Sunday, October 19, 2014
London: London
London: London: London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom w...
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
Oman
Oman {audio notes }
Oman (
i/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-MAAN; Arabic: عمان ʻUmān), officially called the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It has a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest and also shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.From the 17th century, Oman had its own empire, and vied with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, and modern-day Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar (present-day Tanzania).[7] As its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under heavy influence from the United Kingdom, though Oman was never formally part of the British Empire, or a British protectorate. Oman's official religion is Ibadi Islam.
Omani people are ethnically diverse[8] and are composed of Arabs, ethnic Balochis, Swahilis, ethnic Lurs (who speak Kumzari), Hindus and Mehri people. The largest non-Arab Omani community are Balochi people, who are an Iranian people following the Sunni faith.[9] At least 12 different languages are native to Omani citizens.[10] Oman is an absolute monarchy in which the Sultan of Oman exercises ultimate authority, but its parliament has some legislative and oversight powers.[11] Oman is a member of Gulf Cooperation Council, United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League. It has long standing military and political ties with the United Kingdom and the United States.[12]
Unlike its resource-rich neighbors, Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking at 25th globally.[13][14] Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. Additionally, Oman is categorized as a high income economy and ranks as the 45th most peaceful country in the world.
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Oman-Oasisclick here for audio note |
OMAN.mp3
Mauritius
Mauritius {audio notes}
Mauritiusi/məˈrɪʃəs/ (French: Maurice), officially the Republic of Mauritius (French: République de Maurice), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues (560 kilometres (350 mi) east of the principal island), the islands of Agalega and the archipelago Saint Brandon. Mauritius claims sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago
situated 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) to the north east; the United
Kingdom excised the archipelago from Mauritian territory prior to
Mauritius' independence and gradually depopulated it. The islands of
Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion, 170 km (110 mi) south west, form part of the Mascarene Islands. The area of the country is 2040 km2. Its capital is Port Louis.The first Portuguese explorers found no indigenous people living on the island in 1507. The Dutch settled on the island in 1638 and abandoned it in 1710. Five years later, the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. The British took control of Mauritius in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. The country remained under British rule until it became an independent Commonwealth realm on 12 March 1968 and a republic within the Commonwealth on 12 March 1992.
The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural; most Mauritians are multilingual, and English, French, Creole and Asian languages are used.[6] The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. Mauritius is highly ranked for democracy and for economic and political freedom.
The island of Mauritius was the only home of the Dodo bird. The bird became extinct fewer than eighty years after its discovery.
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mountain ranges and sugar cane plantation
click here for audio notes Mauritius
Republic-Of-Mauritius.mp3
Czech Republic
Czech Republic {audio notes}
The Czech Republic (
i/ˈtʃɛk rɨˈpʌblɪk/ CHEK RƏPUBLIK;[10] Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] (
), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈt͡ʃɛsko]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Germany to the west and north-west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the north-east. Prague is the capital and largest city, with 1.3 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as a small part of Silesia.The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia (Čechy), was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under the dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslids. In 1002, Bohemia was formally recognized as a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire,[11][12] rising to the status of kingdom in 1212. During the rule of the Přemyslids and their successors, the Luxembourgs, Bohemia expanded in size until reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. During the Hussite wars, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and crusades from all over Europe.
Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Kingdom of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts, alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) against the catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War, after which the monarchy consolidated its rule, re-imposed Catholicism, and adopted a policy of gradual Germanization. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian kingdom became part of the Austrian Empire. In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. After 1933, Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in central and eastern Europe.
Following the Munich Agreement and the Polish annexation of Zaolzie, Czechoslovakia fell under German occupation during World War II. By 1945, a major portion of the country was liberated by the Red Army, and the subsequent gratitude towards the Soviets, combined with disillusionment with the West for failing to intervene, led the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia to victory in the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a single-party communist state under Soviet influence. In 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended with an invasion by the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries (with the exception of Romania). Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed and a multiparty parliamentary republic was formed. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into its constituent states: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
The country is among the top 30 nations with the highest human development in the world. It possesses an advanced economy [13] and in 2006 became the first former member of Comecon to achieve the status of a developed country, according to the World Bank[14]. The Czech Republic also ranks as the ninth-most peaceful country in Europe, while achieving the best performance in democratic governance and infant mortality in the region. It is a pluralist parliamentary representative democracy with membership in the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
Flag of the Czech Republic
_-_CZE_-_UNOCHA.svg.png)
click here for audio note of Czech Republic
The-Czech-Republic.mp3
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Tunisia
Tunisia {audio notes}
Tunisia (USi/tuːˈniːʒə/ too-NEE-zhə or UK /tjuːˈnɪziə/ tew-NIZ-i-ə; Arabic: تونس Tūnis pronounced [ˈtuːnɪs]; French: Tunisie;[Notes 1] Berber: ⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ), officially the Tunisian Republic (though often referred to in English as the "Republic of Tunisia";[8] Arabic: الجمهورية التونسية al-Jumhūriyyah at-Tūnisiyyah; French: République tunisienne; Berber: ⵜⴰⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ); is the northernmost country in Africa[Notes 2] and, at almost 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi) in area, the smallest country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. As of 2013, its population is estimated at just under 10.8 million.[3] Its name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, located on the country's northeast coast.Geographically, Tunisia contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert. Much of the rest of the country's land is fertile soil. Its 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin and, by means of the Sicilian Strait and Sardinian Channel, features the African mainland's second and third nearest points to Europe after Gibraltar.
Tunisia has an association agreement with the European Union and is a member of La Francophonie, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League and the African Union. Close relations with Europe – in particular, with France – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation and industrial modernization.
In 2011, a revolution resulted in the overthrow of the autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali followed by the country's first free elections. Since then, Tunisia has been consolidating its young democracy.
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The Roman amphitheater in El Djem, built during the first half of the 3rd century AD
clik here for audio note Tunisia
INDIA-GLOBAL-ON-TUNISIA.mp3
Tanzania {audio notes}
Tanzania /ˌtænzəˈniːə/, officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania),[6] is a country in East Africa in the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern border is formed by the Indian Ocean. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.
The country is divided into 30 administrative regions: five on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and 25 on the mainland in the former Tanganyika.[7] The head of state is President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the official capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, where the National Assembly and some government offices are located. Between independence and 1996, the main coastal city of Dar es Salaam served as the country's political capital. It remains Tanzania's principal commercial city and is the main location of most government institutions.[7][8] It is also the principal port of the country.[9]
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.[7] On 29 October of the same year, the country was renamed United Republic of Tanzania ('Tan' comes from Tanganyika and 'Zan' from Zanzibar).[7] The Articles of Union are the main foundation of Tanzania
Bangladesh
Bangladesh{audio notes}
Bangladesh /bɑːŋlɑːdɛʃ/;
i/ˌbæŋɡləˈdæʃ/ (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ, pronounced: [ˈbaŋlad̪eʃ] ( ), lit. "The nation of Bengal"), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônôprôjatôntri Bangladesh), is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India to its west, north and east; Burma to its southeast and separated from Nepal and Bhutan by the Chicken’s Neck corridor. To its south, it faces the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is the world's eighth-most populous country, with over 160 million people, and among the most densely populated countries. It forms part of the ancient and historic ethno-linguistic region of Bengal, along with the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.The present-day borders of Bangladesh took shape during the Partition of Bengal and British India in 1947, when the region became part of the newly formed state of Pakistan. Declared as East Pakistan, it separated from West Pakistan by 1500 miles of Indian territory. Due to political exclusion, ethnic and linguistic discrimination and economic neglect by the politically-dominant western wing; popular agitation, nationalism and civil disobedience led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. After independence, the new state proclaimed a secular democracy. However, it endured years of poverty, famine, political turmoil and numerous military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm and economic progress.
Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary republic, with an elected parliament called the Jatiyo Sangshad. Bengalis form the country's largest ethnic group, along with indigenous peoples in northern and southeastern districts. Geographically, the country is dominated by the fertile Bengal delta, the largest delta in the world, and is described as the land of rivers. The four largest religions in the country are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity.
Bangladesh is identified as a Next Eleven economy. It has achieved significant strides in human and social development since independence, including in progress in gender equity, universal primary education, food production, health and population control.[7][8][9] It is home to a vibrant and diverse civil society, including BRAC, the world's largest NGO, and the Grameen Bank, the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer of microfinance. However, Bangladesh continues to face numerous political, economic, social and environmental challenges, including political instability, corruption, poverty, overpopulation and climate change.
Bangladesh is a leading pioneer and founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It contributes one of the largest peacekeeping forces to United Nations. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the OIC, NAM, the Developing 8 Countries and BIMSTEC
National Emblem of Bangladesh
Flag of Bangladesh
click here for audio note of Bangladesh
Republic-of-Bangladesh.mp3
Satellite image showing physical features of Bangladesh
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