GENERAL STUDIES PROJECT

AROUND THE WORLD IN 30 PAGES

SUBMITTED BY ; GAYATRI PRADEEP XI A ; ROLL NO : 27

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 INDEX

S.NO TOPICS COVERED PAGE NO.

1. Travelling and its importance 3-5
2. World tour map 6
3. Asia 7
4. India 8 - 11
5. Indonesia 12 - 13
6. Europe 14
7. Greece 15 - 16
8. North America 17
9. United States of America 18 - 19
10. South America 20
11. Peru 21 - 22
12. Africa 23
13. Ethiopia 24 - 25
14. Australia 26 - 28
15.

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 TRAVELLING AND IT’S IMPORTANCE

TRAVELLING … IT LEAVES YOU SPEECHLESS THEN IT TURNS YOU INTO A STORY TELLER
“LIFE IS EITHER A DARING ADVENTURE OR NOTHING AT ALL”
---HELEN KELLER

INTRODUCTION

There is nothing quite like traveling, like seeing a new place for the first time or returning to
a favorite place. People of all ages, from all countries, travel to foreign places for many
different reasons – namely work, family and leisure. Whether by plane, train, ship or
automobile, travel is generally a pleasurable experience, at least for the people who can
financially afford comfortable and safe methods of travel. But it has more benefits than
satisfying one’s need to make money, as well as to see loved ones and enjoy one’s self on
vacation. There are other benefits of traveling that many people often overlook.

I. TRAVELING IMPROVES YOUR HEALTH

From cutting down on stress, to lowering your chances of developing a heart disease, the
health benefits of traveling are huge. You may stay sitting on a chair all day long at the
workplace: including some walking to your trip is sure to make your body feel better. For
some people, wandering abroad is even a cure for depression and anxiety. Of course, it's not a
foolproof cure, but it might help you feel better, both physically and psychologically.
Traveling more is likely to have a tremendous impact on your mental well-being, especially if
you're no used to going out of your comfort zone. Trust me: travel more and your doctor will
be happy. Be sure to get in touch with your physician, they might recommend some
medication to accompany you in your travels, especially if you're heading to regions of the
globe with potentially dangerous diseases.

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II. DISCONNECTS YOU FROM YOUR DAILY LIFE
We tend to be so caught up in our daily lives that sometimes by simply sticking around we
may cause more harm than good. Here travelling can help you to unwind yourself from daily
life.

III. MAKES YOU SMARTER

Even more than "just" languages, traveling helps you learn about yourself. You might run
into challenging situations where you need to be resourceful and think differently. It’s sure
that you will develop a new set of skills that you didn't suspect you had within you.

IV. IMPROVES YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF OTHER CULTURES

Being more understanding and tolerant about a culture different than ours is part of being
smarter. There is a quote by Saint Augustine, which goes “The world is a book, and those
who do not travel read only one page”. Sure, you probably feel comfortable where you are,
but that is just a fraction of the world! If you are a student, take advantage of programs such
as Erasmus to get to know more people, experience and understand their culture.

V.ALLOWS YOU TO TRY AMAZING FOOD

Because we're naturally curious there is no such thing as trying a typical local dish from
another country. Don't trick yourself into going to the Sushi shop next door: you don't know
what sushi tastes like until you've been to Japan.Eating local food in a new country is an
entirely new experience. All the flavors are different;some change would be more than
welcome in our daily diet. Some food bloggers travel thousands of kilometers for a specific
dish!

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VI. MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE AN ADVENTURER
Despite the fact that the world has never been as well connected as today, there are still
places that are little known to the average tourist. Setting up a list of places you want to visit
is extremely motivating. You have something tangible to go after.
The benefit of traveling to a new place is that it forces you to face the unknown and think
differently. If you live in a large city, just going on a hike over the weekend will make you
feel different. Adventures require novelty, so get out of your comfort zone. It might be scary,
but in retrospect, you'll see it as the best decision you ever made!

VII. EXPANDS YOUR (REAL) SOCIAL NETWORK

Believe it or not, social networks was once like a real thing - in real life. Establishing
connections and building a network abroad is one of the smartest things you can do in today’s
world. It is sometimes hard to build long-lasting relationship with the people you meet
abroad, but it doesn't mean it's not worth meeting new people!

VIII. CREATES LIFETIME MEMORIES

No matter how insignificant it may seem, the fact that you've had an experience abroad,
something that was out of the ordinary, creates a memory that you will remember for a long
time.

IX. MAKES YOU LOVE YOUR HOME EVEN MORE

“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come
back”. On one hand, it would seem that you’re back where you started, same setting, same
people, same problems. Yet you’re not the same - you’re new, full of new knowledge and
ideas!

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LET’S BEGIN OUR WORLD TOUR
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 Asia is Earth's largest and most
populous continent, located primarily in
the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It
shares the continental landmass
of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and
the continental landmass of Afro-
Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. Asia
covers an area of 44,579,000 square
kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land
area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface
area. The continent, which has long been
home to the majority of the human
population, was the site of many of the first
civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its
overall large size and population, but also
dense and large settlements, as well as vast
barely populated regions. Its 4,522,036,285 peopleconstitute roughly 60% of the world's
population.
In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian
Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical
and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is
somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of
Eurasia into two continents reflects East-West cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences, some of
which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The most commonly accepted
boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of
the Turkish Straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus
Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas, separating it from Europe.
China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China
was a major economic power and attracted many to the east and for many the legendary wealth and
prosperity of the ancient culture of India personified Asia, attracting European commerce,
exploration and colonialism. The accidental discovery of a trans-Atlantic route from Europe to
America by Columbus while in search for a route to India demonstrates this deep fascination.
The Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits
of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust
population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen. Asia
was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions
including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism,
Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, as well as many other religions.
Given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may
actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly
across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics,
historical ties and government systems. It also has a mix of many different climates ranging from
the equatorial south via the hot desert in the Middle East, temperate areas in the east and the
continental centre to vast subarctic and polar areas in Siberia.
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India, also known as the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-
largest country by area, the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people), and the
most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian
Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan
( to the west) ; China, Nepal, and Bhutan ( to the northeast) ;and Bangladesh and Myanmar ( to the
east). In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while
its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilization of the 3rd
millennium BCE. In the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated
with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first
millennium before Common Era, and Buddhism and Jainism arose. Early political consolidations
took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced
cultures as far as Southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity,
and Islam arrived, and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the region's diverse culture. Much of the
north fell to the Delhi Sultanate; the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The
economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the mid-18th century, the
subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under
British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later,
under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in
1947.

In 2017, the Indian economy was the world's sixth largest by nominal GDP and third
largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India
became one of the fastest-growing major economies and is considered a newly industrialized
country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition,
and inadequate public healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the second
largest standing army in the world and ranks fifth in military expenditure among nations. India is

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a federal republic governed under a parliamentary system and consists of 29 states and 7 union
territories. A pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society, it is also home to a diversity
of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
India, it is often said, is not a country, but a continent. Stretching from the frozen summits of the
Himalayas to the tropical greenery of Kerala, its expansive borders encompass an incomparable
range of landscapes, cultures and people. Walk the streets of any city when you visit India and
you’ll rub shoulders with representatives of several of the world’s great faiths, encounter temple
rituals performed since the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs, onion-domed mosques erected centuries
before the Taj Mahal, and quirky echoes of the British Raj on virtually every corner.

CULTURE:
Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years. During the Vedic period , the foundations
of Hindu philosophy, mythology, theology and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices
which still exist today, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga, and mokṣa, were established. India is notable
for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity,
and Jainismamong the nation's major religions. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been
shaped by various historical schools of thought, including those of the Upanishads, the Yoga
Sutras, the Bhakti movement, and by Buddhist philosophy.

ARCHITECTURE:
Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Mughal architecture,
and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles. Vernacular
architecture is also highly regional in it flavors. Vastushastra, literally "science of construction" or
"architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan, explores how the laws of nature affect human
dwellings; it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic
constructs. As applied in Hindu temple architecture, it is influenced by the ShilpaShastras, a series
of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a square that
embodied the "absolute". The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of
Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage
List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the
world's heritage". Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th
century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture

LANGUAGE:
India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the
population) and Dravidian (spoken by 24% of the population). Other languages spoken in India
come from the Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan language families. India has no national
language. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the
government. English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a
"subsidiary official language"; it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher
education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution
recognizes in particular 22 "scheduled languages".

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ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Much of Indian architecture, including the TajMahal, other works of Mughal architecture,
and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles. Vernacular
architecture is also highly regional in it flavors. Vastushastra, literally "science of construction" or
"architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan, explores how the laws of nature affect human
dwellings; it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic
constructs. As applied in Hindu temple architecture, it is influenced by the ShilpaShastras, a series
of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a square that
embodied the "absolute". The TajMahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of
Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage
List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the
world's heritage".Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th
century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture.

LITERATURE
The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1700 BCE and 1200 CE, were in the
Sanskrit language.Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as
the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana, the dramas of Kālidāsasuch as
the Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as
the Mahākāvya.Developed between 600 BCE and 300 CE in South India, the Sangam literature,
consisting of 2,381 poems, is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature. From the 14th to the
18th centuries, India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the
emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās, and Guru Nānak. This period was
characterized by a varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression; as a consequence,
medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions. In the 19th century,
Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. In the 20th
century, Indian literature was influenced by the works of Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath
Tagore, who was a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

PERFORMING ARTS
Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. Classical musicencompasses two
genres and their various folk offshoots: the northern Hindustaniand
southern Carnatic schools. Regionalized popular forms include filmy and folk music; the syncretic
tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk and
classical forms. Among the better-known folk dances are the bhangra of Punjab, the bihu of
Assam, the Jhumair and chhau of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, garba and dandiya of
Gujarat, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and the lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with
narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by
India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama.

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These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar
Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of
Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and the sattriya of Assam. Theatre in India melds music, dance, and
improvised or written dialogue. Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from
medieval romances or social and political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of Gujarat,
the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, tamasha of Maharashtra,
burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.

CUISINE
Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines, often depending on
a particular state (such as Maharashtrian cuisine). Staple foods of Indian cuisine include pearl
millet, rice, whole-wheat flour , and a variety of lentils, such as masoor (most often
red lentils), toor (pigeon peas), urad(black gram), and mong (mung beans). Lentils may be used
whole, dehusked—for example, dhulimoong or dhuliurad—or split. Split lentils, or dal, are used
extensively. The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited by historians as the primary
catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery

CLOTHING
Cotton was domesticated in India by 4000 BCE. Traditional Indian dress varies in colour and style
across regions and depends on various factors, including climate and faith. Popular styles of dress
include draped garments such as the sari for women and the dhoti or lungi for men. Stitched
clothes, such as the shalwarkameez for women and kurta–pyjamacombinations or European-style
trousers and shirts for men, are also popular. Use of delicate jewelry, modeled on real flowers
worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn
in India as talismans.

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The Indonesian archipelago spreads over 5200km between the Asian mainland and
Australia, all of it within the tropics, and comprises 17,000 islands. Its ethnic, cultural and
linguistic diversity is correspondingly great – more than 500 languages and dialects are
spoken by its 246 million people, whose fascinating customs and lifestyles are a major
attraction. The largely volcanic nature of the islands has created tall cloud-swept mountains
swathed in the green of rice terraces or rainforest, dropping to blindingly bright beaches and
vivid blue seas, the backdrop for Southeast Asia’s biggest wilderness areas and wildlife
sanctuaries.

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia, between
the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's largest island country, with more than thirteen
thousand islands, and at 1,904,569 square kilometres, the 14th largest by land area and the 7th
largest in combined sea and land area.[12] With over 261 million people, it is the world's 4th most
populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most
populous island, contains more than half of the country's population.
Indonesia is a republic with an elected parliament and president. It has 34 provinces, of which five
have special status. Jakarta, the country's capital, is the second most populous urban area in the
world. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern
part of Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Vietnam,
the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large
population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support a
high level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural
gas, tin, copper and gold. Agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal
plants, spices and rubber. Indonesia's major trading partners are China, the United States, Japan,
Singapore and India.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century,
when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with Chinese dynasties and Indian kingdoms. Local
rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early
centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been
influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources.

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 Muslim traders and Sufi scholars brought Islam, while European powers brought Christianityand
fought one another to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Malukuduring the Age of
Discovery. Indonesia experienced a long period of Dutch colonialism that started
from Amboina and Batavia, eventually covering all of the archipelago
including Timor and Western New Guinea, and at times interrupted by Portuguese, French and
British rule. During the decolonisation of Asia after World War II, Indonesia achieved
independence in 1949 following an armed and diplomatic conflict with the Netherlands.
Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct native ethnic and linguistic groups, with the largest—and
politically dominant—ethnic group being the Javanese. A shared identity has developed, defined
by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population,
and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka
Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes
the country. Indonesia's economy is the world's 16thlargest by nominal GDP and the 7th largest by
GDP at Purchasing power parity. Indonesia is a member of several multilateral organisations,
including the UN, WTO, IMFand G20. It is also a founding member of Non-Aligned
Movement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, East
Asia Summit, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Indonesia is a very ethnically diverse country, with around 300 distinct native ethnic groups. Most
Indonesians descend from Austronesian-speaking peoples whose languages can be traced to Proto-
Austronesian, which possibly originated in what is now Taiwan. Another major grouping are
the Melanesians, who inhabit eastern Indonesia. The Javanese are the largest ethnic group,
comprising 40.2% of the population. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts
of Java and also significant numbers in most provinces of Indonesia.
The Sundanese, Batak and Madurese are the largest non-Javanese groups. A sense of Indonesian
nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.
The country's official language is Indonesian, a variant of Malay based on its prestige dialect,
which for centuries had been the lingua franca of the archipelago. It was promoted by nationalists
in the 1920s, and declared the official language under the name Bahasa Indonesia in 1945. As a
result of contact with other languages spanning centuries, it is rich in local and foreign influences,
including from Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Hindi, Sanskrit, Chinese, Arabic, Dutch,
Portuguese and English. Nearly every Indonesian speaks the language due to its widespread use in
education, academics, communications, business, politics, and mass media. Most Indonesians also
speak at least one of more than 700 local languages, often as their first language. Some belong to
the Austronesian language family, while over 270 Papuan languages are spoken in eastern
Indonesia.[3] Of these, Javanese is the most widely spoken.
In 1930, Dutch and other Europeans, Eurasians, and derivative people like the Indos, numbered
240,000 or 0.4% of the total population. Historically, they constituted only a tiny fraction of the
native population and continue to do so today. Despite the Dutch presence for almost 350 years,
the Dutch language has no official status and the small minority that can speak the language
fluently are either educated members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal
profession, as certain law codes are still only available in Dutch.

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 Europe is a continent located entirely in
the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in
the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by
the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic
Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean
Sea to the south. It comprises the
westernmost part of Eurasia.
Since around 1850, Europe is most
commonly considered to be separated from
Asia by the watershed divides of
the Ural and Caucasus Mountains,the Ural
River, the Caspian and Black Seas and the
waterways of the Turkish Straits.Europe
covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres
of the Earth's surface. Politically, Europe is
divided into about fifty sovereign states of
which the Russian Federation is the largest
and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe
had a total population of about 741 million. The European climate is largely affected by warm
Atlantic currents that temper winters and summers on much of the continent, even
at latitudes along which the climate in Asia and North America is severe. Further from the sea,
seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast.
Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of
the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the subsequent Migration Period marked the end
of ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Renaissance
humanism, exploration, art and science led to the modern era. From the Age of
Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs.
The Age of Enlightenment, the subsequent French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the
continent culturally, politically and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first
half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the
18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural and social change in Western Europe and
eventually the wider world. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron
Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East, until the revolutions of
1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 1949 the Council of Europe was founded, following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill, with the
idea of unifying Europe to achieve common goals. It includes all European states except
for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the
formation of the European Union (EU), a separate political entity that lies between
a confederation and a federation. The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding
eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The currency of most countries of the
European Union, the euro, is the most commonly used among Europeans; and the EU's Schengen
Area abolishes border and immigration controls among most of its member states. The European
Anthem is "Ode to Joy", and states celebrate peace and unity on Europe Day.

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Greece ), officially the Hellenic Republic , historically also known as Hellas, is a country located
in Southern and Southeast Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of
2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of
the Balkan Peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of
Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east
of the mainland, the Ionian Seato the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the
world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a large number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited.
Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918
meters. The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece,
the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands , Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace
of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science,
major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, as well as the Olympic Games.
From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organized into various independent city-states,
known as poleis , which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of
Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the
Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the
eastern Mediterranean to India. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming
an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, wherein Greek
language and culture were dominant. Rooted in the first century A.D., the Greek Orthodox
Church helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the
wider Orthodox World. Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the
modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence.
The sovereign state of Greece is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an
advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A
founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European
Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other
international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),

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the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe(OSCE), and the Organization internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Greece's unique
cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic
importance classify it as a middle power. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an
important regional investor.
Artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek Cycladic and
the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient
Egypt.

There were several interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Greece. Due to their technical
differences, they underwent somewhat differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are
equally well represented in the archaeological record. The most respected form of art, according to
authors like Pliny or Pausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden boards, technically
described as panel paintings. Also, the tradition of wall painting in Greece goes back at least to
the Minoan and Mycenaean Bronze Age, with the lavish fresco decoration of sites
like Knossos, Tiryns and Mycenae. Much of the figural or architectural sculpture of ancient Greece
was painted colorfully. This aspect of Greek stonework is described as polychrome.
Ancient Greek sculpture was composed almost entirely of marble or bronze; with cast bronze
becoming the favored medium for major works by the early 5th century. Both marble and bronze
are easy to form and very durable. Chryselephantine sculptures, used for temple cult images and
luxury works, used gold, most often in leaf form and ivory for all or parts (faces and hands) of the
figure, and probably gems and other materials, but were much less common, and only fragments
have survived. By the early 19th century, the systematic excavation of ancient Greek sites had
brought forth a plethora of sculptures with traces of notably multicolored surfaces. It was not until
published findings by German archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann in the late 20th century, that the
painting of ancient Greek sculptures became an established fact.
The art production continued also during the Byzantine era. The most salient feature of this new
aesthetic was its “abstract or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt
to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have
abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach. The Byzantine painting
concentrated mainly on icons and hagiographies. The Macedonian art (Byzantine) was the artistic
expression of Macedonian Renaissance, a label sometimes used to describe the period of the
Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire (867–1056), especially the 10th century, which
some scholars have seen as a time of increased interest in classical scholarship and the assimilation
of classical motifs into Christian artwork.

16
 North America is a continent entirely
within the Northern Hemisphere and almost
all within the Western Hemisphere; it is also
considered by some to be a
northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is
bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean,
to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the
west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to
the southeast by South America and
the Caribbean Sea.

North America covers an area of about

24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000
square miles), about 16.5% of
the earth's land area and about 4.8% of its
total surface. North America is the third
largest continent by area,
following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.[6]In 2013,
its population was estimated at nearly 579 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5%
of the world's population, if nearby islands (most notably the Caribbean) are included.

North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via
crossing the Bering land bridge approximately 40,000 to 17,000 years ago. The so-called Paleo-
Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago. The Classic stage spans roughly
the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended in 1492, and the transatlantic migrations—
the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the Early Modern period. Present-
day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kinds of interactions between European
colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants.
European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and
African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most
North Americans speak English, Spanish or French and societies and states commonly
reflect Western traditions.
The dominant languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Danish is prevalent
in Greenland alongside Greenlandic, and Dutch is spoken side by side local languages in the Dutch
Caribbean. The term Anglo-America is used to refer to the Anglophone countries of the Americas:
namely Canada (where English and French are co-official) and the United States, but also
sometimes Belize and parts of the tropics, especially the Commonwealth Caribbean. Latin
America refers to the other areas of the Americas (generally south of the United States) where
the Romance languages, derived from Latin, of Spanish and Portuguese (but French speaking
countries are not usually included) predominate: the other republics of Central America (but not
always Belize), part of the Caribbean (not the Dutch-, English-, or French-speaking areas),
Mexico, and most of South America (except Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana (France), and
the Falkland Islands (UK)).

17
The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal
district(Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and
various minor islands. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North
Americabetween Canada and Mexico; the two other states, Alaska and Hawaii, are in the
northwestern part of North America and an archipelago in the mid-Pacific, respectively, while the
territories are scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
States are the primary subdivisions of the United States, and possess a number of powers and
rights under the United States Constitution, such as regulating intrastate commerce,
running elections, creating local governments, and ratifying constitutional amendments. Each state
has its own constitution, grounded in republican principles, and government, consisting of three
branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. All states and their residents are represented in the
federal Congress, a bicamerallegislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Each state is represented by two Senators, while Representatives are distributed among the states
in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Additionally, each
state is entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects
the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators in Congress
from that state. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants to Congress the authority
to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the
number of states has expanded from the original 13 to the current total of 50, and each new state is
admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.
In addition to the 50 states and federal district, the United States has sovereignty over
14 territories. Five of them (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands) have a permanent, nonmilitary population, while nine of them do not.

With the exception of Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are located
in the Caribbean, all territories are located in the Pacific Ocean. One territory, Palmyra Atoll, is
considered to be incorporated, meaning the full body of the Constitution has been applied to it; the
other territories are unincorporated, meaning the Constitution does not fully apply to them. Ten
territories (the Minor Outlying Islands and American Samoa) are considered to be unorganized,
meaning they have not had an Organic Act enacted by Congress; the four other territories
are organized, meaning they have had an Organic Act that has been enacted by Congress.

18
The five inhabited territories each have limited autonomy and a non-voting delegate in Congress,
in addition to having territorial legislatures and governors, but residents cannot vote in federal
elections.
California is the most populous state, with 38,332,521 residents (2013 estimate); Wyoming is the
least populous, with an estimated 582,658 residents. The District of Columbia, with an estimated
646,449 residents as of 2012, has a higher population than the two least populous states (Wyoming
and Vermont). The largest state by area is Alaska, encompassing 665,384 square miles
(1,723,340 km2), while the smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing 1,545 square miles
(4,000 km2). The first state to ratify the current Constitution was Delaware, which it did on
December 7, 1787, while the newest state is Hawaii, which was admitted to the Union on August
21, 1959. The largest territory in terms of both population and size is Puerto Rico, with 3,725,789
residents as of the 2010 Census and a total area of 5,325 square miles.
American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport; the National Football
League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super
Bowl is watched by millions globally. Baseball has been regarded as the U.S. national sport since
the late 19th century, with Major League Baseball (MLB) being the top league. Basketball and ice
hockey are the country's next two leading professional team sports, with the top leagues being
the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL). These four
major sports, when played professionally, each occupy a season at different but overlapping, times
of the year. College football and basketball attract large audiences. In soccer, the country hosted
the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the men's national soccer team qualified for ten World Cups and
the women's team has won the FIFA Women's World Cup three times; Major League Soccer is the
sport's highest league in the United States (featuring 19 American and 3 Canadian teams). The
market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than
that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.
Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States (2028 Summer Olympics will mark
the ninth time). As of 2017, the United States has won 2,522 medals at the Summer Olympic
Games, more than any other country, and 305 in the Winter Olympic Games, the second most
behind Norway. While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have
evolved out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, and snowboarding are
American inventions, some of which have become popular worldwide. Lacrosse and surfing arose
from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact. The most
watched individual sports are golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR. Rugby union is
considered the fastest growing sport in the U.S., with registered players, numbered at 115,000+
and a further 1.2 million participants.

19
 South America is a continent in the Western
Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern
Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in
the Northern Hemisphere. It may also be
considered a subcontinent of the Americas,
which is how it is viewed in the Spanish and
Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas.
The reference to South America instead of other
regions (like Latin America or the Southern
Cone) has increased in the last decades due to
changing geopolitical dynamics (in particular,
the rise of Brazil).
It is bordered on the west by the Pacific
Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic
Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It includes twelve sovereign
states
(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Urugua
y, and Venezuela), a part of France (French Guiana), and a non-sovereign area (the Falkland
Islands, a British Overseas Territory though this is disputed by Argentina). In addition to this,
the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama may also
be considered part of South America.
South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi). Its population as of
2016 has been estimated at more than 420 million.[1] South America ranks fourth in area
(after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and
North America). Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half
of the continent's population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru. In recent
decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the region's GDP and has become a first regional
power.
Most of the population lives near the continent's western or eastern coasts while the interior and
the far south are sparsely populated. The geography of western South America is dominated by
the Andes mountains; in contrast, the eastern part contains both highland regions and vast lowlands
where rivers such as the Amazon, Orinoco, and Paraná flow. Most of the continent lies in
the tropics.
The continent's cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous
peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a
long history of colonialism, the overwhelming majority of South Americans
speak Portuguese or Spanish, and societies and states reflect Western traditions.
The most populous country in South America is Brazil with 207.7 million people. The second
largest country is Colombia with a population of 48,653,419. Argentina is the third most populous
country with 43,847,430.
While Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia maintain the largest populations, large city populations are
not restricted to those nations. The largest cities in South America, by far, are São Paulo, Bogotá,
and Lima. These cities are the only cities on the continent to exceed eight million, and three of five
in the Americas. Next in size are Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Caracas, Buenos Aires and Salvador.

20
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the
north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south
by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is an extremely bio diverse country with
habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of
the Andes mountains vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the
tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon river.
Peruvian territory was home to several ancient cultures, ranging from the Norte Chico
civilization in the 32nd century BC, the oldest civilization in the Americas, to the Inca Empire, the
largest and most sophisticated state in pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the
region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty that encompassed most of its South
American colonies, with its capital in Lima. Peru formally proclaimed independence in 1821, and
following the military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar, and the decisive battle
of Ayacucho, Peru secured independence in 1824. In the ensuing years, the country enjoyed
relative economic and political stability, which ended shortly before the War of the Pacific with
Chile. Throughout the 20th century, Peru endured armed territorial disputes, coups, social unrest,
and internal conflicts, as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. Alberto Fujimori was
elected to the presidency in 1990; his government was credited with economically stabilizing Peru
and successfully ending the Shining Path insurgency, though he was widely accused of human
rights violations and suppression of political dissent. Fujimori left the presidency in 2000 and was
charged with human rights violations and imprisoned until his pardon by President Pedro Pablo
Kuczynski in 2017.
The sovereign state of Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is
classified as an emerging market[9] with a high level of human development and an upper middle
income level with a poverty rate around 19 percent. It is one of the region's most prosperous
economies with an average growth rate of 5.9% and it has one of the world's fastest industrial
growth rates at an average of 9.6%. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing,
agriculture and fishing; along with other growing sectors such as telecommunications
and biotechnology. The country forms part of The Pacific Pumas, a political and economic
grouping of countries along Latin America’s Pacific coast that share common trends of positive
growth, stable macroeconomic foundations, improved governance and an openness to global
integration. Peru ranks high in social freedom and it has the third lowest homicide rate in South
America; it is an active member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Alliance,
the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the World Trade Organization; and is considered as a middle
power.
21
Peru has a multiethnic population of 32 million, which includes Amerindians,
Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant
number of Peruvians speak Quechua, Aymara or other native languages. This mixture of cultural
traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature,
and music.
Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Amerindian and Spanish traditions, though it has also been
influenced by various Asian, African, and other European ethnic groups. Peruvian artistic
traditions date back to the elaborate pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture of Pre-Inca cultures.
The Incas maintained these crafts and made architectural achievements including the construction
of Machu Picchu. Baroque dominated colonial art, though modified by native traditions.
During this period, most art focused on religious subjects; the numerous churches of the era and
the paintings of the Cusco School are representative.[114] Arts stagnated after independence until
the emergence of Indigenismo in the early 20th century.Since the 1950s, Peruvian art has
been eclectic and shaped by both foreign and local art currents.
Peruvian literature is rooted in the oral traditions of pre-Columbian civilizations. Spaniards
introduced writing in the 16th century; colonial literary expression included
chronicles and religious literature. After independence, Costumbrism and Romanticism became
the most common literary genres, as exemplified in the works of Ricardo Palma. The early 20th
century's Indigenismo movement was led by such writers as Ciro Alegría and José María
Arguedas. César Vallejo wrote modernist and often politically engaged verse. Modern Peruvian
literature is recognized thanks to authors such as Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, a leading
member of the Latin American Boom.
Peruvian cuisine blends Amerindian and Spanish food with strong influences from Chinese,
African, Arab, Italian, and Japanese cooking. Common dishes include anticuchos, ceviche,
and pachamanca. Peru's varied climate allows the growth of diverse plants and animals good for
cooking. Peru's diversity of ingredients and cooking techniques is receiving worldwide acclaim.
Peruvian music has Andean, Spanish, and African roots. In pre-Hispanic times, musical
expressions varied widely in each region; the quena and the tinya were two common
instruments. Spaniards introduced new instruments, such as the guitar and the harp, which led to
the development of crossbred instruments like the charango. African contributions to Peruvian
music include its rhythms and the cajón, a percussion instrument. Peruvian folk
dances include marinera, tondero, zamacueca, diablada and huayno.

22
 Africa is the world's second largest and
second most-populous continent (behind
Asia in both categories). At about 30.3
million km2 (11.7 million square miles)
including adjacent islands, it covers 6%
of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its
land area. With 1.2 billion people as of
2016, it accounts for about 16% of the
world's human population. The continent is
surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the
north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red
Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the
southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the
west. The continent
includes Madagascar and
various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states(countries),
nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. The majority of
the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and
number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
Africa's average population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was
19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Algeria is Africa's largest country by area,
and Nigeria is its largest by population. Africa, particularly central Eastern Africa, is widely
accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade(great apes), as evidenced by
the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors as well as later ones that have been dated
to around 7 million years ago, including Sahelanthropustchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A.
afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster—the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human),
found in Ethiopia, date to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses
numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern
temperate zones.
Africa hosts a large diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century,
European countries colonized almost all of Africa; most present states in Africa originated from a
process of decolonization in the 20th century. African nations cooperate through the establishment
of the African Union, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.
By most estimates, well over a thousand languagesare spoken in Africa. Most are of African
origin, though some are of European or Asian origin. Africa is the most multilingual continent in
the world, and it is not rare for individuals to fluently speak not only multiple African languages,
but one or more European ones as well. There are major language families indigenous to Africa:

 The Afroasiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 285 million
people widespread throughout the Horn of Africa, North Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest
Asia.
 The Nilo-Saharan language family consists of more than a hundred languages spoken by 30
million people. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by ethnic groups
in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, and northern Tanzania.

23
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the Horn of
Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the
east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 102 million
inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most
populous nation on the African continent. It occupies a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometers
(420,000 sq mi), and its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa.
Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in
Ethiopia. It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for
the Middle East and places beyond. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-
speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era. Tracing its roots
to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history.
In the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the
region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137. During the late 19th-century Scramble for
Africa, Ethiopia was one of two nations to retain its sovereignty from long-term colonialism by a
European colonial power. Many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted
its flag colors. The country was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia (part of
the Italian East Africa) until 1941. Ethiopia was also the first independent member from Africa of
the 20th-century League of Nations and the Nations. In 1974, the Ethiopian monarch yunder Haile
Selassie was overthrown by the Derg, a communist military government backed by the Soviet
Union. In 1987, the Derg established the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, but it was
overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has been the
ruling political coalition since.
Ethiopia and Eritrea use the ancient Ge'ez script, which is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in
the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three months behind
the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A majority of the population
adheres to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and P'ent'ay), whereas
around a third follows Islam (primarily Sunni). The country is the site of the Migration to
Abyssinia and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of
Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel, also resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s. Ethiopia is
a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are
the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans.

24
Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches.
Additionally, Omotic languagesare spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern
regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities.
The nation is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile west, its forests, and numerous rivers,
and the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest
continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest cave on the
continent. Ethiopia also has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. Additionally,
thesovereign state is a founding members of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned
Movement, G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity. Its capital city Addis Ababa serves as the
headquarters of the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Standby Force, and many of the
global NGOs focused on Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia experienced civil
conflicts and communist purges, which hindered its economy. The country has since recovered and
now has the largest economy (by GDP) in East Africa.
The main sports in Ethiopia are track and field and football. Ethiopian athletes have won many
Olympic gold medals in track and field, most of them in long distance running. Haile
Gebrselassie is a world-renowned long distance runner with several world records under his
belt. KenenisaBekele and TiruneshDibaba are also dominant runners, particularly in the 5,000 and
10,000 meters in which they hold the world records.
Other notable Ethiopian athletes are AbebeBikila, MamoWolde, MirutsYifter, Derartu
Tulu, MeseretDefar, AlmazAyana, BirhaneAdere, TikiGelana, GenzebeDibaba, Tariku Bekele,
and Gelete Burka. Ethiopia has Sub-Saharan Africa's longest basketball tradition as it established
a national basketball team in 1949.
The best-known Ethiopian cuisine consists of various types of thick meat stews, known as wat in
Ethiopian culture, and vegetable side dishes served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made
of teff flour. This is not eaten with utensils, but instead one uses the injera to scoop up the entrées
and side dishes. Almost universally in Ethiopia, it is common to eat from the same dish in the
center of the table with a group of people. It is also a common custom to feed others in your group
with your own hands—a tradition referred to as "gursha". Traditional Ethiopian cuisine employs
no pork or shellfish of any kind, as they are forbidden in the Christian (Ethiopian Orthodox),
Islamic and Jewish faiths.

25
 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of
Australia, is a sovereigncountry comprising the
mainland of the Australian continent, the
island of Tasmania and numerous smaller
islands. It is the largest country in Oceaniaand
the world's sixth-largest country by total area.
The neighboring countries are Papua New
Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north;
the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-
east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The
population of 25 million is highly urbanized and
heavily concentrated on the eastern
seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its
largest city is Sydney. The country's other
major metropolitan areas are Melbourne,
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians for about 60,000 years before the first British
settlement in the late 18th century. It is documented that Aborigines spoke languages that can be
classified into about 250 groups. After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers
in 1606, who named it New Holland, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770
and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26
January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. The population grew steadily in
subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional
five self-governing crown colonies established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated,
forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal
democratic political system that functions as a federalparliamentary constitutional
monarchy comprising six states and ten territories.

Being the oldest, flattest and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils, Australia has a
landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometers. A mega diverse country, its size gives it a wide variety
of landscapes, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east and mountain
ranges in the south-east. A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, which boosted the
population of the country. Indigenous Australian rock art is the oldest and richest in the world,
dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites.

Australia is a highly developed country, with the world's 13th-largest economy. It has a high-
income economy, with the world's tenth-highest per capita income. Australia is a regional
power and has the world's 13th-highest military expenditure. Australia has the world's 9th
largest immigrant population with immigrants accounting for 26% of the population. Having the
third-highest human development index and the eighth-highest ranked democracy globally, the
country ranks highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and
political rights, with all its major cities faring well in global comparative livability surveys

26
The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ("southern land"), a name used for a
hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. When Europeans first
began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was naturally
applied to the new territories.
Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as "New Holland", a name first applied by
the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and subsequently Anglicized. The name Australia was
popularized by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, and an
assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth".
Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by
the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman
Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent and sixth largest
country by total area, Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed the "island
continent", and is sometimes considered the world's largest island. Australia has 34,218
kilometers of coastline and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square
kilometers. Apart from Macquarie Island, Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44°S, and
longitudes 112°and 154°E.
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats
from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests. Fungi typify that diversity; an estimated 250,000
species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. Because of the continent's
great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of
Australia's biota is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45%
of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic. Australia has the greatest number
of reptiles of any country, with 755 species. Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that
developed without feline species.
Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptustrees in the less
arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. Among
well-known Australian animals are the monotremes; a host of marsupials, including
the kangaroo, koala, and wombat, and birds such as the emu and the kookaburra. Australia is home
to many dangerous animalsincluding some of the most venomous snakes in the world.

27
CULTURE
Since 1788, the primary influence behind Australian culture has been Anglo-CelticWestern
culture, with some Indigenous influences. The divergence and evolution that has occurred in the
ensuing centuries has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture. Since the mid-20th
century, American popular culture has strongly influenced Australia, particularly through
television and cinema. Other cultural influences come from neighboring Asian countries, and
through large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking nations.

ARTS
Traditional designs, patterns and stories infuse contemporary Indigenous Australian art, "the last
great art movement of the 20th century"; its exponents include Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Early
colonial artists, trained in Europe, showed a fascination with the unfamiliar
land. The impressionistic works of Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and others associated with the
19th-century Heidelberg School—the first "distinctively Australian" movement in Western art—
gave expression to a burgeoning Australian nationalism in the lead-up to Federation. While the
school remained influential into the new century, modernists such as Margaret Preston, and,
later, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, explored new artistic trends. The landscape remained a
central subject matter for Fred Williams, Brett Whitley and other post-World War II artists whose
works, eclectic in style yet uniquely Australian, moved between the figurative and
theabstract. The national and state galleries maintain collections of local and international
art. Australia has one of the world's highest attendances of art galleries and museums per head of
population.
Australian literature grew slowly in the decades following European settlement though
Indigenous oral traditions, many of which have since been recorded in writing, are much
older. Miles Franklin is the namesake of Australia's most prestigious literary prize, awarded
annually to the best novel about Australian life. Its first recipient, Patrick White, went on to win
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973. Australian winners of the Booker Prize include Peter
Carey, Thomas Keneally and Richard Flanagan. Author David Malouf, playwright David
Williamson and poet Les Murray are also renowned literary figures. Ballet and dance are
represented by The Australian Ballet and various state companies.

28
 ISLAND NATION

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore , is a sovereign city-state and island

country in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, at
the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south and Peninsular
Malaysia to the north. Singapore's territory consists of one main island along with 62 other islets.
Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 square
kilometres or 50 square miles). The country is known for its transition from third world to first
world in a single generation, under the leadership of its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew.
Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India
Company. After the company's collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a
crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained
independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to
form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign
nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and
a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and
its workforce.
Singapore is a global hub for education, entertainment, finance, healthcare, human
capital, innovation, logistics, manufacturing, technology, tourism, trade, and transport. The city
ranks highly in numerous international rankings, and has been recognized as the most "technology-
ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential"
(BERI), world's smartest city,] world's safest country, second-most competitive country, third-
largest foreign exchange market, third-largest financial centre, third-largest oil refining and trading
centre, fifth-most innovative country, and the second-busiest container port. The Economist has
ranked Singapore as the most expensive city to live in, since 2013. It is identified as a tax haven.
Singapore is the only country in Asia with an AAA sovereign rating from all major rating
agencies, and one of 11 worldwide. Globally, the Port of Singapore and Changi Airport have held
the titles of leading "Maritime Capital" and "Best Airport" respectively for consecutive years,
while Singapore Airlines is the 2018 "World's Best Airline".

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Singapore ranks 9th on the UN Human Development Index with the 3rd highest GDP per capita.
It is placed highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life,
personal safety and housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-
occupied. According to the Democracy Index, the country is described as a "flawed democracy".
The Singaporean passport is joint first with Japan for visa-free travel granted by the most countries
to its citizens.
The city-state is home to 5.6 million residents, 39% of whom are foreign nationals,
including permanent residents. There are four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin
Chinese, and Tamil; most Singaporeans are bilingual and English serves as the nation's lingua
franca. Its cultural diversity is reflected in its extensive ethnic cuisine and major festivals. Pew
Research has found that Singapore has the highest religious diversity of any
country. Multiracialism has been enshrined in its constitution since independence, and continues to
shape national policies in education, housing, politics, among others.
Singapore is a unitary parliamentary republic with a Westminster
system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every
election since self-government began in 1959. As one of the five founding members of ASEAN,
Singapore is the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat and Pacific
Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Secretariat, as well as many international conferences and
events. It is also a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement and
the Commonwealth of Nations.

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