Chorbat Valley

Chorbat Valley (, Balti: ) is a section of the Shyok river valley divided between Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and Indian-administered Ladakh. The Pakistan-administered portion is in the Khaplu tehsil, Ghanche District of Gilgit–Baltistan and the Indian-administered portion is in the Nubra tehsil, Leh district of Ladakh. Chorbat stretches from the abandoned village of Khaplu to the Bogdang village of Nubra.
The Khan of Chorbat moved his capital from Siksa (originally called "Chorbat") to Turtuk in the 18th century. These two villages (now in Pakistan and India respectively) are the largest villages of the Chorbat region.
Geography.
Chorbat is an indistinct region at the border between Baltistan and Ladakh near the course of the Shyok River. It is marked by
In the early decades of the Jammu and Kashmir princely state, there was a Chorbat (subdistrict) in the Baltistan (district). It stretched along the Shyok River valley from a village called Dou-U (Dawou) in the west to Chalunka in the east.
Between the Chorbat village and the Chorbat La pass lies the Chorbat Lungpa valley. To the south of the Chorbat La pass, the Hanu valley carries a stream that flows down to join the Indus River near the village of Dah. The Chorbat Lungpa and Hanu valleys constituted the main route from Baltistan to Ladakh in the past. The villages in the Hanu valley as well as Dah are fortified, indicating that they experienced raids from Baltistan in the past. Being the main travel route between Baltistan and Leh, the route carried part of the Silk Road traffic, which enriched the people of Chorbat.
The main populated areas in Chorbat are in the Shyok River valley, comprising some 13 villages in present-day Baltistan, and 5 villages in Indian-administered Ladakh. The area is said to have been originally settled by people from Ladakh. At present, the people display a mix of Ladakhi and Balti influences.
Geographically, the wide valley of the Shyok river in "Lower Nubra" narrows to a mountain gorge near the Yagulung village (). The Shyok flows through the gorge until Khaplu, where the valley widens again. A string of villages dot this gorge, wherever possible along the banks of the river: Bogdang, Chalunka, Turtuk, Tyakshi, and Thang on the Indian side of the Line of Control; Franu, Siari, Piun, Siksa, Hassanabad, Marcha, Lunkha, and Dawou on the Pakistani side. The folklore includes all these villages in Chorbat.
The valley is surrounded by high rising peaks of the Karakoram mountain range and the bank the Shyok River. The climate is hard with little rain and extremely cold winters due to proximity to Siachen Glacier and other peaks and glaciers.
Chorbat occupies .
History.
According to scholar Rohit Vohra, the original settlers of the area were Brog-pa Dards. Above the present day Turtuk stand the ruins of a large fortress built by them. The tradition holds that the Brog-pa Dards were Buddhist and lived under a constant danger of attack from the north, until two warriors from the 'west' called Chulli and Yandrung overran them. The Brog-pas are said to have fled and settled in the Hanu valley. The present day residents of Turtuk are divided into 'Chulli-pa' and 'Yandrung-pa', claiming descent from Chulli and Yandrung.
At some later date (16th–17th centuries), Islamic missionaries came to the area. The traditions narrate the visits of 'Amir Kabir' (possibly Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani) and Sayyid Nur Baksh, who defeated the Buddhist lamas in debate and converted the people to Islam.
A Yabghu (Tibetan spelling: Yagbo) family was in control of Khaplu from some uncertain date ( according to tradition). In the 18th century, the Chorbat area was given by the ruler Yabgo Yahya Khan of Khaplu to his son Yagbo Nasir Khan, who came to live in Turtuk. The present headman of Turtuk traces his descent to him.
Modern history.
During the last three centuries, the Chorbat area alternatively came under the control of Khaplu and Ladakh. Between 1834–1840, the Dogra general Zorawar Singh conquered both Ladakh and Baltistan and made them part of the Sikh Empire. Under the Treaty of Amritsar, the areas were transferred to Maharaja Gulab Singh to form part of a new princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under the suzerainty of the British. Baltistan was at first administered as a with 15 , Chorbat being one of them. Later, Ladakh and Baltistan formed a joint whose capital alternated between Leh and Skardu for six months each year.
India–Pakistan conflicts.
In 1947, after the independence of India and Pakistan, Pakistan launched a tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir, which provoked the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir to join India. The Gilgit Agency to the north rebelled and overthrew the Maharaja's administration. The Gilgit Scouts and the Muslim members of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces stationed in the area organised themselves under the command of Colonel Aslam Khan, and launched an invasion on the Ladakh . By July–August 1948, the Gilgit Scouts overran Kargil, Skardu and the Zoji La pass that connects Ladakh to the Kashmir Valley, reaching the vicinity of Leh.
But Leh held, reinforced by air and a tortuous mountain caravan from Himachal Pradesh. The Indian Army raised a local militia called Nubra Guards under the command of 17-year old Chewang Rinchen, which reportedly blocked various passage routes to Leh.
The Gilgit Scouts were progressively pushed back beyond the line connecting the Chorbat La pass and Chalunka. The ceasefire line was established through these two points at the end of 1948. The entire Chorbat came under the control of Pakistan. (Bogdang, never a part of the , remained under Indian control.)
Under Pakistani control, Gilgit dominated Baltistan, and both the regions were administered as a non-descript "Northern Areas" by the Federal government of Paksitan. Chorbat was merged into the Khaplu during this period.
Two further wars were fought by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. In the 1965 war, the region saw some action, but the two countries returned to status quo after the war. However, the Khan of Turtuk, Yagbo Mohammad Khan Kacho, was apparently looted by the Pakistani Army of his throne and all other valuables.
In the war of 1971, Rinchen's Nubra Guards, now part of Ladakh Scouts, proceeded to capture further areas of Chorbat. They first captured a peak at 18,620 feet overlooking Chalunka. Then the two companies of Karakoram Scouts defending Chalunka were overpowered, leading them to flee to Turtuk. Turtuk was then taken in four days, followed by Tyakshi and Thang. The villagers were frightened at first, but Rinchen put them at ease.
Division between India and Pakistan.
After the 1971 war, India and Pakistan reached the Simla Agreement, whereby the ceasefire line of the war became the new Line of Control, permanently dividing Chorbat between India and Pakistan. The Baltis allege that the Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not care about the Balti villages captured by India and neglected to negotiate their return.
The villagers belonging to these villages changed their citizenship from Pakistan to India overnight. Reports indicate that India treated the villagers well and integrated them into the national mainstream. The Indian Army gets special praise in this regard. However, the villagers that had gone to other parts of Pakistan before the war for trade, study or travel remained on the Pakistani side, never allowed to return to their homes. One member of a divided family reports going to the border carrying a white flag and a letter from the Indian Army, wanting to bring back his family. But he was detained by the Pakistani Army and refused return to home.
Balti scholar Senge Sering states that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has attempted to introduce jihad into this area. The local people are confused about their loyalties because they lived under both Pakistani and Indian control, some of them having served in the Pakistan Army before India's take-over. Many of them also have relatives living across the Line of Control who are subject to intimidation by the ISI. During the Kargil infiltration by Pakistan, some of the local people were suspected to have assisted the infiltrators. The Indian Army took some of them into custody, but later released all of them. The local people are said to be grateful for the consideration shown by the Army and currently support the Army's initiatives such as the Operation Sadbhavana.
Alleged Indian intrusions.
Pakistani sources allege that, in 1972, shortly after the signing of the Shimla Agreement, the Indian troops crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in the Chorbat La sector and seized about 4 square miles of Pakistani territory. In 1988, India again crossed the LoC and seized four Pakistani posts in the Qamar sector, which lies between the Chorbat Valley and NJ9842.
Resources.
The natural resources of the valley include agriculture, horticultural resources, the shyok River, mountains and peaks.
The agriculture in the Valley is only summer based due to extreme cold in the winter where temperature goes to minus 10. The crops include some beans, maize and other food crops however communities have experimented less with the agriculture due to the natural limiting factors i.e. extreme cold.
Chorbat valley consists of more than 13 villages in Pakistan and 5 villages in India. In Pakistan, the villages are Dawou, Marcha, Kuwas, Hassanabad, Partuk, Piun, Siksa, Kalaan, Sukhmos, Chhowar, Thongmus, Siari, & Franu, and in India, they are Doethang, Tyaqsi, Turtuk, Chalunka, and Beyoqdan.
Surroundings.
The mountains and surrounding have generally no forests however there are some shrubs and herbs available which are generally used by the local communities as medicinal herbs, there is also a human-made forest of saplings which is the largest forest in the whole district.
The Shyok River passing nearby the valley is one of the important resources of the area, irrigating the whole land. However the same river sometime creates havoc during summer through its unpredictable floods.


Pepiri-Guazu River

The Pepiri-Guazu River (Spanish Río Pepirí Guazú, Portuguese Rio Peperi Guaçu) is a river of Argentina and the Santa Catarina state in southeastern Brazil. For its entire course, it forms a short portion of the international border between Argentina and Brazil. It flows from north to south into the Uruguay River.


Karabakh dialect

The Karabakh dialect (, "Ğarabaği barbař") is an ancient Eastern Armenian dialect with a unique phonetic and syntactic structure mainly spoken in the "de facto" independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and partially in the southern and northeastern parts of the Republic of Armenia, i.e. in the provinces of Artsakh, Utik, Syunik and Gugark of historical Armenia.
The dialect was spoken by most Armenians living in Soviet Azerbaijan, particularly in the cities of Baku and Kirovabad (Ganja). As the first Nagorno-Karabakh War escalated, Armenians of Azerbaijan were forced to leave their homes. Today, most of Armenians immigrants and refugees from Azerbaijan live in Armenia and Russia, where along with standard Armenian and Russian, the Karabakh dialect is sometimes spoken.
The dialect is considered to be one of the most widely spoken Armenian dialects. No accurate information on the number of speakers is available. The population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is around 141,400, according to the 2010 data. An estimated 150,000 diaspora Armenians are originally from Karabakh.
History.
According to Strabo ("Geographica", Book XI, chapter 4), in the 1st century BC, the population of Armenia, up to Kura River, spoke Armenian.
The 8th century Armenian historian Stepanos Syunetsi was the first one to mention the local dialect of Artsakh. In his «Բառք եղերականք» ("Words of Tragedy"), he wrote about the dialect of զԱրցախային meaning "of Artsakh", the historical Armenian name of Karabakh. According to the prominent linguist Hrachia Adjarian, Armenian dialects, including the Karabakh dialect started to develop in the 12th century. Adjarian argues that the damping of b, ɡ, d, dz, dʒ (բ, գ, դ, ձ, ջ) and their transformation to p, k, t, ts, tʃ (պ, տ, կ, ծ, ճ) took place before the invasion of Turkic people to the Armenian Highlands.
In his 1909 book "Classification des dialectes arméniens", Adjarian claims that the Karabakh dialect occupied the largest area of the Armenian dialects. According to Adjarian, it was spoken in the cities of Shusha, Elisabethpol (now Ganja), Nukha (now Shaki), Baku, Derbent, Agstafa, Dilijan, Karaklis (now Vanadzor), Kazak, Lori, Karadagh, Lilava quarter of Tabriz (Iran), Burdur and Ödemiş (in Turkey).
Nagorno-Karabakh ("nagorno" means "mountainous" in Russian, comes from the Soviet-era name of the region, now used by the Western academia for political purposes of neutrality) has been historically populated by Armenians. Since the late Middle Ages, Turkic tribes migrated to the region and by the 19th century it was populated by both Armenians and partially by Azerbaijanis (called "Caucasian Tatars" at the time). After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Karabakh was disputed by independent Armenia and Azerbaijan with none of them completely controlling the claimed area. Karabakh was taken over by the Bolsheviks in 1920 and included in Soviet Azerbaijan in 1923.
Until the late 1980s, most Armenians living in Soviet Azerbaijan spoke the Karabakh dialect. The Karabakh (75% Armenian-populated before the conflict) was officially under jurisdiction of Azerbaijan and was known as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). Besides Karabakh, many Armenians resided in the cities such as Baku, Kirovabad, Sumgait. In the late 1980s, Baku alone had an Armenian population of over 200,000. They were mainly from Karabakh and many of them spoke the dialect, although Russian as the main language of multicultural Baku, including Armenians of Baku.
In 1988, with the relaxation of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev and his policies of "perestroika" and "glasnost", the Armenians demanded the unification of NKAO with Soviet Armenia. The mass movement started in mid-February 1988 and on February 20, 1988, the regional council issued a request to transfer the region to Soviet Armenia. Few days later the Sumgait pogrom took place, leaving dozens of Armenian civilians dead and thousands being forced to leave. This event unofficially starting the first Nagorno-Karabakh War. The clashes escalated to a full-scale war by 1992. Most Armenians of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis of Armenia were forced to leave. The war ended in May 1994 with the Armenian forces establishing "de facto" control of Nagorno-Karabakh and several Azerbaijani districts surrounding the former NKAO. Today, the area is "de facto" under control of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, but is still recognized as "de jure" part of Azerbaijan by the international community.
Today.
Today, almost no Armenians live in Azerbaijan except Nagorno-Karabakh, which is not controlled by the government in Baku, but rather by the local Armenian government of Stepanakert and assisted by the Republic of Armenia. The main area where the Karabakh dialect is spoken in the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In the Republic of Armenia, the dialect is spoken in Syunik Region by the majority of the population, except the city of Sisian and the surrounding villages, where the Yerevan dialect dominates.
The Karabakh dialect is also spoken in northern and northeastern Armenia, but it has been influenced by the other local dialects of the Armenian. In Lori, it is spoken in the eastern part: the Pambak area. In Tavush, the Karabakh dialect is spoken along with the dominant Yerevan dialect. The Chambarak area of the Gegharkunik province is home to Karabakh dialect speakers, too.
Dialectal features.
The Karabakh dialect is very easy to differentiate from standard Eastern Armenian due to its unique phonetics. Unlike the Yerevan dialect (spoken by the majority of Armenians in the Republic of Armenia), the stress falls earlier in the word. Its speakers are "clearly recognizable." Besides including a great amount of Classical Armenian words, many word forms in the Karabakh dialect come directly from the Proto-Indo-European language. The Armenian Highland had been under foreign domination (Arabic, Turkic, Persian, Russian) for centuries and the Karabakh dialect, similar to other Armenian dialects, includes a significant number of foreign words and phrases. Azerbaijani, Persian and Russian had the biggest influence on this dialect.
Palatalization.
The Karabakh dialect is the only Armenian dialect with acute palatalization. Also known as "palatization", palatalization refers to a way of pronouncing a consonant, in which part of the tongue is moved close to the hard palate, which softens that consonant. A consonant pronounced this way is called a "palatalized consonant".
Unique sounds.
The Karabakh dialect features unique vowels and consonants that make it phonetically distinct in comparison with literary Armenian language and the absolute majority of other dialects of Eastern and Western Armenian. These sounds do not have corresponding letters in the Armenian alphabet.
List of unique vowels, expressed with the help of analogous Latin, Latin-derived and Cyrillic characters:
æ (ä): similar to a in English words "maps", "cap", or "gap". Example: կեալ (meaning "to come").
œ (ö): similar to oe in the word "Goethe" in German. Example: քըթէօլ (meaning "spoon").
y (ü): similar to u English words "mute" or "mule". Example: պիւլլիւր (meaning "round").
List of unique consonants, expressed with the help of analogous Latin, Latin-derived and Cyrillic characters:
ɕ similar to Russian щ. Example: եշʲի (meaning "see").
ɡʲ similar to Russian sound г with the Russian soft sign, or sound g in English word "go" but with the Russian soft sign. Example: կնէգʲ (meaning "woman").
kʲʰ similar to Armenian sound ք or English sound q with the Russian soft sign. Example: խոխեքʲ (meaning "children").
Lexicon.
source: Armenian Wikisource: Հայերեն բարբառներ/Արցախ


Bakoy River

The Bakoy or Bakoye River is a river in West Africa. It runs through Guinea and Mali and joins with the Bafing River to form the Sénégal River at Bafoulabé in the Kayes Region of western Mali. In Manding languages, Bakoye signifies 'white river', Bafing 'black river' and Baloué 'red river'.
The source of the Bakoy is at an elevation of 760 m in the granite Monts Ménien to the northwest of Siguiri in Guinea. The river flows north and forms part of the international border between Guinea and Mali. It then meanders across the Manding Plateau and joins its principal affluent, the Baloué, which rises to the west of Bamako. The Bakoy is 560 km in length and drains a basin of around 85,600 km2. The river is seasonal with a maximum flow in September after the start of the West African Monsoon and almost no flow between January and June. The large year-to-year variation in the intensity of the West African Monsoon gives rise to large changes in the discharge of the Bakoy River. For the exceptionally dry year of 1972, the average flow at the Oualia gauging station, 54 km upstream of Bafoulabé, was only 30 m3/s while in 1958 the value was 260 m3/s. The average flow over the period 1951-1978 was 156 m3/s corresponding to an annual discharge of 4.9 km3. At Bafoulabé the average discharge of the Bakoy is between a third and a half of that of the Bafing.


Province of Brabant

The Province of Brabant (, , ) was a province in Belgium from 1830 to 1995. It was created in 1815 as South Brabant, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1995, it was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.
History.
United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created at the Congress of Vienna, consisting of territories which had been added to France by Napoleon: the former Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands. In the newly created kingdom, the former French département Dyle became the new province of South Brabant, distinguishing it from Central Brabant (later Antwerp province); and from North Brabant (now part of the Netherlands), all named after the former Duchy of Brabant.
The provincial governors during this time were:
Belgium.
After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the Southern Netherlands (including South and Central Brabant) became independent as Belgium and later also Luxembourg. The province was then renamed simply Brabant and became the central province of Belgium, with its capital city Brussels. The province contained three arrondissements: Brussels, Leuven and Nivelles.
In 1961–1963 the language border was established, from which the province was divided into a Dutch-speaking region, a French-speaking region and the bilingual Brussels. The Brussels arrondissement was split to this end. In 1989, Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant. In 1995, the province of Brabant was split into the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant, the French-speaking Walloon Brabant and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The Brussels-Capital Region exercises the powers of a Province on its own territory.
Demographics.
As comparison, the current two provinces of Brabant, together with Brussels, had 2,621,275 inhabitants in January 2011.
Number of inhabitants x 1000


Subdivisions of Tanzania

The administrative divisions of Tanzania are controlled by Part I, Article 2.2 of the Constitution of Tanzania. Tanzania is divided into thirty-one regions ("mkoa in Swahili"). Each region is subdivided into districts ("wilaya in Swahili"). The districts are sub-divided into divisions ("tarafa in Swahili") and further into local wards ("kata in Swahili"). Wards are further subdivided for management purposes: for urban wards into streets ("mtaa in Swahili") and for rural wards into villages ("kijiji in Swahili"). The villages may be further subdivided into hamlets ("vitongoji in Swahili").
Regions.
In 1922 under the British Tanganyika was divided into twenty-two regions, known as "divisions": Arusha, Bagamoyo, Bukoba, Daressalam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilwa, Kondoa-Irangi, Lindi, Mahenge, Morogoro, Moshi, Mwanza, Pangani, Rufiji, Rungwe, Songea, Tabora, Tanga, Ufipa, Ujiji, and Usambara.
Districts.
According to the 2012 Tanzania National Census, Tanzania was divided into 169 districts. There is one type of rural district: a "District Council". And there are three types of urban districts: "Town Council", "Municipal Council" and "City Council".
Divisions.
A division is an administrative organization for several Wards.
Wards.
A village is the lowest government administrative structure at the community level. In an urban area, a cluster (mtaa) can include a number of streets. A Ward (Kata) is an administrative structure for one single town or portion of a bigger town (Urban Wards). Rural wards are composed of several villages.


Luzhany

Luzhany (, , ) is an urban-type settlement in Chernivtsi Raion (district) of Chernivtsi Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. It belongs to Mamaivtsi rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
The settlement lies on the banks of the Prut River, about northwest of the regional capital Chernivtsi. As of the 2001 census, the town's population is 4,744. Current population:
History.
First mentioned in a 1452 deed, Luzhany belonged to the Danubian Principality of Moldavia until 1774/75, when upon the Russo-Turkish War its northwestern parts (the Bukovina) were ceded to the Habsburg Monarchy. Incorporated into the Austrian Duchy of Bukovina from 1849, the area fell to Greater Romania after World War I. In 1940, the Romanian state agreed to cede Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, as provided for by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Luzhany became part of independent Ukraine in 1991.
Until 18 July 2020, Luzhany belonged to Kitsman Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Chernivtsi Oblast to three. The area of Kitsman Raion was split between Chernivtsi Raion and Vyzhnytsia Raion, with Luzhany being transferred to Chernivtsi Raion.


Agir (Belgium)

Agir ("Act") was a Belgian far-right political party active in Wallonia. The party existed from 1989 to 1997 and elected representatives at a provincial and municipal level.
The initial base of Agir was the Liège branch of the "Parti des forces nouvelles" (PFN). The PFN had endured poor electoral results as well as adverse publicity following a brawl with police at the Brussels International Book Festival, resulting in the Liège going their own way in 1989. The three founding leaders of Agir were Willy Freson, a one-tine leading activist in the "Front de la Jeunesse", Robert Destordeur, a member of the PFN secretariat and Robert Steuckers, the main ideologue of the "Nouvelle droite" tendency in Belgium.
The party belonged to an authoritarian and xenophobic ideology of the far-right, eschewing the neoliberalism that was growing in importance at the time. The party however rejected the biological racism of its PFN predecessor, preferring instead to emphasise cultural nationalism and identity politics. It strongly supported the repatriation of immigrants. They described themselves as an "opposition popular party" and rejected the label of extreme right.
Agir were ideologically close to the "Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne" (GRECE) and members of the party took place in a number of GRECE conferences. Although of a firmly Walloon identity Agir also sought good relations with the Vlaams Blok. Externally, the party established connections with the German League for People and Homeland and the French National Front as well as individual activists within the neo-Nazi subculture.
The party held seats in the Liège Provincial Council as well as the Municipal Councils within the region. The 4.7% of the vote they captured in the 1991 Provincial election was enough to ensure that Freson captured a seat. However, never operating outside its Liège stronghold, in 1997 the group merged with the Front National (FN). With the FN in disarray at the time, the arrival of the Agir activists led to something of a revival in that party's fortunes.


Ficuzza

Ficuzza is a southern Italian village and hamlet ("frazione") of Corleone, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily. in 2011 it had a population of 112.
History.
Originally a fief belonging to the clergy, the foundation of the settlement is closely related to its Royal Palace (), a hunting lodge commissioned by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies in 1799, started in 1802 and completed in 1807. From 1810 the king lived there until 1813.
In early 20th century, Ficuzza became a favorite holiday destination for the nobility of Palermo, and was declared a climatic health resort in 1901. The request for the granting of state-owned land, in order to build new residences, grew over the years; but the Regional Administration of Forests and State Property of the Sicilian Region rejected the concessions, and the building development of the little village stopped.
Geography.
Ficuzza, located 43 km south of Palermo, lies below Rocca Busambra, the highest peak of the Sicani Mountains; and close to the Bosco della Ficuzza (i.e. "Ficuzza Forest"). The village represents, along with the municipal territories of San Cipirello and San Giuseppe Jato, an enclave in the municipality of Monreale.
It is 10 km far from Godrano, the nearest settlement, 13 from Marineo and Cefalà Diana, 16 from Villafrati, 17 from Corleone and Santa Cristina Gela, 20 from Piana degli Albanesi, and 40 from Monreale.
Popular culture.
Ficuzza was the set of an episode ("Tore", 1x04) of the Italian TV series "The Mafia Kills Only in Summer", based on the homonym film by Pierfrancesco Diliberto. In the episode, focusesd on the murder of the trade union leader Placido Rizzotto, it was shown the little village and the surrounding forest.


External border of the European Union

The border of the European Union consists of European Union (EU) countries' borders with countries which are not members of the EU.
Border status and cooperation.
In 2004 the European Union developed the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) for the promotion of cooperation between the EU and its neighbors to the East and South of the European territory of the EU (i.e., excluding its outermost regions), which, in part, includes the Cross-Border Cooperation programme aimed at the promotion of economic development in border areas and ensuring border security.


Mitrovac, Osijek-Baranja County

Mitrovac is a settlement in the region of Baranja, Croatia. Administratively, it is located in the Čeminac municipality within the Osijek-Baranja County. Population is 64 people.


Saxon Siberia

Saxon Siberia () is a term referring to the higher regions of the Western Ore Mountains and the Vogtland in Central Europe. The term was first coined in the 18th century.
The region was given this name because of the harsh climate experienced on the upper part of the mountain range. In 1732 an Austrian Rectification Commission described the weather at Gottesgab immediately next to the Saxon-Bohemian border as follows:
""Gottesgab is a place [...] lying in the bleakest forests just within Saxon territory, where not even oats grow, nor weeds, nor sloes, nor briars. Summer is not known here at all. The local region typically lies for eight months long under snow, which in many areas is piled several ells high by severe storm winds; in addition, fog comes down so thickly that travellers often lose their way and freeze to death miserably in the snow... "
Comparisons of the Ore Mountains with Siberia, due to their harsh conditions, were encountered by the priest and chronicler Georg Körner from Bockau in 1757. He wrote:
"If you look at the double map of the Ore Mountain districts published by Mr. Matthias Seuttern; you would almost be horrified and imagine that our region is a real desert place, a Little Siberia, and as the Bohemians sarcastically call it, "a land of oats and hunger", but if you look at the many towns and villages, full of people, in the area you would soon lose this preconception.""
In 1775 the term "Saxon Siberia" was first explained in detail in a document entitled Mineralogical History of the Saxon Ore Mountains. It was probably authored by the Saxon genealogist, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier. On page 48 it states:
""Report from the so-called Saxon Siberia. We have here on our high mountains a rather extensive region, which is so wild and harsh that it is usually called Saxon Siberia. It runs from Eybenstock over the Voigtländischen Creys to the Fichtelberg "[i.e. the Fichtelgebirge]". Apart from a few otherwise very bleak places (such as Jöhstadt, Satzungen, Kuhnheyde, Neudorf, Joh. Georgenstadt, Wiesenthal etc.) where potatoes, cabbages, turnips and oats are grown (albeit the latter hardly ripens but is at least used to produce the necessary straw for cattle), not a single potato grows, let alone a kernel of corn. Everything is covered by thick, wild and dark woods, not a single furrow of farmland can be traced. In winter, which lasts for most of the year, the snow generally lies 3 ells high and does not completely disappear until Johannis, especially in the hollows where the snow is brought by the wind from the mountains and lies 10, 20, even 30 ells deep. Only Volcanus has established his workshops here. The hammer works: Ober- und Unter-Blauenthal, Neidhardtsthal, Wildenthal, Wittingthal "[i.e. Wittigsthal]", Schlössel-Unterwiesenthal, Carlsfeld, and their associated glassworks, Morgenroths-Rautenkranzs- and Tannenbergsthal lie partly within and partly around this wilderness. ... the local forest houses are often completely snowed in during the winter, so that their occupants must dig themselves out with shovels and cut channels to enable light to reach their windows ..."
"Meanwhile this bleak desert is the true homeland of our best and most precious stones, some of which are won from the rocks, like the topaz from the Schneckenstein, and some are found among the hybrid plants of the Auersberger, Steinbächer, Sauschwemmer, Knocker und Pechhöfer soap works.""
When August Schumann's Lexikon of Saxony appeared at the beginning of the 19th century in large numbers, the term "Saxon Siberia" became widespread. However, later, many prominent representatives of the Ore Mountain Club described it as "completely inaccurate".
In 1908, Philipp Weigel used the term in the title of his book "Das Sächsische Sibirien".


Bassetts Pole

Bassetts Pole is an area at the Staffordshire–West Midlands–Warwickshire tripoint. Population details can be found under Middleton, Warwickshire. It is sited on the A446 London Road at its junction with the A38.
History.
The name derives from a marker post set up by the Bassett family - owners of the Drayton Estate (hence the nearby village of Drayton Bassett). This delineated the boundary with the Middleton estates of the De Frevilles/Willoughbys/Grazebrooks and the Shenstone estates of the Grazebrooks. There are recorded episodes of several armed encounters with men from the bordering estates around this spot.
Transport.
The site is located on the A446, with easy access to the A38; the Sutton Coldfield bypass and Junction T3 of the M6 Toll motorway. The nearest railway station is Four Oaks, approximately away.


Khaney

Khaney is a village in Ghanche District, Pakistan.


Black Pockau

The Black Pockau ( or "Schwarzwasser", ) is a river of Saxony, Germany, in the Ore Mountains. It is a left tributary of the Flöha. This virtually unspoilt wild stream with a length of is known for the picturesque gorge in its middle reaches.
Its murky waters flowing from bogs in the hills give the river a dark colour. The name Pockau, which was recorded in similar form in 1292, probably comes from the Czech and means "opposed", i.e. a stream flowing from Bohemia towards the north.
Course.
The Black Pockau rises 890 metres above sea level (NHN) in a raised bog northeast of the Jelení hora in the Bohemian Ore Mountains. The (German: "Assigbach"), which flows into the Czech Republic, also has its source here.
After , the stream reaches the German-Czech border at the old road between Přísečnice ("Preßnitz") and Kalek ("Kallich") and flows through the Satzung municipal pond ("Satzunger Gemeindeteich"). From here on, it forms the national border for , as far as the village of (a district of Marienberg). In this section it passes the villages of Satzung (the former village of Ulmbach () on the Bohemian side opposite was demolished in 1945) and Reitzenhain (the village of , that used to be on the Bohemian side, was also abandoned).
In Reitzenhain, from the rafting pond ("Floßteich") by the Neue Welt mill, a ditch known as the provided water from the Black Pockau for overshot waterwheels at the old mines near Marienberg. Water is also diverted from the river at the eastern end of Kühnhaide: the Green Ditch ("") once fed water for overshot wheels at the mine on the "Wildsberg" mountain near Pobershau. The village of Kienhaid ("Načetín I"), that formerly stood on the Bohemian side of the border here, was abandoned. East of Kühnhaide the river changes direction from northeast to north.
The next section of the valley as far as the Kniebreche, the gorge-like Schwarzwasser valley ("Schwarzwassertal"), is considered one of the most picturesque of German valleys in the Central Uplands and is protected as the Schwarzwassertal nature reserve. Around 1985, a dam with a storage capacity of was planned to be built in the southern section, which would have seen the loss of Kühnhaide. These plans, however, were shelved.
In running through this ravine-like valley, the river passes historically important witnesses to the settlement of the Ore Mountains located on the left and right banks or in the nearby vicinity. These include the ruined castle of and the former robber baron castle of Liebenstein as well as the abandoned village of that may have been associated with it.
In the remote Pobershau scattered village of "Hinterer Grund" a hydropower station is fed by water from an artificial ditch or "Kunstgraben". This is the location of the Pobershau conservation station, which offers support to those interested in nature. At the "Kniebreche" near Rittersberg the river is joined by the Red Pockau. From here on, in old maps, the river is just known as the Pockau or Große Pockau (Great Pockau).
North of the "Kniebreche" on both sides of the river are more historic sites. On the right hand bank is the ruined on the crags of the "Löwenkopffelsen" that rise above the valley floor, and the deserted village of , an old mining settlement, on a slip-off slope of the river valley.
Near Niederlauterstein, where the Lautenbach stream joins the river, the Black Pockau passes the ruins of Lauterstein Castle. Further north the Knesenbach, which rises near (a district of Marienberg), empties into the river. Further downstream it passes the , which still uses water power. Here there is a water gauge belonging to the Saxon State Office for the Environment and Geology; its readings are taken regularly and available on the internet. In the municipality of Pockau the Black Pockau finally empties into the Flöha.
Economic use.
In addition to the water diverted by historic ditches for mining purposes, below Kühnhaide and near the Kniebreche are two active weirs that use the river's water power. Their use has been questioned because of their effect on the river bed.
Tourism and sport.
Walking and cycling through the Schwarzwasser valley are possible, both along the river and the along the "Grüner Graben" on the hillside above the river.
The river is suitable for canoeing and white water rafting. The "classic" continuous section between Hinterer Grund and Pockau is even navigable at relatively low water levels. By contrast, several kilometres of challenging white water between Kühnhaide (start) and Hinterer Grund require high water levels.
Fishing is possible with a permit on the section from Pobershau as far as the confluence with the Flöha. The main species are rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, eel and various minnows.
See also.
List of rivers of Saxony


New Home, Georgia

New Home is a small unincorporated community in the most northwestern corner of Dade County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community surrounds the ghost town of Cole City.
Geography.
New Home is located in the northwestern part of Georgia, it borders Alabama state line. Chattanooga is approximately 23 miles from the New Home community. Trenton is 15 miles from the community. Scottsboro, Alabama is about 60 miles away.


Border states

Border states may refer to:


Cornwall Island (Ontario)

Cornwall Island is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, directly south of the city of Cornwall. The island is located completely within Canada, but it is also part of the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve, which straddles the Canada–United States border and the Quebec – Ontario border. The Seaway International Bridge, with a channel crossing on each side of the island, provides road access to Cornwall Island from both Canada and the United States.
Disputes with Canada.
The area has been the scene of several disputes by Akwesasne residents on their rights to cross the border unimpeded, as provided under the 1795 Jay Treaty. Canadian authorities have been increasingly concerned about large-scale cigarette smuggling along this route. There have been arrests and seizures of goods in the past. There is concern among both of the large nations about smuggling as well of liquor, drugs, and migrants through Akwesasne.
Residents of Akwesasne have had their own internal disputes that have sometimes spilled over into the border area. There is continuing controversy associated with the operation of a Class II gambling casino on the reserve. In 1989 unidentified suspects threw firebombs at a chartered bus. In a separate incident, someone fired a shotgun at a bus in the customs area.
Violence has broken out within the reserve and many residents left in 1990 because of the general unrest. The Warrior Society, a self-appointed security force, used assault rifles and bats to break up anti-gambling roadblocks at the reservation entrances. They threatened to shoot any outside law enforcement officials if they entered the reservation.
Canada Border Services Agency dispute.
Border closure.
On May 1, 2009, the Government of Canada announced that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will be permitted firearms at all border crossings along the Canada – United States border starting June 1. Mohawk leaders immediately announced their opposition to the policy, stating that they want an exception made in the policy for the Cornwall border crossing because it is located on Mohawk sovereign land. They launched protests against the policy the same day it was announced. The Akwesasne Mohawk said further that they opposed border guards being armed at the Cornwall border post because it is situated in a residential area at a major crossroad where a bus stop, recreational fields, a play area, and several small businesses are located, increasing risk to bystanders.
At midnight on May 30, all border guards at the Cornwall border post left the post citing safety concerns after hundreds of Mohawk had surrounded the post to protest the policy. Canada closed its border crossing here. The Mohawk protesters said that allowing the border guards to carry firearms violates their sovereignty and increases the likelihood of violent confrontations. Ron Moran, the national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said that the border was too risky to allow officers to return, and that officers were intimidated by people from Akwesasne who had hidden their faces with scarves.
Temporary border opened.
On June 2, 2009, Akwesasne Mohawk were allowed to cross the Seaway International Bridge, though the Canada border post remained closed. The border remained closed until July 13, when a temporary border post was opened at the north end of the Seaway International Bridge. Bob Kilger, the mayor of Cornwall, Ontario, praised the opening of the temporary border post and hoped for a more permanent resolution of the dispute. The CBSA stated that the border crossing will only reopen if the officers can work there "safely with all of the tools they need to do their job, including their duty firearm."
On June 17, the federal government said it would not reverse its decision to arm border guards. Instead, it was considering moving the border crossing on Cornwall Island closer to the city of Cornwall on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. On the same day, a number of Cornwall businesses came to Parliament Hill to ask the federal government to re-open the Cornwall Island border crossing. Closing the border crossing has caused businesses that rely on cross-border traffic to lose revenue.
On September 18, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne accused the CBSA of seizing vehicles belonging to Mohawk residents who do not report to the new border post and required $1,000 to recover them. However, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Customs Act both state that all travellers entering Canada from the United States are required to report directly to the CBSA temporary border crossing.
On September 19, around 12:30 pm ET, Cornwall police were called to the Seaway International Bridge. They shut down access to the bridge for the next five hours and diverted traffic away from the bridge. The closure was due to the Akwesasne Mohawks protesting the fines issued to members of the Mohawk community who did not report to the temporary border crossing.
Current status.
Visitors from the US entering Cornwall Island are in Canadian territory illegally unless they check in at the relocated Canadian port of entry. US border agents advise visitors who return to the US port of entry without having visited the Canadian one to do so before returning again to the US side, as otherwise they are subject to a C$5,000 fine and vehicle confiscation.
As of 2014, patronage of establishments on Cornwall Island by US residents continues to be sharply curtailed by the requirement that US residents proceed directly to the Canadian customs office north of the river. "The Economist" commented:
A shopping centre on Cornwall Island in the Canadian bit of Akwesasne, a piece of land set aside for the Mohawk people, shows how changing regimes harm small businesses. When the Mohawks objected to the arming of Canadian guards, Canada moved a customs post north to the mainland. Travellers from the United States now rarely stop until they reach Canadian customs. The change has cost the mall’s sports store C$50,000 a year and has made some units unrentable.


New Zealand in the Vietnam War

New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War was highly controversial, sparking widespread protest at home from anti-Vietnam War movements modelled on their American counterparts. This conflict was also the first in which New Zealand did not fight alongside the United Kingdom, instead following the loyalties of the ANZUS Pact.
New Zealand decided to send troops to Vietnam in 1964 because of Cold War concerns and alliance considerations. The potential adverse effect on the ANZUS alliance of not supporting the United States (and Australia) in Vietnam was key. It also upheld New Zealand's national interests of countering communism in South-East Asia.
The government wanted to maintain solidarity with the United States, but was unsure about the likely outcome of external military intervention in Vietnam. Prime Minister Keith Holyoake decided to keep New Zealand involvement in Vietnam at the minimum level deemed necessary to meet allied expectations.
Initial contributions.
New Zealand's initial response was carefully considered and characterised by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake's cautiousness towards the entire Vietnam question. While it was considered that New Zealand should support South Vietnam, as Holyoake alleged;
Whose will is to prevail in South Vietnam? The imposed will of the North Vietnamese communists and their agents, or the freely expressed will of the people of South Vietnam?
The government preferred minimal involvement, with other South East Asian deployments already placing a strain on New Zealand's armed forces. From 1961, New Zealand came under pressure from the United States of America to contribute military and economic assistance to South Vietnam, but refused. However, at that time, aircraft were tasked to deliver supplies to Da Nang on the way from RAF Changi to Hong Kong from time to time.
In 1962, Australia sent advisors, as the United States had, but again New Zealand refused to make a similar contribution.
Civilian Surgical Team.
Instead in April 1963 New Zealand confined its assistance to sending a civilian surgical team. The surgical team was initially made up of seven men and would eventually grow to sixteen, and remained in the country until 1975. The doctors and nurses who worked there were all volunteers from New Zealand hospitals. The team worked for civilians at the Binh Dinh Province Hospital, in Qui Nhon, an overcrowded, and dirty facility almost completely lacking equipment and bedding. It would be the last New Zealand Government agency to withdraw from Vietnam.
New Zealand Army Detachment Vietnam (NEWZAD).
Under continuing American pressure, the government agreed during 1963 to provide a small non-combatant military force, but the deteriorating political situation in Saigon led to delays. Not until June 1964 did twenty-five Army engineers arrive in South Vietnam. On the same day of their arrival, a small headquarters unit established in Saigon. Based at Thủ Dầu Một, the capital of Bình Dương Province, the New Zealand Army Detachment Vietnam (NEWZAD) engineers were engaged in reconstruction projects, such as road and bridge building, until July 1965.
Non-military Economic Assistance.
New Zealand non-military economic assistance would continue from 1966 onwards and averaged at US$347,500 annually. This funding went to several mobile health teams to support refugee camps, the training of village vocational experts, to medical and teaching equipment for Hue University, equipment for a technical high school and a contribution toward the construction of a science building at the University of Saigon. Private civilian funding was also donated for 80 Vietnamese students to take scholarships in New Zealand.
Military assistance.
American pressure continued for New Zealand to contribute military assistance, as the United States would be deploying combat units (as opposed to merely advisors) itself soon, as would Australia. Holyoake justified New Zealand's lack of assistance by pointing to its military contribution to the Indonesia-Malaysian Confrontation, but eventually the government decided to contribute. It was seen as in the nation's best interests to do so—failure to contribute even a token force to the effort in Vietnam would have undermined New Zealand's position in ANZUS and could have had an adverse effect on the alliance itself. New Zealand had also established its post-Second World War security agenda around countering communism in South-East Asia and of sustaining a strategy of forward defence, and so needed to be seen to be acting upon these principles.
The New Zealand headquarters established in Saigon in 1964 was renamed "Headquarters Vietnam Force" (HQ V Force) on 2 July 1965. The administration of the subsequent New Zealand forces was managed here involving military personnel from all New Zealand branches of service including Military Police. On 4 December 1965 a car bomb explosion in Saigon claimed the life of one member of HQ V Force and injured three others. No further HQ V Force members were injured during the remainder of New Zealand's time in Vietnam.
Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA).
On 27 May 1965 Holyoake announced the government's decision to send 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery to South Vietnam in a combat role. The New Zealand Army Detachment (NEWZAD) engineers were replaced by the Battery in July 1965, which consisted of nine officers and 101 other ranks and four 105 mm L5 pack howitzers (later increased to six, and in 1967 replaced with 105 mm M2A2 Howitzers). 161 Battery was initially under command of the United States Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade for the first 12 months based at Bien Hoa near Saigon. Upon the formation of 1st Australian Task Force at Nui Dat, in Phuoc Tuy Province in June 1966, the New Zealand government was given the choice of allowing the battery to remain at Bien Hoa with the 173rd Airborne under U.S command or integrate with the Australian forces. It was decided the battery would join 1ATF and serve with Royal Australian Artillery field regiments. Forward Observers for the battery would patrol with all infantry companies of the Australian and New Zealand infantry while on operations, as they did with American infantry while the battery was under the 173rd, to direct artillery support when called upon.
The gunners were noted for their key role in assisting the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, in which 18 Australians were killed holding off a regimental sized enemy force on 18 August 1966. The battery also played important roles during the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Coral–Balmoral in 1968. The Battery left Vietnam in May 1971 after providing virtually continuous fire support usually in support of Australian and New Zealand infantry units for six years, with over 750 men having served with the Battery with a loss of five casualties during the period of its deployment.
New Zealand Services Medical Team (NZSMT).
New Zealand's military presence in South Vietnam was increased in April 1967 with the arrival of the 1st New Zealand Services Medical Team, a 19-strong detachment consisting of medical personnel from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps under the US Military Public Health Assistance Programme (MILPHAP). The team's role was to provide medical and surgical assistance to South Vietnamese civilians and developing local knowledge in this field. The New Zealanders relieved a United States Army medical team at Bong Son in Bình Định Province. They also treated military casualties who were brought to the Bong Son Dispensary, including Army of the Republic of Vietnam personnel and Viet Cong prisoners. In June 1969 the team moved to the new 100-bed Bong Son Impact Hospital. The average bed-state was 92 and approximately 46,000 outpatients (mostly civilians) were treated annually before the team's withdrawal in December 1971. Overall there were 98 personnel involved over the four-and-a-half years of the Team’s deployment: 47 from the Army, 27 from the Air Force and 24 from the Navy. One RNZAF member of the NZSMT, Sgt Gordon Watt, was killed by a booby trap in 1970.
Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR).
In 1966, when Confrontation came to an end and Australia decided to expand the 1st Australian Task Force, New Zealand came under pressure to increase its commitment too and did so. In May 1967, a 182-man rifle company, (Victor One Company) was deployed to Vietnam from the 1st Battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in Malaysia. The first Victor Company served a 6-month tour of duty. In December a second Victor Company was deployed to Vietnam and was joined by Whisky Company in December, both from the 1st Battalion.
Both companies served in the 1st Australian Task Force in Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy Province. Initially Whisky Company served under operational control of 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) which arrived at the same time as Whisky Company, while Victor 2 Company continued to serve under 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR.) A NZ Component was established at Nui Dat to manage national administration of the New Zealand contingents within 1 ATF.
Following agreement between the Australian and New Zealand Governments in late February 1968, V2 Company and W Company and A, B, and C Companies of 2RAR were amalgamated to become 2RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion (2RAR/NZ) from 1 March 1968. The new "ANZAC Battalion" was the only Australian battalion to have five rifle companies. The 2IC was filled by RNZIR Officer, Major Robert Ian Thorpe.
In May 1968 Victor 2 was replaced by Victor 3. Hereafter the tour of duty for all RNZIR companies was extended to twelve months. On 1 June 2 RAR was replaced by 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (4 RAR) and the joint Australian and New Zealander infantry forces became 4 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) again with a New Zealander as 2IC, Major ATA Mataira. On 8 November 1968 the first Whisky Company left Vietnam and was replaced by a second Whisky Company.
On 16 April 1969, 1 ATF was advised of a change to operational priorities, with top priority given to eradicating the Viet Cong presence and influence among the civilian populations, followed by the upskilling of the South Vietnamese military forces. These programs were known as "Pacification" and "Vietnamization" respectively as part of the "Winning Hearts And Minds" strategy being undertaken by the Americans. 1 ATF would be increasingly called upon to provide support to a number of civil community reconstruction projects and assist in the training of South Vietnamese forces.
On 19 May 1969, 4 RAR was replaced by 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) and the two RNZIR rifle companies merged with A, B and D Companies of 6 RAR to become 6 RAR/NZ (ANZAC). The battalion 2IC was RNZIR officer Major Neville Alan Wallace. On this tour Mortar and Assault Pioneer Sections were added to each of the New Zealand companies.
The New Zealand infantry companies in 6 RAR/NZ played major roles in two extremely significant and successful operations conducted by the 1st Australian Task Force in 1969 and 1970. The first was "Operation Marsden" (3–28 December 1969) in which Victor 3 Company discovered the major part of the K76A Hospital in the mountains where local enemy headquarters were located and from which the hospital was the major provider of medical services to all communist forces in the area. Additionally, between Victor 3 and one other Australian company approximately 1.5 tonnes of pharmaceuticals were captured which was thought to be the largest amount ever seized in the war by allied forces. The discovery of the hospital would prove to be a major defeat for the Communist forces in the area. The second was "Operation Townsville" (20 March – 23 April 1970) which resulted in Victor Company finding the headquarters of the main Viet Cong supply group and capturing the operational signals codes and one-time cipher pads used by the Viet Cong headquarters. As a result, senior U.S commanders including General CW Abrams, Commander USMACV were alleged to have referred to it as "the biggest intelligence coup of the war."
As with other infantry companies of the Australian battalions, the New Zealand infantry companies too sometimes conducted independent operations or were temporarily put under the operational control of 1 ATF directly or under other Australian Battalions or units, and conducted operations with them, e.g Whisky 3 Company's mortar section conducted numerous independent operations with 3rd Cavalry Regiment in 1970, and the Company itself spent some time on Long Sơn Island directly under 1 ATF Command, and later under 8 RAR for some months, also in 1970. Both RNZIR companies conducted a number of independent, company-level land clearing and mine sweeping operations providing security for Australian and American engineer teams. Several Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units underwent training under both New Zealand companies at various times.
At the end of April 1970, a new 2 RAR from Australia and new Victor Company from Singapore arrived and on 15 May, Whisky 3 (now six months into their tour) and Victor 5 merged with 2 RAR to become for the second time 2 RAR/NZ (ANZAC). The 2IC for this rotation was RNZIR Major Roy Thomas Victor Taylor. This tour continued to be focused mainly upon the "Pacification" program which 1 ATF had adopted as its first priority in April 1969.
Whisky 3 Company was withdrawn without replacement in November 1970. To offset Whisky 3's withdrawal, in January 1971 the New Zealand government committed the 1st New Zealand Army Training Team (1 NZATTV) to Vietnam. 1 NZATTV was made up of advisors from all branches of service, a number of whom had served in the RNZIR companies and in other New Zealand branches of service. The team assisted an American training team at the ARVN Training Center in Chi Lang to train South Vietnamese platoon commanders in weapons and tactics.
On 6 May 1971 Victor 5 was replaced by Victor 6 and on 22 May 2 RAR was replaced by 4 RAR. The final and sole New Zealand infantry company was integrated with B, C, and D companies of 4 RAR to become 4 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) for the second time. This would be the final ANZAC Battalion before Australian and New Zealand combat troops were withdrawn in December 1971. The 2IC for the final ANZAC Battalion rotation was RNZIR Major Donald Stuart McIver.
With the battalion's tour cut short, Victor 6's last operation was one of protecting the activities of 1 ATF's withdrawal from South Vietnam.
As the last 1 ATF battalion left, 4 RAR/NZ moved the South Vietnamese forces fully into the Nui Dat base. The majority of 4 RAR/NZ withdrew from Nui Dat to Vũng Tàu on 7 November 1971. The Australians departed on 8 December and the New Zealanders departed on 9 December.
Over the five-year period, more than 1,600 New Zealand soldiers of the nine NZ rifle companies engaged in a constant round of jungle patrols, ambushes, and cordon-and-search operations in both battalion and independently conducted operations, for a loss of 24 killed and 147 wounded.
Additionally, RNZIR personnel served in administrative roles at the New Zealand HQ V Force in Saigon, in support and logistic roles within the ANZAC Battalions at Nui Dat, and in the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group (1 ALSG.) Both New Zealand Army training teams consisted mainly of RNZIR personnel.
Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).
The Royal New Zealand Navy did not make a sea contribution to New Zealand's military involvement in the Vietnam War, but otherwise contributed personnel beginning in April 1967 with RNZN medical members being part of the tri-service New Zealand Services Medical Team (NZSMT.) Subsequently, a few served with the second of the two New Zealand training teams deployed to Vietnam after combat troops withdrew in 1971.
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).
From 1965 the Royal New Zealand Air Force contribution was in the form of transportation with No. 40 Squadron RNZAF providing troop transport for New Zealand, Australian and some American troops, and No. 41 Squadron RNZAF providing resupply missions from Singapore. Over 20 RNZAF personnel served with a variety of U.S Air Force units as Forward Air Controllers, and a number of pilots and crew from No. 3 Squadron RNZAF served with No. 9 Squadron RAAF flying Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters which was based in Vung Tau.
A small detachment of RNZAF A-4 Skyhawk pilots were also attached to a U.S Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk unit.
RNZAF personnel were numerous in the New Zealand Services Medical Team (NZSMT) and one went on to be part of the subsequent New Zealand Army Training Team (NZATTV.)
RNZAF personnel were also posted to HQ V Force and worked primarily in Saigon in a range of liaison duties. The last RNZAF flight out from Vietnam was the evacuation of the New Zealand Ambassador in April 1975, just before the Fall of Saigon.
One RNZAF member of the NZSMT, Sgt Gordon Watt, was killed by a booby trap in 1970, the RNZAF's only casualty of the war. A plaque and memorial to Sgt Watt is on display at the Ohakea Base Medical flight, and there is also the "Gordon Watt Memorial Award" for the RNZAF’s top medic award, named in his honour.
New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS).
In November 1968, New Zealand's contribution to the 1st Australian Task Force was increased by the deployment of 4 Troop, New Zealand Special Air Service, comprising an officer and 25 other ranks. The arrival of this Troop raised New Zealand's deployment to Vietnam to its peak – 543 men. The Troop was attached to the Australian SAS Squadron at Nui Dat and carried out long-range reconnaissance and the ambushing of enemy supply routes, mounting 155 patrols over three tours until being withdrawn in February 1971, with the loss of one member. Although under operational command of the Australian SAS Squadron Commander when deployed into the field on operations, 4 Tp NZSAS was an independent command and self-sufficient.
Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers (RNZE).
Each time New Zealand military contribution to South Vietnam increased, a work party of the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers was sent to assist in preparing the site for the new arrivals. These RNZE Detachments helped set up the NZ artillery battery when it moved to Nui Dat in September 1966 and again for Victor One Company RNZIR from early November to December 1967. The final detachment was sent to assist 1 NZATTV establish themselves in Chi Lang in November 1970. This detachment stayed in South Vietnam until February 1971.
Other personnel of the RNZE also served in the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group (1 ALSG), at HQ V Force headquarters, and with 198 Works Section, Royal Australian Engineers.
Sappers from the Royal New Zealand Engineers accompanied the RNZIR infantry patrols as Assault pioneers to assist with mine clearing and Combat engineering tasks. Several RNZE personnel also served in these capacities with the NZSAS. Two RNZE sappers were killed while serving with the RNZIR infantry companies.
Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Charles Fenton RNZE, was administratively in charge of all New Zealand forces in Vietnam, at the New Zealand Headquarters in Saigon (V Force HQ) from 25 July 1968 to 30 July 1970.
Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RNZEME).
When 161 Battery, RNZA arrived in Vietnam in 1965 a detachment of engineers from the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers formed the Logistic Support Element (LSE), to service the battery. 161 Bty served under command of the U.S 173rd Airborne Brigade from 1965–1966. When the 1st Australian Task Force was established and moved to Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province in 1966, the LSE was detached from the battery and established within the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) at Vung Tau. RNZEME personnel who had been in the LSE were taken for the most part into the Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Australian Artillery Field Regiment which 161 Bty was integrated with.
RNZEME tradesmen also served with the New Zealand Services Medical Team in the town of Bong Son, in the Binh Dinh Province.
Some RNZEME personnel served in the RNZIR rifle companies, the ANZAC Battalions (Command & Support), as well as at the New Zealand V Force HQ in Saigon. The initial NEWZAD deployment included a few RNZEME personnel, as did the latter NZATTV.
Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC).
The Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps did not contribute a standalone unit to Vietnam but provided individuals to serve in various Australian and New Zealand units. A number of RNZAOC personnel initially served with the New Zealand Logistic Support Element (LSE) which supported 161 Battery RNZA during its time serving under the U.S 173rd Airborne Brigade and before the LSE was detached from the battery and incorporated into the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) at Vung Tau in 1966. Some 50 RNZAOC personnel served in the headquarters of 1 ALSG thereafter. Along with other New Zealand branches of service, RNZAOC personnel went about their business with their Australian counterparts in all aspects of 1 ALSG's support functions for Australian and New Zealand forces in Vietnam. Other RNZAOC members served with the New Zealand headquarters (HQ V Force) in Saigon, 1 ATF headquarters at Nui Dat, 161st (Independent) Reconnaissance Flight, 161 Battery RNZA, and the RNZIR rifle companies. One member also served in 1 NZATTV.
Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC).
The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps was not represented as its own unit in Vietnam and members instead served within other New Zealand and Australian units including 161 Bty RNZA, V Force HQ, the ANZAC Battalions (Command and Support), the RNZIR companies, 1 ALSG, and in the NZAATV teams.
Several members served as tank crew with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, and 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment (U.S Army.)
Two RNZAC pilots served with the Australian 161st (Independent) Reconnaissance Flight.
Additional short-term postings included detachments to several U.S Cavalry units.
Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps (RNZAMC).
Most personnel from the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps served with the New Zealand Services Medical Team (NZSMT) or served as medics for 161 Bty and the New Zealand infantry companies, or were otherwise stationed at the New Zealand V Force Headquarters in Saigon and at 1 ALSG. After combat troop withdrawals in 1971 several RNZAMC served in the NZAATV teams.
Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps (RNZASC).
Although the Royal New Zealand Army Service Corps was not represented as a unit in the New Zealand contingent to Vietnam over 140 RNZASC personnel served throughout the war providing transport and logistics for 161 Bty RNZA, both RNZIR companies, and 4 Troop NZSAS, as well as in administration and advisory roles in New Zealand V Force HQ in Saigon, 1 ALSG, and as members of 1 NZATTV.
Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals (RNZSigs).
Members of the Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals served in all New Zealand units in Vietnam, including RNZA, RNZIR, NZSAS, V Force HQ and as part of the NZ Component at Nui Dat. Some served as intelligence officers with 1ATF. The last commander of 1NZATTV (5 Dec 1972 – 13 Dec 1972), Major TD Macfarlane, was from RNZSigs.
New Zealand Army Training Team Vietnam (1 NZATTV & 2 NZATTV).
As American focus shifted to President Richard Nixon's "Vietnamization" program – a policy of slow disengagement from the war by gradually building up the Army of the Republic of Vietnam so that it could fight the war on its own - the New Zealand government dispatched the 1st New Zealand Army Training Team Vietnam (1 NZATTV) in January 1971. This action was intended to offset the departure of the New Zealand rifle company, Whisky 3, which left in November 1970. Numbering 25 men from different branches of service of the New Zealand Army, including RNZIR, RNZA, RNZE, RNZEME, RNZAMC, RNZAC, RNZSigs, RNZASC, and RNZAOC, it assisted the United States Army Training Team at the Chi Lang National Training Center in Chau Doc Province. The team helped train South Vietnamese platoon commanders in weapons and tactics.
In February 1972 a second training team (2 NZATTV), 18 strong was deployed to Vietnam and was based at Dong Ba Thin Base Camp, near Cam Ranh Bay. Made up of members from various New Zealand branches of service including two members from RNZN, the team helped train Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) personnel in weapons and tactics and first aid. This team also provided first aid instruction and specialist medical instruction at Dong Ba Thin's 50-bed hospital.
The two New Zealand training teams were withdrawn from Vietnam in December 1972.
New Zealand Attachments to United States Army, Air Force and Navy.
37 New Zealand serviceman, mostly Commissioned Officers are recorded on the "Flinkenberg List" as having served with U.S detachments during the war. These were not always formal postings as such. Some of these attachments were planned as part of officers' career planning by Defence Headquarters; others were opportunity attachments through contact with Allied commanders at many levels.
Of the 37 on the list, 20 of those were RNZAF personnel whom served as attachments to various units of the United States Air Force, as Forward air controllers.
Two small RNZAF detachments were attached to U.S Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk squadron VMA-311 at Chu Lai Air Base in January 1970 and October 1970.
Three RNZN personnel served with the US Navy on a Junior Officer Exchange program in 1971, each posted on the aircraft carrier and destroyer off the coast of North Vietnam.
New Zealand Attachments to Australian Army, Air Force, and Navy.
Five members from various branches of the New Zealand military whom had also trained as Army pilots served with the Australian 161st Independent Reconnaissance Flight.
In 1967 two RNZAF pilots were seconded to the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 9 Squadron, which was flying UH-1 Iroquois helicopters as troop transports. Two more RNZAF pilots joined No. 9 Squadron in 1968 to fly helicopters, often in support of the Australian and New Zealand SAS. By 1971 16 New Zealand pilots had served in 9 Squadron.
10 members from RNZAC served with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Royal Australian Armoured Corps.
11 (some sources say 10) RNZIR personnel served as detachments to the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam which operated in Vietnam from 1962–1972.
Distinctions and awards.
161 Battery RNZA was awarded the United States Meritorious Unit Commendation for their service in South Vietnam while serving under the U.S 173rd Airborne Brigade. Many New Zealand individuals received military awards for activities in Vietnam, including American military service awards and citations.
In 2019 the Australian government awarded the Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry to all members of 161 Battery for their part in the Battle of Coral-Balmoral. This is the first Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry offered to a New Zealand military unit.
Withdrawal.
In line with reductions in American and Australian strength in Vietnam, New Zealand began the gradual withdrawal of its combat forces as the training teams were arriving. Prime Minister Holyoake said in 1971 that New Zealand's combat forces would be withdrawn by "about the end of this year," and they were – Whiskey Three Company went in November 1970, the SAS Troop and 161 Battery followed in February and May 1971 respectively, and Victor Six Company and the tri-service medical team left with the 1st Australian Task Force in December 1971, ending New Zealand's combat involvement in the Vietnam War. This may have been due to protests in New Zealand.
One of the first acts of Prime Minister Norman Kirk's Labour Party government (elected in December 1972) was to withdraw both training teams and the New Zealand headquarters in Saigon. By then, a total of 3,890 New Zealand military personnel, all volunteers, had served in Vietnam from June 1964 to December 1972.
New Zealand casualties during the Vietnam War were: RNZE: 2, RNZA: 5, RNZIR: 27, RNZAF: 1, NZSAS: 1, RNZAMC: 1 (for a total of 37) and 187 wounded. Two New Zealanders serving with the United States Marine Corps, one serving in the US Army and one serving with the Australian Army were also killed in action.
The last NZ Troops left Vietnam on 22 December 1972.
Protest.
Although New Zealand's involvement in the war was very limited compared to the contributions of some of its allies, it still triggered a large anti-Vietnam War movement at home.
New Zealand protests were similar to those in the United States – criticising the policies of the United States government and challenging seriously for the first time New Zealand's alliance-based security, calling for a more 'independent' foreign policy which was not submissive to that of the United States and denying that communism posed any real threat to New Zealand. Campaigns were also waged on moral grounds ranging from pacifist convictions to objections to the weapons being used to fight the war. In the early 1970s, anti-Vietnam war groups organised 'mobilisations', when thousands marched in protest against the war in all the country's major centres. While Prime Minister Holyoake and his government had their own misgivings about the viability of the war, they were consistent in their public belief that they were maintaining both New Zealand's foreign policy principles and treaty-bound obligations. Despite popular sentiment apparently against the conflict, especially in its final years, Holyoake's National Party was re-elected into government twice during the course of the war.
Protest chronology:
The protest movement is backed by Norman Kirk's Labour government which supports a prompt withdrawal of New Zealand troops. New Zealand troops are quickly withdrawn without much controversy after the Labour Party's return to office in 1972. The protests mark a split in foreign policies between the two major political parties of Labour and National. While National continues to support a stronger alliance with the United States, the anti-war protests convince the Labour government that a new and more independent New Zealand foreign policy is needed.
The new foreign policy which follows as a result of these protests is the reason behind New Zealand rejecting visits from ships from the United States over anti-nuclear protests during the period of time after 1985. The anti-Vietnam War protests are often regarded as the beginning of the ANZUS alliance breakdown between New Zealand and the United States.
The Vietnam War protests are still remembered on ANZAC Days in New Zealand for significance in the change of direction in New Zealand's foreign policy.
Agent Orange.
Like veterans from many of the other allied nations, as well as Vietnamese civilians, New Zealand veterans of the Vietnam War claimed that they (as well as their children and grandchildren) had suffered serious harm as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. In 1984, Agent Orange manufacturers paid New Zealand, Australian and Canadian veterans in an out-of-court settlement, and in 2004 Prime Minister Helen Clark's government apologised to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other toxic defoliants, following a health select committee's inquiry into the use of Agent Orange on New Zealand servicemen and its effects. In 2005, the New Zealand government confirmed that it supplied Agent Orange chemicals to the United States military during the conflict.
In December 2006, the New Zealand Government, the Ex-Vietnam Services Association (EVSA) and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (RNZRSA) agreed to, and signed, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) following the recommendations of the Joint Working Group, designated with advocacy for Veteran's concerns. The MoU provides formal acknowledgement of the toxic environment New Zealand Vietnam Veterans faced during their service abroad in Vietnam, and the after-effects of that toxin since the servicemen and women returned to New Zealand. The MoU also makes available various forms of support, to both New Zealand Vietnam Veterans and their families. New Zealand writer and historian, Deborah Challinor, includes a new chapter in her second edition release of Grey Ghosts: New Zealand Vietnam Veterans Talk About Their War that discusses the handling of the New Zealand Vietnam Veterans' claims, including the Reeves, McLeod and Health Committee reports, and the reconciliation/welcome parade on Queen's Birthday Weekend, 2008, also known as 'Tribute 08'.
From 1962 until 1987, the 2,4,5T herbicide was manufactured at an Ivon Watkins-Dow plant in Paritutu, New Plymouth which was then shipped to U.S. military bases in South East Asia. There have been continuing claims that the suburb of Paritutu has also been polluted.


New River (South America)

The New River (Dutch: Nieuwe Rivier) is a river of South America. It forms the Western border of the Tigri Area, a disputed territory that is claimed by both Guyana and Suriname. From a Surinamese perspective it is also called the Upper Corantyne River.
The river rises in the Acarai Mountains and flows, together with the Coeroeni River, to the Courantyne River. The Oronoque River is a major tributary of the New River and within the Tigri Area. It was the location of a skirmish between Guyana Police Force and a Surinamese labor camp, 15 December 1967.
Even though the area is disputed, it still attracts illegal mining. In 1993, the Guyana Defense Force identified alluvial mining by Brazilian nationals.


List of duty-free shops

This is a list of duty-free shops. A duty-free shop is a retail outlet that is exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country. Which products can be sold duty-free vary by jurisdiction, as well as how they can be sold, and the process of calculating the duty or refunding the duty component.


Bijbehara railway station

Bijbehara railway station is a railway station on the Northern Railway network in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir. It is the twelfth station on the railway line about 93 km from Baramulla railway station. It is 3 km away from the main town.
History.
The station has been built as part of the Jammu–Baramulla line megaproject, intending to link the Kashmir Valley with Jammu Tawi and the rest of the Indian rail network.
Location.
The station is located near Hassanpora in Anantnag district.
Reduced level.
The station is situated at an elevation (RL) of 1594 m above mean sea level.
Division.
The railway station lies in the Firozpur Cantonment division of Northern Railways.
Design.
The station features Kashmiri wood architecture, with an intended ambiance of a royal court which is designed to complement the local surroundings to the station. Station signage is predominantly in Urdu and English and Hindi.


Limburgian cuisine

Limburgisch cuisine is different from the Belgian and Dutch cuisines but also shares many similarities with these cuisines.
Limburg is a little different compared to the rest of the Dutch and Belgian provinces.
The landscape is hilly in the southeast (while the rest of the Dutch landscape is cultivated and flat) and the Limburgish language could be said to be a separate language rather than a dialect of Dutch.
This different landscape provides the Limburgish cuisine with a lot of game meat, especially in the hunting season.
The north of the Limburg is quite flat and is the largest asparagus producing area of the Netherlands. In the southwest you will find the Haspengouw which is famous for being the "fruit basket of Belgium".
Limburgian cuisine is shaped by the practice of fishing on its rivers (most notably the Meuse) and farming, including the cultivation of the soil for raising crops and the raising of domesticated animals.
Limburg is also renowned for its varieties of cheese, most notably the Limburger cheese.
Limburgian cuisine has often been called a Burgundian cuisine; this means that along with big portions and a certain unpretentiousness of presentation, the diner can expect a high standard of ingredients and preparation.
Deep-fried chipped potatoes are a very popular food item. They are called fritten in Limburgisch.
However, unlike the 6–10 mm thick "French fries" which are normally served in American fast-food restaurants, Limburgian fries are more substantial (12–15 mm thick) and are typically fried in suet (preferably oxen), similar to Belgian fries.
Other Limburgian specialities are beer and Jenever. Hasselt, the capital of Belgian Limburg, is home to the National Jenever Museum.
For a comparatively small region, Limburg produces a very large number of beers in a range of different styles.
Almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or other drinking-vessel.
The recipes for a number of home- and restaurant-prepared dishes call for the inclusion of one or other of the region's beers.
Limburg has many brands of beer. Some breweries in Limburg are Alken-Maes, Lindeboom, Brand, Gulpener, , Leeuw, Hertog Jan and Alfa. Many of these breweries use water from the Meuse River, which flows through the entire length of the region. Gulpener and Alfa, however, use their own wells in the hilly southeast of the region.
Achel brewery or "Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis" is a Limburgian Trappist brewery, and the smallest of the seven currently approved Trappist breweries. It is located in the Abbey of Saint Benedict in the Belgian municipality of Achel. It brews five kinds of Trappist beers.
Typical Limburgian dishes:


List of towns in Western Pomerania

< List of placenames in the Province of Pomerania < List of towns in Vorpommern
The List of towns in Vorpommern includes all towns in present-day German Pomerania, also called Western Pomerania, and thus excludes towns which lie west of the Oder river, but east of the Oder-Neisse line ("Stettiner Zipfel" area), and thus historically are associated also with Vorpommern. For these towns, see "List of towns in Farther Pomerania".
German Western Pomerania had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 (districts of Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald combined) - while the Polish districts of the region had a population of about 520,000 in 2012 (cities of Stettin, Swinemünde and Police County combined). So overall, about 1 million people live in the historical region of Western Pomerania today, while the Stettin agglomeration reaches even further.
For a list of all urban municipalities in the modern German state, see "List of cities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern".


County Antrim

County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, , ) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population of about 618,000. County Antrim has a population density of 203 people per square kilometre or 526 people per square mile. It is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland, as well as part of the historic province of Ulster.
The Glens of Antrim offer isolated rugged landscapes, the Giant's Causeway is a unique landscape and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bushmills produces whiskey, and Portrush is a popular seaside resort and night-life area. The majority of Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, is in County Antrim, with the remainder being in County Down.
According to the 2001 census, it is currently one of only two counties of the Island of Ireland in which a majority of the population are from a Protestant background. The other is County Down to the south.
Geography.
A large portion of Antrim is hilly, especially in the east, where the highest elevations are attained. The range runs north and south, and, following this direction, the highest points are Knocklayd , Slieveanorra , Trostan , Slemish , Agnew's Hill and Divis . The inland slope is gradual, but on the northern shore the range terminates in abrupt and almost perpendicular declivities, and here, consequently, some of the finest coast scenery in the world is found, widely differing, with its unbroken lines of cliffs, from the indented coast-line of the west. The most remarkable cliffs are those formed of perpendicular basaltic columns, extending for many miles, and most strikingly displayed in Fair Head and the celebrated Giant's Causeway. From the eastern coast the hills rise instantly but less abruptly, and the indentations are wider and deeper. On both coasts there are several resort towns, including Portrush (with well-known golf links), Portballintrae and Ballycastle; on the east Cushendun, Cushendall and Waterfoot on Red Bay, Carnlough and Glenarm, Larne on the Sea of Moyle, and Whitehead on Belfast Lough. All are somewhat exposed to the easterly winds prevalent in spring. The only island of size is the L-shaped Rathlin Island, off Ballycastle, in total length by maximum breadth, from the coast, and of similar basaltic and limestone formation to that of the mainland. It is partially arable, and supports a small population. Islandmagee is a peninsula separating Larne Lough from the North Channel.
The valleys of the Bann and Lagan, with the intervening shores of Lough Neagh, form the fertile lowlands. These two rivers, both rising in County Down, are the only ones of importance. The latter flows to Belfast Lough, the former drains Lough Neagh, which is fed by a number of smaller streams. The fisheries of the Bann and of Lough Neagh (especially for salmon and eels) are of value both commercially and to sportsmen, the small town of Toome, at the outflow of the river, being the centre. Immediately below this point lies Lough Beg, the "Small Lake", about lower than Lough Neagh.
Transport.
County Antrim has a number of air, rail and sea links.
Air.
Northern Ireland's main airport, Belfast International Airport, at Aldergrove is in County Antrim. Belfast International shares its runways with 38 Brigade Flying Station Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities. It is the fifth-largest regional air cargo centre in the UK. There are regular services to Great Britain, Europe and North America.
The region is also served by George Best Belfast City Airport, a mile east of Belfast city centre on the County Down side of the city, which was renamed in 2006 in honour of footballer George Best.
Rail.
The main Translink Northern Ireland Railways routes are the major line between Belfast, Antrim, Ballymena, Coleraine and Derry, Belfast to Carrickfergus and Larne, the port for Stranraer in Scotland and Coleraine to Portrush.
Sea.
Two of Northern Ireland's main ports are in County Antrim, Larne and Belfast.
Ferries sail from Larne Harbour to destinations including Cairnryan in Scotland.
The Port of Belfast is Northern Ireland's principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and increasingly that of the Republic of Ireland. It is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two-thirds of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole is handled at the port, which receives over 6,000 vessels each year.
Population.
The population of County Antrim was 615,384 according to recent census information, making it the most populous county in Northern Ireland.
Irish language.
Statistics for 2009–2010 show 1,832 students attending the 12 Gaelscoileanna (Irish language primary schools) and 1 Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary school).
Religion.
 County Antrim is one of two counties on the island in which the majority of people are Protestant, according to the 2001 census, the other being Down. The strong Presbyterian presence in the county is due largely to the county's historical links with lowland Scotland, which supplied many immigrants to Ireland. Protestants are the majority in most of the county, whilst Catholics are concentrated in Belfast, particularly the west of the city, the northeast, and on the shore of Lough Neagh.
Administration.
The county was administered by Antrim County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973. The traditional county town is Antrim. More recently, Ballymena was the seat of county government. From 1973 Northern Ireland was split into districts. The majority of County Antrim residents are administered by the following councils:
Additionally, the area around the village of Aghagallon is administered by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
The county contains within it the whole of five parliamentary constituencies:
Parts of the following five parliamentary constituencies are also in County Antrim:
Subdivisions.
Baronies
Parishes
Townlands
History.
At what date the county of Antrim was formed is not known, but it appears that a certain district bore this name before the reign of Edward II (early 14th century), and when the shiring of Ulster was undertaken by Sir John Perrot in the 16th century, Antrim and Down were already recognised divisions, in contradistinction to the remainder of the province. The earliest known inhabitants were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of pre-Celtic origin, but the names of the townlands or subdivisions, supposed to have been made in the 13th century, are all of Celtic derivation.
In ancient times, Antrim was inhabited by a Celtic people called the Darini. In the early Middle Ages, southern County Antrim was part of the Kingdom of Ulidia, ruled by the Dál Fiatach clans Keenan and MacDonlevy/McDunlavey; the north was part of Dál Riada, which stretched into what is now western Scotland over the Irish Sea. Dál Riada was ruled by the O'Lynch clan, who were vassals of the Ulidians. Besides the Ulidians and Dál Riada, there were the Dál nAraide of lower County Antrim, and the Cruthin, who were pre-Gaelic Celts and probably related to the Picts of Britain. Between the 8th and 11th centuries Antrim was exposed to the inroads of the Vikings.
In the late 12th century Antrim became part of the Earldom of Ulster, conquered by Anglo-Norman invaders. A revival of Gaelic power followed the campaign of Edward Bruce in 1315, leaving Carrickfergus as the only significant English stronghold. In the late Middle Ages, Antrim was divided into three parts: northern Clandeboye, the Glynnes and the Route. The Cambro-Norman MacQuillans were powerful in the Route. A branch of the O'Neills of Tyrone migrated to Clandeboye in the 14th century, and ruled it for a time. Their family was called O'Neill Clannaboy. A Gallowglass sept, the MacDonnells, became the most powerful in the Glynnes in the 15th century.
During the Tudor era (16th century) numerous adventurers from Britain attempted to colonise the region; many Scots settled in Antrim around this time. In 1588 the Antrim coast was the scene of one of the 24 wrecks of the Spanish Armada in Ireland. The Spanish vessel "La Girona" was wrecked off Lacana Point, Giant's Causeway in 1588 with the loss of nearly 1,300 lives.
Antrim is divided into sixteen baronies. Lower Antrim, part of Lower Clandeboye, was settled by the sept O'Flynn/O'Lynn. Upper Antrim, part of Lower Clandeboye, was the home of the O'Keevans. Belfast was part of Lower Clandeboye and was held by the O'Neill-Clannaboys. Lower Belfast, Upper Belfast, and Carrickfergus were also part of Lower Clandeboye. Cary was part of the Glynnes; ruled originally by the O'Quinn sept, the MacDonnell galloglasses from Scotland took power here in the late Middle Ages and some of the O'Haras also migrated from Connaught. Upper and Lower Dunluce were part of the Route, and were ruled by the MacQuillans. Upper and Lower Glenarm was ruled by the O'Flynn/O'Lynn sept, considered part of the Glynns. In addition to that sept and that of O'Quinn, both of which were native, the Scottish Gallowglass septs of MacKeown, MacAlister, and MacGee, are found there. Kilconway was originally O'Flynn/O'Lynn territory, but was held by the MacQuillans as part of the Route, and later by the gallowglass sept of MacNeill. Lower Massereene was part of Lower Clandeboye and was ruled by the O'Flynns and the O'Heircs. Upper Massereene was part of Lower Clandeboye, ruled by the O'Heircs. Upper and Lower Toome, part of the Route, were O'Flynn/O'Lynn territory. Misc was first ruled by the MacQuillans. Later, the Scottish Gallowglass MacDonnells and MacAlisters invaded. The MacDonnells were a branch of the Scottish Clan MacDonald; the MacAlisters traced their origin back to the Irish Colla Uais, eldest of the Three Collas.
Islandmagee had, besides antiquarian remains, a notoriety as a home of witchcraft, and during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 was the scene of an act of reprisal (for the massacre of Protestants) against the Catholic population by the Scottish Covenanter soldiery of Carrickfergus.
In 1689 during the Williamite War in Ireland, County Antrim was a centre of Protestant resistance against the rule of the Catholic James II. During the developing crisis James' garrison at Carrickfergus successfully repulsed an attempt by local Protestants to storm it. After the advance of the Irish Army under Richard Hamilton, all of County Antrim was brought under Jacobite control. Later in the year a major expedition from England under Marshal Schomberg landed in Belfast Lough and successfully laid siege to Carrickfergus. Having captured most of the largest towns of the area, they then marched southwards towards Dundalk.
Historic monuments.
The antiquities of the county consist of cairns, mounts or forts, remains of ecclesiastical and military structures, and round towers.
There are three round towers: one at Antrim, one at Armoy, and one on Ram's Island in Lough Neagh, only that at Antrim being perfect. There are some remains of the ecclesiastic establishments at Bonamargy, where the earls of Antrim are buried, Kells, Glenarm, Glynn, Muckamore and Whiteabbey.
The castle at Carrickfergus, dating from the Norman invasion of Ireland, is one of the best preserved medieval structures in Ireland. There are, however, remains of other ancient castles, as Olderfleet, Cam's, Shane's, Glenarm, Garron Tower, Red Bay, and Dunluce Castle, notable for its dramatic location on a rocky outcrop.
The principal cairns are: one on Colin mountain, near Lisburn; one on Slieve True, near Carrickfergus; and two on Colinward. The cromlechs most worthy of notice are: one near Cairngrainey, to the north-east of the old road from Belfast to Templepatrick; the large cromlech at Mount Druid, near Ballintoy; and one at the northern extremity of Islandmagee. The mounts, forts and entrenchments are very numerous.
The natural rock formations of Giant's Causeway on the Antrim coast are now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Saint Patrick.
Slemish, about east of Ballymena, is notable as being the scene of St Patrick's early life. According to tradition Saint Patrick was a slave for seven years, near the hill of Slemish, until he escaped back to Great Britain.
Linen.
Linen manufacturing was previously an important industry in the county. At the time Ireland produced a large amount of flax. Cotton-spinning by jennies was first introduced to Belfast by industrialists Robert Joy and Thomas M'Cabe in 1777; and twenty-three years later it was estimated that more than 27,000 people were employed in the industry within of Belfast. Women were employed in the working of patterns on muslin.
Flora and fauna.
Records of the seaweeds of County Antrim were brought together and published in 1907 by J. Adams who notes that the list contains 211 species. Batter's list, of 1902, contained 747 species in his catalogue of British marine algae.
Of the freshwater algae there are 10 taxa in the Charophyta (Charales) recorded from Co. Antrim: "Chara aspera" var. "aspera"; "Chara globularis" var. "globularis"; "Chara globularis" var. "virgata" (Kütz.) R.D.; "Chara vulgaris" var. "vulgaris"; "Chara vulgaris" var. "contraria" (A. Braun ex Kütz.) J.A.Moore; "Chara vulgaris" var. "longibracteata" (Kütz.) J. Groves & Bullock-Webster; "Chara vulgaris" var. "papillata" Wallr. ex A. Braun; "Nitella flexilis" var. "flexilis"; "Nitella translucens" (Pers.) C.A. Ag. and "Tolypella nidifica" var. "glomerata" (Desv.) R.D. Wood.


Grenadines

The Grenadines are a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of Young Island is counted): Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, Petit St Vincent, Palm Island and Mayreau, all in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, plus Petite Martinique and Carriacou in Grenada. Several additional privately-owned islands such as Calivigny are also inhabited. Notable uninhabited islands of the Grenadines include Petit Nevis, used by whalers, and Petit Mustique, which was the centre of a prominent real estate scam in the early 2000s.
The northern two-thirds of the chain, including about 32 islands and cays, are part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The southern third of the chain belongs to the country of Grenada. Carriacou is the largest and most populous of the Grenadines (excluding Grenada).
Geographic boundaries.
They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither Saint Vincent nor Grenada are Grenadine islands. The islands north of the Martinique Channel belong to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the islands south of the channel belong to Grenada.
Larger islands of the Grenadines.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The total population of the Grenadine islands within Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is estimated to be 10,234.
The following islands make up the Grenadines Parish:
Grenada.
Carriacou and Petite Martinique is a dependency of Grenada and has a population of 10,900 people. Carriacou is the largest of the Grenadine chain. These islands contains: