Republic Day of the Republic of Macedonia

North Macedonia, country of the south-central Balkans. It is bordered to the north by Kosovo and Serbia, to the east by Bulgaria, to the south by Greece, and to the west by Albania. The capital is Skopje. The Republic of North Macedonia is located in the northern part of the area traditionally known as Macedonia, a geographical region bounded to the south by the Aegean Sea and the Aliákmon River; to the west by Lakes Prespa and Ohrid, the watershed west of the Crni Drim River, and the Šar Mountains; and to the north by the mountains of the Skopska Crna Gora and the watershed between the Morava and Vardar river basins. The Pirin Mountains mark its eastern edge. The Republic of North Macedonia occupies about two-fifths of the entire geographical region of Macedonia. The rest of the region belongs to Greece and Bulgaria. Most people with a Macedonian identity also refer to the region that constitutes North Macedonia as Vardar Macedonia, the Greek part of Macedonia as Aegean Macedonia, and the Bulgarian part of Macedonia as Pirin Macedonia. In this article, unless otherwise indicated, the name Macedonia refers to the present-day state of the Republic of North Macedonia when discussing geography and history since 1913 and to the larger region as described above when used in earlier historical contexts. The region of Macedonia owes its importance neither to its size nor to its population but rather to its location at a major junction of communication routes—in particular, the great north-south route from the Danube River to the Aegean formed by the valleys of the Morava and Vardar rivers and the ancient east-west trade routes connecting the Black Sea and Istanbul with the Adriatic Sea. Although the majority of the republic’s inhabitants are of Slavic descent and heirs to the Eastern Orthodox tradition of Christianity, 500 years of incorporation into the Ottoman Empire left substantial numbers of other ethnic groups, including Albanians, Turks, Vlachs (Aromani), and Roma (Gypsies). Consequently, Macedonia forms a complex border zone between the major cultural traditions of Europe and Asia. Ottoman control was brought to an end by the Balkan Wars (1912–13), after which Macedonia was divided among Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Following World War I, the Serbian segment was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). After World War II the Serbian part of Macedonia became a constituent republic within the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The collapse of Yugoslavia led the Republic of Macedonia to declare its independence on September 17, 1991. The two major problems facing the newly independent Republic of Macedonia were ensuring for its large Albanian minority the rights of full citizenship and gaining international recognition under its constitutional name and membership in international organizations in the face of strong opposition from Greece, which claimed a monopoly on the use of the term Macedonia. (See Researcher’s Note: Macedonia: a contested name.) After years of largely fruitless UN-mediated negotiations regarding the name issue, in June 2018 Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that an agreement (thereafter known as the Prespa Agreement) had been reached under which the Macedonian republic would be known both domestically and internationally as the Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonian: Severna Makedonija). By January 2019 the Macedonian and Greek legislatures had both approved the measures necessary to pave the way for formal adoption of the new name, which came into effect on February 12, 2019. Land - Relief Geologically, North Macedonia consists mainly of heavily folded ancient metamorphic rocks, which in the west have been eroded to reveal older granites. In the central region are found sedimentary deposits of more recent age. Traversing the country from north to south is a series of active fault lines, along which earthquakes frequently occur. The most severe of these in recent history occurred at Debar in 1967. Skopje was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1963. The mobility of Earth’s crust has also created two tectonic lakes, Prespa and Ohrid, in the southwest and has resulted in the formation of several mineral springs and hot springs. North Macedonia is largely mountainous, with many peaks rising above the tree line at 6,600 feet (2,000 metres) above sea level. The highest elevation is at Mount Korab (9,030 feet, or 2,752 metres) on the Albanian border. Near the Šar Mountains in the northwest, the country is covered with forest. Where this has been cleared (and often in the past overgrazed), the thin skeletal soils have been subjected to dramatic erosion and gullying. There are also several broad and fertile valleys that provide good potential for agriculture. Drainage The greater part of North Macedonia (about nine-tenths of its area) drains southeastward into the Aegean Sea via the Vardar River and its tributaries. Smaller parts of this basin drain into Lake Doiran (Macedonian: Dojran) and into the Aegean via the Strumica and Struma rivers. The remainder of North Macedonia drains northward via the Crni Drim River toward the Adriatic Sea. The convoluted and fractured geology of the area imposes upon many of these rivers erratic courses that frequently drive through narrow and sometimes spectacular gorges. Such formations facilitate the damming of rivers for electric power generation. Climate North Macedonia stands at the junction of two main climatic zones, the Mediterranean and the continental. Periodically, air breaks through mountain barriers to the north and south, bringing dramatically contrasting weather patterns; one example is the cold northerly wind known as the vardarec. Overall, there is a moderate continental climate: temperatures average in the low 30s F (about 0 °C) in January and rise to the high 60s and 70s F (about 20–25 °C) in July. Annual precipitation is relatively light, between about 20 and 28 inches (about 500 and 700 mm). Rainfalls of less than 1 inch (25.4 mm) in the driest months (July–August) rise to nearly 4 inches (about 100 mm) in October–November. Because of differences in local aspect and relief, there may be considerable variation in the climate, the eastern areas tending to have milder winters and hotter, drier summers and the western (more mountainous) regions having more severe winters. Plant and animal life The mountainous northwestern parts of North Macedonia support large areas of forest vegetation. On the lower slopes this is principally deciduous woodland, but conifers grow at elevations as high as 6,600 feet (2,000 metres). Some areas of forest have been cleared to provide rough summer pasture. The forests support a variety of wildlife, including wild pigs, wolves, bears, and lynx. The dry and warm summers result in an abundance of insect life, with species of grasshoppers much in evidence, along with numerous small lizards. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Macedonia

2022/08/02

Kenya's Ambassador Designate to Cyprus, presented Letters of Credence to H.E Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus at State House, Nicosia.

On 13. 07. 22, H.E Jackline Yonga, Kenya's Ambassador Designate to Cyprus, presented Letters of Credence to H.E Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus at State House, Nicosia. During the event, Kenya and Cyprus agreed to deepen collaboration in existing areas such as trade and tourism as well as to explore new fronts of collaboration for mutual benefit.

2022/08/01

Ambasador Marek Brzeziński z oficjalną wizytą u Prezydenta Krakowa

8 lipca 2022 roku pierwszą oficjalną wizytę u Prezydenta Krakowa złożył Ambasador USA J.E. Marek Brzezinski. Towarzyszył mu Konsul Generalny USA w Krakowie Patrick Slowinski. Okazją do wizyty Ambasadora Brzezinskiego w naszym mieście są obchody 246. rocznicy odzyskania niepodległości przez Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki oraz pożegnanie Konsula Slowinskiego, którego misja w Krakowie dobiegła końca. Dziękując za dobrą współpracę Prezydent Majchrowski wręczył konsulowi odznakę Honoris Gratia.

2022/08/01

Veleposlanik Vidošević u radnom posjetu JFTC-u u Bydgoszczu

Veleposlanik Tomislav Vidošević boravio je u srijedu, 6. srpnja u radnom posjetu Joint Force Training Centru NATO-a u Bydgoszczu. Tijekom posjeta veleposlanik se zajedno s veleposlanikom Rumunjske Theodorom Cosminom Onisiijem sastao sa zamjenikom zapovjednika Centra generalom Jozsefom Szpisjakom, koji je zajedno sa svojim suradnicima održao brifing i prezentaciju aktivnosti tog iznimno značajnog NATO-ovog središta.

2022/08/01

Establishment of the Swiss Confederationn

Switzerland, federated country of central Europe. Switzerland’s administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial centre. Switzerland’s small size—its total area is about half that of Scotland—and its modest population give little indication of its international significance. A landlocked country of towering mountains, deep Alpine lakes, grassy valleys dotted with neat farms and small villages, and thriving cities that blend the old and the new, Switzerland is the nexus of the diverse physical and cultural geography of western Europe, renowned for both its natural beauty and its way of life. Aspects of both have become bywords for the country, whose very name conjures images of the glacier-carved Alps beloved of writers, artists, photographers, and outdoor sports enthusiasts from around the world.For many outsiders, Switzerland also evokes a prosperous if rather staid and unexciting society, an image that is now dated. Switzerland remains wealthy and orderly, but its mountain-walled valleys are far more likely to echo the music of a local rock band than a yodel or an alphorn. Most Swiss live in towns and cities, not in the idyllic rural landscapes that captivated the world through Johanna Spyri’s Heidi (1880–81), the country’s best-known literary work. Switzerland’s cities have emerged as international centres of industry and commerce connected to the larger world, a very different tenor from Switzerland’s isolated, more inward-looking past. As a consequence of its remarkably long-lived stability and carefully guarded neutrality, Switzerland—Geneva, in particular—has been selected as headquarters for a wide array of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including many associated with the United Nations (UN)—an organization the Swiss resisted joining until the early 21st century.Switzerland’s rugged topography and multicultural milieu have tended to emphasize difference. People living in close proximity may speak markedly distinct, sometimes nearly mutually unintelligible dialects of their first language, if not a different language altogether. German, French, Italian, and Romansh all enjoy national status, and English is spoken widely. Invisible lines separate historically Protestant from historically Roman Catholic districts, while the tall mountains of the Saint Gotthard Pass separate northern from southern Europe and their diverse sensibilities and habits. Yet, Switzerland has forged strength from all these differences, creating a peaceful society in which individual rights are carefully balanced against community and national interests.Switzerland was formed in 1291 by an alliance of cantons against the Habsburg dynasty—the Confoederatio Helvetica (or Swiss Confederation), from which the abbreviation CH for Switzerland derives—though only in 1848, when a new constitution was adopted, was the present nation formed. Prior to 1848, internal conflict was quite common, but Switzerland has enjoyed relative domestic tranquility since the mid-19th century, and its organization has remained essentially the same: it is a union of more than 3,000 communes, or municipalities, situated in 26 cantons, 6 of which are traditionally referred to as demicantons (half cantons) but function as full cantons. Ordinary citizens are able to participate at every level of politics and regularly exercise their will in referenda and initiatives, through which Swiss citizens directly make numerous policy decisions at the national and subnational level. Two effects of this popular involvement are evident: Swiss taxes are rather low by European standards, because voters are able to review and approve a broad range of expenditures, and political decision making tends to be slow, because contending individual claims and opinions must be allowed to be expressed at every step. That high level of citizen involvement prompted the renowned 20th-century Swiss playwright and ironist Friedrich Dürrenmatt to allegorize Switzerland as a prison in which each Swiss citizen was at the same time prisoner and guard. Even so, the Swiss blend of federalism and direct democracy is unique in the world and is considered central to the country’s political and economic success. And Switzerland is indeed a major economic power, thanks to its long tradition of financial services and high-quality, specialized manufactures of items such as precision timepieces, optics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, as well as of specialty foodstuffs such as Emmentaler cheese and milk chocolate. Switzerland is regularly judged to have among the world’s highest standards of living. Bern is a placid city whose name derives from the bear pits the canton’s medieval rulers established there as a heraldic symbol; the bear pits are now part of the city’s popular zoo. A metropolis extending along a large lake where the mountains meet the plains, Zürich is by far the country’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, its famed Bahnhofstrasse rivaling shopping districts found in other leading cities in the world. Basel and Lucerne are major German-speaking cities, Geneva and Lausanne the centres of the country’s French-speaking cantons, and Bellinzona and Lugano the principal cities in the Italian-speaking Ticino. Switzerland has long been a model multiethnic, multilingual society, a place in which diverse peoples can live in social harmony and unite in common interest. The Swiss justifiably take great pride in this, and the point was encapsulated in the early 21st century by Ruth Dreifuss, who in 1999 became the country’s first woman and first Jewish president (a post that rotates annually): I may be a native speaker of French, but my parents originally came from German-speaking Switzerland and I myself worked in an Italian-speaking area for a while and enjoy travelling to all parts of the country…. I live in a neighbourhood in which over 100 different nationalities live together in peace and harmony…. I greatly appreciate this diversity. Land Switzerland is bordered to the west by France, to the north by Germany, to the east by Austria and Liechtenstein, and to the south by Italy. It extends about 135 miles (220 km) from north to south and 220 miles (350 km) at its widest extent from west to east. Switzerland’s landscape is among the world’s most unusual, and it has long had to contend with a variety of environmental problems that threaten its integrity. Economic development and high population density have caused severe environmental stress, resulting in pollution and debates over the use of natural resources. During the 1970s and ’80s, ambitious environmental policies were implemented by the cantons and municipalities, and this led to impressive progress on pollution abatement. For example, air-pollution emissions in Switzerland are among the lowest in industrialized countries. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland

2022/08/01

Independence Day of the Republic of Benin

Benin, officially Republic of Benin, French République du Bénin, formerly (until 1975) Dahomey or (1975–90) People’s Republic of Benin, country of western Africa. It consists of a narrow wedge of territory extending northward for about 420 miles (675 kilometres) from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, on which it has a 75-mile seacoast, to the Niger River, which forms part of Benin’s northern border with Niger. Benin is bordered to the northwest by Burkina Faso, to the east by Nigeria, and to the west by Togo. The official capital is Porto-Novo, but Cotonou is Benin’s largest city, its chief port, and its de facto administrative capital. Benin was a French colony from the late 19th century until 1960. Prior to colonial rule, part of the territory that is now Benin consisted of powerful, independent kingdoms, including various Bariba kingdoms in the north and in the south the kingdoms of Porto-Novo and Dahomey (Dan-ho-me, “on the belly of Dan;” Dan was a rival king on whose grave Dahomey’s royal compound was built). In the late 19th century French colonizers making inroads from the coastal region into the interior borrowed the name of the defeated Dahomey kingdom for the entire territory that is now Benin; the current name derives from the Bight of Benin. The land - Relief Benin consists of five natural regions. The coastal region is low, flat, and sandy, backed by tidal marshes and lagoons. It is composed of, in effect, a long sandbar on which grow clumps of coconut palms; the lagoons are narrower in the western part of the country, where many have become marshes because of silting, and wider in the east, and some are interconnected. In the west the Grand-Popo Lagoon extends into neighbouring Togo, while in the east the Porto-Novo Lagoon provides a natural waterway to the port of Lagos, Nigeria, although its use is discouraged by the political boundary. Only at Grand-Popo and at Cotonou do the lagoons have outlets to the sea. Behind the coastal region extends the barre country—the word being a French adaptation of the Portuguese word barro (“clay”). A fertile plateau, the barre region contains the Lama Marsh, a vast swampy area stretching from Abomey to Allada. The landscape is generally flat, although occasional hills occur, rising to about 1,300 feet (400 metres). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now The Benin plateaus, four in number, are to be found in the environs of Abomey, Kétou, Aplahoué (or Parahoué), and Zagnanado. The plateaus consist of clays on a crystalline base. The Abomey, Aplahoué, and Zagnanado plateaus are from 300 to 750 feet high, and the Kétou plateau is up to 500 feet in height. The Atakora Mountains, in the northwest of the country, form a continuation of the Togo Mountains to the south. Running southwest to northeast and reaching an altitude of 2,103 feet (641 metres) at their highest point, they consist of a highly metamorphosed quartzite interior. The Niger plains, in the northeast of Benin, slope down to the Niger River valley. They consist of clayey sandstones. Drainage Apart from the Niger River, which, with its tributaries the Mékrou, Alibori, and Sota, drains the northeastern part of the country, the three principal rivers in Benin are the Mono, the Couffo, and the Ouémé. The Mono, which rises in Togo, forms the frontier between Togo and Benin near the coast. The Couffo, near which stands Abomey, flows southward from the Benin plateaus to drain into the coastal lagoons at Ahémé. The Ouémé rises in the Atakora Mountains and flows southward for 280 miles; near its mouth it divides into two branches, one draining to the east into Porto-Novo Lagoon and the other to the west into Nokoué Lake. The Atakora Mountains form a divide between the Volta and Niger basins. Climate Two climatic zones may be distinguished—a southern and a northern. The southern zone has an equatorial type of climate with four seasons—two wet and two dry. The principal rainy season occurs between mid-March and mid-July; the shorter dry season lasts to mid-September; the shorter rainy season lasts to mid-November; and the principal dry season lasts until the rains begin again in March. The amount of rain increases toward the east. Grand-Popo receives only about 32 inches (800 millimetres) a year, whereas Cotonou and Porto-Novo both receive approximately 50 inches. Temperatures are fairly constant, varying between about 72° and 93° F (22° and 34° C), and the relative humidity is often uncomfortably high. In the northern climatic zone, there are only two seasons, one dry and one rainy. The rainy season lasts from May to September, with most of the rainfall occurring in August. Rainfall amounts to about 53 inches a year in the Atakora Mountains and in central Benin; farther north it diminishes to about 38 inches. In the dry season the harmattan, a hot, dry wind, blows from the northeast from December to March. Temperatures average about 80° F (27° C), but the temperature range varies considerably from day to night. In March, the hottest month, diurnal temperatures may rise to 110° F (43° C). Plant and animal life The original rain forest, which covered most of the southern part of the country, has now largely been cleared, except near the rivers. In its place, many oil palms and rônier palms have been planted and food crops are cultivated. North of Abomey the vegetation is an intermixture of forest and savanna (grassy parkland), giving way farther north to savanna. Apart from the oil and rônier palms, trees include coconut palms, kapok, mahogany, and ebony. In the extreme north is the “W” National Park (1,938 square miles), which extends into Burkina Faso and Niger. Its varied animal life includes elephants, leopards, lions, antelope, monkeys, wild pigs, crocodiles, and buffalo. There are many species of snakes, including pythons and puff adders. Birds include guinea fowl, wild duck, and partridge, as well as many tropical species. The Pendjari National Park (1,062 square miles) borders on Burkina Faso. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin

2022/08/01

Independence day of the Republic of Vanuatu

Vanuatu, country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, consisting of a chain of 13 principal and many smaller islands located about 500 miles (800 km) west of Fiji and 1,100 miles (1,770 km) east of Australia. The islands extend north-south for some 400 miles (650 km) in an irregular Y shape. The Torres Islands are the northernmost group. Southward from the Torres group, the main islands are Vanua Lava and Santa Maria (Gaua) in the Banks Islands group, Espiritu Santo, Aoba (Ambae), Maéwo, Pentecost, Malakula, Ambrym, Épi, Éfaté, Erromango, Tanna, and Anatom. Some 200 miles (320 km) to the southeast of Anatom, two uninhabited islands, Hunter and Matthew, are claimed by both Vanuatu and France (as part of New Caledonia). Formerly the jointly administered Anglo-French condominium of the New Hebrides, Vanuatu achieved independence in 1980. The name Vanuatu means “Our Land Forever” in many of the locally used Melanesian languages. The capital, largest city, and commercial centre is Port-Vila (Vila), on Éfaté. Land A diverse relief—ranging from rugged mountains and high plateaus to rolling hills and low plateaus, with coastal terraces and offshore coral reefs—characterizes the islands. Sedimentary and coral limestones and volcanic rock predominate; frequent earthquakes indicate structural instability. Active volcanoes are found on several islands, including Séré’ama on Vanua Lava, Manaro on Aoba, Garet on Santa Maria, the twin volcanic vents of Benbow and Marum on Ambrym, and Yasur on Tanna. There are also several submarine volcanoes in the group, and some islands have solfataras or fumaroles. The highest point is Tabwémasana, 6,165 feet (1,879 metres), on Espiritu Santo, the largest island. There are two seasons—hot and wet from November to April, and cooler and drier from May to October. The southeast trades are the prevailing winds, although northerlies during the hot season provide most of the heavy rainfall. Annual precipitation varies from about 80 inches (2,000 mm) in the south to some 160 inches (4,000 mm) in the northern islands. Much of the group is covered by dense rain forest, but drier regions have patches of savanna grassland. Abundant bird and insect life contrasts with the sparse fauna. Of the approximately 10 types of bats found in Vanuatu, three are found only there. People The indigenous population, called ni-Vanuatu, is overwhelmingly Melanesian, though some of the outlying islands have Polynesian populations. There are also small minorities of Europeans, Micronesians, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Roughly three-fourths of the population lives in rural areas, but since independence the urban centres of Luganville and Port-Vila have drawn a significant number of people attracted by better opportunities. More than 100 local Melanesian languages and dialects are spoken; Bislama, an English-based Melanesian pidgin, is the national language and, along with English and French, is one of three official languages. Some seven-tenths of the population is Protestant, Presbyterians constituting the largest denomination. Other religions include Roman Catholicism, traditional beliefs, and cargo cults. Economy Subsistence agriculture has traditionally been the economic base of Vanuatu, together with an elaborate exchange network within and between islands. Economic changes occurred with the development of European plantations in the island group after 1867: cotton was the initial crop, followed by corn (maize), coffee, cocoa beans, and coconuts (for copra). Cattle ranching was instituted later. By the 1880s French planters had reversed the initial British domination of the plantation sector, though they too found it increasingly difficult to compete with ni-Vanuatu producers, who could fall back on subsistence agriculture in times of economic downturn. French hopes of economic hegemony, based on high world prices for copra and the importation of Vietnamese labour in the 1920s, were dashed by the Great Depression of the 1930s. By 1948 most of the copra in the island group was being produced by the ni-Vanuatu themselves, though it was not until the development of cooperatives in the 1970s that they were finally able to assume control of the trade. Kava, beef, copra, timber, and cocoa are the most important exports; Australia, New Caledonia, Japan, and New Zealand are the main export destinations. Imports—mainly of machinery and transport equipment, food and live animals, and mineral fuels—come principally from Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Fiji. Because of its vulnerability to weather and commodity market fluctuations, Vanuatu is working toward supplementing large-scale agriculture with stronger extractive, manufacturing, and service sectors to foster its long-term economic growth. Since independence, Vanuatu’s tourism and offshore financial services have emerged as the largest earners of foreign income. The growing lucre generated by tourism has attracted the attention of foreign companies seeking to develop land into resorts and other attractions. Although, according to the 1980 constitution, all land in Vanuatu is under ni-Vanuatu customary collective ownership and cannot be sold to foreigners, increasing interest from abroad in the late 20th and early 21st centuries prompted the government to allow land to be leased for 75-year periods. Such leases were often negotiated to the disadvantage of ni-Vanuatu, however; many included, for example, a provision that, at the end of the 75 years, the customary owners could regain their lands only by paying in full the cost of any development. In the early 21st century there was concern that such provisions would mean the permanent alienation of customarily owned lands. Forestry, important in the islands’ early colonial history but later eclipsed by plantation agriculture, has also grown in importance. Much of the country is forested (including areas of sandalwood and other valuable tropical species). Because the majority of trees felled during the 1980s were exported as unsawn logs, in the early 1990s the government banned exports of roundwood and limited the annual harvest. Earnings from processed wood (mostly sawn on small portable mills) grew as a result, and wood products accounted for a small but significant proportion of exports in the early 21st century. The sale of commercial fishing rights is another important source of foreign revenue, and there is extensive small-scale fishing for local consumption. Mining of manganese ore on Éfaté ended in the 1970s, but later surveys identified a number of remaining deposits there as well as the likely existence of exploitable gold, copper, and petroleum reserves elsewhere in the islands. On most of Vanuatu’s islands, unpaved roads link coastal settlements; there are few interior roads. Interisland transportation is by boat or airplane. Major airports are located near Port-Vila, near Luganville on Espiritu Santo, and on the northwest side of Tanna. Many smaller airfields are scattered throughout the islands. Government and society Under the terms of the 1980 constitution, the president, who serves as head of state, is elected to a five-year term by an electoral college made up of the unicameral Parliament and the presidents of the Regional Councils. Members of Parliament are elected to four-year terms on the basis of universal franchise. Parliament elects the chief executive, the prime minister, from among its members; the prime minister then appoints a Council of Ministers. The constitution also provides for a National Council of Chiefs (Malvatumauri), composed of elected “custom chiefs,” which advises the government on matters relating to custom and tradition. Provincial authorities are responsible for local governmental functions. The Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial arbiter of both civil and criminal matters. There are also a court of appeal and magistrates’ courts, and island courts may be established by warrant to rule on land disputes. Since independence, defense has been provided through a pact with Papua New Guinea. Vanuatu has no regular military, but the country’s police force operates a domestic paramilitary unit, the Vanuatu Mobile Force. Health care in Vanuatu consists of a main hospital in Vila supplemented by smaller hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries on the other islands. Malaria, tuberculosis, hookworm, and gastroenteritis are the most common diseases. Although attempts have been made since independence to institute a single, English-speaking education system, ongoing economic aid from France for the maintenance of the Francophone school system has ensured that about half of ni-Vanuatu children receive French-language instruction. Education is free and compulsory for ages 6 to 12, but only about one-third of ni-Vanuatu children undertake postprimary education. The country’s school attendance and adult literacy rates are among the lowest in the Pacific, a situation exacerbated by rapid population growth, the distance between settlements, and a shortage of teachers and classrooms in remote areas. The University of the South Pacific’s Emalus Campus at Port-Vila (opened in 1989) provides undergraduate and graduate education; the university’s law school is there, and students may also study at the university’s main campus in Suva, Fiji. A small number of ni-Vanuatu pursue higher education in Papua New Guinea or in France. Cultural life The overwhelming majority of ni-Vanuatu are subsistence agriculturalists, living in small rural villages where activities revolve around the land. The constitution guarantees that land cannot be alienated from its “indigenous custom owners,” or traditional owners, and their descendants. More than an economic resource, land is the physical embodiment of the metaphysical link with the past, and identification with a particular tract of land (expressed by the Bislama phrase man ples) remains one of the fundamental concepts governing ni-Vanuatu culture, although foreign developers have gained control over some land through long-term leases. On many islands, men gather nightly at their local nakamal (men’s house) to drink kava and communicate with the spirits of their ancestors, whose bones typically are buried nearby. Through magic stones, they attempt to contact and control the spiritual realm they view as all-pervasive. Among the vast majority of rural dwellers, kastom (custom), along with Christianity, continues to guide daily life. More … Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Vanuatu

2022/07/30

Czy są Państwo zainteresowani stażem w parlamencie niemieckim ?

Niemiecki Bundestag wraz z berlińskim Wolnym Uniwersytetem, Uniwersytetem im. Humboldtów w Berlinie oraz Politechniką Berlińską zaprasza do udziału w trwającym pięć miesięcy Międzynarodowym Stypendium Parlamentarnym 2023 (Internationales Parlaments Stipendium IPS) w terminie od 1 marca do 31 lipca 2023 roku w Berlinie.

2022/07/29

Mer Lwowa dziękuje krakowianom za pomoc

Od początku wojny w Ukrainie Kraków przekazuje pomoc humanitarną mieszkańcom i instytucjom Lwowa. Poza darami rzeczowymi, lekami czy agregatami prądotwórczymi, Lwów dostał od Krakowa pięć autobusów miejskich i karetkę pogotowia. 6 lipca 2022 roku do Krakowa przyjechał mer Lwowa Andrij Sadowy, który podziękował prezydentowi Jackowi Majchrowskiemu i mieszkańcom za pomoc udzieloną miastu oraz przedstawił szczegóły dotyczące budowy Narodowego Centrum Rehabilitacji „Niezniszczalni” we Lwowie.

2022/07/29