View allAll Photos Tagged language
Els Plans, view to Sola del Tarter & Tosa d'Incles, Canillo parroquia, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees
More Els Plans & Canillo parroquia images: Follow the group links at right side.
.......
About this image:
* Full frame format 3x2 quality image
* Usage: Large format prints optional
* Motive is suitable as symbol pic
* "Andorra authentic" edition (10 years decade 2008-2018)
* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection
* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps
* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism redactions
We offer 100.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. The biggest professional image catalog of Andorra from the newer history: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). HighRes & HighColor GeoCoded stock-photo images including metadata in 4-5 languages. Prepared for an easy systematic organising of large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System). The big stockphoto collection from the Pyrenees.
More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.
Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com
(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.
dad de lado los problemas que os plantea la vida y aprovechad esas pequeñas cosas que nos hacen sentir bien...
In Nepali language 'Shanti' means peace that why this pagoda style stupa,lying at an altitude of about 1100m above the sea level is also called peace pagoda. Built by monk,Nochidastu Fuji under instruction of his guru Myohoji in 1973 the stupa is about 5km up the hill both from southern edge of Phewa lake and Chorepatan.The majestic stupa has four diferent statutes of Lord Buddha in each direction installed by Japan,Nepal, Srilanka and Thailand. The pinnacle of the stupa is from Srilanka.
To reach Shanti stupa the visitors have two options either by boating to southern edge of Phewa lake followed by hiking or from Chorepatan or Phumdibhumdi on a cab, bike or half an hour walk up the hill. Lovers of wilderness and solitude perfer to scale the hill from the Phewa lake as the journey goes through dense forest accompanied by songs of birds and circkets.On reaching the top of the hill, eye soothing view of Mount Annapurna and Fistail, Phewa lake,unending landscapes and green lush forest magnetises the visitors.Towering Pagoda style Peace stupa, and its surrounding garden,like its name fills the visitors with spiritual ecstasy and jubilant mood.The stupa is not just a Buddhist pilgrimage but also a palce for Hindus to worship that why it also exihibits quintessence of religious tolarance in Nepal.
contact : bhuiyanbashar1@gmail.com
connected with my facebook : www.facebook.com/Bashar.BH/
K U R D I S T A N - 💛❤💚كوردستان💋
NEWROZA WE PÎROZ BE!
All dancing together because they are the kurds from Kurdistan, Kurdistan is not Iraq Iran Turkey not Syria either, we want United kurdistan not divided land between three different cultures different tradition and different languages than our own unique Kurdish
50 million occupied Kurds across 4 regions
The Struggle for Freedom: Justice for the Kurds
We want Freedom for Kurdistan.
Just reminder for my people, never forget they kill us just because we’re the Kurds we have our own culture tradition heritage history and path which are different from theirs , don’t forget don’t forgive, we are the origin people of this land they’re just invaders
Peshmarge Message
We were fighting against terror to protect humanity
kurdistan, Kurdish struggle for Peace, Freedom . Democracy
Thanks for your visit
kurdish & proud ❤️️💛💚
بۆ پاراستنی کوردستان ببێتە فەرهەنگی هەموومان
وەک کێو .. لە ناو دڵی میللەتەکەت
وەک کێو .. بەرامبەر دوژمنانی میللەتەکەت
بــە کـــەرکـــوکــدا زانــیــم،
خـــیـــانـــەت ، چـــی لـــە دڵــــی مـــرۆڤ دەکــــا..
خاک و نیشتیمان وەکو دایک وایە
ئەوەی خاک و نیشتیمانەکەی بفروشیت
وەک ئەوە وایە دایکی خوی فروشتووە
بۆمن هەموورۆژێک نەورۆزە چونکەئاگرێک لە دلمە ...
Agirê Newrozê nîşana serkeftin û bi dawî anîna zordarî û bidestiyê ye.
Nowruz, in peace, brotherly and festivities must be celebration, love for all humanity, peace freedom and brotherhood friendship. Nowruz over neurosis happy eid to all everyone greetings and love,,--------------------
Newroza gelê kurd , sersala 2718 k pîroz be.. her sal bi xêr û xweşî be ..
Sala nû Azadî û felat be .. ✌
نوروز مبارك .. و رأس سنة كوردية 2719 ك مجيدة
عام حرية و تحرر و خلاص من كل اشكال الظلم و الاستعباد ..
Happy Newroz and New year to all Kurds friends of Kurds and Supporters of Kurds and Rojava ! Biji Kurd and Kurdistan. Biji all those who celebrate this important Day.
Cejna Newrozê li hemû cîhanê û bi teybetî li gelê Kurd pîroz bê!
Bi hêviya saleka bê êş û zordarî. Bila agirê Newrozê li her derî geş bibê ku germiya wê li seranserê cîhanê Kurdên welatparêz û Kurdistaniyan himbêz bikê.
Newroz nîşana serhildan, berxwedan, hêvî û serxwebûnê ye!
N E W R O Z T A N P I R O Z
نــــەورۆزتان پـــــیـــرۆز
Bijî Newroz!
Bijî Kurd û Kurdistan!
Thanks for your visit
© all rights reserved
Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black
Laos is blessed with some of Asia’s nicest rivers, and many of them are mellow. Children spent the day at school, and by the afternoon they were doing the chores required of them…building a fire for the kitchen, sweeping the leaves into a pile, or caring for the young siblings strapped to their back …young boys and girls from the age of seven or eight attentive to the baby’s every need. Amongst this was the laughter of children playing in the river. But sometimes they skip their days at school, going fishing and collecting snails from the river, or using long bamboo poles to knock crickets from the trees. They eat the crickets live or drop them into bottles and take them home for lunch or dinner.
Photo taken nearby the Tad Lo waterfall near the little town Kieng Than Lei - Laos. These ragged little urchins spend most of their days not at school, but fishing and collecting snails from the river. School is important for ethnic minority kids, they should attend and complete primary education in order to overcome rural/urban, ethnic in the area of literacy and education. But it isn't that easy. The reason to skip school are the family economic considerations, involvement in family maintenance and subsistence tasks, the lack of perceived benefits from education. While poverty and lack of access are issues. In addition to these, ethnic minority kids have to face further barriers to education, including the distance from school facilities, their extreme poverty, and additional cultural barriers and the lack of fluency in the national language, Lao. The ethnic kids speak their own language. About 32% of all Laotians are related to Ethnic groups. Totally 160 ethnic groups and speak 82 distinct living languages.
...an old lady washing her clothes in the river gave us a beautiful smile; the Laos people are so friendly. Kids have a great time running on the rampart, swimming in the Sexet river at the Tad Lo waterfall, taking boat rides along the river and playing. A bit futher south men washing their elephants in the river. Lao seems a bit like heaven, the laughter is often & sincere, the rivers are cool and clean and not a speck of modern civilization in sight. In my perspective it is some of the best Laos can offer.
Berlin (/bərˈlɪn/, German: [bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ( listen)) is the capital of Germany, and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.5 million people,[4] Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union.[5] Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of Rivers Spree and Havel, it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has about six million residents from over 180 nations.[6][7][8][9] Due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.[10]
First documented in the 13th century, Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417-1701), the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945).[11] Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world.[12] After World War II, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany while West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989).[13] Following German reunification in 1990, the city was once more designated as the capital of all Germany, hosting 158 foreign embassies.[14]
Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science.[15][16][17][18] Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations, and convention venues.[19][20] Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination.[21] Significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction, and electronics.
Modern Berlin is home to renowned universities, orchestras, museums, entertainment venues, and is host to many sporting events.[22] Its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions.[23] The city is well known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, and a high quality of living.[24] Over the last decade Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene.[
History
Etymology
The origin of the name Berlin is uncertain. It may have its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[26] Folk etymology connects the name to the German word for bear, Bär. A bear also appears in the coat of arms of the city.[
12th to 16th centuries
The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin are a wooden rod dated from approximately 1192[28] and leftovers of wooden houseparts dated to 1174 found in a 2012 digging in Berlin Mitte.[29] The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920.[30] The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244.[28] The former (1237) is considered to be the founding date of the city.[31] The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties. In 1307 they formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated.[32][33]
In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440.[34] During the 15th century his successors would establish Berlin-Cölln as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of the town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille").[35][36] This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. After the royal palace was finished in 1451, it gradually came into use. From 1470, with the new elector Albrecht III Achilles, Berlin-Cölln became the new royal residence.[33] Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power.[37] Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.[
17th to 19th centuries
The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population.[39] Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance.[40] With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots.[41] By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of the Huguenot immigration.[42] Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.[43]
Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia. In 1701, however, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia, as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg now crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia. Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom. This was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very outspread state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709 Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin".[32]
In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power.[44] Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment.[45] Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city.[46] In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.[47]
The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic centre of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding, Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin.[48] In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire.[49] In 1881, it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.[50]
20th to 21st centuries
In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement.[51] In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased the area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km2 (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties, but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties. The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, the humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. NSDAP rule effectively destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 160,000, representing one-third of all Jews in the country. Berlin's Jewish population fell to about 80,000 as a result of emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's persecuted groups were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, starting in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz.[52] During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943–45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Around 125,000 civilians were killed.[53] After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.[54]
All four Allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949.[55] In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.
The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the western powers. East Berlin included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government established itself in Bonn.[56] In 1961, East Germany began the building of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" – speech in 1963 underlining the US support for the Western part of the city. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.[57]
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the Wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital. In 1991, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the seat of the (West) German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several districts. The number of boroughs was reduced from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin.
Geography
Topography
Berlin is situated in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography, part of the vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow Plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree empties into the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.[58]
Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau.
The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge in the city's outskirts, and in the center the Kreuzberg. While the latter measures 66 m (217 ft) above sea level, the former both have an elevation of about 115 m (377 ft). The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial hill composed of a pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.
Climate
Berlin has an Maritime temperate climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system.[59] There are significant influences of mild continental climate due to its inland position, with frosts being common in winter and there being larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates.
Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cool with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.[60]
Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March.
Cityscape
Berlin's history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings. The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin — the Kingdom of Prussia, the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany — initiated ambitious (re-)construction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture.
Berlin was devastated by bombing raids, fires and street battles during World War II, and many of the buildings that had remained after the war were demolished in the post-war period in both West and East Berlin. Much of this demolition was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads. Many ornaments of pre-war buildings were destroyed following modernist dogmas. While in both systems and in reunified Berlin, various important heritage monuments were also (partly) reconstructed, including the Forum Fridericianum with e.g., the State Opera (1955), Charlottenburg Palace (1957), the main monuments of the Gendarmenmarkt (1980s), Kommandantur (2003) and the project to reconstruct the baroque facades of the City Palace. A number of new buildings is inspired by historical predecessors or the general classical style of Berlin, such as Hotel Adlon.
Clusters of high-rise buildings emerge at e.g., Potsdamer Platz, City West and Alexanderplatz. Berlin has three of the top 40 tallest buildings in Germany.
Architecture
The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.
The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division.
The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin the name of which derives from the headquarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Französischer Dom with its observation platform and the Deutscher Dom. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.
The Museum Island in the River Spree houses five museums built from 1830 to 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Restoration and the construction of a main entrance to all museums, as well as the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss is continuing.[65][66] Also located on the island and adjacent to the Lustgarten and palace is Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II's ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Unter den Linden is a tree-lined east–west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Golden Twenties. It combines 20th-century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down.[67] To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.[68]
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. The nearby New Synagogue is the center of Jewish culture.
The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as the central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.
The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.
West of the center, Schloss Bellevue is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War is the largest historical palace in Berlin.
The Funkturm Berlin is a 150 m (490 ft) tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators and has a restaurant 55 m (180 ft) and an observation deck 126 m (413 ft) above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
Demographics
On 31 December 2014, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,562,166 registered inhabitants[4] in an area of 891.85 km2 (344.35 sq mi).[69] The city's population density was 3,994 inhabitants per km2. Berlin is the second most populous city proper in the EU. The urban area of Berlin comprised about 4 million people making it the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union.[5] The metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region was home to about 4.5 million in an area of 5,370 km2 (2,070 sq mi). In 2004, the Larger Urban Zone was home to about 5 million people in an area of 17,385 km2 (6,712 sq mi).[9] The entire Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has a population of 6 million.[70]
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin and increased the population from 1.9 million to 4 million.
Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, Berlin is home to about 200,000 Turks,[71] making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey. In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community.[72] The last decade experienced an influx from various Western countries and some African regions.[73] Young Germans, EU-Europeans and Israelis have settled in the city.[
International communities
In December 2013, 538,729 residents (15.3% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from over 180 different countries.[76] Another estimated 460,000 citizens in 2013 are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany.[77] In 2008, about 25%–30% of the population was of foreign origin.[78] 45 percent of the residents under the age of 18 have foreign roots.[79] Berlin is estimated to have from 100,000 to 250,000 non-registered inhabitants.[80]
There are more than 25 non-indigenous communities with a population of at least 10,000 people, including Turkish, Polish, Russian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Serbian, Italian, Bosnian, Vietnamese, American, Romanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Austrian, Ghanaian, Ukrainian, French, British, Spanish, Israeli, Thai, Iranian, Egyptian and Syrian communities.
The most-commonly-spoken foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, English, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, Serbian, Croatian and French. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbian and Croatian are heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle Eastern and former-Yugoslavian communities. English, Vietnamese, Russian, and Polish have more native speakers in eastern Berlin.
Religion
More than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation.[82] The largest denominations in 2010 were the Protestant regional church body of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) (a church of united administration comprising mostly Lutheran, and few Reformed and United Protestant congregations; EKBO is a member of the umbrellas Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Union Evangelischer Kirchen (UEK)) with 18.7% of the population,[83] and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.1% of registered members.[83] About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations (mostly Eastern Orthodox)[84] and 8.1% are Muslims.[85] 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions.[86] Approximately 80% of the 12,000 (0.3%) registered Jews now residing in Berlin[84] have come from the former Soviet Union.
Berlin is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Berlin and EKBO's elected chairperson is titled bishop of EKBO. Furthermore, Berlin is the seat of many Orthodox cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of St. Boris the Baptist, one of the two seats of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe, and the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Berlin (Patriarchate of Moscow).
The faithful of the different religions and denominations maintain many places of worship in Berlin. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.[87] There are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church, and an Anglican church in Berlin.
Berlin has 76 mosques (including three Ahmadiyya mosques), 11 synagogues, and two Buddhist temples, in addition to a number of humanist and atheist groups.
Government
City state
Since the reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city states in Germany among the present 16 states of Germany. The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.[88] Since the 2011 state election, there has been a coalition of the Social Democratic Party with the Christian Democratic Union, and for the first time ever, the Pirate Party won seats in a state parliament in Germany.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the Federal State (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2014 this office has been held by Michael Müller of the SPD.[89] On 26 August 2014, Wowereit announced his resignation as of 11 December 2014.[90]
The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million.[91] The total budget included an estimated amount of €5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesländer.[
Boroughs
Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke). Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which often have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and became urbanized and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities or boroughs. At present Berlin consists of 96 localities, which are commonly made up of several city neighborhoods—called Kiez in the Berlin dialect—representing small residential areas.
Each borough is governed by a borough council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five councilors (Bezirksstadträte) including the borough mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities. The power of borough administration is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's governing mayor, which advises the senate. The localities have no local government bodies.
Sister cities
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.[93] Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with sister city Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies.
There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Beirut, Belgrade, São Paulo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Oslo, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, New York City and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, and Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are:
Capital city
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has his official residence in Schloss Bellevue.[97] Berlin is the seat of the German executive, housed in the Chancellery, the Bundeskanzleramt. Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government moved back to Berlin in 1998. The Bundesrat ("federal council", performing the function of an upper house) is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords.
Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions to move the remaining branches continue.[98] The ministries and departments of Defence, Justice and Consumer Protection, Finance, Interior, Foreign, Economic Affairs and Energy, Labour and Social Affairs , Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Food and Agriculture, Economic Cooperation and Development, Health, Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Education and Research are based in the capital.
Berlin hosts 158 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many think tanks, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations. Due to the influence and international partnerships of the Federal Republic of Germany as a state, the capital city has become a venue for German and European affairs. Frequent official visits, and diplomatic consultations among governmental representatives and national leaders are common in contemporary Berlin.
Economy
In 2013, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.2% (0.6% in Germany) and totaled €109.2 (~$142) billion.[99] Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate reached a 20-year low in June 2014 and stood at 11.0% .[100]
Important economic sectors in Berlin include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.[101]
Research and development have economic significance for the city. The metropolitan region ranks among the top-3 innovative locations in the EU.[102] The Science and Business Park in Adlershof is the largest technology park in Germany measured by revenue.[103] Within the Eurozone, Berlin has become a center for business relocation and international investments.[
Companies
Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For some years Berlin has been recognized as a center of business founders in Europe.[105] Among the 10 largest employers in Berlin are the City-State of Berlin, Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider Charité and Vivantes, the local public transport provider BVG, and Deutsche Telekom.
Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Health Care and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is based there as well.[106]
Siemens, a Global 500 and DAX-listed company is partly headquartered in Berlin. The national railway operator Deutsche Bahn and the MDAX-listed firms Axel Springer SE and Zalando have their headquarters in the central districts.[107] Berlin has a cluster of rail technology companies and is the German headquarter or site to Bombardier Transportation,[108] Siemens Mobility,[109] Stadler Rail and Thales Transportation.[
Tourism and conventions
Berlin had 788 hotels with 134,399 beds in 2014.[111] The city recorded 28.7 million overnight hotel stays and 11.9 million hotel guests in 2014.[111] Tourism figures have more than doubled within the last ten years and Berlin has become the third most-visited city destination in Europe.
Berlin is among the top three congress cities in the world and home to Europe's biggest convention center, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC) at the Messe Berlin.[19] Several large-scale trade fairs like the consumer electronics trade fair IFA, the ILA Berlin Air Show, the Berlin Fashion Week (including the Bread and Butter tradeshow), the Green Week, the transport fair InnoTrans, the tourism fair ITB and the adult entertainment and erotic fair Venus are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries
Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software,[112] TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6 billion euro in revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20 percent of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005.[
Media
Berlin is home to many international and regional television and radio stations.[114] The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, and N24. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city including ZDF and RTL.
Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarters of the two major German-language publishing houses Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publish books, periodicals, and multimedia products.
Berlin is an important centre in the European and German film industry.[115] It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year.[102] The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. With around 500,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.
Infrastructure
Transport
Berlin's transport infrastructure is highly complex, providing a diverse range of urban mobility.[118] A total of 979 bridges cross 197 km (122 mi) of inner-city waterways. 5,422 km (3,369 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 77 km (48 mi) are motorways ("Autobahn").[119] In 2013, 1.344 million motor vehicles were registered in the city.[119] With 377 cars per 1000 residents in 2013 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a Western global city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.
Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated railway station in Europe.[120] Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and others. It also runs an airport express rail service, as well as trains to several international destinations, e.g., Vienna, Prague, Zürich, Warsaw and Amsterdam.
Public transport
Airports
Flights departing from Berlin serve 163 destinations around the globe
Berlin has two commercial airports. Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which lies within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport (SXF), which is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 26.3 million passengers in 2013. In 2014, 67 airlines served 163 destinations in 50 countries from Berlin.[122] Tegel Airport is an important transfer hub for Air Berlin as well as a focus city for Lufthansa and Germanwings, whereas Schönefeld serves as an important destination for airlines like easyJet.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will replace Tegel as single commercial airport of Berlin.[123] The new airport will integrate old Schönefeld (SXF) facilities and is scheduled to open not before 2017. Because of the rapid passenger growth at Berlin airports the capacities at the BER are already considered too small for the projected demand.
Cycling
Berlin is well known for its highly developed bicycle lane system.[124] It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2009.[125] Cyclists have access to 620 km (385 mi) of bicycle paths including approximately 150 km (93 mi) of mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km (118 mi) (120 miles) of off-road bicycle routes, 60 km (37 mi) of bicycle lanes on roads, 70 km (43 mi) of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km (62 mi) of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km (31 mi) of marked bicycle lanes on roadside pavements (or sidewalks).[
"The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie).
The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils,[a] and its tombs and cenotaphs. Legend says that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself. The construction of the current church, to replace an older building, was begun on 12 May 1294, possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio, and paid for by some of the city's wealthiest families. It was consecrated in 1442 by Pope Eugene IV. The building's design reflects the austere approach of the Franciscans. The floorplan is an Egyptian or Tau cross (a symbol of St Francis), 115 metres in length with a nave and two aisles separated by lines of octagonal columns. To the south of the church was a convent, some of whose buildings remain.
The Primo Chiostro, the main cloister, houses the Cappella dei Pazzi, built as the chapter house, completed in the 1470s. Filippo Brunelleschi (who had designed and executed the dome of the Duomo) was involved in its design which has remained rigorously simple and unadorned.
In 1560, the choir screen was removed as part of changes arising from the Counter-Reformation and the interior rebuilt by Giorgio Vasari. As a result, there was damage to the church's decoration and most of the altars previously located on the screen were lost. At the behest of Cosimo I, Vasari plastered over Giotto's frescoes and placed some new altars.
The bell tower was built in 1842, replacing an earlier one damaged by lightning. The neo-Gothic marble façade dates from 1857-1863. The Jewish architect Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the church's façade, working a prominent Star of David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers but because he was Jewish, he was buried under the threshold and honored with an inscription.
In 1866, the complex became public property, as a part of government suppression of most religious houses, following the wars that gained Italian independence and unity.
The Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce is housed mainly in the refectory, also off the cloister. A monument to Florence Nightingale stands in the cloister, in the city in which she was born and after which she was named. Brunelleschi also built the inner cloister, completed in 1453.
In 1940, during the safe hiding of various works during World War II, Ugo Procacci noticed the Badia Polyptych being carried out of the church. He reasoned that this had been removed from the Badia Fiorentina during the Napoleonic occupation and accidentally re-installed in Santa Croce. Between 1958 and 1961, Leonetto Tintori removed layers of whitewash and overpaint from Giotto's Peruzzi Chapel scenes to reveal his original work.
In 1966, the Arno River flooded much of Florence, including Santa Croce. The water entered the church bringing mud, pollution and heating oil. The damage to buildings and art treasures was severe, taking several decades to repair.
Today the former dormitory of the Franciscan friars houses the Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School). Visitors can watch as artisans craft purses, wallets, and other leather goods which are sold in the adjacent shop.
Florence (/ˈflɔːrəns/ FLORR-ənss; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse]) is a city in central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.
Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (established in 1861). The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.
The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and UNESCO declared the Historic Centre of Florence a World Heritage Site in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, Forbes has ranked it as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Florence plays an important role in Italian fashion, and is ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world by Global Language Monitor; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008 the city had the 17th-highest average income in Italy." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.
but danielle has been on of my closest friends since we were in the third grade. this makes me want to take intimate portraits of all of my close friends and family. i want to keep a piece of them with me forever. i want to shoot them the way that i see them.
Bangladesh remembers the martyrs of language movement.
International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999,[1] it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 Multilingualism in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 16, 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages.[2][3][4][5][self-published source] The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh 21 February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language.[6]
Source: Weekipedia
Some writing (language unknown :x) on my oldest book (1515). I guess it's a translation but... :)
Happy New Year :)
(Past theme The Oldest Object You Can Find)
If someone has a clue on what language it is, I'll take it :)
Paolo da Caylina il Vecchio (Brescia, between 1420 and 1430 - after 1486) Madonna in trono con il Bambino e i Saints Amelius, Lawrence, Albinus e Amicus (1458) - Galleria Sabauda, Torino.
L'artista fu cognato di Vincenzo Foppa e padre del pittore Paolo da Caylina il giovane.
Polittico originariamente realizzato per l'abbazia di Sant'Albino a Mortara. L'opera riporta sui gradini del trono della Vergine l'iscrizione "PAULUS BRIXIENSIS PINXIT" e la data 5 marzo 1458.
Lo stile coniuga un sostrato pittorico di matrice tardogotica con le novità apportate dal linguaggio figurativo di Donatello, Francesco Squarcione e Andrea Mantegna
The artist was the brother-in-law of Vincenzo Foppa and father of the painter Paolo da Caylina the Younger.
Polyptych originally made for the Abbey of St. Albinus in Mortara. The work shows on the steps of the throne of the Virgin the inscription "PAULUS BRIXIENSIS PINXIT" and the date March 5, 1458.
The style conjugates a pictorial substratum of late Gothic matrix with the novelties brought by the figurative language of Donatello, Francesco Squarcione and Andrea Mantegna.
An old lady sat right in front of me, by a window side of a train compartment. She wore aristocracy like no other; around 75-80 years old, travelling alone from Kolkata. Her son would receive her from the station. She was communicating with her son over the cell phone. She was on the edge of her mood, at times relaxed and sometimes fidgety, as the train was running late. She was an expressive woman, as her gestures reflected her mood. She was ignorant about everything happening in the compartment, as she was eager to reach the station on time. I took a few shots of her gestures with my cell phone camera, secretly. They turned out to be pretty productive, as natural documentation of one’s body languages.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is considered to be one of the world's most important global cities and has been termed the world's most powerful, most desirable, most influential, most visited, most expensive, innovative, sustainable, most investment friendly, most popular for work, and the most vegetarian friendly city in the world. London exerts a considerable impact upon the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transportation. London ranks 26 out of 300 major cities for economic performance. It is one of the largest financial centres and has either the fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area GDP. It is the most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the busiest city airport system as measured by passenger traffic. It is the leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. London's universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted three modern Summer Olympic Games.
London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2016 municipal population (corresponding to Greater London) was 8,787,892, the most populous of any city in the European Union and accounting for 13.4% of the UK population. London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The population within the London commuter belt is the most populous in the EU with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016. London was the world's most populous city from c. 1831 to 1925.
London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory, Greenwich defines the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and Greenwich Mean Time. Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and The Shard. London has numerous museums, galleries, libraries and sporting events. These include the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British Library and West End theatres. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving London, England and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 carried 1.357 billion passengers, making it the world's 11th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passengers a day.
The system's first tunnels were built just below the surface, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles (400 km) of track. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, with fewer than 10% of the stations located south of the River Thames.
The early tube lines, originally owned by several private companies, were brought together under the "UndergrounD" brand in the early 20th century and eventually merged along with the sub-surface lines and bus services in 1933 to form London Transport under the control of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB). The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares. The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the first public transport system in the world to do so.
The LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. The schematic Tube map, designed by Harry Beck in 1931, was voted a national design icon in 2006 and now includes other TfL transport systems such as the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Crossrail (which is officially called Elizabeth Line) and Tramlink. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, created by Edward Johnston in 1916.
This column, the second highest structure in the Afrikaans Language Monument, represents South Africa and the declaration of the Republic of South Africa in 1960. Its placement in the pool is to symbolise the idea of the language as a living, growing entity, which needs sustenance for its survival.
The Afrikaans Language Monument (Afrikaans: Afrikaanse Taalmonument) is located on a hill overlooking Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Officially opened on 10 October 1975, it commemorates the semicentenary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa separate from Dutch. Also, it was erected on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (the Society of Real Afrikaners) in Paarl, the organisation that helped strengthen Afrikaners' identity and pride in their language.
The monument, surprisingly post-modern for the product of an authoritarian right-wing state, consists of various tapering structures of a convex and concave nature, symbolising the influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself, as well as political developments in South Africa, as follows:
* three columns symbolise the European heritage of the language. The columns are from high to low to illustrate Europe’s diminishing influence on Afrikaans.
* three convex mounds on a podium symbolise the African influences on the language
* a wall on the stairway symbolises the influence of the Malay language and culture, placed between the curves of Western Europe and Africa as a separate entity. Yet it forms a unity with the two forces of Western Europe and Africa that merge to form the bridge that symbolically depicts the roots of Afrikaans.
* the highest column (about 57m high) symbolises the growth of Afrikaans and is open at the top. The other writer that inspired the architect, CJ Langenhoven, wrote that Afrikaans grows like a “fast-rising arch”; the second very high column represents South Africa and the declaration of the Republic of South Africa in 1960.
There is also an open stadium at the bottom of the structure where concerts and events are held.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia and the official Afrikaanse Taalmuseum & -monument website.
Originally opened in 1921, the 500-seat Seminole three-story building on Krome Avenue was built for Henry Booker, Sr. and James Washington English for movies and live entertainment. The theater was heavily damaged in a 1940 fire, leaving little more than a blackened shell.
Prolific theater architect Roy A. Benjamin was hired to rebuild the Seminole, which he designed in Streamline Moderne style. The cost of the movie theater's reconstruction was around $50,000. It reopened in the fall of 1940. In addition to movies, the Seminole continued to host live entertainment, as well as beauty contests and cooking demonstrations. In the early 1970s, the Seminole has renamed the Premier Theatre and began to show Spanish-language movies. It closed in 1979 due to declining attendance.
For years, the theater sat vacantly and fell into disrepair. In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit the Homestead area, the Seminole was not spared, and though its walls stood, the roof was torn off and the theater's interior suffered serious damage. In 1993, the Seminole Theater's owners donated the battered theater to the city, which designed it a local historic site two years later. The building is one of the few remaining examples of Art Moderne/Art Deco style theatres in all of Miami-Dade County.
The Seminole Theater Group was organized in 1997 with the intention of restoring the theater as a performing arts venue serving the Homestead and Dade County region. It is expected to cost about $4.2 million to bring the old Seminole back to life. The Seminole Theatre was reopened on October 28, 2015.
William B Medellin Architect P.A. as the historic preservation consultant for the project was responsible for the restoration of the historic facades, including the re-painting of the exterior walls to match the original historic colors; re-installation of missing historic elements such as the historic “Starburst” fretwork over the transom entrance doors and the historic travertine wainscot using historic salvaged travertine found at the Theater’s storage room. The interior lobby stairs and railings were the only original historic interior elements remaining in the building.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Historic_Downtown_District
seminoletheatre.org/about/seminole-theatre-history
wbmarchitect.com/portfolio-posts/the-seminole-theater/
www.google.com/search?q=how+many+floors+does+the+seminole...
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
A little excerpt from my favourite piece of music. Bach's Chaconne for Classical Guitar. And yes, it is as difficult as it looks.
InstantFAVE contest winner for November www.flickr.com/groups/28965835@N00/
Helluva Shot contest winner 20th November
www.flickr.com/groups/helluva_shot/discuss/72157594383695...
There I were,
Talking to you
in the language of sunsets.
I wanted to hold
that luminous wind in my hair,
to burst across the horizons and glow.
There you were,
like a minute flowing out of an hour,
In the big air,
Separating me from myself.
Urban Chronicles ~ Paris ~ MjYj
GettyImages | Tumblr | Flickriver | Twitter | Facebook | Ipernity | DeviantArt | Windows Live | 500pix | StumbleUpon | Myspace | Wordpress | Fluidr | SkyRock | Digg | Youtube | Google Buzz | Dailymotion | Artlimited | BlogSpot
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other
media without my explicit permission.
MjYj© IMG_9170 All rights reserved
Thanks everyone, thanks for all the votes,comments,
visits, support, critics, invites, awards, etc ..
Wilyakali:
Wilyakali lies in the east of the state of South Australia, crossing into New South Wales, including the town of Broken Hill. The Wilyakali people traditionally visited the Paakantji people on the Menindee Lakes in the Darling Riverine Plains Bioregion each year.
The three Major language groups for the Broken Hill Region are the Paakantji, Mayyankapa, and Nyiimpaa.
Wilyakali and Danggali both lie east of the Ngadjuri language and north of the upper River Murray languages.
Wilyakali and Danggali are part of the Darling River Language Group or Paakantyi / Paakantji language group. This is a group of closely related languages in South Australia and New South Wales, which can be subdivided into two groups: the “Northern Dialects” and the “Southern Dialects.” Wilyakali and Danggali are both part of the “Southern Dialects.”
Other “Southern Dialects” include Pulaali, Southern Pankantyi, Pantyikali, Wanyuparlku and Marrawarra. Some of these languages have been recorded more than others. Although each language has its own distinguishing features, they are so similar they can be understood by speakers of other languages in this group. Therefore, the following reference list will include Southern Paakantyi references that may be helpful. The language name is noted in square brackets after each reference, when known.
Today the Wilyakali people are still the main Aboriginal group in Broken Hill, though there are a number of Aboriginal people that come from other language groups.
The Aboriginal people of Broken Hill have established working parties to pursue their vision of a better future. They continue to look after their traditional lands and are joint managers of the Mutawintji National Park which is the first national park handed back to the traditional owners in New South Wales. There are many strong elders who continue to maintain and pass on their traditional knowledge to their young people and, today, share their stories with the wider community.
Danggali:
The Danggali nation is located across plains southwest of Broken Hill from near Tandou Lake, southwestward to Mount Bryan and Burra Creek, northwest of Morgan, South Australia, chiefly in the more arid country extending generally eastward to within a few miles of the Darling River.
For most of the year, Danggali people depended on water from the roots of water mallee trees but came in to the Anabranch of the Darling in dry times. Eyre (1845) gives the general term Paritke for these scrub dwellers west and northwest of the Murray. Their language name was Jakumban and they extended eastward to the Darling. They were known farther east as the Jokajoka or Jakojako, a term based on ['ja:ko] their word for 'no.' Richardson indicated them as extending westward, presumably in the scrub country north of the Murray, as far as North West Bend.
Walyakali is to the north of Danggali. Wilyakali and Danggali both lie east of the Ngadjuri language and north of the upper River Murray languages. Wilyakali and Danggali are part of the Darling River Language Group or Paakantyi / Paakantji language group. This is a group of closely related languages in South Australia and New South Wales, which can be subdivided into two groups: the “Northern Dialects” and the “Southern Dialects.” Wilyakali and Danggali are both part of the “Southern Dialects.”
Other “Southern Dialects” include Pulaali, Southern Pankantyi, Pantyikali, Wanyuparlku and Marrawarra. Some of these languages have been recorded more than others. Although each language has its own distinguishing features, they are so similar they can be understood by speakers of other languages in this group. Therefore, the following reference list will include Southern Paakantyi references that may be helpful. The language name is noted in square brackets after each reference, when known.
Source: Mobile Language Team (mobilelanguageteam.com.au/languages/danggali/), Aboriginal Housing Office, & South Australian Musuem (www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/collection/archives/language_group...).
مشاركتي فمعرض لغة العيون =)
my work in eye language exhibition
-----------
no one allowed 2 use the work without asking
Peony symbolizes many thing In the language of flowers,
a happy marriage and virility in Japan,
prosperity in China,
to the French hardiness or heaviness
for the British bashful shame
and in an American language of the flowers: anger or a frown
also his meaning has found like an aphrodisiac
Paeonia officinalis or European peony,is accepted in my country as a symbol of happy marriage and prosperity, and it's called a Božur.
~•~•~ ~•~•~ ~•~•~ ~•~•~
10th century.The Chinese name for the peony is "sho yu'"; meaning, most beautiful.
and represents prosperity. A legend says it was created by the moon goddess to reflect the moon’s beams during the night.
A similar belief about the peony lighting up the night comes from a Greek writer Aelianus (3rd century) who writes of one kind of peony that grows by the sea, opens at Summer solstice and shines like fire, while another kind, hidden away among the herbs during the day, at night shines like a star.
During the Middle Ages, "lunatics" were covered with peony leaves and petals, to cure them.
It was also believed that keeping peony seeds under your pillow, could prevent nightmares.
_______
Texture by les brumes
Explored, thanks all
Its not always we speak what our heart feels, we code, decode, encrypt, decrypt and when the final word comes out of our mouth its not how it started. The final output mostly is based on the people who are at the receiving end and the particular scenario and not exactly what we thought. Not too many people in this world speak the language that originates from their heart. Slowly we forget that even hearts can speak too. Childhood is one phase where always hearts speak, they don't think about logics, society, dignity, professionalism, gentleness and any other illusions. Smile is one such language which when spoken from heart is the best language ever spoken in this world. Try using it at least once in a day. Have a smiling Monday. Thanks for your comments and favs
உயிர் துளிர்க்கும் நொடியிலிருந்து உடனிருக்கிறது இரண்டு மொழிகள்,
அழுகையும் புன்னகையையும்,
இவ்வுலகத்தின் சுழற்சிக்குள் அவ்வுயிர் சிக்கும் வரையில்,
இதயம் தான் பேசுகிறது எல்லா உயிர்களுக்கும்,
சாதி, மதம், உயர்ந்தவன், தாழ்ந்தவன் என்று எந்த பேதமுமில்லை இந்த மொழிகளுக்கு,
உலகில் வேகமாய் அழிந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் மொழிகளில் இவைகளையும் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ளலாம்,
ஆனாலும் உலகில் தோனறும் ஒவ்வொரு உயிரும்,
மனித மொழி கற்கும் வரையில் பேசிக்கொண்டே இருக்கிறது,
இதயத்தின் மொழிகளை,
இதை உணர்வதற்கு செவிகள் தேவையில்லை,
இன்னொரு இதயம் போதும்
©Karthik photography
Language of the Soul
Please join us for this exhibition of masterful photography!
www.flickr.com/groups/contrasted_gallery/discuss/72157721...
*
*
*
Photography by Yury Nezdoiminoga.
Poster by Manuel Diumenjó.