In the United States and Canada, English is dominant, while Spanish is the main language in Mexico and parts of the Caribbean. Just over 18% of the population in the United States have a mother tongue other than English, especially Spanish (2000). In Canada, where about 25% are French-speaking, approximately 1/3 of the residents languages other than English as their mother tongue. Large parts of Mexico’s population speak Native American…
Read MoreEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is one of the EU’s legislative institutions. Parliament is located in both Strasbourg and Brussels. Since 1979, direct elections to Parliament have been held. The European Parliament is thus an important part of the EU’s democratic legitimacy, and has three overarching competences. The legislative. However, how much Parliament can actually decide as a legislator depends on the decision – making process, but Parliament’s competence has grown significantly…
Read MoreTransportation in South America
Venezuela Venezuela has an exceptionally well-developed road network and is Latin America’s most impermeable country, largely due to the long, extremely low gasoline price. Paved roads, mainly Pan-American Highway, connect Venezuela with the rest of South America via Colombia. Rough terrain in the east combined with a border conflict means that there are no land links with Guyana. The rail network is almost non-existent and there is no train traffic…
Read MoreFlags of Europe
Albania The flag is from 1913, the year after the country’s declaration of independence. The double eagle as a symbol of power in both the east and the west was the former Byzantine Empire’s coat of arms and dates back to the 1460’s and the freedom hero Skanderbeg, who used the symbol. From 1945–92 there was also a Soviet star (in yellow outlines) on the flag cloth above the double…
Read MoreAfrican Flags
Congo (Brazzaville) The flag was introduced in 1992 when it replaced the Soviet-inspired flag from 1970. The color green-yellow-red is the traditional Pan-African. Kenya The flag was established in 1963. The design is based on a 1952 flag introduced for the independence movement. In the color symbol, black stands for the people, red for its blood, green for the country. The emblem of shield and spear wants to recall the…
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