that the man dressed trousers, vest, chamarra, he wraps and montera, and the woman salla and refajo, cotilla, mandil, dengue, handkerchief and chamarra

ZONA CENTRAL

It was the first was modernized because of industrialization. The woman dressed a white shirt

fastened to the neck in tapes or bellboys, enagua, bodice, mandil, dengue, handkerchief of embroider and a skirt of color. The man a white shirt, trousers, black trousers, vest, chamarra, wraps, corizias and montera picona.

Economy of Spain
The economy of Spain is the twelth-largest economy in the world, based on nominal GDP comparisons, and the fifth-largest in Europe. It is regarded as the world's 15th most developed country. Until 2008 the economy of Spain had been regarded as one of the most dynamic within the EU, attracting significant amounts of foreign investment. Spain's economy had been credited with having avoided the virtual zero growth rate of some of its largest partners in the EU. In fact, the country's economy had created more than half of all the new jobs in the European Union over the five years ending 2005, a process that is rapidly being reversed. More recently, the Spanish economy had benefited greatly from the global real estate boom, with construction representing an astonishing 16% of GDP and 12% of employment in its final year. According to calculations by the German newspaper Die Welt, Spain had been on course to overtake countries like Germany in per capita income by 2011. However, the downside of the now defunct real estate boom was a corresponding rise in the levels of personal debt; as prospective homeowners had struggled to meet asking prices, the average level of household debt tripled in less than a decade. This placed especially great pressure upon lower to middle income groups; by 2005 the median ratio of indebtedness to income had grown to 125%, due primarily to expensive boom time mortgages that now often exceed the value of the property. A European Commission forecast had predicted Spain would enter a recession by the end of 2008. According to Spains Finance Minister, Spain faces its deepest recession in half a century. Spain's government forecast the unemployment rate would rise to 16% in 2009. The ESADE business school predicted 20%. After a steep plunge in late 2008 and throughout 2009, in which the unemployment rate met ESADE's forecast, the economy stabilised in the first quarter of 2010. Due to its own economic development and the recent EU enlargements up to 27 members (2007), Spain had a GDP per capita of (105%) of EU average per capita GDP in 2006, which placed it slightly ahead of Italy (103%). As for the extremes within Spain, three regions in 2005 were included in the leading EU group exceeding 125% of the GDP per capita average level (Madrid, Navarre and the Basque Autonomous Community) and one was at the 85% level (Extremadura). According to the growth rates post 2006, noticeable progress from these figures happened until early 2008, when the Spanish economy was heavily affected by the puncturing of its property bubble by the global financial crisis. The centre-right government of former prime minister Jos Mara Aznar had worked successfully to gain admission to the group of countries launching the euro in 1999. Unemployment stood at 7.6% in October 2006, a rate that compared favorably to many other European countries, and especially

with the early 1990s when it stood at over 20%. Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include high inflation, a large underground economy, and an education system which OECD reports place among the poorest for developed countries. However, the property bubble that had begun building from 1997, fed by historically low interest rates and an immense surge in immigration, imploded in 2008, leading to a rapidly weakening economy and soaring unemployment. By the end of May 2009 unemployment had already reached 18.7% (37% for youths).