Bastille Day of the French Republic

France, officially French Republic, French France or République Française, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps and the Pyrenees, France has long provided a geographic, economic, and linguistic bridge joining northern and southern Europe. It is Europe’s most important agricultural producer and one of the world’s leading industrial powers. France is among the globe’s oldest nations, the product of an alliance of duchies and principalities under a single ruler in the Middle Ages. Today, as in that era, central authority is vested in the state, even though a measure of autonomy has been granted to the country’s régions in recent decades. The French people look to the state as the primary guardian of liberty, and the state in turn provides a generous program of amenities for its citizens, from free education to health care and pension plans. Even so, this centralist tendency is often at odds with another long-standing theme of the French nation: the insistence on the supremacy of the individual. On this matter historian Jules Michelet remarked, “England is an empire, Germany is a nation, a race, France is a person.” Statesman Charles de Gaulle, too, famously complained, “Only peril can bring the French together. One can’t impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 kinds of cheese.”This tendency toward individualism joins with a pluralist outlook and a great interest in the larger world. Even though its imperialist stage was driven by the impulse to civilize that world according to French standards (la mission civilisatrice), the French still note approvingly the words of writer Gustave Flaubert: I am no more modern than I am ancient, no more French than Chinese; and the idea of la patrie, the fatherland—that is, the obligation to live on a bit of earth coloured red or blue on a map, and to detest the other bits coloured green or black—has always seemed to me narrow, restricted, and ferociously stupid. At once universal and particular, French culture has spread far and greatly influenced the development of art and science, particularly anthropology, philosophy, and sociology. France has also been influential in government and civil affairs, giving the world important democratic ideals in the age of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution and inspiring the growth of reformist and even revolutionary movements for generations. The present Fifth Republic has, however, enjoyed notable stability since its promulgation on September 28, 1958, marked by a tremendous growth in private initiative and the rise of centrist politics. Although France has engaged in long-running disputes with other European powers (and, from time to time, with the United States, its longtime ally), it emerged as a leading member in the European Union (EU) and its predecessors. From 1966 to 1995 France did not participate in the integrated military structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), retaining full control over its own air, ground, and naval forces; beginning in 1995, however, France was represented on the NATO Military Committee, and in 2009 French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that the country would rejoin the organization’s military command. As one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—together with the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and China—France has the right to veto decisions put to the council. The capital and by far the most important city of France is Paris, one of the world’s preeminent cultural and commercial centres. A majestic city known as the ville lumière, or “city of light,” Paris has often been remade, most famously in the mid-19th century under the command of Georges-Eugène, Baron Haussman, who was committed to Napoleon III’s vision of a modern city free of the choleric swamps and congested alleys of old, with broad avenues and a regular plan. Paris is now a sprawling metropolis, one of Europe’s largest conurbations, but its historic heart can still be traversed in an evening’s walk. Confident that their city stood at the very centre of the world, Parisians were once given to referring to their country as having two parts, Paris and le désert, the wasteland beyond it. Metropolitan Paris has now extended far beyond its ancient suburbs into the countryside, however, and nearly every French town and village now numbers a retiree or two driven from the city by the high cost of living, so that, in a sense, Paris has come to embrace the desert and the desert Paris. Among France’s other major cities are Lyon, located along an ancient Rhône valley trade route linking the North Sea and the Mediterranean; Marseille, a multiethnic port on the Mediterranean founded as an entrepôt for Greek and Carthaginian traders in the 6th century bce; Nantes, an industrial centre and deepwater harbour along the Atlantic coast; and Bordeaux, located in southwestern France along the Garonne River. Land of France France lies near the western end of the great Eurasian landmass, largely between latitudes 42° and 51° N. Roughly hexagonal in outline, its continental territory is bordered on the northeast by Belgium and Luxembourg, on the east by Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, on the south by the Mediterranean Sea, Spain, and Andorra, on the west by the Bay of Biscay, and on the northwest by the English Channel (La Manche). To the north, France faces southeastern England across the narrow Strait of Dover (Pas de Calais). Monaco is an independent enclave on the south coast, while the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean is treated as an integral part of the country. Relief The French landscape, for the most part, is composed of relatively low-lying plains, plateaus, and older mountain blocks, or massifs. This pattern clearly predominates over that of the younger, high ranges, such as the Alps and the Pyrenees. The diversity of the land is typical of Continental Europe. Three main geologic regions are distinguishable: the skeletal remains of ancient mountains that make up the Hercynian massifs; the northern and western plains; and the higher young fold mountains in the south and southeast, including the Alps and the Pyrenees, with their attendant narrow plains. Much of the detailed relief can be attributed geologically to the varying differences in the resistance of rocks to erosion. A great deal of the present landscape detail is due to glaciation during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). France lay outside the range of the great ice sheets that descended upon the northern part of Europe, so the direct sculpting of the land by ice was restricted to the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Vosges, Corsica, and the highest summits of the Massif Central. Just outside these glacial areas, in what are known as periglacial lands, repeated freezing and thawing of unprotected surfaces modified slopes by the movement of waste sheets (formed of shattered bedrock), producing very much the landscape that exists today. Pleistocene periglacial action generated the sheets of the fine windblown limon, or loess, that is the basis of the most fertile lowland soils, and it possibly also created the Landes, a sandy plain in southwestern France. The development of river terraces (flat, raised surfaces alongside valleys) was another characteristic of periglacial action. More …. Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/France

2022/07/14

After Royal Lazienki the Odyssea cantata was also performed in Kraśnik, home to the 24th Lancers regiment.

This is the unit of Henryk Seroka, Maczek-veteran and father of Henri Seroka, composer and conductor of the cantata, dedicated to the odyssey of General Maczek and his soldiers during and after WWII. The citizens of Kraśnik clearly enjoyed the captivating music in the perfect setting of the city’s open air amphitheater, and thanked the artists with a standing ovation and insistent calls for an ‘encore’.

2022/07/13

Visit of The Deputy Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and Sultan of Perak, His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah, 21 to 24 June 2022

His Royal Highness Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah, the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and Sultan of Perak, is visiting Singapore from 21 to 24 June 2022 at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

2022/07/13

Statehood Day of Montenegro

Montenegro, country located in the west-central Balkans at the southern end of the Dinaric Alps. It is bounded by the Adriatic Sea and Croatia (southwest), Bosnia and Herzegovina (northwest), Serbia (northeast), Kosovo (east), and Albania (southeast). Montenegro’s administrative capital is Podgorica, though its cultural centre is the historical capital and older city of Cetinje. For much of the 20th century Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia, and from 2003 to 2006 it was a component of the federated union of Serbia and Montenegro.The country’s names—both Montenegro (from Venetian Italian) and Crna Gora—denote “Black Mountain,” in reference to Mount Lovćen (5,738 feet [1,749 metres]), its historical centre near the Adriatic Sea and its stronghold in the centuries of struggle with the Turks. Alone among the Balkan states, Montenegro was never subjugated. The old heartland of Montenegro, in the southwest, is mainly a karstic region of arid hills, with some cultivable areas—e.g., around Cetinje and in the Zeta valley. The eastern districts, which include part of the Dinaric Alps (Mount Durmitor), are more fertile and have large forests and grassy uplands. The drainage system of Montenegro flows in two opposite directions. The Piva, Tara, and Lim rivers follow northerly courses, the Morača and Zeta rivers southerly ones.Relief The terrain of Montenegro ranges from high mountains along its borders with Kosovo and Albania, through a segment of the Karst region of the western Balkan Peninsula, to a narrow coastal plain that is only 1 to 4 miles (2 to 6 km) wide. The coastal plain disappears completely in the north, where Mount Lovćen and other peaks rise abruptly from the inlet of the Gulf of Kotor. The coastal region is noted for seismic activity. Montenegro’s section of the Karst lies generally at an elevation of 3,000 feet (900 metres) above sea level—although some areas rise to 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). The lowest segment is in the valley of the Zeta River, which is at about 1,500 feet (450 metres). The river occupies the centre of Nikšić Polje, a flat-floored, elongated depression typical of karstic regions, as is the predominantly limestone underlying rock, which dissolves to form sinkholes and underground caves.The high mountains of Montenegro include some of the most rugged terrain in Europe and average more than 7,000 feet (2,000 metres) in elevation. Notable is Bobotov Peak in the Durmitor Mountains, which reaches 8,274 feet (2,522 metres) and is the country’s highest point. The Montenegrin mountains were the most ice-eroded section of the Balkan Peninsula during the last glacial period.Drainage Montenegro’s surface runoff in the north is carried away by the Lim and Tara river systems, which enter the Danube via the Drina River, which forms the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In southern Montenegro, streams flow toward the Adriatic. Much of the drainage of the karstic region is not on the surface but travels in underground channels. Lake Scutari (known in Montenegro as Skadarsko Jezero), the country’s largest lake, lies near the coast and extends across the international border into northern Albania. It is 25 miles (40 km) long and 10 miles (16 km) wide, with a total surface area of 140 square miles (360 square km), and some three-fifths of it lies within Montenegrin territory. The lake occupies a karstic polje depression, the floor of which lies below sea level. Montenegro’s mountainous regions are noted for their numerous smaller lakes. Soils A distinctive feature of Montenegro is the accumulations of terra rossa in its coastal area. This red soil, a product of the weathering of dolomite and limestone rocks, is also found in depressions in the Karst. Mountainous areas above the plateaus have typical gray-brown forest soils and podzols. Climate Montenegro’s lower areas have a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Temperature varies greatly with elevation. Podgorica, lying near sea level, is noted for having the warmest July temperatures in the country, averaging 81 °F (27 °C). Cetinje, in the Karst region at an elevation of 2,200 feet (670 metres), has an average temperature that is 10 °F (5 °C) lower. Average January temperatures range from 46 °F (8 °C) at Bar on the southern coast to 27 °F (−3 °C) in the northern mountains. Montenegro’s mountainous regions receive some of the highest amounts of rainfall in Europe. Annual precipitation at Crkvice, in the Karst above the Gulf of Kotor, is nearly 200 inches (5,100 mm). Like most areas along the Mediterranean Sea, precipitation occurs principally during the cold part of the year, but in the higher mountains a secondary summer maximum is present. Snow cover is rare along the Montenegrin coast, averaging 10 days in karstic polje depressions and increasing to 120 days in the higher mountains. Plant and animal life One-third of Montenegro, principally in the high mountains, remains covered with broad-leaved forest. However, bare rock characterizes most of the southern Karst zone, where soils generally are absent. This area remained forested through Classical times, with oaks and cypresses predominating, but removal of forests for domestic fuel and construction led to widespread soil erosion and, ultimately, to replacement of the woodlands by the Mediterranean scrub assemblage known as maquis. Sparsely populated Montenegro is noted as a habitat for numerous mammals, including bears, deer, martens, and wild pigs (Sus scrofa). It has many predatory wild animals, including wolves, foxes, and wildcats. The country also has a rich variety of birds, reptiles, and fish. People of Montenegro - Ethnic groups Differences between Montenegrins and Serbs are a matter of continuing controversy. Although isolated from each other for centuries during the Ottoman period, when Albanian families came to dominate the intervening Kosovo region, both groups retained their Orthodox religious traditions and many other common cultural attributes—including the Cyrillic alphabet. Because of such obvious commonalities, most Serbs see Montenegrins as “Mountain Serbs,” and many—but certainly not all—Montenegrins see themselves as Serb in origin. Fluctuations between a Serb and a Montenegrin identity have been reflected in census figures. In 1981, for example, more than two-thirds of the residents of Montenegro identified themselves as Montenegrin, while only a tiny percentage reported themselves as Serb. By the early 1990s those proportions had changed to about three-fifths and one-tenth, respectively. In the early 21st century almost half of the population was identified as Montenegrin and about one-fourth as Serb. The largest non-Serb minorities are Bosniaks (Muslims) and Albanians, the former concentrated in the northern mountains and the latter along the Adriatic coast. Nearly three-fourths of the population of the coastal community of Ulcinj is Albanian.Languages and religion During the long period of separation from Serbia, Montenegrins developed characteristics and institutions of their own. For example, they did not adhere to the Serbian Orthodox Church but were led by their own metropolitan until the Montenegrin church was absorbed into the Serbian patriarchate in 1920. In addition, Montenegrin pronunciation is closer to Croatian than to Serbian. A strong nationalist movement grew alongside Montenegrin resentment of Serbian attempts to minimize their distinctiveness. Many (but by no means all) Montenegrins joined Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs in insisting that what is spoken in each of their respective countries is a language distinct from neighbouring languages, despite mutual intelligibility. Thus, they prefer that their language be called Montenegrin. Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, and Croatian are all recognized by the constitution as official languages. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Montenegro

2022/07/13

Ambasador Kolumbii odwiedza Kraków

Podczas wizyty Panu Ambasadorowi towarzyszyła Konsul Honorowa Kolumbii w Krakowie Joanna Natasza Wais. Spotkanie z Prezydentem Jackiem Majchrowskim miało charakter kurtuazyjny i zapoznawczy, była to bowiem pierwsza oficjalna wizyta Pana Ambasadora w Krakowie. Ambasador Peña zastąpił na stanowisku J.E. Javiera Dario Higuerę, który – we wrześniu 2021 roku – dokonał otwarcia Konsulatu Honorowego Kolumbii w Krakowie.

2022/07/12

Prezentacja priorytetów czeskiej Prezydencji w Radzie UE

Ambasador Jakub Dürr w piątek 1 lipca br. w siedzibie Ambasady w obecności ministra ds. europejskich Konrada Szymańskiego zainaugurował czeską Prezydencję w Razie UE. W uroczystej inauguracji brali udział członkowie korpusu dyplomatycznego, w tym Ambasador Francji Frédéric Billet, Marzenna Guz-Vetter p. o. Szefowej Przedstawicielstwa KE w Polsce oraz pracownicy polskich ministerstw.

2022/07/12

Spotkanie Marszałek Sejmu z Ambasadorem Estonii

Pomoc ukraińskim uchodźcom oraz współpraca na linii Warszawa – Tallin to główne wątki środowych, 22 czerwca, rozmów marszałek Sejmu Elżbiety Witek z ambasadorem Estonii Martinem Rogerem, kończącym misję dyplomatyczną w Polsce. W trakcie spotkania poruszono też tematy związane z kryzysem koalicyjnym w Estonii oraz sytuacją na granicy polsko-białoruskiej.

2022/07/12

Independence Day of the Democratic Republic of the St. Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome and Principe, island country of Central Africa, located on the Equator in the Gulf of Guinea. It consists of two main islands—São Tomé and Príncipe—and several rocky islets, including Rôlas, south of São Tomé island, and Caroço, Pedras, and Tinhosas, south of Príncipe. Land São Tomé, which is oval in shape, is larger than Príncipe, which lies about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of its sister island. The capital of the country, São Tomé city, is situated in the northeastern part of São Tomé island. The country’s closest neighbours are Gabon and Equatorial Guinea on the Atlantic coast of central Africa. Relief and drainage In the south and west of both islands, high volcanic mountains fall precipitously to the sea, although neither island has witnessed any volcanic activity in recent centuries. The mountains descend gradually to small plains in the northeast. São Tomé Peak, the highest point on the main island, rises to 6,640 feet (2,024 metres) above sea level, and Príncipe Peak on the smaller island reaches 3,110 feet (948 metres). These mountainous areas are deeply dissected by stream erosion, and spectacular isolated volcanic plugs stand out as landmarks. Swift and rocky streams rush down to the coast in every direction. Climate The climate is basically maritime and tropical, but, because of the rough topography, there is a wide range of microclimates. The prevailing moist southwesterly winds are intercepted by the mountains, so annual rainfall exceeds 275 inches (7,000 mm) in the southwestern part of São Tomé island, while the far northeast receives less than 30 inches (760 mm). The dry season, called gravana, lasts from June to September in the northeast but is scarcely discernible in the wetter regions. In the coastal areas the mean annual temperature is high, in the low 80s F (upper 20s C); the average relative humidity is also high, about 80 percent. Average temperatures decline sharply with elevation, and night temperatures fall below 50 °F (10 °C) at about 2,300 feet (700 metres). Above 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) fine misty rain falls almost continuously and the nights are cold, although frost and snow are unknown. Plant and animal life The original vegetation of the islands was luxuriant tropical rainforest, with a gradual transition from lowland forest to mist forest. Some of the islands’ area, mainly in the south and west, is still covered with rainforest. Much of this is secondary growth on abandoned plantation land. The flora and fauna include many rare and endemic species, reflecting the isolation and environmental diversity of the islands. Birds such as the ibis, shrike, and grosbeak can be found in Sao Tome and Principe. Many of the plants, birds, reptiles, and small mammals are threatened by pressure on the remaining rainforest. People - Ethnic groups The population consists mainly of Forros (from forro, Portuguese for “free man”), descendants of immigrant Europeans and enslaved Africans. Another group, the Angolares, descended from formerly enslaved Angolans who were shipwrecked on São Tomé about 1540. The Angolares remained apart in the isolated southern zone of São Tomé island until the late 19th century, but they later spread throughout the country and became largely assimilated. Cabo Verdeans form the largest group of resident foreigners; many have adopted Sao Tomean nationality. Angolans and Mozambicans make up most of the rest of the African immigrant community. Like the Cabo Verdeans, they are relatively well integrated with the other islanders, because of a shared Luso-African cultural background. There is a small European population—primarily Portuguese—in the country. Languages Standard Portuguese is the official language and is understood by virtually all islanders. In addition, three Portuguese-based creoles are spoken: Sãotomense, spoken by the Forros and having by far the largest number of speakers; Angolar, the language of the Angolares, spoken on the southern tip of São Tomé; and Principense, spoken by only a few hundred individuals on Príncipe. Religion More than half of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. The remainder of those professing a religious affiliation is primarily Protestant. Traditional African religious practices and beliefs are widespread, even among adherents of other faiths. About one-fifth of the population identifies as nonreligious. Settlement patterns Almost three-fourths of the population resides in urban areas. The population is concentrated in the drier and flatter areas of both islands. Whereas a third of the inhabitants live in São Tomé city and its outskirts, only about 5 percent live on the island of Príncipe. Many people live in dispersed settlements known locally as lucháns. Houses made of wooden planks and raised above the ground are typical of the local building methods, although there are also many concrete structures in the Portuguese colonial style. Many people still live in barracklike accommodations on the plantations. Demographic trends Population growth is above the world average but below the average for sub-Saharan Africa. About two-fifths of the population is younger than 15 years of age, and another one-fourth is younger than 30, assuring continued rapid growth. Life expectancy in the early 21st century was more than 65 years of age, relatively high for an African country and close to the world average. Economy of Sao Tome and Principe Decades of colonial stagnation were followed by economic disruption after independence in 1975. Under the tutelage of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank since the mid-1980s, Sao Tome and Principe has tried to restore a functioning economy by devaluing its currency, reducing the budget deficit, privatizing formerly nationalized companies, attracting foreign investment, and removing price subsidies and controls. Despite all efforts and considerable inflows of foreign funds, however, the results of the imposed reforms did not match the original targets. During that time corruption became rampant, and mass poverty increased tremendously. In the late 1990s, IMF measures helped the country’s economy improve considerably, as did the advent of petroleum concessions sales, which continued into the 21st century. Sao Tome and Principe’s economy has historically been dependent on agriculture, and much of the total agricultural area of the two islands belongs to the state. Until 1993 this land was divided into 15 large plantation enterprises, but, by the end of the decade, most of the former plantations were dissolved and their land distributed to smallholders and medium-sized enterprises on a usufruct basis as part of attempted agricultural reform. High levels of unemployment coexist with a critical labour shortage on the former plantations, where wages and working conditions are poor. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing São Tomé is endowed with excellent conditions for tropical agriculture. The growing season is long, the volcanic soils are fertile, and there is no lack of water. Consequently, the economy remains dependent on plantation agriculture, especially cacao (grown for its seeds, cocoa beans). About two-fifths of the total land area is under cultivation, with cacao trees covering a little less than two-thirds of the cultivated land; coconut palms cover most of the remainder. Large areas of plantation land have been poorly maintained since independence; they are harvested from time to time but not otherwise tended. The country has never been self-sufficient in staple foodstuffs, and a combination of local eating habits, the legacy of the plantation economy, and foreign food aid has undermined the production of food crops for the local market. Fine stands of timber remain in the mountains, but the difficulty of removing logs from the steep terrain and the pressing need for effective conservation limit long-term prospects. The country’s small size prevents farmers from keeping large herds of livestock, but conditions for poultry raising are quite favourable. Fishing resources are limited by the narrow continental shelf. The domestic demand for fish exceeds supply by the local artisan fishermen, and trawlers from European Union countries pay small license fees for the right to fish in the country’s national waters. The deep-sea tuna resources of the Gulf of Guinea and shellfish in coastal waters represent the best hopes for fishery exports. Resources and power There are numerous sites for small hydroelectric schemes but no large rivers for major installations. The islands have no known mineral resources, but the country claims an area of the Gulf of Guinea that may have considerable deepwater hydrocarbon reserves; in the late 1990s and early 2000s this potential attracted foreign investors who purchased exploration concessions. In 2001 Sao Tome and Principe and Nigeria reached an agreement to oversee the exploration and development of potential oil fields in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), an area of overlapping maritime boundaries about 125 miles (200 km) from the Nigerian coast. The agreement was renegotiated in 2003, after which oil companies began bidding for the right to develop sections within the JDZ. The first exploratory drilling in the JDZ began in 2006. Manufacturing Manufacturing, which accounts for a tiny fraction of the gross domestic product, is hampered by the small size of the domestic market, limited energy resources, and the lack of skilled labour. It consists mainly of small processing factories producing foodstuffs, beverages, soap products, bricks, and sawn wood for the domestic market. Finance and trade Sao Tome and Principe is reputed to be the recipient of one of the highest amounts of foreign aid per capita in the world, but this has not prevented large budgetary and balance-of-payment deficits. There are several commercial banks active in the country, and the Central Bank of Sao Tome and Principe controls foreign exchange dealings and issues the country’s currency, the dobra. Cocoa, despite decreasing production, still accounts for almost all foreign exchange earnings from merchandise exports. Belgium, the Netherlands, and France are the country’s most significant export destinations. Portugal is the main source of imports. Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Sao-Tome-and-Principe  

2022/07/12

Réception en l’honneur des bacheliers et des récipiendaires des Palmes académiques du LFV

L’Ambassadeur de France en Pologne, M. Frédéric Billet, a reçu le 23 juin 2022, à la Résidence de France, les nouveaux bacheliers du Lycée français de Varsovie, leurs parents ainsi qu’une partie de l’équipe pédagogique et administrative du Lycée. Les résultats de cette année sont à nouveau marqués par l’excellence avec un taux de réussite de 98% et 85,4% de mentions.

2022/07/11