Independence day of the Kingdom of Eswatini

Eswatini, officially Kingdom of Eswatini, Swati Umbuso weSwatini, previously called Kingdom of Swaziland, landlocked country in the eastern flank of South Africa, where it adjoins Mozambique. It extends about 110 miles (175 km) from north to south and about 80 miles (130 km) from west to east at its largest dimensions. In the colonial era, as a protectorate, and later as an independent country, Eswatini was long known as Swaziland. The name Swazi is the Anglicized name of an early king and nation builder, Mswati II, who ruled from 1840 to 1868. The country’s administrative centre is Mbabane, former capital of the British colonial administration. The national capital is the seat of King Mswati III and his mother, some 11 miles from Mbabane, at Phondvo in the vicinity of Lobamba, where the houses of parliament and other national institutions are situated. In April 2018 the king announced that he was changing the official name of the country from the Kingdom of Swaziland to the Kingdom of Eswatini. Land - Relief and soils A long and complex geologic history has created a landscape with a surprising variety of relief, climate, and soils for such a small country. There are four well-defined physiographic regions, extending longitudinally from north to south in roughly parallel belts. From west to east they are the Highveld, the Middleveld, the Lowveld, and the Lubombo (Lebombo) escarpment. Geologically, the oldest formations are in the west, and the youngest are in the east. The Highveld, covering about 30 percent of the country, is a complex of granites and more ancient metamorphosed quartzites, sandstones, and volcanics that has been eroded into a rugged mountain land. The average elevation is between 3,500 and 4,500 feet (1,100 and 1,400 metres); the highest points are the summit massifs of Bulembu (6,108 feet [1,862 metres]) and Ngwenya (5,997 feet [1,828 metres]) in the extreme west. Known to the Swazi as Inkangala (a cold, treeless place), the Highveld was the last part of the country to be settled. Its deeper-weathered red to yellow acid soils have developed on the gentler gradients and in river valleys. The Middleveld occupies about one-fourth of the country and has an average altitude of 2,000 to 2,500 feet (610 to 760 metres). It is a region of rolling uplands and wide, well-watered valleys. It is mainly underlain by ancient granites and gneisses (metamorphosed granites), with dolerites and quartzites, which have weathered deeply to produce friable red and clay loams interspersed with shallower profiles of sands and sandy loams. To the Swazi it is known as Live (“The Country”) or Inkabave (“The Navel”) and is the heartland of the Swazi nation. The Lowveld, or Bushveld, covering nearly 40 percent of the country, is a generally undulating lowland with isolated knolls and ridges rising abruptly above the general level of 500 to 1,000 feet. In general, the soils reflect the transition from the acidic granites and sandstones of the western Lowveld to the more basic basalts and dolerites of the eastern part—i.e., from sandy loams in the west to red and black clays in the east, the latter being some of the most naturally fertile soils in the country. This region is called Lihlanze by the Swazi, meaning a warm place with trees—in its undisturbed state, the typical African savanna. The Lubombo escarpment and plateau covers about 5 percent of the country, consisting of a narrow strip of about 600 square miles. It rises abruptly from the Lowveld to an average altitude of 2,000 feet, with higher peaks (Siteki and Mananga) of about 2,500 feet in the north. It is deeply dissected by the gorges of three of the main rivers that traverse the country from west to east, the Umbuluzi, the Usutu, and the Ingwavuma. The plateau soils vary considerably, from shallow sands to deeper loams, depending on the composition of the volcanic lavas that form the bedrock. The Swazi have no specific name for this part of the country. Drainage Eswatini is one of the best-watered countries in southern Africa. Major perennial rivers, which have their sources in South Africa, flow through the country to the Indian Ocean. They are the Lomati, the Komati, the Umbuluzi, and the Usutu. The Usutu has the largest catchment in the country, with three main tributaries, the Usushwana, the Ngwempisi, and the Mkhondvo. In the south the Ingwavuma rises in western Eswatini and also cuts through the Lubombo. Climate The climate is in general subtropical, but it is strongly influenced by the country’s position on the eastern side of southern Africa, which exposes it to moist maritime tropical air coming off the Indian Ocean for much of the year. The cessation of maritime airflow in winter months because of intensified continental winds produces a high degree of climatic variability. The climate is also subject to steep temperature and precipitation gradients from west to east because of the fall in altitude of about 4,000 feet over a distance of about 50 miles. Average maximum and minimum monthly temperatures are 72 °F (22 °C) and 52 °F (11 °C) in the Highveld and 84 °F (29 °C) and 59 °F (15 °C) in the Lowveld. The Middleveld occupies an intermediate position in these gradations. Eswatini falls within the summer rainfall region of the subcontinent, where about 80 percent of the precipitation falls during the summer months of October to March, usually in the form of thunderstorms and frontal rains. Average annual rainfall in the Highveld is about 55 inches (1,400 mm), in the Middleveld 34 inches, in the Lowveld about 22 inches, and on the Lubombo about 35 inches. However, variability in the annual totals is great, and figures have fluctuated dramatically from year to year. In the Middleveld, where the bulk of the population lives, the average has varied from a high of 63 inches to a low of 13 inches within a period of a few years. These extreme fluctuations appear to relate to wetter and drier than average quasi-cyclic fluctuations of from 8 to 11 years, which have been identified in the rainfall records. Plant and animal life The natural vegetation includes forest—confined mostly to the Highveld and the windward slopes of the Lubombo escarpment—savanna, and grassland. Factors such as soil composition and moisture produce a variety of vegetation subtypes. There are both wet and dry forests, various densities of savanna, and several grassland types, which range from sweet to sour based on their palatability when mature and dry. Altogether it is a rich flora, with ferns and flowering plants alone accounting for more than 2,600 species. Some have a very limited distribution and are found only in or around Eswatini. The natural fauna has been severely depleted in recent years because of habitat destruction caused by the spread of the human population, and representative species such as antelope (impala, reedbuck, duiker, waterbuck, wildebeest, and kudu), hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephant, giraffe, and zebra are found largely in protected reserves. However, smaller mammals—such as the baboon, monkey, jackal, and mongoose—may still be encountered, and several types of snake have a wide distribution. Crocodiles are also common in Lowveld rivers. Birdlife is abundant in each habitat and comprises both resident and migrant (breeding and nonbreeding) populations. The migrants come from central and North Africa and from farther afield (northern Europe and eastern Asia in the case of storks, swallows, and hawks). Distinctive among the more common birds are barbets, weavers, the various hornbills, the lilac-breasted roller, and the purple-crested loerie. People - Ethnic groups The Swazi nation is an amalgamation of more than 70 clans. Their chiefs form the traditional hierarchy under the ngwenyama and ndlovukazi, who are of the largest clan, the Dlamini. The amalgamation brought together clans already living in the area that is now Eswatini, many of whom were of Sotho origin, and clans of Nguni origin who entered the country with the Dlamini in the early 19th century. Traditional administration and culture are regulated by an uncodified Swazi Law and Custom, which is recognized both constitutionally and judicially. The language is siSwati, which is akin to Zulu, though it shares official status with English, which is in fact used generally for official written communication. The Swazis constitute more than four-fifths of the population, the remainder being immigrants from Mozambique, South Africa, and the rest of the world. Included among these are a few thousand Europeans and Asians and their families engaged in business activities. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Eswatini

2025/09/06

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2025/09/04

Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of San Marino

San Marino, small republic situated on the slopes of Mount Titano, on the Adriatic side of central Italy between the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions and surrounded on all sides by the republic of Italy. It is the smallest independent state in Europe after Vatican City and Monaco and, until the independence of Nauru (1968), the smallest republic in the world. San Marino has an irregular rectangular form with a maximum length of 8 miles (13 km), northeast to southwest. It is crossed by the Marano and Ausa (Aussa) streams, which flow into the Adriatic Sea, and by the stream of San Marino, which falls into the Marecchia River. The landscape is dominated by the huge, central limestone mass of Mount Titano (2,424 feet [739 metres]); hills spread out from it on the southwest, whereas the northeastern part gently slopes down toward the Romagna plain and the Adriatic coast. The silhouette of Mount Titano, with its three summits crowned by ancient triple fortifications, may be seen from many miles away. In 2008 Mount Titano and the historic centre of San Marino were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The climate is mild and temperate, with maximum temperatures in the high 70s F (about 26 °C) in summer and the high teens F (about −7 °C) in winter. Annual rainfall ranges between about 22 inches (560 mm) and 32 inches (800 mm). Vegetation is typical of the Mediterranean zone, with variations due to elevation, and includes olive, pine, oak, ash, poplar, fir, and elm, as well as many kinds of grasses and flowers. Besides domestic and farmyard animals, moles, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers, martens, weasels, and hares are found. Indigenous birds and birds of passage are plentiful. Although traces of human presence from both prehistoric and Roman times exist in the territory, Mount Titano and its slopes are known to have been populated, with certainty, only after the arrival of St. Marinus and his followers. San Marino citizens, or Sammarinesi, make up more than four-fifths of the country’s population, with Italians composing most of the remainder. Thousands of Sammarinesi reside abroad, principally in Italy, the United States, France, and Argentina. Nearly nine-tenths of San Marino’s citizens are Roman Catholics, though there is no official religion. The official language is Italian. A widely spoken dialect has been defined as Celto-Gallic, akin to the Piedmont and Lombardy dialects as well as to that of Romagna. Because centuries-long quarrying has exhausted Mount Titano’s stone and ended the craft that depended upon it, the territory is now without mineral resources. All electrical power is transferred via electrical grid from Italy, San Marino’s main trading partner. The country’s principal resources are industry, tourism, commerce, agriculture, and crafts. Manufactures include electronics, paint, cosmetics, ceramics, jewelry, and clothing. Ceramic and wrought-iron articles, as well as modern and reproduction furniture, are among San Marino’s traditional craft products. Fine printing, particularly of postage stamps, is a consistent source of revenues. Banking is a vital industry. In 2002 San Marino replaced the Italian lira with the euro as its national currency. Tourism is the sector of greatest expansion, and it makes a major contribution to the inhabitants’ income. Alongside traditional excursion tourism, there is convention-type tourism, based on modern hotel facilities, as well as residential tourism. Agriculture, although no longer the principal economic resource in San Marino, remains vital. Wheat, grapes, and barley are the chief crops; dairying and livestock also are important. About three-fourths of the land is given to permanent cultivation. The capital, San Marino city, is set high on the western side of Mount Titano, beneath the fortress crowning one of its summits, and is encircled by triple walls. Borgo Maggiore, farther down the slope, was for centuries San Marino’s commercial centre, and Serravalle, beneath its castle of the Malatesta family, is agricultural and industrial. San Marino is overwhelmingly urban in character, and those three cities are home to nearly two-thirds of San Marino’s population. Most of San Marino’s landscape is agricultural in character, but industrial concerns have intruded on the centuries-old forms of agricultural life. The San Marino constitution, originating from the Statutes of 1600, provides for a parliamentary form of government. The Great and General Council (Parliament) has 60 members, elected every five years by all adult citizens. It has legislative and administrative powers and every six months nominates the two captains regent (capitani reggenti), who hold office for that period and may not be elected again until three years have elapsed. The Great and General Council is headed by the captains regent, who are heads of state and of the administration. The Congress of State, a council of ministers, is composed of 10 members, elected by the Great and General Council from among its members, and constitutes the central organ of executive power. Each member has charge of a ministerial department. Social programs for the citizens of San Marino are extensive. The state attempts to keep unemployment in check by seeking to provide employment for those who cannot find work with private concerns. All citizens (who make social security contributions) receive free, comprehensive, high-quality medical care and assistance in sickness, accident, and old age, as well as family allowances. The state aids home ownership through its buildings schemes. Education is free and compulsory up to age 16. The University of San Marino was founded in 1985. A public security force of about 50 persons provides national defense. A network of roads connects San Marino with the surrounding regions of Italy. Motorcoach services connect San Marino city with Rimini, Italy, and, in summer, directly with the Adriatic coast. The main airport serving San Marino is the Federico Fellini International Airport in Rimini. There are no railroads, but the capital is reached from Borgo Maggiore by means of a cable railway. History The Republic of San Marino traces its origin to the early 4th century ce when, according to tradition, St. Marinus and a group of Christians settled there to escape persecution. The Castellum Sancta Marini is mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis (“The Book of the Pontiffs”) in 755; the oldest document in the republican archives mentions the abbot of San Marino in 885. By the 12th century San Marino had developed into a commune ruled by its own statutes and consuls. The commune was able to remain independent despite encroachments by neighbouring bishops and lords, largely because of its isolation and its mountain fortresses. Against the attacks of the Malatesta family, who ruled the nearby seaport of Rimini, San Marino enjoyed the protection of the rival family of Montefeltro, who ruled Urbino. By the middle of the 15th century, it was a republic ruled by a Grand Council—60 men taken from the Arengo, or Assembly of Families. Warding off serious attacks in the 16th century (including an occupation by Cesare Borgia in 1503), San Marino survived the Renaissance as a relic of the self-governing Italian city-states. Rule by an oligarchy and attempts to annex it to the Papal States in the 18th century marked the decline of the republic. When Napoleon invaded Italy, he respected the independence of the republic and even offered to extend its territory (1797). The Congress of Vienna (1815), at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, also recognized its independent status. During the 19th-century movement for Italian unification, San Marino offered asylum to revolutionaries, among them Giuseppe Garibaldi. After Italy became a national state, a series of treaties (the first in 1862) confirmed San Marino’s independence. In World War II, San Marino remained neutral, but it was the target of a British bombing raid in 1944 and was briefly occupied by both the Germans and the Allies later that year. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/San-Marino-republic-Europe  

2025/09/03

Uzbekistan investment legislation

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San Marino City Video Guide | Expedia

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2025/09/02

Anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Vietnam, country occupying the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia. Tribal Viets inhabiting the Red River delta entered written history when China’s southward expansion reached them in the 3rd century bce. From that time onward, a dominant theme of Vietnam’s history has been interaction with China, the source of most of Vietnam’s high culture. As a tribute-paying state after throwing off Chinese rule in 938 ce, Vietnam sent lacquerware, animal skins, ivory, and tropical products to the Chinese emperor and received scrolls on philosophy, administration, and literature in return. Sinic culture seeped deeply into society, but it shaped the aristocracy and mandarinal families more than it did the peasantry, which preserved distinctive customs, beliefs, vocabulary, lifeways, and gender relations. Modeling themselves on Chinese emperors, Vietnam’s kings exacted tribute from ethnic minorities on the periphery of the Vietnamese state and called themselves emperors when not addressing the Chinese court. Although cultural and spatial gaps between the Vietnamese court and the farthest reaches of society were not as great as they were in China (Vietnam is about the size of a Chinese province, with a comparable population), the Vietnamese state’s capacity to rule diminished with distance from the capital. The refractory character of bamboo-hedged peasant communes was captured in the cliché, "The emperor’s writ stops at the village gate." Vietnam has a long history of affiliating with a dominant civilization and adapting that civilization’s ideas, institutions, and technology to Vietnamese purposes. This pattern of affiliating and adapting was already evident in Vietnam’s historical relations with China, and it reappeared as descendants of mandarins responded to the challenge of the West by rejecting tradition and becoming communists to combat colonialism. The pattern was evident again as it animated 20th-century artistic movements that employed Western forms to promote social renovation; and since the 1980s it has been the driving force behind the Vietnam Communist Party’s embrace of economic liberalization and integration into the world economy. Such strategic absorption and adaptation have helped propel Vietnam to become one of the world’s most populous countries, with one of the most rapidly expanding market economies. The capital, Hanoi, is located in the north, while the country’s largest city, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), is in the south. Vietnam experienced a period of prolonged warfare in the mid-20th century, and a partitioning (1954–75), first militarily and later politically, into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, better known as North Vietnam, and the Republic of Vietnam, usually called South Vietnam. Following reunification in April 1975, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was established in July 1976. Land With an area and configuration similar to those of Norway, Vietnam extends about 1,025 miles (1,650 km) from north to south and is about 30 miles (50 km) wide east to west at its narrowest part. It is bordered by China to the north, the South China Sea to the east and south, the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam) to the southwest, and Cambodia and Laos to the west. Relief Vietnam’s principal physiographic features are the Annamese Cordillera (French: Chaîne Annamitique; Vietnamese: Nui Truong Son), extending generally from northwest to southeast in central Vietnam and dominating the interior, and two extensive alluvial deltas formed by the Red (Hong) River in the north and the Mekong (Cuu Long) River in the south. Between these two deltas is a long, relatively narrow coastal plain. From north to south the uplands of northern Vietnam can be divided into two distinct regions—the area north of the Red River and the massif that extends south of the Red River into neighbouring Laos. The Red River forms a deep, relatively wide valley that runs in a straight northwest-southeast direction for much of its course from the Chinese border to the edge of its delta. North of the Red River the relief is moderate, with the highest elevations occurring between the Red and Lo (Clear) rivers; there is a marked depression from Cao Bang to the sea. In the Red River delta and in the valleys of the region’s other major rivers are found wide limestone terraces, extensive alluvial plains, and low hills. The northeast coast is dotted with hundreds of islands composed mostly of limestone. Compared with the area north of the Red River, the vast massif extending southwest across Laos to the Mekong River is of considerably higher elevation. Among its outstanding topographic features is Fan Si Peak, which at 10,312 feet (3,143 metres) is the highest point in Vietnam. South of the Black (Da) River are the Ta P’ing, Son La, and Moc Chau plateaus, which are separated by deep valleys. In central Vietnam the Annamese Cordillera runs parallel to the coast, with several peaks rising to elevations above 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Several spurs jut into the South China Sea, forming sections of the coast isolated from one another. Communication across the central ranges is difficult. The southern portion of the Annamese Cordillera has two identifiable regions. One consists of plateaus of approximately 1,700 feet (520 metres) in elevation that have experienced little erosion, as in the Dac Lac Plateau near Buon Me Thuot. The second region is characterized by heavily eroded plateaus: in the vicinity of Pleiku, the Kontum Plateau is about 2,500 feet (760 metres) above sea level; and in the Da Lat area, the Di Linh Plateau is about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres). Drainage Roughly triangular in shape, with its northeast and southwest sides bounded by the northern uplands, the Red River delta extends inland some 150 miles (240 km) and runs some 75 miles (120 km) along the Gulf of Tonkin. The delta can be divided into four subregions. The northwestern section has the highest and most broken terrain, and its extensive natural levees invite settlement despite frequent flooding. The low-lying eastern portion is less than seven feet (two metres) above sea level in the vicinity of Bac Ninh. Rivers there form small valleys only slightly lower than the general surface level, and they are subject to flooding by the area’s unusually high tides. The third and fourth subregions consist, respectively, of the poorly drained lowlands in the west and the coastal area, which is marked by the remains of former beach ridges left as the delta expanded. The Annamese Cordillera forms a drainage divide, with rivers to the east flowing to the South China Sea and those to the west to the Mekong River. South of the mountain range there is an identifiable terrace region that gives way to the Mekong delta. The terrace region includes the alluvial plains along the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers. The lowlands of southern Vietnam are dominated by alluvial plains, the most extensive of which is the Mekong delta, covering an area of 15,400 square miles (39,900 square km) in Vietnam. Smaller deltaic plains also occur along the south-central coast facing the South China Sea. Soils In northern Vietnam the heavy monsoonal rains wash away rich humus from the highlands, leaving slow-dissolving alumina and iron oxides that give the soil its characteristic reddish colour. The soils of the Red River delta vary: some are fertile and suitable for intense cultivation, while others lack soluble bases. Nonetheless, the delta soils are easily worked. The diking of the Red River to prevent flooding has deprived the delta’s rice fields of enriching silts they once received, and it has been necessary to apply chemical fertilizers. There are some two dozen soil associations, but certain soil types predominate. Among these are red and yellow podzolic soils (i.e., soils that are heavily leached in their upper layers, with a resulting accumulation of materials in the lower layers), which occupy nearly half of the land area, and lateritic soils (reddish brown, leached tropical soils), which constitute another one-tenth more. These soil types dominate the central highlands. Alluvial soils account for about one-fourth of the land in the south and are concentrated in the Mekong delta, as are peat and muck soils. Gray podzolic soils are found in parts of the central highlands and in old terraces along the Mekong, while regurs (rich black loams) and lateritic soils occur in both the central highlands and the terrace zone. Along the coast of central Vietnam are regosols (soft, undeveloped soils) and noncalcic brown soils. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam  

2025/09/02