Vaud

Vaud ( ; , ; , ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its flag bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green background.
Vaud is the third largest canton of the country by population and fourth by size. It is located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of the country; and borders the canton of Neuchâtel to the north, the cantons of Fribourg and Bern to the east, the canton of Valais to the south, the canton of Geneva to the south-west and France to the west. The geography of the canton includes all three natural regions of Switzerland: the Jura Mountains, the Swiss Plateau and the (Swiss) Alps. It also includes some of the largest lakes of the country: Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchâtel. It is a major tourist destination, renowned for its landscapes and gastronomy.
The largest city is Lausanne, followed by Yverdon-les-Bains and Montreux. As of the canton has a population of . It is one of the four cantons where French is the sole official language. Formerly a Bernese bailiwick, Vaud joined the Swiss Confederation as an independent canton in 1803.
History.
Humans lived alongside the Vaud lakes in prehistoric times. Later, the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii inhabited the area. Caesar's troops defeated the Helvetii in 58 BC and as a consequence the Romans settled in the area. The many towns established by the Romans include Vevey () and Lausanne ("Lausonium" or "Lausonna").
In 27 BC the state of "Civitas Helvetiorum" was established around the capital of Avenches ("Aventicum"). There are still many Roman remains around the town today. Between the 2nd and the 4th centuries Alemannic tribes repeatedly invaded the area, and in the 5th century the Burgundians occupied the territory. The Merovingian Franks later replaced the Burgundians. Their control did not last long either, and in 888 the area of the canton of Vaud became part of the Carolingian Empire (the successor state to the Merovingians). In 1032 the Zähringens of Germany defeated the Burgundians. The Zähringens themselves were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy. It was only under the counts of Savoy that the area gained political unity as the Barony of Vaud. A part stretching from Attalens to the river Sarine, in the north, was absorbed by the canton of Fribourg.
As the power of the House of Savoy declined at the beginning of the 15th century, troops from Bern occupied the land. By 1536 Bern had completely annexed the area. Vaud's Protestant Reformation started with co-workers of John Calvin like Pierre Viret (a famous debate took place at the cathedral of Lausanne), but it was only decisively implemented when Bern put its full force behind it.
The Bernese occupiers were not popular amongst the population. In 1723 Major Abraham Davel led a revolt against Bern, in protest at what he saw as the denial of political rights of the French-speaking Vaudois by the German-speaking Bernese; he was subsequently beheaded. Later, inspired by the French Revolution of 1789–1799, the Vaudois drove out the Bernese governor in 1798 and declared the Lemanic Republic. Vaud nationalists like Frédéric-César de La Harpe had called for French intervention in liberating the area, and French Revolutionary troops moved in, taking over the whole of Switzerland itself in the process and setting up the Helvetic Republic. Under Napoleon I (Emperor 1804-1815), Vaud became (1798-1803) the canton of Léman. Unrest about the abolition of feudal rights and taxes led to increased discontent, which culminated in the revolt of the Bourla-papey in spring 1802, closely followed by the Stecklikrieg (August to October, 1802) that brought the end of the entire Helvetic Republic in 1803. In 1803 Vaud joined the re-installed Swiss Confederation. In spite of Bernese attempts to reclaim Vaud, it has remained a sovereign canton ever since.
In the 19th century, the canton of Vaud was an outspoken opponent of the "Sonderbund" Catholic separatist movement, which led to intervention by 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour against 79,000 separatists, in the Sonderbund War (November 1847). Separation was prevented at the cost of very few lives.
The current cantonal constitution dates from 14 April 2003, replacing the constitution of 1885.
Geography.
The canton stretches from Lake Neuchâtel in the north, where it borders the canton of Neuchâtel, to Lake Geneva () in the south, where it borders the canton of Geneva, the French department of Haute-Savoie (lake border) and the canton of Valais (Chablais). In the Jura mountains in the west, the canton borders the French departments of Ain, Jura, and Doubs. In the east, it borders the cantons of Fribourg and Bern. The total area is .
Along with the canton of Berne, Vaud is one of the two cantons whose territory extends from the Jura to the Alps, through the three distinct geographic regions of Switzerland.
The areas in the south east are mountainous, situated on the north side of the Bernese Alps. This region is commonly named the "Vaud Alps" (). The Diablerets massif, peaking at , is the highest mountain of the canton. Other summits such as the Grand Muveran and the Tour d'Aï are visible from most of the canton. The area also hosts several popular skiing destinations such as Villars, Les Diablerets and Leysin.
The central area of the canton, in contrast, consists of moraines and is hilly. There are plains along the lakes. In the north, Avenches is in an exclave of the canton surrounded by the canton of Fribourg and Lake Neuchâtel. On the other hand, there are three enclaves of the canton of Fribourg (Estavayer-le-lac, Vuissens, Surpierre), as well as two enclaves of the canton of Geneva (Céligny), that are surrounded by the canton of Vaud.
The north-western part of the canton is also mountainous but in a more modest way with mountains generally not above ; the Jura Mountains. The Vallée de Joux is one of the most popular destinations in the region and also a centre of luxury mechanical Swiss watch manufacturing.
Politics.
Members of the national council.
Source:
Members of the council of states.
Source:
Political subdivisions.
Districts.
The canton of Vaud is divided into 10 districts:
Municipalities.
There are 376 municipalities in the canton ().
Demographics.
The population is French-speaking and historically was mostly Protestant (Calvinist), dating from the early years of the Reformation. Recently, however, this has been changing due to immigration from Southern Europe. In 2000, the population was nearly evenly split between Protestants (40%) and Roman Catholics (34%).
The population of the canton (as of ) was . , the population included about 28% foreigners, including many Italians. The major population centres of the canton are: Lausanne ( inhabitants in ), Montreux-Vevey (Montreux: Vevey: inhabitants) and Yverdon-les-Bains ( inhabitants). The region around Nyon is often considered part of the agglomeration of Geneva. All of these are on Lake Geneva (called Lac Léman in French), except for Yverdon, which is on Lake Neuchâtel.
Economy.
The capital, Lausanne, is the major city of the canton. There are light industries concentrated around it. In 1998, 71.7% of the workers worked in the tertiary sector and 20.8% in the secondary.
The canton is the second-largest producer of wine in Switzerland. Most of the wine produced in the canton is white, and most vineyards are located on the steep shores of Lake Geneva such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces. There is agriculture in the areas away from Lake Geneva. Sugar beet is important around Orbe, tobacco in La Broye Valley, and fruit at the foot of the Jura mountains. Cattle breeding and pasture are common in the Alps and the Jura mountains. There is a salt mine at Bex. Tourism is important in many towns along Lake Geneva. Major lakeside resorts include Lausanne, Montreux, and Vevey.
The Union Cycliste Internationale is based in Aigle, and many of its defamation lawsuits against critics have been heard in the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey.
Education.
Two Swiss public universities are located within the canton:
Additionally, there are several public "hautes écoles" offering a limited selection of programmes:
Gastronomy.
The canton is often referred to as the "culinary capital of Switzerland" and is renowned for its many cheeses, wines and charcuterie. It is also home to a high number of gourmet restaurants, such as the Hôtel de ville in Crissier, founded by Frédy Girardet.
Taillé aux greubons are a salted bakery specialty of the region consisting of crackling encased in puff pastry. Another of the canton's specialties is carac, a pastry made of pie crust filled with chocolate ganache, covered by a characteristic green frangipane layer, and topped with a dot of chocolate.


Flags of Polish voivodeships

This is a list of flags of the voivodeships (first-level subdivisions) of Poland.


Olomouc District

Olomouc District () is a district ("okres") within the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Olomouc.
Complete list of municipalities.
Babice -
Bělkovice-Lašťany -
Bílá Lhota -
Bílsko -
Blatec -
Bohuňovice -
Bouzov -
Bukovany -
Bystročice -
Bystrovany -
Červenka -
Charváty -
Cholina -
Daskabát -
Dlouhá Loučka -
Dolany -
Doloplazy -
Domašov nad Bystřicí -
Domašov u Šternberka -
Drahanovice -
"Dub nad Moravou" -
Dubčany -
Grygov -
Haňovice -
Hlásnice -
Hlubočky -
Hlušovice -
Hněvotín -
Hnojice -
Horka nad Moravou -
Horní Loděnice -
Hraničné Petrovice -
Huzová -
Jívová -
Komárov -
Kožušany-Tážaly -
Krčmaň -
Křelov-Břuchotín -
Liboš -
Lipina -
Lipinka -
Litovel -
Loučany -
Loučka -
Luběnice -
Luká -
Lutín -
Lužice -
Majetín -
Medlov -
Měrotín -
Mladeč -
Mladějovice -
Moravský Beroun -
Mrsklesy -
Mutkov -
Náklo -
"Náměšť na Hané" -
Norberčany -
Nová Hradečná -
Olbramice -
Olomouc -
Paseka -
Pňovice -
Přáslavice -
Příkazy -
Řídeč -
Samotišky -
Senice na Hané -
Senička -
Skrbeň -
Slatinice -
Slavětín -
Strukov -
Střeň -
Suchonice -
Svésedlice -
Štarnov -
Štěpánov -
Šternberk -
Šumvald -
Těšetice -
Tovéř -
Troubelice -
Tršice -
Újezd -
Uničov -
Ústín -
Velká Bystřice -
Velký Týnec -
"Velký Újezd" -
Věrovany -
Vilémov -
Želechovice -
Žerotín
Part of the district area belongs to Military Area Libavá.


Zvolen District

Zvolen District ("okres Zvolen") is a district in
the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, most of the present-day district belonged to the Zvolen county, apart from Lešť in the south-west which was part of the county of Gemer a Malohont.


Giessen (region)

Giessen ("Gießen" in German) is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the middle of the state. It was created from counties (kreise) of Giessen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg and Vogelsbergkreis in Darmstadt and Marburg-Biedenkopf of Kassel on 1 January 1981.
Economy.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 35.9 billion € in 2018, accounting for 1.1% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 47,800 € or 105% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 96% of the EU average. This makes it one of the wealthiest regions in Germany and Europe.


Trutnov District

Trutnov District ( is a district ("okres") within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Trutnov.
Complete list of municipalities.
Batňovice -
Bernartice -
Bílá Třemešná -
Bílé Poličany -
Borovnice -
Borovnička -
Čermná -
"Černý Důl" -
Chotěvice -
Choustníkovo Hradiště -
Chvaleč -
Dolní Branná -
Dolní Brusnice -
Dolní Dvůr -
Dolní Kalná -
Dolní Lánov -
Dolní Olešnice -
Doubravice -
Dubenec -
Dvůr Králové nad Labem -
Hajnice -
Havlovice -
Horní Brusnice -
Horní Kalná -
Horní Maršov -
Horní Olešnice -
Hostinné -
Hřibojedy -
Janské Lázně -
Jívka -
Klášterská Lhota -
Kocbeře -
Kohoutov -
Královec -
Kuks -
Kunčice nad Labem -
Lampertice -
Lánov -
Lanžov -
Libňatov -
Libotov -
Litíč -
Malá Úpa -
Malé Svatoňovice -
Maršov u Úpice -
"Mladé Buky" -
Mostek -
Nemojov -
Pec pod Sněžkou -
Pilníkov -
Prosečné -
Radvanice -
Rtyně v Podkrkonoší -
Rudník -
Špindlerův Mlýn -
Stanovice -
Staré Buky -
Strážné -
Suchovršice -
Svoboda nad Úpou -
Třebihošť -
Trotina -
Trutnov -
Úpice -
Velké Svatoňovice -
"Velký Vřešťov" -
Vilantice -
Vítězná -
Vlčice -
Vlčkovice v Podkrkonoší -
Vrchlabí -
Zábřezí-Řečice -
Žacléř -
Zdobín -
Zlatá Olešnice


Gallo language

Gallo is a regional language of eastern Brittany. It is one of the langues d'oïl, a Romance sub-family that includes French. Today it is spoken only by a minority of the population, as the standard form of French now predominates in this area.
Gallo was originally spoken in the Marches of Neustria, an area now corresponding to the border lands between Brittany, Normandy, and Maine. Gallo was a shared spoken language among many of those who took part in the Norman conquest of England, most of whom originated in Upper (i.e. eastern) Brittany and Lower (i.e. western) Normandy, and thus had its part, together with the much bigger role played by the Norman language, in the development of the Anglo-Norman variety of French which would have such a strong influence on English.
Gallo continued as the everyday language of Upper Brittany, Maine, and some neighbouring portions of Normandy until the introduction of universal education across France, but is spoken today by only a small (and aging) minority of the population, having been almost entirely superseded by standard French.
As a "langue d'oïl", Gallo forms part of a dialect continuum which includes Norman, Picard, and the Poitevin dialect among others. One of the features that distinguish it from Norman is the absence of Old Norse influence. There is some limited mutual intelligibility with adjacent varieties of the Norman language along the linguistic frontier and with Guernésiais and Jèrriais. However, as the dialect continuum shades towards Mayennais, there is a less clear isogloss. The clearest linguistic border is that distinguishing Gallo from Breton, a Brittonic Celtic language traditionally spoken in the western territory of Brittany.
In the west, the vocabulary of Gallo has been influenced by contact with Breton, but remains overwhelmingly Latinate. The influence of Breton decreases eastwards across Gallo-speaking territory.
, Gallo's western extent stretches from Plouha ("Plóha"), in Côtes-d'Armor, south of Paimpol, passing through Châtelaudren ("Châtié"), Corlay ("Corlaè"), Loudéac ("Loudia"), east of Pontivy, Locminé ("Lominoec"), Vannes, and ending in the south, east of the Rhuys peninsula, in Morbihan.
Nomenclature.
The term "gallo" is sometimes spelled "galo" or "gallot". It is also referred to as or in Brittany. In south Lower Normandy and in the west of it is often referred to as patois, though this is a matter of some contention. "Gallo" comes from the Breton word , meaning 'foreigner', 'French' or 'non-Breton'. "Gallo" was first used by Breton speakers, which explains why it is used very little by Gallo speakers themselves. Henriette Walter conducted a survey in 1986 which showed that just over 4% of Gallo speakers in had ever used the term, and a third of them found it "had quite a pejorative connotation". According to the survey, the term was the most common way of referring to the language.
The term was coined by the linguist Alan-Joseph Raude in 1978 to highlight the fact that Gallo is "a Romance variety spoken by Bretons". Gallo should not be confused with "Gallo-Roman", a term that refers to the Romance varieties of ancient Gaul.
Linguistic classification.
Gallo is one of the "langues d'oïl", a dialect continuum covering the northern half of France. This group includes a wide variety of more or less well-defined and differentiated languages and dialects, which share a Latin origin and some Germanic influence from Frankish, the language spoken by the Franks.
Gallo, like the other "langues d'oïl", is neither ancient French nor a distortion of modern French. The "langues d'oïl" are Gallo-Romance languages, which also includes Franco-provençal, spoken around Savoy. All the Gallo-Romance languages are Romance languages, a group which also includes, among others, Italian, Spanish and Romanian.
Gallo has not just borrowed words from Breton, but also aspects of grammar; the use of the preposition "pour" as an auxiliary verb is said to be of Celtic origin. The relationship between the two is comparable to that of the two languages of Scotland: Scots, an Anglic language closely related to English, and Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language descended from Old Irish.
Celtic, Latin and Germanic roots.
The Celts settled in Armorica toward the 8th century BCE. Some of early groups mentioned in the written records of the Greeks were the Redones and the Namnetes. They spoke dialects of the Gaulish language and maintained important economic ties with the British Isles. Julius Caesar's invasion of Armorica in 56 BC led to a sort of Romanization of the population. Gaulish continued to be spoken in this region until the 6th century CE, especially in less populated, rural areas. When the Bretons emigrated to Armorica around this time, they found a people who had retained their Celtic language and culture. The Bretons were therefore able to integrate easily.
In contrast to Armorica's western countryside, Nantes and Rennes were Roman cultural centres. Following the Migration Period, these two cities, as well as regions to the east of the Vilaine, including the town Vannes, fell under Frankish rule. Thus, during the Merovingian dynasty, the population of Armorica was diverse, consisting of Gaulish tribes with assimilated Bretons, as well as Romanized cities and Germanic tribes. War between the Frank and Breton kingdoms was constant between the 6th and 9th centuries, which made the border between the two difficult to define. Before the 10th century, Breton was spoken by at least one third of the population up to the cities of Pornic and Avranches.
Decline of Gallo.
Historically, France has been a nation with a high degree of linguistic diversity matched with relative tolerance, that is until the French Revolution. Gallo's status as a tolerated regional language of France suffered as a direct consequence of the French Revolution. During the revolution, the Jacobins viewed regional languages as a way in which the structural inequalities of France were perpetuated. Accordingly, they sought to eradicate regional languages to free regional language speakers of their unconstitutional inequalities.
The consequences of the revolution on Gallo stretch into recent history. Within the 1900s, government policy directly affected the use of minority languages in France. In 1962, Charles de Gaulle established the Haut Comité pour la défense et l'expansion de la langue française; this French Language policy's purpose was to enforce the traditional dialect of French, to the detriment of minority languages. Furthermore, in 1994, the Loi Toubon declared that any governmental publications and advertisements must be in French. Thus, the use of Gallo declined due to direct government actions.
Furthermore, Gallo speakers began to associate French as the language of intellectuals and social promotion, and their Gallo language as an impediment to their success. As a result, the rate of children learning the language has diminished, since parents struggle to see the benefit of Gallo in their children's future.
Gallo and education.
Within recent history, the presence of Gallo has fluctuated in Brittany's school system. Shortly before World War II, the Regional Federation of Bretagne introduced the idea of rejuvenating Gallo's presences in schools. They were primarily motivated in increasing the linguistic competence of children.
In 1982, Gallo was officially adopted as an optional subject in secondary schools in Brittany, even appearing on France's secondary school-exit exam, the Baccalaureat. It took years for the Gallo language to actually be incorporated into the curriculum, but by the 1990s, the main focus of the curriculum was cultural awareness of the Gallo language and identity. However, in 2002, Gallo's optional-subject status in secondary schools was withdrawn.
In reaction to the 2002 decision, an effective and committed network of Gallo activists advanced Gallo's status in Brittany schools. Gallo is now taught in Upper Brittany's state schools, though the population of students enrolled in Gallo courses remains low. In the academic year of 2003 to 2004, there were 569 students learning Gallo at secondary school or university . For comparison, in the same year, 3791 students were learning Breton in either secondary school or university.
Status.
One of the metro stations of the Breton capital, Rennes, has bilingual signage in French and Gallo, but generally the Gallo language is not as visibly high-profile as the Breton language, even in its traditional heartland of the , which includes the two historical capitals of Rennes (Gallo "Resnn", Breton ) and Nantes (Gallo "Nauntt", Breton ).
Different dialects of Gallo are distinguished, although there is a movement for standardisation on the model of the dialect of Upper Brittany.
It is difficult to record the exact number of Gallo speakers today. Gallo and vernacular French share a social-linguistic landscape, so speakers have difficulty determining exactly which language they are speaking. This makes estimates of the number of speakers vary widely.
Literature.
Although a written literary tradition exists, Gallo is more noted for extemporised story-telling and theatrical presentations. Given Brittany's rich musical heritage, contemporary performers produce a range of music sung in Gallo (see Music of Brittany).
The roots of written Gallo literature are traced back to "Le Livre des Manières" written in 1178 by Etienne de Fougères, a poetical text of 336 quatrains and the earliest known Romance text from Brittany, and to "Le Roman d'Aquin", an anonymous 12th century chanson de geste transcribed in the 15th century but which nevertheless retains features typical of the mediaeval Romance of Brittany. In the 19th century oral literature was collected by researchers and folklorists such as Paul Sébillot, Adolphe Orain, Amand Dagnet and Georges Dottin. Amand Dagnet (1857-1933) also wrote a number of original works in Gallo, including a play "La fille de la Brunelas" (1901).
It was in the 1970s that a concerted effort to promote Gallo literature started. In 1979 Alan J. Raude published a proposed standardised orthography for Gallo.


Counties of Lithuania

The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular "apskritis", plural "apskritys"), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular "savivaldybė", plural "savivaldybės"): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into elderates (Lithuanian: singular "seniūnija", plural "seniūnijos"). This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000.
Until 2010, the counties were administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular – "apskrities viršininkas", plural – "apskrities viršininkai") appointed by the central government in Vilnius. Their primary duty was to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and the Constitution of Lithuania. They did not have great powers vested in them, and so it was suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. Therefore, on 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished but the counties are retained for statistical and reporting purposes.
Modern "apskritys" should not be confused with "apskritys" that existed in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period. At that time Lithuania had a two-tier administrative division: "apskritys" that were subdivided into "valsčius". Lithuania now has a three-step division: counties, municipalities, and elderates ("apskritys", "savivaldybės", and "seniūnijos"). See subdivisions of Lithuania for details.
Map.
This map shows counties as well as municipalities. Eight city municipalities and two municipalities are marked by numbers:


Appenzell Innerrhoden

Appenzell Innerrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of six districts. The seat of the government and parliament is Appenzell. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
Appenzell Innerrhoden is the smallest canton of Switzerland by population and the second smallest by area. It is located in the north east of the country. Together with the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, it forms an enclave within the canton of St. Gallen. The canton is essentially located in the Alpine foothills of the Alpstein massif, culminating at the Säntis.
Appenzell Innerrhoden was part of the historical canton of Appenzell, which has been divided into Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden since 1597 as a result of the Swiss Reformation.
History.
Foundation.
The name "Appenzell" () means "cell (i.e. estate) of the abbot". This refers to the Abbey of St. Gall, which exerted a great influence on the area. By the middle of the 11th century the abbots of St. Gall had established their power in the land later called Appenzell, which, too, became thoroughly Teutonized, its early inhabitants having probably been Romanized Raetians.
By about 1360, conflicts over grazing rights, taxes, and tithes were causing concern for both the abbot and the farmers of Appenzell. Both parties wanted to protect their rights and interests by joining the new Swabian League. In 1377 Appenzell was allowed to join the League with the support of the cities of Konstanz and St. Gallen (the city of St. Gallen was often at odds with the neighboring Abbey of St. Gall). With the support of the League, Appenzell refused to pay many of the gifts and tithes that the Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln demanded. In response to the loss of revenue from his estates, Kuno approached the Austrian House of Habsburg for help. In 1392 he made an agreement with the Habsburgs, which was renewed in 1402. In response, in 1401 Appenzell entered into an alliance with the city of St. Gallen to protect their rights and freedom.
Independence and joining the Swiss Confederation.
Following increasing conflicts between the Appenzellers and the abbot's agents, including the bailiff of Appenzell demanding that a dead body be dug up because he wanted the man's clothes, the Appenzellers planned an uprising. On a pre-arranged day, throughout the abbot's lands, they attacked the bailiffs and drove them out of the land. Following unsuccessful negotiations Appenzell and St. Gallen entered into a treaty, which marked a break between the abbot and his estates. Perhaps fearing the Habsburgs, in 1402 the League expelled Appenzell. During the same year, St. Gallen reached an agreement with the abbot, and Appenzell could no longer count on St. Gallen's support. Appenzell declared itself ready to stand against the abbot, and in 1403 formed an alliance with the canton of Schwyz, a member of the Old Swiss Confederation that had defeated the Austrians in the previous century. Glarus provided less support, but authorized any citizen who wished to support Appenzell to do so. In response, the League raised an army and marched to St. Gallen before heading toward Appenzell. On 15 May 1403, they entered the pass leading to Speicher and outside the village of Vögelinsegg met the Appenzell army. A small force of Appenzell and Confederation troops defeated the League army and the two sides signed a short-lived peace treaty.
Following another Appenzell victory on 17 June 1405, at Stoss Pass on the border of Appenzell town, the new canton continued to expand. During the expansion, Appenzell even captured the abbot of St. Gall and in response they were excommunicated by the Bishop of Constance.
However, while the "Bund" expanded, the Austrians used the peace to regain their strength. On 11 September 1406 an association of nobles formed a knightly order known as the "Sankt Jörgenschild" (Order of St. George's Shield) to oppose the rebellious commoners of the "Bund". Following a defeat at Bregenz, Appenzell was unable to hold the "Bund" together. The city of St. Gallen and the canton of Schwyz each paid off the Austrians to avoid an attack, and the "Bund" was dissolved by King Rupert of Germany on 4 April 1408.
As part of the peace treaty, the abbot gave up his ownership of Appenzell, but was still owed certain taxes. However, it was not until 1410 that the area was at peace.
In 1411 Appenzell signed a defensive treaty with the entire Swiss Confederation (except Bern), which strengthened their position against the abbot. Appenzell joined the Confederation as an "Associate Member", and did not become a full member until 1513. Following another battle, in 1429, Appenzell was granted freedom from the obligations in the future. This treaty represented the end of Appenzell's last financial tie to the Abbey of St. Gall, and a movement towards closer relationships with the Confederation.
Division of Appenzell.
Starting in 1522, followers of Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli began to preach the Protestant Reformation in Appenzell. The early reformers had the most success in the outer "Rhoden", a term that in the singular is said to mean a "clearing", and occurs in 1070, long before the final separation. Following the initial small success, in 1523 Joachim von Watt (also known as Joachim Vadian) began to preach the reformed version of the Acts of the Apostles to friends and fellow clergy. His preaching brought the Reformation into the forefront of public debate. In October 1523, the Council supported the Protestant principle of scriptural sermons, and on 24 April 1524 the Landsgemeinde confirmed the Cantonal Council's decision. However, the work of the Anabaptists in the Appenzell region (as well as in Zurich and St. Gallen) in 1525 led to government crackdowns. The first police action against the Anabaptists took place in June 1525, followed by the Anabaptist Disputation in Teufen in October 1529.
To end the confrontation between the old and new faiths, the Landesgemeinde decided in April 1525 that each parish should choose a faith, but that the principle of free movement would be supported, so that the religious minority could attend the church of their choice regardless of where they lived. The entire Appenzell Ausserrhoden converted to the Reformation in 1529. The Innerrhoden remained with the old faith. While the majority of the residents of Appenzell town remained Catholic under Pastor Diepolt Huter, there was a strong Reformed minority. In 1531, the minority were nearly successful in getting the town to ally with the Protestant Ausserrhoden. But an armed mob of angry residents from the neighboring village of Gonten prevented the abolition of the Mass in Appenzell. The Catholic victory in the Second War of Kappel in 1531 ended plans for a reformation of the entire Canton of Appenzell.
After the Second War of Kappel, the two religions reached a generally peaceful parity. They remained united by common business interests, the same political and legal understanding, a shared desire to form an alliance with France and a shared opposition to the city of St. Gallen. This shared opposition to St. Gallen was demonstrated in the so-called linen affairs (1535–42, 1579), in which the weavers throughout Appenzell supported each other when they felt that they were unfairly treated by the linen industry of St. Gallen.
From 1798 to 1803 Appenzell, with the other domains of the abbot of St Gall, was formed into the canton of Säntis of the Helvetic Republic, but in 1803, on the creation of the new canton of St. Gall, shrank back within its former boundaries.
Women's right to vote, 1991.
Appenzell Innerrhoden was the last canton in Switzerland to grant women the right to vote on local issues, being forced to do so only in 1990 when two women from Appenzell filed a lawsuit in the Swiss Federal Court and won. A centuries-old law forbidding women to vote was changed in 1991, when Switzerland's federal court ordered the canton to grant women the right to vote.
Geography.
Most of the canton is pastoral, this despite being mountainous. The Säntis peak in the Appenzell Alps is one of the main attractions of the canton. There are three small mountain lakes in the canton: Seealpsee, Sämtisersee and Fälensee.
Two small monasteries (Wonnenstein in Teufen and Grimmenstein in Walzenhausen) are exclaves of the canton in Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
Politics.
Appenzell is the capital of this canton. The constitution was established in 1872. Citizens from the canton assemble each year on the last Sunday of April for the "Landsgemeinde" (general assembly) in a square in Appenzell; they elect the cantonal government and judiciary, accept the oath of the elected members, and vote on several issues on the agenda; about 4000 citizens usually participate.
In 1991, following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, Appenzell Innerrhoden became the last Swiss canton to grant women the vote on local issues.
It also was the canton with the strongest support for the minaret ban in the Swiss minaret referendum, 2009, at 71%.
Political subdivisions.
In Appenzell Innerrhoden, districts are the lowest administrative division, as the canton has no municipalities (except for the Feuerschaugemeinde, a special-purpose municipality for firefighting, energy and water for the town of Appenzell). The districts are functionally equivalent to municipalities elsewhere in Switzerland, and are generally shown as municipalities on maps etc.
The canton is divided into 6 districts:
Government.
The State Commission (Standeskommission) constitutes the executive government of the canton of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of seven councillors (), each presiding over a department ("Departement") comprising several offices and bureaus. The president of the executive department acts as an executive president ("regierender Landammann"). In the mandate period ("Legislatur") 2019 – 2021 the State Commission is presided by "regierender Landammann" Roland Inauen. The "regierende Landammann" and the "stillstehender Landammann" (stationary president) are switched every two years. Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the canton's parliament, the "Grosse Rat", and the "Landsgemeinde", as well as legal judgments are carried by the State Commission. The regular (re-)election of the State Commission by the "Landsgemeinde" is held every year. Any resident of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the State Commission. The assignment of the departments for the "Säckelmeister" (minister of finance), "Landeshauptmann" (country's captain), "Bauherr" (minister of building and civil engineering), and "Landesfähnrich" (country's ensign) are given by their roles. The departments of education, economics, and health and social services are assigned by the collegiate to the two "Landammänner" and the "Statthalter".
, Appenzell Inner-Rhodes' State Commission is made up of two members of the CVP (Christian Democratic People's Party), one member of the SVP (Swiss People's Party), and four independents of whom one is currently also the president. The last regular election ("Landsgemeinde") was held on 28 April 2019.
Parliament.
Landsgemeinde.
Citizens from the canton assemble on the last Sunday of April each year for the "Landsgemeinde" (literally: country's assembly) in the central square in Appenzell, elect the cantonal government and judiciary, accept the oath of the elected members, and vote on several issues put forward by the government and/or the parliament. It is presided over by the "regierende Landammann".
Every Swiss citizen of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes older than 18 has the right to vote and to step onto the "Stuhl" (literally the chair, but in fact the podium) and to debate the election of the proposed members of government and judiciary, or any of the issues to be voted on.
After the State Commission have taken their seats on the "Stuhl" and the "regierende Landammann" opens and welcomes the assembly,(s)he then presents the state bill. Then the discussions are opened. Then the elections and the subsequent oaths take place. Finally the votes on the programmed issues are taken.
Grosser Rat.
The Grosser Rat or Grand Council is composed of 50 members, elected in the six districts of the canton. In five of the six districts, the election takes place once a year in the annual session of the district equivalent of the Landsgemeinde and therefore takes place in the open. In the other district, Oberegg District, which forms two small exclaves of the canton a few kilometres northeast of the rest, a separate ballot is held in May.
The most important tasks of the Council are providing preliminary advice on the constitutional and legislative proposals to be placed before the Landsgemeinde. Also, the issuing of regulations to enforce the canton's legislation and supervision of all the cantonal authorities. The Council reviews and approves the annual financial statements, and sets the budget and the tax rates.
Demographics.
The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the population included 1,510 foreigners, or about 9.76% of the total population. Owing to the split of Appenzell along religious lines, the population () is nearly all Roman Catholic (81%), with a small Protestant minority (10%).
Economy.
Cattle breeding and dairy farming are the main agricultural activities: Appenzeller cheese is widely available throughout Switzerland. Somewhat before the early 2000s, the idyllic countryside of Appenzell Innerrhoden apparently became popular with nudists, and at the 2009 Landsgemeinde the canton's residents voted to prohibit naked hiking. Violators would be fined. However nudists who appealed against their fines to the federal court have been reimbursed by the local authorities, as nudism is not a crime under Swiss federal law which takes precedence. It is common for cars rented in Switzerland to be registered in Appenzell Innerrhoden, and thus having license plates starting with "AI", because of the reduced tax on cars in this canton.


Skuodas District Municipality

Skuodas District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.
It is the only territory whose Council is using the Samogitian language.


Lorraine

Lorraine is a cultural and historical region in north-eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Lorraine's name stems from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia, which in turn was named for either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II. It later was ruled as the Duchy of Lorraine before the Kingdom of France annexed it in 1766.
From 1982 until January 2016, Lorraine was an administrative region of France. In 2016, under a reorganization, it became part of the new region Grand Est. As a region in modern France, Lorraine consisted of the four departments Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle and Vosges (of an historical point of view the Haute-Marne department is located in the region), containing 2,337 communes. Metz is the regional prefecture. The largest metropolitan area of Lorraine is Nancy, which had developed for centuries as the seat of the duchy.
Lorraine borders Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Its inhabitants are called "Lorrains" in French and number about 2,356,000.
History.
Lorraine's borders have changed often in its long history. The location of Lorraine led to it being a paramount strategic asset as the crossroads of four nations. This, along with its political alliances, marriage alliances, and the ability of rulers over the centuries to choose sides between East and West, gave it a tremendously powerful and important role in transforming all of European history. Its rulers intermarried with royal families over all of Europe, played kingmaker, and seated rulers on the thrones of the Holy Roman Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, and others.
In 840, Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious died. The Carolingian Empire was divided among Louis' three sons by the Treaty of Verdun of 843. The middle realm, known as Middle Francia, went to Lothair I, reaching from Frisia in Northern Germany through the Low Countries, Eastern France, Burgundy, Provence, Northern Italy, and down to Rome. On the death of Lothair I, Middle Francia was divided in three by the Treaty of Prüm in 855, with the northern third called Lotharingia and going to Lothair II. Due to Lotharingia being sandwiched between East and West Francia, the rulers identified as a duchy from 870 onward, enabling the duchy to ally and align itself nominally with either eastern or western Carolingian kingdoms in order to survive and maintain its independence. Thus it was a duchy in name but operated as an independent kingdom.
In 870, Lorraine allied with East Francia while remaining an autonomous duchy. In 962, when Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, restored the Empire ("restauratio imperii"), Lorraine was designated as the autonomous Duchy of Lorraine within the Holy Roman Empire. It maintained this status until 1766, after which it was annexed under succession law by the Kingdom of France, via derivative aristocratic house alliances.
The succession within these houses, in tandem with other historical events, would have later restored Lorraine's status as its own duchy, but a vacuum in leadership occurred. Its duke Francois Stephen de Lorraine (Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor) took the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, and his brother Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine became governor of the Austrian Netherlands. For political reasons, he decided to hide those heirs who were not born by his first wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, who was deceased when he took office.
The vacuum in leadership, the French Revolution, and the political results and changes issuing from the many nationalistic wars that followed in the next 130 years, ultimately resulted in Lorraine becoming a permanent part of the modern Republic of France. Because of wars, it came under control of Germany several times as the border between the nations shifted. While Lorrainian separatists do exist in the 21st century, their political power and influence is negligible. Lorraine separatism today consists more of preserving its cultural identity rather than seeking genuine political independence.
With enlightened leadership and at a crossroads between French and German cultures, Lotharingia experienced tremendous economic, artistic, and cultural prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under the Hohenstaufen emperors. Along with the rest of Europe, this prosperity was terminated in Lorraine in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the Black Death. During the Renaissance, a flourishing prosperity returned to Lotharingia until the Thirty Years' War.
France annexed Lorraine in 1766, and it retains control in the early 21st century. Due to the region's location, the population has been mixed. The north is largely German, speaking Lorraine Franconian and other German dialects. Strong centralized nationalism had only begun to replace the feudalist system which had formed the multilingual borders, and insurrection against the French occupation influenced much of the area's early identity. In 1871, the German Empire regained a part of Lorraine (Bezirk Lothringen, corresponding to the current department of Moselle). The department formed part of the new Imperial German State of Alsace-Lorraine. In France, the revanchist movement developed to recover this territory.
The Imperial German administration strongly discouraged the French language and culture in favor of High German, which became the administrative language (Geschäftssprache.) It required the use of German in schools in areas which it considered or designated as German-speaking, an often arbitrary categorisation. French was allowed to remain in use only in primary and secondary schools in municipalities definitely considered Francophone, such as Château-Salins and the surrounding arrondissement, as well and in their local administration.
But after 1877, higher education, including state-run colleges, universities and teacher seminaries, was conducted exclusively in German. The predominance of German and the partial usage of French, though restricted, were both guaranteed by the 1911 constitution of Alsace-Lorraine. While many toponyms of German etymology in Lorraine were adapted to the High German standard (i.e. Germanised) a number of genuine Francophone toponyms remained untouched. During the Nazi occupation between 1940 and 1944, however, its government imposed arbitrary German translations to replace all French names. For instance, Château-Salins was called Salzburg in Lothringen.
In the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the former German Empire suffered severe territorial losses, including the portion of Lorraine territory that had been part of its state of Alsace-Lorraine. With the exception of its de facto annexation by Nazi Germany during World War II, that area has since remained a part of France. During that war, the cross of Lorraine was a symbol of Free France.
Development of the borders in modern history.
The administrative region of Lorraine is larger than the 18th century duchy of Lorraine, which gradually came under French sovereignty between 1737 and 1766. The modern region includes provinces and areas that were historically separate from the duchy of Lorraine proper. These are:
Some historians consider the traditional province of Lorraine as limited to the duchy of Lorraine proper, while others consider that it includes Barrois and the Three Bishoprics. The duchy of Lorraine was originally the duchy of "upper" Lorraine, and did not include the entire area since called "Lorraine".
The case of Barrois is the most complicated: the western part of Barrois (west of the Meuse), known as "Barrois mouvant", was detached from the rest of Barrois in the early 14th century and taken over by French sovereignty. The largest part of Barrois (east of the Meuse River) was the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 15th century, it was united with the Duchy of Lorraine by the marriage of the Duke of Bar, René of Anjou, with Isabella, daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. Thus the duchies of Bar and Lorraine were united in personal union under the same duke, although formally they were officially separate until being annexed and incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1766.
During the French Revolution, four departments were created from the main parts of the territories of Barrois, Three Bishoprics and the Duchy of Lorraine:
After 1870 some parts of "Moselle" and "Meurthe" became German. Of the remaining parts, France formed the new department named Meurthe-et-Moselle. After 1918 and the Great War, France took over control again of "Moselle".
When France created its administrative regions in the middle of the 20th century, it decided to gather "Meurthe et Moselle", "Meuse", "Moselle" and "Vosges" into a single region, known as Lorraine.
Geography.
Lorraine is the only French region to have borders with three other countries: Belgium (Wallonia), Luxembourg, and Germany (Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate). It also borders the French regions of Franche-Comté, Champagne-Ardenne, which were at times part of historical Lorraine Lotharingia, and Alsace, which, while still part of Lorraine's identity, is now a separate administrative region.
Most of the region forms part of the Paris Basin, with a plateau relief cut by river valleys presenting cuestas in the north–south direction. The eastern part is sharper with the Vosges. Many rivers run through Lorraine, including Moselle, Meurthe, and Meuse. Most of them are on the Rhine drainage basin.
Lorraine has an oceanic climate with continental influences.
Language and culture.
Most of Lorraine has a clear French identity, with the exception of the northeastern part of the region, today known as Moselle, which historically has had an ethnic German, and German-speaking, population.
In 1871, Bismarck annexed about a third of today's Lorraine to the new federation of the German Empire following a decisive victory in the Franco-Prussian War. This disputed third has a culture not easily classifiable as either French or German, since both Romance and German dialects are spoken here. Like many border regions, Lorraine was a patchwork of ethnicities and dialects not mutually intelligible with either standard French or German (see linguistic boundary of Moselle).
Traditionally, two languages are native to Lorraine. The first is Lorrain, which is a moribund minority Romance language that is spoken in southeastern Lorraine. The second is the German dialect of Lorraine Franconian, a group of three Franconian dialects independently surviving in northern and western Lorraine. They are referred to collectively as "Plàtt" in Franconian or "francique" or "platt (lorrain)" in French (not to be confused with "Lorrain", the Romance language). Now mainly rural and isolated, these dialects gradually differ in the region, though they are mutually intelligible. Lorraine Franconian is distinct from neighbouring Alsatian, to the south, although the two are often confused. Neither of them has official status where they are spoken, but Alsatian is far more widely used.
Technically, Lorraine Franconian is a catch-all term for what were historically three dialects: Luxemburgish, Mosel Franconian, and Rhine Franconian. Each is identical to the same dialects spoken in the neighboring Rhineland of Germany.
Like most of France's regional languages (e.g. Basque, Breton, West Flemish, Catalan, Provençal, and Alsatian), Lorrain and Lorraine Franconian have largely been replaced in use by French. For more than a century, nationalistic policies of the central government required public schooling to be conducted only in French. Now, however, there are efforts being made to revive Lorraine Franconian, whose linguistic vitality is still relatively high. Recent efforts include the use of bilingual signs in Franconian areas, and Franconian-language classes for young children whose parents can no longer speak their ancestral language.
Cross of Lorraine.
During World War 2, the cross was adopted as the official symbol of the Free French Forces (French: "Forces Françaises Libres", or FFL) under Charles de Gaulle.Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the adoption of the Cross of Lorraine as the symbol of the Free French.
In his General Order n° 2 of 3 July 1940, vice-admiral Émile Muselier, chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French for two days, created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red Cross of Lorraine, and a cockade also featuring the Cross of Lorraine.
De Gaulle is memorialised at his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises by a gigantic 44.3-meter (145 feet) high cross of Lorraine.
Cuisine.
The use of the potato in Lorraine can be traced back to 1665. It was imported to Europe from South America. It is used in what developed as various traditional dishes of the region, such as the "potée lorraine". The Breux potato, which takes its name from the village of Breux in the north of the Meuse, is considered to be excellent due to the perfect conditions of the area for its cultivation.
Smoked bacon is also a traditional ingredient of the cuisine of Lorraine. It is used in various traditional dishes of the region, including the famous quiche lorraine. The mirabelle plum of Lorraine is the emblematic fruit of Lorraine. It is used in pies and other desserts, as well as in alcoholic beverages.
Traditional dishes in the region include:
Traditional cheeses of Lorraine include the following: Carré de l'Est, Brouère, Munster-géromé, Tourrée de l'Aubier.
Desserts from the region include: Madeleine, Macaron, Rum baba, Plombières ice-cream, various pie recipes ("brimbelles" bilberry, "mirabelle" plum, rhubarb, quark...). The Christstollen is also popular in Lorraine during the Christmas season.
Traditions.
Lorraine has a Roman Catholic heritage. Almost every village has a church, often centuries old, although many do not have a dedicated priest anymore. Church bells are traditionally rung to announce Angelus time (and often toll the hours). By tradition, they do not toll during Holy Week preceding Easter. Instead, the children of the villages play ratchets and announce, "C'est l'Angélus!" (It's the Angelus). After Easter, the children go from house to house and receive small presents for their service.
Sinterklaas is celebrated in Lorraine, where he is called "Saint Nicolas". Each year, more than 150,000 people gather in the streets of Nancy to celebrate Sinterklaas. A total of that number gather in other areas across the region.
Housing.
Except for dispersed settlement in the Vosges mountains, traditional farms display linked houses, forming linear villages. They are built quite far from the road. The area between the house and the road is called "". Until the 1970s, the usoir was used to store farming tools, firewood, or manure. Today this area is generally used as a garden or for car parking.
Furniture developed a specific identity after the Thirty Years' War: the "Lorrain style".
Economy.
At 44 billion euros (in 2000), Lorraine generates 3.4% of France's GDP. Despite ranking 11th in population, it ranks 8th in GDP out of the 22 regions of France, making it per capita among the top economic producing regions in the country, along with Alsace and Île-de-France (Paris). The logistics and service sectors have experienced the strongest growth in recent years. The traditional industries (textiles, mining, metallurgy) have undergone a decline due to restructuring and the move of some jobs offshore. Consequently, the region has struggled with rising unemployment, although its rate is still below the national average. In 1997 the last iron ore mine in Lorraine was closed; it had once produced more than 50 million tonnes of iron.


Chios (regional unit)

Chios (, ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of North Aegean. The capital of the regional unit is the town of Chios. The regional unit consists of the islands of Chios, Psara, Oinousses and some smaller uninhabited islands (including Antipsara), all in the Aegean Sea.
Administration.
The regional unit Chios is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):
Prefecture.
As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Chios was created out of the former prefecture Chios (). The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.


Tartu (urban municipality)

Tartu () is an urban municipality of Estonia, in Tartu County. It consists of the city of Tartu, as well as the former Tähtvere Parish bordering the city in the north-west. Prior to the 2017 administrative reform, Tartu held negotiations with all neighbouring parishes, with Tähtvere Parish eventually being the only one to agree to the merge. The municipality is thus separate from the neigbouring Tartu Parish.
Settlements.
Tartu
Ilmatsalu and Märja
Haage, Ilmatsalu, Kandiküla, Kardla, Pihva, Rahinge, Rõhu, Tähtvere, Tüki and Vorbuse.
Government.
There are 49 members on the city council, elected by residents every four years using a proportional system of representation.
The executive branch of the city government consists of a mayor and five deputy mayors. The current mayor is Urmas Klaas. Andrus Ansip, Prime Minister of Estonia from 2005 to 2014, was mayor of Tartu from 1998 to 2004. The position was later served by other politicians who eventually became ministers of government, Laine Jänes and Urmas Kruuse. All of them are members of the Estonian Reform Party, which has dominated in Tartu since 1998.
International relations.
Twin towns – Sister cities.
Tartu is twinned with:


Provinces of Bulgaria

The provinces of Bulgaria () are the first level administrative subdivisions of the country.
Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces ( – "oblasti;" singular: област – "oblast"; also translated as "regions") which correspond approximately to the 28 districts (in Bulgarian: окръг – "okrags", plural: окръзи – "okrǎzi"), that existed before 1987.
The provinces are further subdivided into 265 municipalities (singular: община – "obshtina", plural: общини – "obshtini").
Sofia – the capital city of Bulgaria and the largest settlement in the country, is the administrative centre of both Sofia Province and Sofia City Province (Sofia-grad). The capital is included (together with 3 other cities plus 34 villages) in Sofia Capital Municipality (over 90% of whose population lives in Sofia), which is the sole municipality comprising Sofia City province.
Terminology.
The provinces do not have official names – legally (in the President's decree on their constitution), they are not named but only described as "oblast with administrative centre [Noun]" - together with a list of the constituting municipalities. In Bulgaria they are usually called "[Adjective] Oblast"; occasionally they are referred to as "Oblast [Noun]" and rarely as "oblast with administrative centre [Noun]".
The Bulgarian term "област" ("oblast") is preferably translated into English as "province", in order to avoid disambiguation and distinguish from the former unit called "окръг" ("okrag", translated as "district") and the term "регион" (always translated as "region"). At any rate, "district" and "region" are sometimes still used to name these contemporary 28 units.
Provinces.
On 1 January 1999, the old districts were restored with some modifications, but the designation ("oblast") "province" was kept.


Piraeus Prefecture

Piraeus Prefecture () was one of the prefectures of Greece. Created in 1964 as a separate Prefecture (Νομός) and after the dissolution of the prefecture in 1972 was one of the 4 prefectures (Νομαρχίες) of Attica prefecture, and from 1994, part of the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture (1994–2011). The capital of the prefecture was Piraeus. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was abolished, and its territory was divided into two regional units: Islands and Piraeus.
History.
The prefecture covered the south-western part of the agglomeration of Athens, several islands in the Saronic Gulf (Salamis, Aegina, Agkistri, Poros, Hydra, Dokos, Spetses, Spetsopoula), Methana and Troizina on the Peloponnese peninsula, and the islands of Kythira and Antikythera south of the Peloponnese. An indication of the geographical diversity of the prefecture was the stark difference in population density between its seven mainland municipalities in the Athens urban area, which have 9,244.2 inhabitants/km2, and its detached outlying areas, which average only 85.83 inhabitants/km2 (and most of these on Salamis Island, at 395.40/km2, while the far-outlying parts have only 47.80/km2).
Provinces.
"Note:" Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.


Grampian Mountains

The Grampian Mountains ("Am Monadh" in Gaelic) are one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, occupying a considerable portion of the Scottish Highlands in northern Scotland. The other major mountain ranges in Scotland are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends southwest to northeast between the Highland Boundary Fault and the Great Glen, occupying almost half of the land area of Scotland and including the Cairngorms and the Lochaber hills. The range includes many of the highest mountains in the British Isles, including Ben Nevis (the highest point in the British Isles at above sea level) and Ben Macdui (the second-highest at ).
A number of rivers and streams rise in the Grampians, including the Tay, Spey, Cowie Water, Burn of Muchalls, Burn of Pheppie, Burn of Elsick, Cairnie Burn, Don, Dee and Esk. The area is generally sparsely populated.
There is some ambiguity about the extent of the range, and until the 19th century, they were generally considered to be more than one range, which all formed part of the wider Scottish Highlands. This view is still held by many today, and they have no single name in the Scottish Gaelic language or the Doric dialect of Lowland Scots. In both languages, a number of names are used. The name "Grampian" has been used in the titles of organisations covering parts of Scotland north of the Central Belt, including the former local government area of Grampian Region (translated into Scots Gaelic as "Roinn a' Mhonaidh"), NHS Grampian, and Grampian Television.
Name.
The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus recorded "Mons Graupius" as the site of the defeat of the native Caledonians by Gnaeus Julius Agricola c. 83 AD. The actual location of "Mons Graupius", literally 'Mount Graupius' (the element 'Graupius' is of unknown meaning), is a matter of dispute among historians, though most favour a location within the Grampian massif, possibly at Raedykes, Megray Hill or Kempstone Hill. The spelling "Graupius" comes from the Codex Aesinas, a mediaeval copy of Tacitus's Germania believed to be from the mid-9th century. "Graupius" was incorrectly rendered "Grampius" only in the 1476 printed edition of Tacitus's biography of Agricola. The name "Grampians" is believed to have first been applied to the mountain range in 1520 by the Scottish historian Hector Boece, an adaptation of the incorrect "Mons Grampius". Thus the range owes its name to this day to a typesetter's mistake. In the Middle Ages, this locale was known as the Mounths, a name still held by a number of geographical features.
Etymology.
Recorded first as "Graupius" in 83 A.D, the genesis of the name "Grampians" is uncertain. The name may be Brittonic and represent a corrupted form, "*Cripius", containing "*crip" meaning "ridge" (c.f. Welsh "crib").
Extent.
There is some ambiguity about the extent of the range. Fenton Wyness, writing about Deeside, puts the northern edge of the Grampians at the River Dee in the introduction to his 1968 book "Royal Valley : The Story Of The Aberdeenshire Dee":
This introduction appears to suggest that Wyness defines the Grampians as being the range of mountains running from immediately south of Aberdeen westward to Beinn Dearg in the Forest of Atholl. Similarly, Adam Watson, when defining the extent of the Cairngorms, specifically excluded the range south of the River Dee, writing:
Both Wyness and Watson appear to exclude the Cairngorms from the Grampians, regarding them as a separate range. In effect, Wyness' and Watson's definition of the Grampians is as a synonym for the Mounth. However Robert Gordon, writing in the 1650s, used the term Grampians to refer to hills on either side of the River Dee, and thus explicitly included the Cairngorms within the range.
Geology.
The mountains are composed of granite, gneiss, marble, schists and quartzite.
Sub-ranges.
The following ranges of hills and mountains fall within the generally recognised definition of the Grampians, i.e lying between the Highland and Great Glen fault lines:


Saarde Parish

Saarde is a municipality located in Pärnu County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia.
Settlements.
Kilingi-Nõmme
Tihemetsa
Allikukivi - Jäärja - Kalita - Kamali - Kanaküla - Kärsu - Laiksaare - Lanksaare - Leipste - Lodja - Marana - Marina - Metsaääre - Mustla - Oissaare - Pihke - Reinu - Ristiküla - Saarde - Sigaste - Surju - Tali - Tuuliku - Tõlla - Veelikse - Viisireiu - Väljaküla


West Wales

West Wales () is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of "Deheubarth" and was called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). Other definitions include Swansea and Neath Port Talbot but exclude Ceredigion. The "West Wales and the Valleys" NUTS area includes more westerly parts of North Wales.
The preserved county of Dyfed covers what is generally considered to be West Wales; between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was a county, with a county council and six district councils.
Historic use.
Historically, the term West Wales was applied to the Kingdom of Cornwall during the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain and the period of the Heptarchy. The Old English word "Wealas", a Germanic term for inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire, which the Anglo-Saxons came to apply especially to the Britons, gave its name to Wales and is also the origin of the second syllable in the name Cornwall.


Warwickshire

Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon. Other significant towns in the county include Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth and Kenilworth.
The county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon.
The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. The historic county boundaries include Coventry, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham.
Geography.
The county is bordered by Leicestershire to the northeast, Staffordshire to the northwest, Worcestershire and the West Midlands to the west, Northamptonshire to the east and southeast, Gloucestershire to the southwest and Oxfordshire to the south. The northern tip of the county is only from the Derbyshire border. An average-sized English county covering an area of almost , it runs some north to south.
The majority of Warwickshire's population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Coleshill, Nuneaton, and Rugby. Of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, but heavy industry is in decline, being replaced by distribution centres, light to medium industry and services. Of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby (as the birthplace of rugby football) are well known outside of Warwickshire. The prosperous towns of central and western Warwickshire including Royal Leamington Spa, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Kenilworth, Alcester, Southam and Wellesbourne harbour light to medium industries, services and tourism as major employment sectors.
The north of the county, bordering Staffordshire and Leicestershire, is mildly undulating countryside (rising to 178m / 581 ft near Hartshill) and the northernmost village, No Man's Heath, is only south of the Peak District National Park's southernmost point.
The south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a very small area of the Cotswolds, at the border with northeast Gloucestershire. The plain between the outlying Cotswolds and the Edgehill escarpment is known as the Vale of Red Horse. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour. The highest point in the county, at , is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, at the county's southwest extremity.
There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves. The largest towns (+20,000 pop.) in Warwickshire in 2011 were: Nuneaton (pop. 81,900), Rugby (70,600), Leamington Spa (49,500), Bedworth (32,500), Warwick (30,100), Stratford (25,500) and Kenilworth (22,400).
Arden and Felden.
Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation). Thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase "-in-Arden", such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden – from "fielden".
Historic boundaries.
Areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, and some of Birmingham including Erdington, Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the metropolitan county of West Midlands (and Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham) following local government re-organisation in 1974.
In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull became effective unitary authorities, however the West Midlands county name has not been altogether abolished, and still exists for ceremonial purposes, and so the town and two cities remain outside Warwickshire.
Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, still observe the historic county boundaries. The flag of the historic county was registered in October 2016. It is a design of a bear and ragged staff on a red field, which is long associated with the county.
Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as a single area and share a single Chamber of Commerce and BBC Local Radio Station (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire).
Coventry was administered separately from the rest of Warwickshire between 1451 and 1842. It formed the County of the City of Coventry, a county corporate from 1451. In 1842 the county corporate of Coventry was abolished and remerged with the rest of Warwickshire. In recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this. The county's population would increase by more than a third of a million overnight should this occur, Coventry being the UK's 11th largest city.
The town of Tamworth was historically divided between Warwickshire and Staffordshire, but since 1888 has been fully in Staffordshire.
In 1931, Warwickshire gained the town of Shipston-on-Stour from Worcestershire and several villages, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, from Gloucestershire.
Green belt.
Warwickshire contains a large expanse of green belt area, surrounding the West Midlands and Coventry conurbations, and was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of the belt.
Settlements.
The following towns and villages in Warwickshire rank in the top 20.
Main Warwickshire Settlements:
Smaller Settlements include:
History.
Warwickshire came into being as a division of the kingdom of Mercia in the early 11th century. The first reference to Warwickshire was in 1001, as "Wæringscīr" named after Warwick (meaning "dwellings by the weir").
During the Middle Ages Warwickshire was dominated by Coventry, which was at the time one of the most important cities in England due to its importance in the textiles trade. Warwickshire played a key part in the English Civil War, with the Battle of Edgehill and other skirmishes taking place in the county. During the Industrial Revolution Warwickshire became one of Britain's foremost industrial counties, with the large industrial cities of Birmingham and Coventry within its boundaries.
Economy.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Warwickshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by "Office for National Statistics" with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Footnotes:
The video game developing company Codemasters is based in Warwickshire.
Local government.
Like most English shire counties, Warwickshire has a two-tier structure of local government. with a county council, and five districts each with their own district or borough councils. These districts are: North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Stratford, and Warwick (see map). The county and district councils are responsible for providing different services.
Atherstone is the headquarters of the North Warwickshire district, Nuneaton is headquarters of the Nuneaton and Bedworth District and Leamington Spa is the headquarters of the Warwick district.
Warwickshire County Council, based in Warwick is elected every four years. The last election was held on 4 May 2017 and resulted in Conservative control. The county council operates a cabinet-style council. The county council is made of 62 councillors, who decide upon the budget and appoints the council leader. The council leader selects 2 to 9 councillors and together they form the cabinet. The Leader assigns portfolios on which cabinet members make decisions. Key decisions are made by the whole cabinet while others are made only by the portfolio holders for relevant areas.
In addition many small towns and villages have their own parish councils as the most local tier of local government.
Warwickshire is policed by the Warwickshire Police. The force is governed by the elected Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
Proposed local government reorganisation.
In August 2020 Warwickshire County Council put forward proposals for the five district and borough councils in the county to be abolished and replaced with a singe county-wide unitary authority. This prompted a backlash from the district and borough councils who commissioned their own report, which argued in favour of Warwickshire being split into two unitary authorities, one for the north of the county, covering the current districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rugby, and one for the south of the county, covering Warwick and Stratford districts. In September 2020, it was agreed that both proposals would be sent for consideration to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Education.
In the state sector, children start school in the school year in which they turn five. They stay at primary school for seven years (although this varies even within the county, as some people have previously gone for four years and then spent another four years at a 'middle school') until they are eleven. Warwickshire is one of the few local authorities in England to still maintain the grammar school system in two districts: Stratford-on-Avon and Rugby, although Southam claims to have a comprehensive school. In the final year of primary school, children are given the opportunity of sitting the 11-plus exam to compete for a place at one of the grammar schools, with two in Stratford and Rugby and one in Alcester; these are: Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls; King Edward VI School, a boys' school; Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School for Boys, in Rugby, as well as, Rugby High School for Girls and Alcester Grammar School (mixed). The exam is sat on three different days and consists of two verbal reasoning and mathematics papers and one extended writing paper. To maintain standards, there is a bank of papers that are used in rotation.
Warwickshire contains four colleges of further education; North Warwickshire & Hinckley College which has main colleges based in Nuneaton and the Leicestershire town of Hinckley with smaller colleges based around North Warwickshire, King Edward VI Sixth Form College (K.E.G.S) in Nuneaton, Stratford-upon-Avon College and Warwickshire College, an institution made up of six main separate colleges that have merged (Leamington Centre, Rugby Centre, Moreton Morrell Centre, Pershore College, Henley-in-Arden Centre and the Trident Centre in Warwick).
There are also six independent senior schools within the county, namely: Rugby School, Warwick School, Princethorpe College, Kingsley School, Arnold Lodge School (both in Leamington Spa), and the King's High School For Girls (in Warwick).
King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon still uses 13th century school buildings and is the likely school of William Shakespeare, Rugby School was founded in 1567 and Warwick School was founded c. 914 AD, which makes it the oldest surviving boys' school in the country. Rugby School is one of nine schools that were defined as the "great" English public schools by the Public Schools Act 1868, and is a member of the Rugby Group. Rugby School, Princethorpe College and Warwick School are HMC schools, with the Headmaster from each school attending the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
In 2011, Warwickshire members of the union NUT supported action by staff at Coventry's Tile Hill Wood School, in opposition to the government's programme of Academies.
There are no universities per se in Warwickshire, though the University of Warwick forms part of the border with Warwickshire on the southern edge of the city of Coventry. Some areas of the University of Warwick are within the boundaries of Warwickshire including Lakeside Village and Warwick Business School The university has a small campus near Wellesbourne which houses the Warwick Horticultural Research Centre and an Innovation Centre.
Transport.
Roads.
Several major motorways run through Warwickshire. These include:
Other major trunk routes in Warwickshire includes the A45 (Rugby-Coventry-Birmingham and east into Northamptonshire route). The A46 (connects the M40 to the M6 via Warwick, Kenilworth and Coventry), the A452 (Leamington to Birmingham route) and the A5 runs through Warwickshire passing Nuneaton between Tamworth and Hinckley. Also the A444 goes through Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Rail.
Two major railway lines pass through Warwickshire.
Other railway lines in Warwickshire include the Birmingham-Nuneaton section of the Birmingham to Peterborough Line, which continues east of Nuneaton towards Leicester and Peterborough. Nuneaton has direct services to Birmingham and Leicester on this line, and there are two intermediate stations at and Coleshill in the extreme north-west of the county.
There is also a branch line from Birmingham to . This line used to continue southwards to Cheltenham but is now a dead-end branch. There is an intermediate station on this line at and at several small villages. Stratford also has direct rail services to London via the branch line to Warwick (mentioned earlier).
Until 2018 the only major town in Warwickshire without a station was Kenilworth. The Leamington to Coventry line passes through the town, but the station was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts. Following several delays, a replacement station opened in April 2018, with an hourly service to Coventry and to Leamington provided by West Midlands Trains.
Honeybourne Line.
The Honeybourne Line is being reopened by the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway connecting Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway and Honeybourne on the Cotswold Line (which connects with Hereford, Worcester and Oxford, Reading and London Paddington). There is only a short gap to connect many places to Stratford upon Avon with Honeybourne by reopening the line into Warwickshire. There is a good business case to restore the Stratford-Cotswolds link line.
Air.
Coventry Airport is located in the Warwickshire village of Baginton.
Canals and waterways.
Canals in Warwickshire include:
The River Avon is navigable from just north of Stratford. In 1974, the Higher Avon Navigation Trust made a proposal to extend the navigation to Warwick and Leamington, where a junction with the Grand Union Canal would create a new cruising ring. Warwickshire County Council believed the scheme to be a catalyst for economic regeneration in the area, but after gauging public support in 2003, decided not to support the plans. The Stratford and Warwick Waterway Trust is still actively pursuing the proposals.
Sports teams.
Association football.
Warwickshire has no Football League clubs. As of the 2020–21 season the highest-placed team is Leamington, who play in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football. A level below in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central are Nuneaton Borough and Stratford Town. Other clubs include Rugby Town, Bedworth United, Southam United and Racing Club Warwick. All of these are affiliated to the Birmingham FA.
Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Coventry City are Football League clubs located within the historic boundaries of Warwickshire, along with National League club Solihull Moors and Southern League Division One Central club Sutton Coldfield Town.
Cricket.
Warwickshire County Cricket Club play at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham (historically part of Warwickshire). Notable English players for the side have been Eric Hollies, M.J.K. Smith, Bob Willis, Dennis Amiss, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes. Overseas players have included Alvin Kallicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Brian Lara, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. In 2014 the club partly severed its links to the county by renaming its Twenty20 side the Birmingham Bears, much to the chagrin of many supporters.
Other grounds in modern-day Warwickshire which have hosted first-class cricket matches are:
Gaelic sports.
The Warwickshire County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (or Warwickshire GAA) is one of the county boards outside Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic games in Warwickshire. The county board is also responsible for the Warwickshire inter-county teams. They play their home games at Páirc na hÉireann.
Polo.
The Dallas Burston Polo Club is a six-pitch polo club located near Southam.
Freedom of the county.
In March 2014 the freedom of the county was bestowed on the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The honour was officially bestowed following a parade through Warwick on 6 June 2014.
People.
Warwickshire is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon. Even today, road signs at the county boundary describe Warwickshire as "Shakespeare's County". The county has also produced other famous figures such as Aleister Crowley (from Royal Leamington Spa), George Eliot and Ken Loach (from Nuneaton), Rupert Brooke (from Rugby), and Michael Drayton (from Hartshill). The poet Philip Larkin lived in Warwick (born in nearby Coventry). Folk musician Nick Drake, who recorded for Island records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, lived and died in Tanworth-in-Arden. Frank Whittle the inventor of the jet engine was born in Coventry and was closely associated with Warwickshire, growing up in Leamington Spa, and carrying out much of his work at Rugby.


Corfu (regional unit)

Corfu () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Ionian Islands. The capital of the regional unit is the town of Corfu. The regional unit consists of the islands of Corfu, Paxoi, Othonoi, Ereikoussa, Mathraki and several smaller islands, all in the Ionian Sea.
Administration.
The regional unit Corfu is subdivided into 4 municipalities.
Prefecture.
As a part of the 2019 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Corfu was created out of the former prefecture Corfu (). The prefecture, created in 1864, had the same territory as the present regional unit.
Provinces.
The provinces were:


Counties of Romania

A total of 41 counties (), along with the municipality of Bucharest, constitute the official administrative divisions of Romania. They represent the country's NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – Level 3) statistical subdivisions within the European Union and each of them serves as the local level of government within its borders. Most counties are named after a major river, while some are named after notable cities within them, such as the county seat.
The earliest organization into "județe" of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (where they were termed "ținuturi") dates back to at least the late 14th century. For most of the time since modern Romania was formed in 1859, the administrative division system has been similar to that of the French departments. The system has been changed several times since then, and the number of counties has varied over time, from the 71 "județe" that existed before World War II to only 39 after 1968. The current format has largely been in place since 1968 as only small changes have been made since then, the last of which was in 1997.
According to a 2011 census data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average population of Romania's 41 counties is about 445,000, with Iași County as the most populous (772,000) and Covasna County (210,000) the least. The average county's land area is , with Timiș County () the largest and Ilfov County () the smallest. The municipality of Bucharest, which has the same administrative level as that of a county, is both more populous and much smaller than any county, with 1,883,425 people and .
History.
The earliest organization into "județe" (for Wallachia), and "ținuturi" (for Moldavia), dates back at least to the late 14th century. Inspired from the organization of the late Byzantine Empire, each "județ" was ruled by a "jude" (or "pârcălab" for a "ținut"), a person officially appointed with administrative and judicial functions. Transylvania was divided into royal counties headed by "comes" (royal counts) with administrative and judicial functions.
After modern Romania was formed in 1859 through the union of Wallachia and the rump of Moldavia, the administrative division was modernized using the French administrative system as a model, with "județ" as the basic administrative unit. Aside from the 1950–1968 period, this system has remained in place until today. Since 1864, for each "județ" there exists a "prefect", a subordinate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and representative of the government inside the county; he is also the head of local administration for areas not delegated to local authorities. Until 1948, each "județ" was further divided into several "plăși", each administered by a "pretor".
After the adoption of a new Constitution in 1923, the traditional local administrative systems of the newly acquired regions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia were made uniform in 1925 with that of the Romanian Old Kingdom. County borders were kept largely intact, with few adjustments, and the total number of counties was raised to 71; this lasted until the beginning of World War II.
In 1938, King Carol II modified the law on the administration of the Romanian territory according to the fascist model. Ten "ținuturi" (approx. translation "lands") were created, ruled by "Rezidenți Regali" (Royal Residents), appointed directly by the Monarch. The "ținuturi" represented another layer of administration between counties and the country, as the county borders were not erased.
Due to the territorial changes during World War II, this style of administration did not last, and the administration at the "județ" level was reintroduced after the war. Between 1941 and 1944, Romania administered the territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers known as Transnistria, which consisted of 13 separate counties.
After taking over the administration of the country in 1945, the Communist Party changed the administrative model to that of the Soviet Union (regions and raions) in 1950, but changed it back in 1968. Nevertheless, the county borders set then were quite different from those present during the interbellum, as only 39 counties were formed from the 56 remaining after the war.
In 1981, Giurgiu and Călărași were split from Ialomița and the former county of Ilfov, while in 1997, Ilfov County, which had been a dependency of the municipality of Bucharest for nearly two decades, was reinstated. The county borders set in 1968 are still largely in place today, but the functions of different authorities have changed due to administrative reforms in the 1990s.
At present, Romania is divided into 41 counties and one municipality (Bucharest); these are assigned as the NUTS-3 geocode statistical subdivision scheme of Romania within the European Union. Each of the counties is further divided into cities (some of which have municipality status) and communes. The "prefect" and his administration have executive prerogatives within the county limits, while limited legislative powers are assigned to a County Council elected every four years during local elections. The territorial districts of the Romanian judicial system overlap with county borders, thus avoiding further complication in the separation of powers on the government.


Province of Enna

Enna (; Sicilian: "Pruvincia di Enna"; officially "Libero consorzio comunale di Enna") is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free municipal consortium of Enna. Its capital is the city of Enna, located on a mountain and the highest provincial capital in Sicily. Located in the center of the island, it is the only landlocked province in Sicily.
The province of Enna has an area of , and a total population of 168,052 (2017). There are 20 comunes (Italian: "comuni") in the province , see Comunes of the Province of Enna. The main comunes by population are:
Events.
In Enna, for Good Friday, there is a procession, and on 2 July is held the Enna's Our Lady feast; Piazza Armerina, on 11, 12 and 13 August, is seat of the Palio dei Normanni, an ancient and traditional feast whose protagonists are the horses.


Karlovy Vary Region

The Karlovy Vary Region or Carlsbad Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the westernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Karlovy Vary. The region is world-famous for its spas, including Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně.
Administrative divisions.
The Karlovy Vary Region is divided into 3 districts:
At a lower level, the region has 134 municipalities, comprising 56 in the Karlovy Vary District, 40 in the Cheb District and 38 in the Sokolov District.
Population.
Karlovy Vary Region is the smallest region in the Czech Republic with a population of less than 300,000. Only 11 municipalities have higher population than 5,000. The largest municipality of the region is Karlovy Vary with a population of around 50,000. The table below shows the municipalities in Karlovy Vary Region with the largest population (as of 1 January 2019):
Other significant towns in Karlovy Vary Region are Nejdek, Kraslice, Františkovy Lázně and Horní Slavkov.
Economy.
Spas.
The region is well known for its spas and is responsible over half of the county's spa industry. Twelve spas can be found in the city of Karlovy Vary alone. Other famous spa towns in the region include Františkovy Lázně, Mariánské Lázně, Lázně Kynžvart and Jáchymov. The spas are visited not only by Czechs but by people from the rest of Europe, Russia, Israel and North America as well. Karlovy Vary spa wafers, a food item from the region, was awarded protected designation of origin (PDO) status by the European Commission in 2011.
The water from the region is used in locally produced beverages including "Mattoni" from Karlovy Vary and "Aquila" from the village of Kyselka.
Black Triangle.
The region is the home of two power stations, "Vřesová" and "Tisová", both in the Sokolov District. The region is also part of the so-called Black Triangle, an area of heavy industrialization and environmental damage on the three-way border of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Transport.
The Karlovy Region is served by Karlovy Vary Airport, which handled more than 100,000 passengers in 2012. The region is also home to two other airports, neither of which are used for passenger flights. These are Cheb Airport, the oldest airport in the country, and Mariánské Lázně Airport.
The region lacks any motorways. The unfinished R6 expressway passes through the region, linking Cheb and Karlovy Vary to Prague. The length of operated railway lines in the region is .
Education.
The Czech University of Life Sciences Prague opened a centre in the village of Dalovice in the Karlovy Vary District in 2007. The private College of Karlovy Vary is also located in the region, in addition to regional centres of the Banking Institute / College of Banking in Karlovy Vary and the University of West Bohemia in Cheb and Sokolov.


North Savo

Northern Savonia or, officially, North Savo (; ) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Southern Savonia (South Savo), Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the region and Lake Kallavesi is the largest lake in the region.
The region's traditional food is a fish and bacon filling pie called "Kalakukko".
Historical provinces.
"For history, geography and culture see: Savonia"
Municipalities.
Northern Savonia includes 19 municipalities, which five of them are cities and towns (marked bold).
Also, Northern Savonia includes five sub-regions: Kuopio sub-region, Inner Savonia, North Eastern Savonia, Upper Savonia, and Varkaus sub-region.
Politics.
Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Northern Savonia: