Border Region

The Border Region is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. The name of the region refers to its location along the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border. It is not a cross-border region, as it comprises the Irish counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo. The Border Region spans 11,516 km2, 16.4% of the total area of the state, and has a population of 392,837 persons, 8.28% of the state total. Its NUTS code is IE041.
Prior to 2014, the region was governed by the Border Regional Assembly. Statutory instrument No. 573/2014 abolished that assembly. Since that date, the association between Regional Assemblies and NUTS regions has ceased. The NUTS regions are used for statistical reporting to Eurostat, while the Regional Assemblies are responsible for planning at a local government level.
The region's largest town is Letterkenny, followed closely by Sligo.
Regional authority.
Former Regional Authority.
The Border Region was formerly administered by the Border Regional Authority, which consisted of 38 elected representatives including the region's representative on the EU Committee of the Regions. These representatives met once a month and were nominated from the six local government councils of the region:
The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.
Current Regional Authority.
Under Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2066, which took effect in 2018, County Louth was transferred to the Mid-East Region, reducing the number of Border Region counties from 6 to 5. Due to its position along the Dublin–Belfast corridor and strong economic ties with the Greater Dublin Area, Louth was removed from the Border Region despite sharing a border with Northern Ireland. These changes had a number of implications. County Louth represented 24.6% of the population of the Border region and was its 2nd most populous county after Donegal. In addition, the region's two largest towns, Dundalk and Drogheda, were lost, as was the region's connection to the Irish Sea. Louth was also the only Leinster county in the region. Drogheda, at just 48 km from Dublin, was the region's closest town to the capital. Following the change, Virginia, County Cavan, now holds that title, at 85 km away.
The local authorities in the border region are as follows:
Since the 2014 reforms, NUTS Level III regions have had no administrative role. The elected representatives of these councils instead convene at the Northern and Western Regional Assembly for planning and local government purposes.
Demographics.
Much like the rest of Ireland, the Border Region has a steadily increasing population, although it remains on average the slowest growing region in the country. The region's population growth is split along east–west lines, owing to the more easterly border counties' proximity to Dublin. Cavan is one of Ireland's fastest growing counties, having registered a 4% population increase between 2011 and 2016. In contrast, Donegal is Ireland's most rapidly declining county, having shrank 1.5% during that same period.
According to the 2016 census, the Border Region had a population of 392,837, which constitutes 8.28% of the national population. Its population density was 34.1 persons per km, the second lowest in the country. Donegal is by far the largest county in the Border Region by both area and population.
The Border Region contains a number of nationally significant Gaeltacht areas, such as Gweedore, Na Rosa and Tory Island. The dialect generally spoken in the border region is Ulster Irish, while Donegal has its own distinct sub-dialect known as West Ulster Irish, colloquially referred to as "Donegal Irish". 25% of Ireland's Gaeltacht population lives within Donegal. Despite this, the Border Region has the lowest percentage of Irish speakers of any region. The percentage of Irish speakers by county is: Leitrim (40%), Sligo (39.9%), Monghan (37.6%) Donegal (37.1%) and Cavan (34.6%).
The region only contains 17 towns with a population of over 2,000 people. 7 of these are located in Donegal, 5 in Cavan, 3 in Monaghan and 1 in both Sligo and Leitrim respectively.
Major settlements.
A list of the ten largest settlements in the Border Region.
County capitals are included and are shown in bold.
Economy.
According to Eurostat figures for 2016, the region had GDP of €11.399 bn and a GDP per capita of €21,885, the lowest per capita GDP in the country. This 2016 data included County Louth, the CSO has yet to publish 2018 data for the new boundary. The Irish Financial Crisis of 2008 had a devastating impact on the Border Region. In 2007, regional GDP per capita was €30,697, by 2014 it had fallen to €19,957. While economic activity is growing steadily, it still remains well below peak levels.
Services, agriculture, manufacturing, fishing and tourism are all important industries in the region. According to 2016 CSO data on Gross value added by region, Services account for 64.1% of the regional economy, followed by Manufacturing and Construction at 32.8% and Agriculture at 3%. Tourism to the Border Region, while continuing to grow in significance, is hindered by poor infrastructure.
The region is largely rural, characterized by typically much smaller farms than seen in the Mid-East or Mid-West. Agriculture in the region produces €396.2 million per year; however, government subsidies account for 68.1% of this income. Approximately 65% of all commercial fish landings in Ireland take place in Donegal.
A study by the European Committee of the Regions found that Ireland's border counties were the most exposed in Europe to the economic effects of Brexit. Cross-border trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic is centered around the Border Region, and some 33% of Border Region exports go to the UK, well above the state total of 18%.
In Q2 2017, regional unemployment was registered at 6.6%, slightly above the national rate of 6.4%. The labour force (over 15 years of age) was estimated to be in excess of 210,000 persons.
Geography.
Physical Geography & Climate.
The region encompasses the entire northwest coast of Ireland along the Atlantic Ocean. Two of Ireland's longest rivers, the Shannon and the Erne, have their source in the region. The Shannon rises from the famed Shannon Pot in County Cavan and the Erne rises from Slieve Glah, also in County Cavan. The two rivers have been connected to form one of the world's longest waterways - the Shannon–Erne Waterway. Cavan and Monaghan in the east of the region are characterized by a drumlin landscape, with hundreds of loughs interspersed between. Lough Allen in Leitrim is the region's largest lake, at 35 km2.
The west of the region, from Tullyhaw, County Cavan, to the Atlantic coast is largely rocky and mountainous, with dramatic coastal cliff landscapes as well as pure sand beaches seen in counties Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim. Leitrim has the smallest coastline of any county, at just 5 km in length, while Donegal has the longest, at 1,134 km.
According to the 2017 National Forestry Inventory, there is a total of 130,345 hectares (322,090 acres) of forest and woodland cover in the Border Region, equating to 11.3% of the region's land area. This is in keeping with the national average forest cover of 11%. The region traditionally had a very low cover forest and planting schemes were undertaken by the Department of Agriculture or state-sponsored bodies such as Coillte. Forest cover in the region has increased rapidly in recent years, primarily driven by the emergence of Privately owned forests. This is especially evident in County Leitrim, which is now Ireland's most forested county at 18.9% forest cover, having overtaken County Wicklow, and up from just 12.9% in 2006. Unlike neighboring Donegal, where two-thirds of the county's forests are state-owned, over 50% of Leitrim's forests are under private ownership.
Under Köppen climate classification, the region experiences a maritime temperate oceanic climate with cold winters, mild humid summers, and a lack of temperature extremes. Met Éireann has several monitoring stations across the region which record climate data. Summer daytime temperatures range between and , with temperatures rarely going beyond . While the region generally experiences mild winters, upland areas, particularly in Donegal, typically receive snowfall each year. Humidity is high year round and rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, with annual precipitation ranging from ∼1,250 mm (Markree Castle, Sligo) to ∼1,000 mm (Ballyhaise, Cavan).
Geology.
There are many large mountain ranges and high sea cliffs in the region, such as the Derryveagh Mountains, Slieve League, the Cuilcagh Mountains and Ben Bulben. The region is generally underlain by Ordovician and Silurian Shales and Greywackes, laid down 417-495 million years ago. These are found in eastern Cavan and Monaghan. The bedrock of western Cavan, Leitrim and Sligo is composed mostly of Carboniferous limestones that were laid roughly 355 million years ago. However, a 1.5 billion year old narrow strip of metamorphosed gneisses extend across Sligo near the Ox Mountains.
County Donegal in Ulster has one of the most complex geologies in Ireland. Much of the county is underlain by Precambrian gneiss, schist and quartzite, laid down during the Grenvillian Orogeny 700 million years ago. The Border Region's highest point, Errigal, at 751 m (2,464 ft), is composed of Precambrian quartzite. Ireland's oldest rocks, laid down 1.78 billion years ago, are found on the island of Inishtrahull. Inishtrahull is Ireland's most northerly island, located approximately 10 km north of Malin Head, mainland Ireland's most northerly point. Lough Swilly in Donegal is one of Ireland's three fjords. Owing to its scenic and rugged landscape, Donegal was named National Geographic's "Coolest place on the Planet" in 2017.
Transport.
Air.
The Border Region contains one commercially operating airport, Donegal Airport in Carrickfinn, which services 45,000 passengers annually. Just outside the region is City of Derry Airport, located in Eglinton in County Londonderry, which is used by many people living in East Donegal and Inishowen, and Ireland West Airport Knock, located in County Mayo, very near to Counties Sligo and Leitrim. In addition, Sligo Airport is a small regional airport, but operates no regularly scheduled flights. The Irish Defence Forces utilise a military landing strip at Finner Camp in South Donegal.
Rail.
In terms of both road and rail, the Border Region is the most poorly serviced region in the country. Iarnród Éireann operate a Dublin–Sligo railway line which also serves Carrick-on-Shannon. The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway was the main rail line operating in part of the region, before shutting down in 1957. The Donegal Railway Company, and after that the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee, managed the extensive rail networks that were built throughout Donegal in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since its closure in 1960, Donegal has had no operational railways. Similarly, Monaghan is the only other county in the Republic of Ireland with no existing commercial or freight railway lines. The nearest fully operational railway station to County Donegal is Waterside Station in Derry, operated by Northern Ireland Railways (N.I.R.).
Road.
The Border Region is the only region in the Republic of Ireland with no access to the national motorway network. Former Border Region county Louth had the M1, which runs from Dublin to Dundalk. Transport links with Cavan have been improved substantially with the construction of the M3, however it only goes as far as Kells in County Meath, before reverting into the N3 dual carriageway.
The region is served by the following national primary roads:


Province of Pavia

The province of Pavia () is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205.
History.
The city Pavia was initially settled by the Ligures and was later occupied by Gaulish tribes; it was conquered by the Romans in 220 BCE. Named "Ticinum" by the Romans, the town was reinforced and became a key part of their defenses in northern Italy; despite this, the town was sacked by Attila, the ruler of the Hunnic Empire, in 452 CE, and then again by Odoacer in 476 CE. In the sixth century it was the capital of German tribe the Lombards and survived an attempted Frankish invasion. However, following the death of Charlemagne, the Lombard territory became part of Frankish territory.
In the 12th century, it became a commune after Frankish rule ceased, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor fortified areas of the commune and he was crowned in Pavia in 1155. The University of Pavia was founded in 1361. Starting from 1359, Pavia and its neighbourhood were owned by the Visconti and then the Sforza of Milan, until, in 1499, the Duchy of Milan became a Spanish possession. It was the scene of a Franco-Imperial battle in 1525, in which Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor defeated Francis I of France. In 1707 and again 1774, parts of the so-called "principality of Pavia", a province of the Duchy under the Spaniards, were sold to Piedmont; these changes were restored after the collapse of the French Empire in 1814.
Geography.
The Province of Pavia is in the region of Lombardy in northwestern Italy. It is bounded to the north by the provinces of Milan and the Lodi, to the southeast by the Province of Piacenza (Emilia-Romagna), and to the southwest it is bounded by the Province of Alessandria (Piedmont). The province is crossed by the rivers Ticino and Po, which meet four kilometres south of the capital, Pavia. The province contains 190 communes and the River Po is navigable up to its confluence with the Ticino. There are three regions of the province, the Pavese, which is entirely in the Po Valley, the Lomellina, which is also completely in the Po Valley but between the Ticino and the Po, and Oltrepò, to the south of the Po and which includes Monte Lesima (1,724 m (5,656 ft)), a mountain in the Apennine Mountains which is the highest point in the province. The territory of Siccomario, at the confluence of the two great rivers, should properly be included in Lomellina, but for historical reasons it is considered part of Pavese. Another large river flowing through the province is the Olona.
The province is mostly flat with the northwestern part of the province being good agricultural land. The southern part rises to low hills which give way to the Ligurian Apennines. The town of Pavia has a major position in northern Italy's textile industry and is renowned for hatmaking. It also plays its part in the country's engineering and metallurgical industries. This is an important winemaking district and produces sparkling wines. It is the largest area in Italy for the production of Pinot noir.
Municipalities.
The list below shows the most populated municipalities of the province in 2010:


Walloon name

Since Belgium has three national languages — Dutch, French and German — Belgian names are similar to those in the neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Place names (regions, towns, villages, hamlets) with a particle meaning "from" ("de" in French, "del" in Walloon, or "van" in Dutch) are the most numerous. An uncapitalised particle sometimes indicates nobility.
Here is for example the chronological list of Ministers-President of the Walloon Region :
For French family names among the Walloons and other francophones of Belgium, see French name.
The twenty most common French surnames in Belgium are respectively "Dubois", "Lambert", "Dupont", "Martin", "Dumont", "Leroy", "Leclercq", "Simon", "Laurent", "François", "Denis", "Renard", "Thomas", "Lejeune", "Gérard", "Petit", "Mathieu", "Lemaire", "Charlier", and "Bertrand". Sources
Some surnames have an unclear origin, like "Berger", meaning "shepherd" in French, and "mountaineer" in Dutch and German. The particle "De" also means "From" or "From the" in French and means "The" in Dutch, which does not help finding the origin.
Flemish surnames are also common, due to Flemish economic immigration from 1850 to 1950. See Flanders name.
There are also a lot of typical Walloon surnames, like Monami (fr: "Mon ami", en: "My friend"), Dehasse (fr: "de Hasselt", en: "from Hasselt"), (fr: "de la Croix", en: "from the Cross"), Delhaize or Donnay (some famous tennis equipment in the 1980s).
Even crossed etymologies can be found like "Deflandre" (meaning in French "from Flanders") or Dehasse (fr: "de Hasselt", en: "from Hasselt", in Flemish Region).


Canton of Uri

The canton of Uri ( ) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss between the St. Gotthard Pass and Lake Lucerne.
The official language of Uri is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken dialect is the Alemannic Swiss German called .
Uri was once the only canton where the children in school had to learn Italian as their first foreign language, but in the school year of 2005/2006 this was changed to English, as in other Central and Northeastern Swiss cantons. The population is about 35,000 of which 3,046 (or 8.7%) are foreigners.
The legendary William Tell is said to have hailed from Uri. The historical landmark Rütli lies within the canton of Uri.
Name.
The name of the valley is first mentioned in the 8th or 9th century, in the Latinized form of "Uronia".
In the medieval period, the name referred not to the entire Reuss valley but just to Altdorf and the surrounding settlements and estates. The extension of the name to a larger territory is the result of the territorial expansion of the canton in the 15th century. However, usage of "Uri" as referring to Altdorf remained current.
From the 13th century onward, the German form of the name is recorded as "Ure(n)". The modern form "Uri" dates to the 16th century.
The name has been derived from either Latin "ora" "brim, edge, margin" (reflected as Rumantsch "ur"), or from a pre-Roman hydronym containing the PIE root "u̯er" "water", in either case extended by a suffix in "-n-". Both etymologies would refer to the Reuss and/or the shore of Lake Lucerne. The "-n-" suffix was reduced to an ending in "-n" in Middle High German, and the ending "-n" in the German toponym was lost only in early modern German (remaining visible in the demonym "Urner").
There is a long-standing popular etymology associating the name with "ûr", the German name of the aurochs. This tradition may date as far back as the Middle High German period, reflected in the introduction of the cantonal seal showing a bull's head in the 13th century. Beginning in the 17th century, the bull of Uri ("Uristier") came to be associated with the name of the Taurisci in learned speculation.
History.
Early history.
There are traces of settlement dating to the Bronze and Iron Age, with suggestions of trans-alpine trade with Quinto in Ticino and the alpine Rhine valley.
During the Roman era, Uri remained mostly isolated from the Roman Empire. An analysis of the place names along the shores of Lake Lucerne show a Gallo-Roman influence, while in the mountain valleys Raetian names are more common. When the Roman Empire withdrew from the Alps, the lake side villages looked north to the towns along the lake for support, while the alpine villages in the valley called Urseren banded together.
Alemannic settlement begins in the 7th century. Uri is first mentioned in 732 as the place of banishment of Eto, the abbot of Reichenau, by the duke of Alamannia.
In 853, Uri is granted to the Fraumünster abbey in Zürich by Louis the German.
Parts of the Urseren were settled by Disentis Abbey and were part of the Diocese of Chur. By the 10th century, there were settlements of Romansh speakers from Disentis in the high valleys.
Uri briefly passed under Habsburg rule in 1218, with the extinction of the Zähringer.
The Gotthard Pass was opened in 1230, and Uri was granted imperial immediacy by Henry VII in the following year. Trade across the Gotthard brought ever increasing wealth to Uri, and the towns and villages along the Gotthard route became increasing independent. As early as 1243 Uri had a district seal, and in 1274, Rudolph of Habsburg, who was now the Holy Roman Emperor, confirmed its privileges.
Meanwhile, Urseren passed from Rapperswil to the Habsburgs in 1283.
Since at least the 10th century, the people of Uri signed treaties as a collective, as "nos inhabitantes Uroniam" (955) or
"homines universi vallis Uranie" (1273). By 1243, they used a seal with a bull's head.
Old Swiss Confederacy.
A treaty of mutual recognition and assistance with Schwyz, possibly concluded in 1291 and certainly by 1309, would come to be regarded as the foundational act of the Old Swiss Confederacy or . The Battle of Morgarten in 1315, while of limited strategic importance, was the first instance of the Confederates defeating the Habsburgs in the field.
A few months after the victory at Morgarten, the three Forest Cantons met at Brunnen to reaffirm their alliance in the Pact of Brunnen. Over the following decades, the Confederacy expanded into the , now representing a regional power with the potential to challenge Habsburg hegemony. The Confederacy decisively defeated Habsburg in the Battle of Sempach 1386, opening the way to further territorial expansion.
Following the victory at Sempach, Uri began a program of territorial expansion to allow them to control the entire Gotthard route. As a first step, Uri annexed the Urseren valley in 1410, although the community of Urseren was allowed to retain its own assembly and courts.
In 1403, Uri began to acquire its transmontane bailiwicks, with the help of Obwalden taking the Leventina valley from the duke of Milan. The conflict between the Swiss Confederacy and the Duchy of Milan for territories now forming canton of Ticino continued throughout the 15th century. The conflict was decided in 1500, when the Confederates captured Bellinzona, heavily fortifying it against future conquests. The Confederates also acquired Lugano in 1512, but the period of territorial expansion came to its end in 1515 with the Confederate defeat at Marignano.
Uri, along with Central Switzerland as a whole, resisted the Swiss Reformation and remained staunchly Roman Catholic. As the Reformation spread through the Swiss Confederation, the five central, catholic cantons felt increasingly isolated and they began to search for allies. After two months of negotiations, the Five Cantons formed (the Christian Alliance) with Ferdinand of Austria on 22 April 1529. After the Battle at Kappel of 1531, in which was killed, the Confederacy was on the point of fracturing along confessional lines. The peace treaty after the Kappel war established that each canton would choose which religion to follow, but peace between Catholic and Protestant cantons remained brittle throughout the early modern period.
Growth of Uri stagnated in the early modern period, due to the limited availability of arable land, as well as disease and crop failures. Plague broke out in the canton in 1348–49, 1517–18, 1574–75 and 1629. In 1742–43 and again 1770–71, crop failures combined with cattle diseases led to starvation and mass emigration. The consequences for the population were severe, in 1743 Uri had 9,828 inhabitants, but by the end of the 18th Century there were only 9,464 people.
Modern history.
The government of Uri spoke out against the ideals of the French Revolution and opposed any attempt to institute changes in Switzerland. In January 1798, French revolutionary forces invaded Switzerland. On 11 April the victorious French announced the creation of the Helvetic Republic and gave the cantons twelve days to accept the new constitution. The cantons of Central Switzerland attempted to resist, but the uprising was suppressed and on 5 May Uri agreed to accept the Helvetic Republic. The cantonal army was disarmed in September and the canton was occupied by French troops in October. Under the Helvetic Republic, Uri was part of the Canton of Waldstätten, along with Zug, Obwalden, Nidwalden and the inner portions of Schwyz. The Leventina valley was given to the newly formed Canton of Ticino, stripping Uri of all possessions south of the Gotthard. In April and May 1799, Franz Vincenz Schmid led an unsuccessful uprising against the occupying French army.
From June until the end of September 1799, troops of the Second Coalition fought the French in Uri.
With the defeat of the Russian general Alexander Korsakov at the Second Battle of Zürich, the only other Coalition army, under Alexander Suvorov, was forced to retreat out of Switzerland through the alps in winter. The damage from fighting, Suvorov's retreat and other disasters (including a fire that destroyed much of Altdorf in 1799) caused a famine in Uri. Although the government commissioner, Heinrich Zschokke, organized a relief effort to prevent starvation, it took years for Uri to repair the damage to the villages and towns. In October 1801, a new government came to power in the Helvetic Republic and in early November the Canton of Waldstätten was dissolved and Uri became a canton again. The governor, Josef Anton von Beroldingen, attempted unsuccessfully to bring the Leventina valley back into Uri. Half a year later, on 17 April 1802, the Unitarian party took power back in the Republic and revised the constitution once again. In early June, Uri rejected the newest constitution while at the same time French troops withdrew from Switzerland. Without the French army to suppress them, Uri and other rural populations successfully rebelled against the government in the Stecklikrieg. In response to the collapse of the Helvetic Republic, Napoleon issued the Act of Mediation in 1803. As part of the Act of Mediation, Uri regained its independence and all attempts towards religious or constitutional reform were resisted. After the invasion of the Sixth Coalition into Switzerland on 29 December 1813, the Act of Mediation lost its power. While the neighbouring cantons of Schwyz and Nidwalden wanted to return to the organization of the Old Swiss Confederation, Uri was part of the Zürich-led party, which sought to reorganize the 19 cantons created by the Act. Uri also attempted, unsuccessful, to reincorporate the Leventina valley, but was only able to receive the rights to one-half of the taxes on all trade over Monte Piottino into the Leventina. On 5 May 1815 the "Landsgemeinde" approved the federal constitution. Uri then mediated between the Tagsatzung and Nidwalden, which had refused to recognize the treaty.
Uri remained without an official constitution until 1820. The document included only six principles that were based on traditional practice and existing state laws. The government remained deeply conservative during the Restoration period. Discontent with the cantonal government collected until 1834 when a reform party demanded a number of liberal constitutional changes. The "Landsgemeinde", however, rejected these calls for reform. In the 1840s, urban, Protestant liberals gained the majority in the Tagsatzung and proposed a new constitution. To protect their traditional religion and power structure, the seven conservative, catholic cantons formed a separate alliance or "Sonderbund" in 1843. In 1847, the Sonderbund broke with the Federal Government and the Sonderbund War broke out. During the conflict, Uri sent troops to participate in the fighting along the Reuss-Emme defensive line as well as on the foray over the Gotthard into Ticino. After the defeat of the Sonderbund troops in Gisikon on 23 November 1847 Uri withdrew from the alliance and surrendered on 28 November 1847. Two days later federal troops moved into Uri.
After the defeat of the Sonderbund, Uri supported the new Swiss Federal Constitution. They established a cantonal constitution that included some liberal changes including; the abolition of lifetime alderman positions, eliminating the privy council and secret council meetings and the establishment of a provisional executive council. The "Landsgemeinde" was the supreme sovereign power. The Catholic Church continued to enjoy privileges, but freedom of worship was now available for other faiths.
The new Federal Constitution of 1874, which was rejected by the voters of Uri, led to a total revision of the cantonal constitution in 1888. The new constitution streamlined the government and addressed many of the issues of the 1848 cantonal constitution. The "Landsgemeinde" continued to meet on a local level until the last one was held in Bötzlingen in the municipality of Schattdorf on 6 May 1928.
The Christian Democratic Party (CVP) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) have dominated politics in Uri during the 20th century.
Geography.
The canton is located in the centre of the country on the north side of the Swiss Alps. The lands of the canton are that of the Reuss valley and those of the main river's tributaries. Uri has an area, , of . Of this area, 24.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 55.6% is unproductive land.
The highest elevation in the canton, and in the Urner Alps as a whole, is the Dammastock, at , north of the Furka Pass. The Glarus and Lepontine Alps ranges are also partially situated in the canton of Uri.
Administrative divisions.
Uri today comprises 19 self-administered territories: the cantonal capital is Altdorf.
The municipalities of the canton of Uri are: Altdorf, Andermatt, Attinghausen, Bürglen, Erstfeld, Flüelen, Göschenen, Gurtnellen, Hospental, Isenthal, Realp, Schattdorf, Seedorf, Seelisberg, Silenen, Sisikon, Spiringen, Unterschächen, Wassen
On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Bauen merged into the municipality of Seedorf.
Flag and coat of arms.
The blazon of the coat of arms is "Or, a bull's head caboshed sable, langued and noseringed gules."
The use of the bull's head as heraldic charge may be due to a popular etymology associating the canton's name with the name of the aurochs. It is certain that such an association was made in the early modern period; the introduction of the bull as heraldic animal dates to the 13th century. Uri used a seal with a bull's head, seen from the side, by 1243.
By the 14th century, Uri was using a banner showing a black bull's head in a yellow field.
In the town-hall of Altfdorf, six cantonal banners dating to the Old Swiss Confederacy are preserved, reportedly dating from the battles of Morgarten (1315) and Sempach (1386), the Old Zürich War (1443), the Burgundian Wars (1476) and the Swabian War (1499), and the Juliusbanner (1512).
Demographics.
Uri has a population () of . , 9.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of −0.4%. Migration accounted for −1.2%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (32,518 or 93.5%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (677 or 1.9%) and Italian is the third (462 or 1.3%). There are 67 people who speak French and 51 people who speak Romansh.
Of the population in the canton, 16,481 or about 47.4% were born in Uri and lived there in 2000. There were 9,118 or 26.2% who were born in the same canton, while 5,426 or 15.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,019 or 8.7% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.4%. , there were 15,029 people who were single and never married in the canton. There were 16,839 married individuals, 2,040 widows or widowers and 869 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 13,430 private households in the canton, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 3,871 households that consist of only one person and 1,382 households with five or more people. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the canton, , was 0.77%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Religion.
From the , 29,846 or 85.8% were Roman Catholic, while 1,809 or 5.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 525 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.51% of the population), there were 22 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 565 individuals (or about 1.62% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.02% of the population) who were Jewish, and 683 (or about 1.96% of the population) who were Muslims. There were 44 individuals who were Buddhist, 46 individuals who were Hindu and 22 individuals who belonged to another church. 818 (or about 2.35% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 655 individuals (or about 1.88% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education.
In Uri about 11,949 or (34.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 2,794 or (8.0%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 2,794 who completed tertiary schooling, 74.2% were Swiss men, 16.9% were Swiss women, 5.7% were non-Swiss men and 3.3% were non-Swiss women.
Economy.
The cultivated fields of the canton are located in the valley of the Reuss. There are pastures on the lower mountain slopes. Since most of the terrain is extremely hilly, it is not suitable for cultivation. Hydroelectric power generation is of great importance. Forestry is one of the most important sectors of agriculture. At Altdorf there are cable and rubber factories.
Tourism is an important source of income in the canton of Uri. An excellent network of roads facilitates tourism in remote areas in the mountains.
, Uri had an unemployment rate of 1.4%. , there were 1,764 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 703 businesses involved in this sector. 5,388 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 324 businesses in this sector. 9,431 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,113 businesses in this sector.
 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 13,383. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 958, of which 891 were in agriculture, 65 were in forestry or lumber production and 1 was in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 5,078 of which 2,948 or (58.1%) were in manufacturing, 71 or (1.4%) were in mining and 1,696 (33.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 7,347. In the tertiary sector; 1,384 or 18.8% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 819 or 11.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 1,126 or 15.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 103 or 1.4% were in the information industry, 264 or 3.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 445 or 6.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 505 or 6.9% were in education and 1,505 or 20.5% were in health care.
Of the working population, 12.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 48.5% used a private car.
Tourism.
There are 39 cable cars in the valley which provide access to numerous peaks, hiking and bike trails as well as ski slopes and cross-country tracks.
Tourism is a major industry in the Canton of Uri. In , there were 91 hotels in the canton with a total of 1,368 rooms. During the same year 145,600 guests stayed in those hotels and 67.1% were from outside Switzerland.
The Canton of Uri is named as erstwhile home of "Heinz the Baron Claus Von Espy" in American 2003 movie, "Intolerable Cruelty", produced by the Coen Brothers.
Politics.
Federal election.
In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP/UDC which received 44.1% of the vote. The next most popular parties were the CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD with 26.8% and the GPS/PES with 26.3%.
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 74.3% of the vote. The next most popular party was the SP/PS (21.5%). The remainder of the vote (4.3%) was split between other local parties.
The FDP lost about 13.0% of the vote when compared to the 2007 Federal election (87.3% in 2007 vs 74.3% in 2011). The SP/PS moved from below fourth place in 2007 to second.
Cantonal election.
In the last election, on 8 March 2020, saw the centre maintain its dominance of the Landsrat. The Christian Democrats (CVP) gained three seats and remained the largest party with 25 seats. The Swiss People's Party lost two seats to remain the third strongest party, while the FDP.The Liberals who had lost two seats remained second with 16. The coalition of the Social Democratic and the Green retained its 9 seats and remained the smallest fraction in the Landrat.
The evolving party membership in the Landrat is shown in the following chart (for selected dates):


Province of Macerata

The province of Macerata () is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Macerata. The province includes 55 comunes (Italian: "comuni") in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Macerata. Located between the rivers Potenza ("Flosis") and Chienti, both of which originate in the province, the city of Macerata is located on a hill.
The province contains, among the numerous historical sites, the Roman settlement of Helvia Recina, destroyed by orders of Alaric I, King of the Visigoths, in 408. The province was part of the Papal States from 1445 (with an interruption during the French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars), until the unification of Italy in 1860. The University of Macerata was formed in the province in 1260 and was known as the University of the Piceno from 1540, when Pope Paul III issued a bull naming it this. The town of Camerino, home to another historical university, is also located in the region.
Cingoli was founded in the province as Cingulum, also known as "The Balcony of the Marche" due to its views of the surroundings. Tolentino was founded by the Romans as Tolentinum, while Recanati is widely known as the birthplace of poet Giacomo Leopardi. Massimo Girotti, an actor, was born in Mogliano in the province of Macerata.
 of the province is agricultural land, and is urbanised. The two largest "comuni" are Macerata and Civitanova Marche, both with c. 40,000 inhabitants.


Anthems of the autonomous communities of Spain

Several of the 17 autonomous communities of the Kingdom of Spain, plus the 2 autonomous cities, have their own anthems, ranging from quasi-national anthems of the historical nationalities to regional anthems and songs, with some virtually unknown even in their own communities. Below is a list of those songs.


Sud-Est (development region)

Sud-Est (English "South East") is a development region in Romania. As with other development regions, it does not have any administrative powers, its main function being to co-ordinate regional development projects and manage funds from the European Union.
Counties.
The region covers the Southeast part of the country, and it includes the old historical regions of Dobrudja, southern Moldavia, and northeastern Muntenia. The Sud-Est region is made up of the following counties:


List of municipal flags of the Netherlands

This is a list of flags of municipalities of the Netherlands. The flags are listed per province.
Limburg.
<gallery>
Flag of Beek (Limburg).svg|
Beekdaelen_gemeentevlag.svg|


Athens Prefecture

The Athens Prefecture () was one of the prefectures of Greece. It was part of the Attica region and the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture. The capital of the prefecture was the city of Athens. After Lefkada Prefecture it was the second-smallest in Greece, but was the most populous and most densely populated. It covered the central part of the agglomeration of Athens. Its extremities lied in the municipalities or communities of Chaidari in the west, Ekali in the north, Penteli in the east, and Glyfada in the south. It bordered East Attica Prefecture to the northeast, east, and southeast, West Attica Prefecture to the northwest, and Piraeus Prefecture and the Saronic Gulf to the west.
Regional units.
In 2011 the prefecture was abolished and the territory is now covered by:


Saue Parish

Saue Parish (Estonian: "Saue vald") is a rural municipality in Harju County, north-western Estonia.
The administrative centre of Saue Parish is Saue. It is situated in the suburban area of Estonia's capital, Tallinn.
After the administrative reform of Estonia in 2017, the historical Saue Parish was merged into new Saue Parish (together with Saue, Kernu and Nissi), retaining its name.
History.
Established in 1918, new-established in 2017.
Local government.
Current chairman of the council (Estonian: "volikogu esimees") is Harry Pajundi.
Current mayor (Estonian: "vallavanem") is Andres Laisk.
Geography.
Populated places.
There are 3 small borough (est: "alevik") and several villages (est: "külad", sg. "küla") in Saue Parish.
Small boroughs: Laagri - Riisipere - Turba
Villages: Ääsmäe - Aila - Allika - Alliku - Aude - Ellamaa - Haiba - Hüüru - Hingu - Jaanika - Jõgisoo - Kaasiku - Kabila - Kernu - Kibuna - Kiia - Kirikla - Kivitammi - Kohatu - Koidu - Koppelmaa - Kustja - Laitse - Lehetu - Lepaste - Madila - Maidla - Metsanurga - Mõnuste - Munalaskme - Mustu - Muusika - Nurme - Odulemma - Pällu - Pärinurme - Pohla - Püha - Ruila - Siimika - Tabara - Tagametsa - Tuula - Ürjaste - Valingu - Vanamõisa - Vansi - Vatsla - Vilumäe - Viruküla


Armorial of the Netherlands

The coats of arms of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands are shown here.


Kainuu

Kainuu () is one of the 19 regions of Finland ("maakunta" / "landskap"). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic of Karelia).
Boreal forest makes up most of the biome in Kainuu. The forest in Kainuu mostly consists of birches, pines and spruces. The atypical regional geography and landscape consist of lakes, hills and vast uninhabited forest areas.
The largest lake in the region is the Oulujärvi (928.09 km²), one of the largest lakes in Finland. Its shorelines, open waters and islands in Kainuu belong to the municipalities of Vaala, Paltamo and Kajaani.
The highest point in Kainuu is the Iso Tuomivaara (385 m), located in the municipality of Hyrynsalmi. The regional climate is continental. The three most populous urban areas in Kainuu (December 31, 2017) are Kajaani town center (30,028), Vuokatti village (6,207) in Sotkamo municipality, and Kuhmo town center (5,349).
Culturally Kainuu is part of larger Eastern-Finnish cultural heritage. The dialect of Kainuu resembles Savonian and Karelian dialects.
Municipalities.
The region of Kainuu is made up of eight municipalities, of which two have city status (marked in bold).
Kajaani sub-region:
Kehys-Kainuu sub-region:
Changes in the region's municipalities.
The administrative capital of Kainuu is Kajaani.
Vaala, formerly one of the nine municipal members of the Kainuu region became part of the Northern Ostrobothnia in the beginning of the year 2016.
"The municipality of Vaala is still counted as part of the region in the end of 2015."
Economy.
In 2012 Kainuu region had a total of 29 722 jobs. The largest sector in the employment market of Kainuu is the service sector with (21 915) 73,7 % share of the regions entire employed workforce. The industrial and construction sector follow as the 2nd largest actor with (5 243) 17,6 % of the employed working under these fields. Third largest sector is the forest industry and agriculture with a (2 228) 7,5 % workforce. The smallest uncounted factor in these statistics are the miscellaneous jobs that don't fit easily under any of three general terms mentioned above. The miscellaneous jobs form 336 1,2 % of the region's workforce.
The total unemployment of Kainuu was in 2014 6 001 which is 16,9 % of the workforce of the area. The nationwide average at the time was 12,4 %. The worst unemployment was in the town of Kuhmo with (771) 19,6 % people unemployed. The town with the least amount of unemployment was the municipality of Sotkamo with (684) 14,1 % people unemployed. Kainuu has a total of 4301 firms by each sector in its economy. Three of the largest sectors are Agriculture, forestry and fishing, wholesale and retail trade and construction. The smallest three are education, mining & quarrying and information & communication.
State, municipal and private sectors are the three big players in the regions employment market. Private sector is the largest actor in the region with 51% of the workforce working on it. Municipal sector comes up to 29% and the state has 7% of the workforce. Statewide averages are 58% for the private, 23% for the municipal and 6% for the state sectors. The number of companies in the region of Kainuu is 3 429.
Education.
The regional education qualification level is at 67,4 % between the age groups of 15 years and over. The average of women in the region for the educational qualification is 67,4 % and for men 67,3 %. The nationwide average is 69,4% for the whole age group and the nationwide average for women is 70,1 % and for men 68,7%. Based on these numbers Kainuu has the 8th lowest educational level out of the 19 regions of Finland.
Kainuu has several further education institutes and organizations that are centralized in the town of Kajaani. These are Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, AIKOPA and Kainuu Vocational College (KAO). Many of the municipalities and towns also offer education for the upper secondary education.
Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) offers education, research, development and innovation services. These happen in the fields of activity tourism, nursing and health care, business and innovation, information systems and mechanical engineering. The students number at 2000 in the KAMK and the staff at 235.
AIKOPA is part of KAMK's and University of Oulu's service that is provided for joint adult and continuing education. AIKOPa offers services like education, expertise, research and development at the higher education level.
The Kainuu Vocational College (KAO) has a goal to give training, vocational and basic skills for both the young people and adults who number approximately at 2600. KAO has six different field of education through which students and the adults alike can receive qualification and training. These are technology and transportation, tourism, catering and domestic services, natural resources, healthcare, culture and business and administration.
Transportation.
Kainuu has a total of 4 732 kilometers of road network and the average of 505 private cars / 1000 inhabitants.
The air traffic of Kainuu had 81 854 cumulative passengers of which 77 981 were domestic and 3 873 were international passengers. The only major airport in the region is the Kajaani airport which is located some 7 kilometers (4 mi) northwest from the Kajaani town center.
The Kajaani railway station works as the central hub for the Kainuu regions train passenger and freight transportation. The passenger traffic from and to Kajaani railway station runs between the line 13 of Helsinki-Kajaani and the line 14A of Oulu-Kontiomäki.
Tourism and culture.
Tourism is a significant factor in the regional economics of Kainuu. The two most important seasons for the regions tourism are winter and summer. Winter season is the more popular one amongst the tourists and travelers. The single most popular month for the overnight stays in Kainuu is July. The count for the nights spent in the Kainuu region was 970 953 in the year of 2014. Domestic tourism forms major part of the annual tourism. Around 9-10% of the annual tourism of the regions comes from the international tourism. The variation of this number is dependent on the recent economic downturn that has caused drop in the Russian tourism towards the Kainuu region in which the Russians are the single largest customerbase.
Kainuu region has three major sports and ski resorts, which are Paljakka, Ukkohalla and Vuokatti. These resorts offer various sport possibilities for different seasons such as skiing, downhill skiing and hiking among others.
Outside the sport resorts are also tourism related service clusters and networks such as Wild Taiga which offer various services from different actors of Kuhmo and Suomussalmi municipalities. Other significant regional points of interests from the perspective of tourism are the areas around Oulujärvi, Kajaani and Ristijärvi.
In tourism Oulujärvi is concentrated on offering services in water- and culture based tourism around the lake.
Kajaani is the so-called capital of Kainuu and through this it is also the central transportational hub in the area. The town is central for the tourists who come to the Kainuu region either by train or by plane to the Kajaani Airport. Kajaani offers many commercial and culturally related services for tourists. Examples of these services are the Town Theater, Kaukametsä Culture and Congress Center, Kainuu Museum and the Kajaani Art Museum and many others. Kajawood, a film production company, also known as the "Finnish Hollywood", is located in Sotkamo, Kainuu.
Cultural events and sightseeing.
The region of Kainuu and its municipalities offer wide variety of different seasonal events and sightseeing possibilities. Cultural events vary from sports to entertainment and cultural events.
Regional food culture.
Food products that come from the nature are essential part of the local food culture in Kainuu. These include fish, various berries, game meat and variety of mushrooms. A few examples of these are the traditional vendace soup, smoked meat soup and the sweetened lingonberry porridge.
Bread and bakery are also one of the corner stones of Kainuu-based kitchen. These include rye bread and local specialties such as a traditional sweet delicacy called Rönttönen and the bread cheese / squeaky cheese that is often served together with cloudberry jam or as is.
Local media.
The Kainuu region's most popular newspaper is the morning newspaper Kainuun Sanomat with 50 000 daily readers and 16 093 copies in circulation. There are also several other smaller news- and free newspapers which are more local and town based in their news coverage and distribution. The more popular example in the Kainuu region is the Koti-Kajaani with a total of 30 276 - 38 369 copies in circulations in the weekdays of Wednesday and Saturday.
Local radio stations.
Kainuu has two regional radio stations among the statewide radio stations. Radio Kajaus bases it content on pop music, news and interviews on the current affairs. Kainuun Radio is one of the 19 regional radiostations owned by the state company Yleisradio (YLE). Between 6.30 – 17.00 the station broadcasts its own regional content. Outside of that the station will share the contents of the statewide Yle Radio Suomi station.
Regional politics.
In the Finnish parliamentary election Kainuu is part of the Oulu electoral district which elects 18 members of the Finnish parliament from the local district.
Parliamentary elections 2019.
An municipal election is held every 4 years and the members of the elected municipal councils also elect members amongst themselves to represent their respective municipality in the regional council of Kainuu. Traditionally, up to this date, the Centre Party has been the largest political entity in both the Oulu electoral district and in the region of Kainuu.
Regional government and regional development.
Regional Council of Kainuu.
The Regional Council of Kainuu is one of the 19 regional councils in Finland. The law gives these councils two mains tasks that are development of the region and the land use and planning in the region. A regional council is a key actor in the area that is responsible of the implementation of the Structural Fund programs of the EU. Networking with other actors both within and outside the region is important in protecting and promoting the unique culture of the region.
Regional Council of Kainuu is governed by the regional assembly, decisions carried out by the regional board and assisted by the Regional council's office, which is led by the regional mayor. The Regional Assembly of Kainuu has 35 members. The regional council's office has about 20-25 employees and is divided into different teams depending on the area of their responsibility and expertise.
The establishing treaty of the Regional Council of Kainuu (accepted in December 2015) defines the Assembly tasks as follows:
Regional Assembly's tasks, Regional Council of Kainuu
Areas of responsibility.
Land use planning, cooperation with interest groups and other authority related tasks which are the key fields of responsibility in the regional land use planning.
The Regional land use plan is drafted by the Regional Council of Kainuu and approved by the Regional Assembly. Up until the beginning of the year 2016 the approved plan was sent to be validated at the Ministry of Environment. The changes in the legislations deemed that the need for the validation of the Ministry of Environment was no longer necessary.
From the perspective of the municipalities involved in the regional development, regional land use plan is the guide and framework that has to be taken into account when the municipalities plan or change their local master plans or local detailed plans. Regional land use plans should also be noted by the authorities of whose decision making the plans affect. The regional land use plan is a map which contains the planning entries, instructions and descriptions. These affect the contents of the land use plan, give background to the decisions made and bring forth the meaningful data about the effectiveness factors. Phased regional land use land works as supplement and provide information to the previously mentioned regional land use plan.
Regional development unit is responsible for the regional development plan. This task is given by the law to the regional councils. Regional development also has the task of leading, planning and implementing both the national and EU level regional- and cohesion policymaking in the region of Kainuu. This is done in cooperation with neighboring regions. Regional development views that developing and maintaining the regions vigor is important. This relates to the work that is done on both the local, national and international level in cooperation with other actors.
Cooperation and Supervision of Interests
According to 5§ of the establishing treaty of the regional council of Kainuu the mission for the council is to observe and take into account in their own work the aspects of interest driving between other actors and cooperation. In this the establishing treaty emphasizes the importance of managing the partnerships both inside the region and outside of it. The later refers to national, EU and other international level of activities. The themes for interest driving are changed depending how the situation and times dictate it and these themes and their changes can be found from the project catalog document that is kept by the regional council.
Cooperation and communication have an important role from the perspective of the interest driving. The establishing treaty notes that these two should have the role of upholding the positive image of the region of Kainuu both inside and outside of the region. An interest driving team is formed for the purpose of this role that also has members from other important actors from other organizations in addition to the regional council of Kainuu.
According to the charter of the Regional council, one of the essential tasks of the organization is improving the wellbeing of the region's population. Among other interest driving goals, improving the living- and the business environment in the region is one of the goals of the regional development.
Projects, plans and other development related-work are ways to work towards these goals with the relevant actors inside and outside of the region. The project programs and their goals are controlled to some extent by the goals set in the regional strategic programme.
For the project work the regional council has to do tasks that relate to requisitioning, co-financing and being as a partner in the projects. The project preparations are divided in the responsibilities inside the regional council teams (land use & planning, regional development etc.) depending on their field of expertise that are for example in charge of the international funding of the project. In the years of the 2014 – 2020 EU funding is offered towards the region of Kainuu in the programs of Baltic Sea Region Programme, Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme, Interreg Europe, ENI Kolarctic and the Karelia CBC.
Other activities of the Regional Council
The European Commission maintains an information network called the Europe Direct and one of its offices can be found from the office of regional council of Kainuu. The Europe Direct offers general information about the Europe, EU, functions and actions of the union and the funding possibilities that it offers together with the themes that the funds are emphasizing. For the information distribution the office uses social media, news letters and brochures.
Key strategies and documents driving the Regional Councils actions.
The Kainuu Regional Plan of 2035 represents the political intentions of the region. This document has the strategies that hold inside of them the vision for the region and the politically desired outcomes for the future. The regional plan is approved by the Regional Assembly of Kainuu.
From the perspective of the regional planning and land use the regional land use plan is the most important document that drives their actions. The timeframe for this plan varies between 10 – 30 years and the examination for the current regional land use plan started in the year of 2014...
Regional programmes intent is to bring up ways and means through which the long timespan strategic goals of the Regional Plan 2035 can be accomplished. Strategic choices and emphasizing certain themes are ways through which the regional council aims to achieve these goals. This includes cooperation in the teams of regional development and the interest driving team and also utilizing other development actions taken by the organization.
Four emphasized themes are set for the programme of 2014 – 2017. These have themes that aim towards the development of different sectors in the society. The timeframe for each regional programme is four years.
An implementation plan is compiled out for the region of Kainuu. The time frame for this plan is two years. The function for the implementation plan is to monitor, prioritize and harmonize the region councils work together with other authorities that relate to the goals set in the regional programme. The implementation plan is an instrument to guiding projects in a way that the themes and goals of the regional programmes and the condition for the fund funding are met and achieved in these projects.
Regional policymaking.
Regional Assembly 2013–2016.
The Regional Assembly of 2013-2016
Municipalities and towns each get certain count of representatives in the assembly. This is based on their population size. These are divided into three different categories. These numbers also include the vice representavies from each member of the assembly.
The Regional Board of 2015-2016
Regional Youth Council of Kainuu.
Kainuu region also has its own Regional Youth Council, which is also the only regional level youth council in Finland. The council was formed in 2008 and it is meant to be a nonpartisan influencing group for the regions youth. Two members are selected from each municipality and town and also from the local higher education institutions – KAO & AMK.
The members of the youth council are appointed by their local municipal councils or their institutions student council. The term if two years long and during that time the youth council will also get a total of seven sponsor representatives from the Regional Assembly and the Kainuus Social and Welfare Council. The Regional Councils office will help the Youth Council with such things as setting up meetings, compile agenda for the next meeting and giving counsel and guidance on how to make meeting records, how decision making works and so forth.
Youth councils work isn't defined by law, but the Regional Assembly has decided that the Youth Council should have four main tasks among more minor ones. The main tasks are:
Extra duties are as follows:
Term for each regional youth council is two-year long. The youth council representatives will select one chairman amongst themselves who is accompanied by two vice chairmen for the two-year term. The council also selects a secretary who will cooperate together with a contact from the regional council of Kainuu who gives the necessary help, guidance and advice that the youth council secretary needs to handle their tasks.


Kyrenia District

Kyrenia District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is Kyrenia (; ). It is the smallest of Cyprus' districts, and is the only one controlled by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in its entirety.
A district administration in exile exists in the Republic of Cyprus-controlled part of the island, near Ledra Palace, while the TRNC district has a "kaymakam".
It is bordered on the south by Nicosia District and on the east and south-east by Famagusta District. It includes much of the north coast, with the towns of Kyrenia, Lapethos and Karavas. Also the Kyrenia Mountains, which overlook the coast, with the prominent castles of St. Hilarion and Buffavento.
History.
Under Lusignan and Venetian rule, Kyrenia District was known as the contrée (French) or contrade (Italian ) of Cérines, which was one of the eleven provinces of the Kingdom of Cyprus. At that time, the province of Nicosia, known as the Vicomté, extended closer to the sea, encroaching upon the Pentadaktylos foothills in the present Kyrenia District.
Under Ottoman Turkish rule, Kyrenia was one of the six cazas into which the island was divided. The Caza of Kyrenia, was divided into three nahiehs – Kyrenia, Lefka and Morphou. The caza was headed by a Kaimakan. When the British took control of Cyprus in 1878, these administrative units were retained. But by 1881, Kyrenia Caza was reduced to one nahieh, namely Kyrenia, which covered roughly the same as its present area.
A British officer styled a Commissioner (later District Officer) was appointed for the Caza, while the Turkish Kaimakan was initially retained with certain of his functions.
In 1881 the Caza and Nahieh of Kyrenia had a population of 13,266, (Greek 75%, Turkish 20%), representing 7% of the population of Cyprus. By 1960 the population had grown to 31,015 (Greek 79%, Turkish 14%, Maronite 6%). The Maronite population was almost entirely located in the villages of Kormakiti, Asomatos and Karpaseia.
Settlements.
According to "Statistical Codes of Municipalities, Communities and Quarters of Cyprus" per the Statistical Service of Cyprus (2015), Kyrenia District has 3 municipalities and 44 communities. Municipalities are written with bold.


Corsica

Corsica (; , ; ; , ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and politically one of the eighteen regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, the land mass nearest to it. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. In 2016, it had a population of 330,455.
The island is a territorial collectivity of France. The regional capital is Ajaccio. Although the region is divided into two administrative departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, their respective regional and departmental territorial collectivities were merged on 1 January 2018 to form the single territorial collectivity of Corsica. As such, Corsica enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than other French regional collectivities; for example, the Corsican Assembly is permitted to exercise limited executive powers. Corsica's second-largest town is Bastia, the prefecture of Haute-Corse.
Corsica was ruled by the Republic of Genoa from 1284 to 1755, when it became a self-proclaimed, Italian-speaking Republic. In 1768, Genoa officially ceded it to Louis XV of France as part of a pledge for the debts it had incurred by enlisting France's military help in suppressing the Corsican revolt; in 1769 France subsequently went on to annex it. Napoleon Bonaparte was a native Corsican, born that same year in Ajaccio. His ancestral home, Maison Bonaparte, is today a significant visitor attraction and museum. Because of Corsica's historical ties to Italy and especially Tuscany, the island has retained many Italian cultural elements, and many Corsican surnames are rooted in the Italian peninsula. Corsican, the native tongue, is recognised as a regional language by the Government of France.
History.
Prehistory and antiquity.
The origin of the name Corsica is subject to much debate and remains a mystery. To the Ancient Greeks it was known as "Kalliste", "Corsis", "Cyrnos", "Cernealis", or "Cirné". The last three variations derive from the most ancient Greek name of the island, "" ("Seirinoussai", meaning "of the Sirens") — the very same Sirens mentioned in Homer's Odyssey.
Corsica has been occupied continuously since the Mesolithic era. Its population was influential in the Mediterranean during its long prehistory.
After a brief occupation by the Carthaginians, colonization by the ancient Greeks, and an only slightly longer occupation by the Etruscans, it was incorporated by the Roman Republic at the end of the First Punic War and, with Sardinia, in 238 BC became a province of the Roman Republic. The Romans, who built a colony in Aléria, considered Corsica as one of the most backward regions of the Roman world. The island produced sheep, honey, resin and wax, and exported many slaves, not well considered because of their fierce and rebellious character. Moreover, it was known for its cheap wines, exported to Rome, and was used as a place of relegation, one of the most famous exiles being the Roman philosopher Seneca. Administratively, the island was divided into "pagi", which in the Middle Ages became the "pievi", the basic administrative units of the island until 1768. During the diffusion of Christianity, which arrived quite early from Rome and the Tuscan harbors, Corsica was home to many martyrs and saints: among them, the most important are Saint Devota and Saint Julia, both patrons of the island. Corsica was integrated into Roman Italy by Emperor Diocletian ().
Middle Ages and early-modern era.
In the 5th century, the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, and the island was invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. Briefly recovered by the Byzantines, it soon became part of the Kingdom of the Lombards. This made it a dependency of the March of Tuscany, which used it as an outpost against the Saracens. Pepin the Short, king of the Franks and Charlemagne's father, expelled the Lombards and nominally granted Corsica to Pope Stephen II. In the first quarter of the 11th century, Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. After that, the island came under the influence of the republic of Pisa. To this period belong the many polychrome churches which adorn the island, and Corsica also experienced a massive immigration from Tuscany, which gave to the island its present toponymy and rendered the language spoken in the northern two-thirds of the island very close to the Tuscan dialect. Due to that, then began also the traditional division of Corsica in two parts, along the main chain of mountains roughly going from Calvi to Porto-Vecchio: the eastern "Banda di dentro", or "Cismonte", more populated, evolved and open to the commerce with Italy, and the western "Banda di fuori", or "Pomonte", almost deserted, wild and remote.
The crushing defeat experienced by Pisa in 1284 in the Battle of Meloria against Genoa had among its consequences the end of the Pisan rule and the beginning of the Genoese influence in Corsica: this was contested initially by the King of Aragon, who in 1296 had received from the Pope the investiture over Sardinia and Corsica. A popular revolution against this and the feudal lords, led by Sambucuccio d'Alando, got the aid of Genoa. After that, the "Cismonte" was ruled as a league of comuni and churches, after the Italian experience. The following 150 years were a period of conflict, when the Genoese rule was contested by Aragon, the local lords, the comuni and the Pope: finally, in 1450 Genoa ceded the administration of the island to its main bank, the Bank of Saint George, which brought peace.
In the 16th century, the island entered into the fight between Spain and France for the supremacy in Italy. In 1553, a Franco-Ottoman fleet occupied Corsica, but the reaction of Spain and Genoa, led by Andrea Doria, reestablished the Genoese supremacy on the island, confirmed by the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis. The unlucky protagonist of this episode was Sampiero di Bastelica, who would later come to be considered a hero of the island. Their power reinstated, the Genoese did not allow the Corsican nobility to share in the government of the island, and oppressed the inhabitants with a heavy tax burden. On the other hand, they introduced the chestnut tree on a large scale, improving the diet of the population, and built a chain of towers along the coast to defend Corsica from the attacks of the Barbary pirates from North Africa. The period of peace lasted until 1729, when the refusal to pay taxes by a peasant sparked the general insurrection of the island against Genoa.
Rise and annexation of the Corsican Republic.
In 1729 the Corsican Revolution for independence from Genoa began, first led by Luiggi Giafferi and Giacinto Paoli, and later by Paoli's son, Pasquale Paoli. After 26 years of struggle against the Republic of Genoa (plus an ephemeral attempt to proclaim in 1736 an independent Kingdom of Corsica under the German adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff), the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed in 1755 under the leadership of Pasquale Paoli and remained sovereign until 1769, when the island was conquered by France. The first Corsican Constitution was written in Italian (the language of culture in Corsica until the middle of the 19th century) by Paoli.
The Corsican Republic was unable to eject the Genoese from the major coastal fortresses (Calvi and Bonifacio). After the Corsican conquest of Capraia, a small island of the Tuscan Archipelago, in 1767, the Republic of Genoa, exhausted by forty years of fighting, decided to sell the island to France which, after its defeat in the Seven Years' War, was trying to reinforce its position in the Mediterranean. In 1768, with the Treaty of Versailles, the Genoese republic conceded the region to the French troops to subdue the rebels and Genoa had to pay for the costs, the French though remained in forts and never seriously faced the rebellion in order to make the expenditure costs of the army levitate and induce the Genoese to not being able to afford to pay the debt, later French reclaimed so rights to occupy the island but that was never actually ceded or approved by the Republic of Genoa. After an initial successful resistance culminating with the victory at Borgo, the Corsican republic was crushed by a large French army led by the Count of Vaux at the Battle of Ponte Novu. This marked the end of Corsican sovereignty. Despite triggering the Corsican Crisis in Britain, whose government gave secret aid, no foreign military support came for the Corsicans. However, nationalist feelings still ran high. Despite the conquest, Corsica was not incorporated into the French state until 1789.
Following the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Pasquale Paoli was able to return to Corsica from exile in Britain. In 1794, he invited British forces under Lord Hood to intervene to free Corsica from French rule. Anglo-Corsican forces drove the French from the island and established an Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. Following Spain's entry into the war, the British decided to withdraw from Corsica in 1796. Corsica returned to French rule.
19th century.
Despite being the birthplace of the Emperor, who had supported Paoli in his youth, the island was neglected by Napoleon's government. In 1814, near the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Corsica was briefly occupied again by British troops. The Treaty of Bastia gave the British crown sovereignty over the island, but it was later repudiated by Lord Castlereagh who insisted that the island should be returned to a restored French monarchy.
After the restoration, the island was further neglected by the French state. Despite the presence of a middle class in Bastia and Ajaccio, Corsica remained an otherwise primitive place, whose economy consisted mainly of a subsistence agriculture, and whose population constituted a pastoral society, dominated by clans and the rules of vendetta. The code of vendetta required Corsicans to seek deadly revenge for offences against their family's honor. Between 1821 and 1852, no fewer than 4,300 murders were perpetrated in Corsica. During the first half of the century, the people of Corsica were still immersed in the Italian cultural world: the bourgeoisie sent children to Pisa to study, official acts were enacted in Italian and most books were printed in Italian. Moreover, many islanders sympathised with the national struggle which was taking place in nearby Italy in those years: several political refugees from the peninsula, like Niccolò Tommaseo, spent years in the island, while some Corsicans, like Count , took active part in the fights for Italian independence.
Despite all that, during those years the Corsicans began to feel a stronger and stronger attachment to France. The reasons for that are manifold: the knowledge of the French language, which thanks to the mandatory primary school started to penetrate among the local youth, the high prestige of French culture, the awareness of being part of a big, powerful state, the possibility of well-paid jobs as civil servants, both in the island, in the mainland and in the colonies, the prospect of serving the French army during the wars for the conquest of the colonial empire, the introduction of steamboats, which reduced the travel time between mainland France from the island drastically, and — last but not least — Napoleon himself, whose existence alone constituted an indissoluble link between France and Corsica. Thanks to all these factors by around 1870 Corsica had landed in the French cultural world.
From the 19th century into the mid-20th century, Corsicans also grew closer to the French nation through participation in the French Empire. Compared to much of Metropolitan France, Corsica was poor and many Corsicans emigrated. While Corsicans emigrated globally, especially to many South American countries, many chose to move within the French Empire which acted as a conduit for emigration and eventual return, as many young Corsican men could find better job opportunities in the far corners of the Empire where many other French hesitated to go. In many parts of the Empire, Corsicans were strongly represented, such as in Saigon where in 1926 12% of European were from Corsica. Across the French Empire, many Corsicans retained a sense of community by establishing organizations where they would meet regularly, keep one another informed of developments in Corsica, and come to one anothers’ aid in times of need.
Modern Corsica.
Corsica paid a high price for the French victory in the First World War: agriculture was disrupted by the years-long absence of almost all of the young workers, and the percentage of dead or wounded Corsicans in the conflict was double that of those from mainland France. Moreover, the protectionist policies of the French government, started in the 1880s and never stopped, had ruined the Corsican export of wine and olive oil, and forced many young Corsicans to emigrate to mainland France or to the Americas. As reaction to these conditions, a nationalist movement was born in the 1920s around the newspaper "A Muvra", having as its objective the autonomy of the island from France. In the 1930s, many exponents of this movement became irredentist, seeing annexation of the island to fascist Italy as the only solution to its problems. Under Benito Mussolini annexation of Corsica had become one of the main goals of Italy's unification policy.
After the collapse of France to the German Wehrmacht in 1940, Corsica came under the rule of the Vichy French regime, which was collaborating with Nazi Germany. In November 1942 the island was occupied by Italian and German forces following the Anglo-American landings in North Africa. After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Italian and Free French Forces pushed the Germans out of the island, making Corsica the first French Department to be freed. Subsequently, the US military established 17 airfields, nicknamed "USS Corsica", which served as bases for attacks on targets in German-occupied Italy.
The Corsicans who promoted the ideal of Corsican irredentism published mainly in Italy, because of the persecutions from the French regime in the island in the first half of the 20th century. Many Corsicans, notably Petru Giovacchini, Simon Petru Cristofini and Marco Angeli di Sartèna, supported Italian irredentism on the island. Cristofini was executed by the French authorities; Angeli and Giovacchini were also condemned to death, but they escaped in Italy.
During the May 1958 crisis, the French military command in Algeria mutinied against the French Fourth Republic and on 24 May occupied the island in an action called Opération Corse that led to the collapse of the government; the second phase of the coup attempt, occupying Paris, was cancelled following the establishment of a transitional government under Charles de Gaulle.
Between the late fifties and the seventies, proposals to conduct underground nuclear tests in the mines of Argentella, the immigration of 18,000 former settlers from Algeria ("Pieds-Noirs") in the eastern plains, and continuing chemical pollution ("Fanghi Rossi") from mainland Italy increased tensions between the indigenous inhabitants and the French government. Tensions escalated until an armed police assault on a pieds-noirs-owned wine cellar in Aleria, occupied by Corsican nationalists on 23 August 1975. This marked the beginning of the Corsican conflict, an armed nationalist struggle against the French government. Ever since, Corsican nationalism has been a feature of the island's politics, with calls for greater autonomy and protection for Corsican culture and the Corsican language, or even full independence. Some also support the union of Corsica to Italy. Some groups supporting independence, such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica, have carried out a violent campaign that includes bombings and assassinations targeting buildings and officials representing the French government; periodic flare-ups of raids and killings culminated in the assassination of Prefect Claude Érignac in 1998.
In 2013, Corsica hosted the first three stages of the 100th Tour de France, which passed through the island for the first time in the event's 110-year history.
Murder rate in Europe.
In 2013, Corsica had the highest murder rate in Europe which were the result of famiily feuds between clans on the island and vendettas or revenge actions against insults against the honor of a family. Corsica still had the highest murder rate in 2020. The most common victims of gun murders are prominent business people or local mayors.
Geography.
Corsica was formed about 250 million years ago with the uplift of a granite backbone on the western side. About 50 million years ago sedimentary rock was pressed against this granite, forming the schists of the eastern side. It is the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean, a "mountain in the sea".
It is also the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus.
It is long at longest, wide at widest, has of coastline, more than 200 beaches, and is very mountainous, with Monte Cinto as the highest peak at and around 120 other summits of more than . Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain. Forests make up 20% of the island.
About of the total surface area of is dedicated to nature reserves (Parc naturel régional de Corse), mainly in the interior. Corsica contains the GR20, one of Europe's most notable hiking trails.
The island is from Tuscany in Italy and from the Côte d'Azur in France. It is separated from Sardinia to the south by the Strait of Bonifacio, which is a minimum of wide.
Major communities.
In 2005 the population of Corsica was settled in approximately 360 communities.
Climate.
Under the Köppen climate classification scheme, coastal regions are characterized by a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). Further inland, a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) is more common. At the highest elevation locations, small areas with a subarctic climate (Dsc, Dfc) and the rare cold-summer Mediterranean climate (Csc) can be found.
The station of Sari-Solenzara records the highest year-round temperatures of Metropolitan France with an annual average of 16.41 °C over the 1981–2010 period. Sunshine hours are not available for same period but this was 2715 h for 2008–2016.
Ecology.
Zones by altitude.
The island is divided into three major ecological zones by altitude. Below is the coastal zone, which features a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The natural vegetation is Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrubs. The coastal lowlands are part of the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion, in which forests and woodlands of evergreen sclerophyll oaks predominate, chiefly holm oak ("Quercus ilex") and cork oak ("Quercus suber"). Much of the coastal lowlands have been cleared for agriculture, grazing and logging, which have reduced the forests considerably.
There is considerable birdlife in Corsica. One famous example is the bearded vulture. In some cases Corsica is a delimited part of the species range. For example, the subspecies of hooded crow, "Corvus cornix" ssp "cornix" occurs in Corsica, but no further south.
From is a temperate montane zone. The mountains are cooler and wetter, and home to the Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, which supports diverse forests of oak, pine, and broadleaf deciduous trees, with vegetation more typical of northern Europe. The population lives predominantly below , with only shepherds and hikers at .
From is a high alpine zone. Vegetation is sparse. This zone is uninhabited.
Parc Naturel Régional de Corse.
The island has a natural park (Parc Naturel Régional de Corse, Parcu di Corsica), which protects rare animal and plant species. The Park was created in 1972 and includes the Golfe de Porto, the Scandola Nature Reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and some of the highest mountains on the island. Scandola cannot be reached on foot, but people can gain access by boat from the village of Galéria and Porto (Ota). Two endangered subspecies of hoofed mammals, the European mouflon ("Ovis aries musimon") and Corsican red deer ("Cervus elaphus corsicanus") inhabit the park. The Corsican red deer was re-introduced after it was extinct due to over hunting. This Corsican subspecies was the same that survived on Sardinia, so it is endemic. There are other species endemic to Corsica especially in the upper mountain ranges, i.e. Corsican nuthatch, Corsican fire salamander and Corsican brook salamander and many plant subspecies.
Extinct animals.
Corsica, like all the other Mediterranean islands, was home to indigenous animals of the Pleistocene, some endemic to it and some coming to it and Sardinia (as Sardinia was joined to Corsica for much of the Pleistocene). After the proliferation of humans in the Mesolithic, these began to disappear, partly from extinction of the species, and partly from eradication only in Corsica. However, it is now known that many species managed to survive the Mesolithic, and many were still present well into recorded history.
The globally extinct species are the Sardinian dhole, "Megaloceros cazioti", Corsican giant shrew, Tyrrhenian mole, Sardinian pika, Corsican-Sardinian vole, Corsican-Sardinian wood mouse, "Bubo insularis" and "Athene angelis". Birds were especially hard-hit. Some that were eradicated from the vicinity are "Haliaeetus albicilla" and "Aquila heliaca".
Demographics.
Corsica has a population of 322,120 inhabitants (January 2013 estimate).
At the 2011 census, 56.3% of the inhabitants of Corsica were natives of Corsica, 28.6% were natives of Continental France, 0.3% were natives of Overseas France, and 14.8% were natives of foreign countries.
The majority of the foreign immigrants in Corsica come from the Maghreb (particularly Moroccans, who made up 33.5% of all immigrants in Corsica at the 2011 census), and from Southern Europe (particularly Portuguese, 22.7% of immigrants on the island), and Italians (13.7%).
Culture.
Languages.
French ("Français") is the official and most widely spoken language on the island. Italian was the official language of Corsica until 9 May 1859, when it was replaced by French. Corsican ("Corsu"), a minority language that is closely related to medieval Tuscan ("Toscano"), has a better prospect of survival than most other French regional languages: Corsican is the second most widely spoken language, after French and ahead of standard Italian. However, since the annexation of the island by France in the 18th century, Corsican has been under heavy pressure from French, and today it is estimated that only 10% of Corsica's population speak the language natively, with only 50% having some sort of proficiency in it.
The language is divided into two main varieties: "Cismuntanu" and "Ultramuntanu", spoken respectively northeast and southwest of the Girolata - Porto Vecchio line. This division was due to the massive immigration from Tuscany which took place in Corsica during the lower Middle Ages: as a result, the "Cismuntanu" became very similar to the Tuscan dialects, being part of the Italo-Dalmatian language group, while the "Ultramuntanu" could keep its original characteristics which make it much more similar to a Southern Romance language like Sardinian ("Sardu"). Therefore, due to the differences between the main dialectal varieties, many linguists classify Corsican as an Italo-Dalmatian language, while others consider it a Southern Romance one.
Fewer and fewer people speak a Ligurian dialect, known as "bunifazzinu", in what has long been a language island, Bonifacio, and in Ajaccio, the "aghjaccinu" dialect. In Cargèse, a village established by Greek immigrants in the 17th century, Greek ("Ελληνικά") was the traditional language: whereas it has long disappeared from spoken conversation, Biblical Greek is still the liturgical language and the village has many Greek Orthodox parishes.
Cuisine.
From the mountains to the plains and sea, many ingredients play a role. Game such as wild boar ("Cingale", "Singhjari") is popular. There also is seafood and river fish such as trout. Delicacies such as "figatellu" (also named as "ficateddu"), made with liver, "coppa", ham ("prizuttu"), "lonzu" are made from Corsican pork ("porcu nustrale"). Characteristic among the cheeses is "brocciu" (similar to ricotta), which is used as a fresh ingredient in many dishes, from first courses ("sturzapreti") to cakes ("fiadone"). Other cheeses, like "casgiu merzu" ("rotten cheese", the Corsican counterpart of the Sardinian "casu martzu"), "casgiu veghju" are made from goat or sheep milk. Chestnuts are the main ingredient in the making of "pulenta castagnina" and cakes ("falculelle"). A variety of alcohol also exists ranging from "aquavita" (brandy), red and white Corsican wines ("Vinu Corsu"), muscat wine (plain or sparkling), and the famous "Cap Corse" apéritif produced by Mattei. The herbs which are part of Maquis () and the chestnuts and oak nuts of the Corsican forests are eaten by local animals, resulting in a noticeable flavour in the food there.
Art.
Corsica has produced a number of known artists:
Sport.
Since 2017, no Corsican football club has played in Ligue 1 and are currently littered through the second, third, fourth and fifth tiers of French football. AC Ajaccio are the highest placed team, competing in Ligue 2. SC Bastia and FC Bastia-Borgo currently compete in the Championnat National, Gazélec Ajaccio competes in the Championnat National 2 and finally ÉF Bastia play in Regional 1. Tour de Corse is a rally held since 1956, which was a round of the World Rally Championship from 1973 to 2008 and later the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and European Rally Championship. The Tour de Corse returned as a World Rally Championship round in 2015.
Administration.
Before 1975, Corsica was a "départment" of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. In 1975 two new départements, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, were created by splitting the hitherto united departement of Corsica.
On 2 March 1982, a law was passed that gave Corsica the status of "territorial collectivity" ("collectivité territoriale"), abolishing the Corsican Regional Council. Unlike the regional councils, the Corsican Assembly has executive powers over the island.
In 1992, three institutions were formed in the territorial collectivity of Corsica:
A local referendum held in 2003, aimed at abolishing the two "départements" to leave a territorial collectivity with extended powers, was voted down by a narrow margin. However, the issue of Corsican autonomy and greater powers for the Corsican Assembly continues to hold sway over Corsican politics.
Economy.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 9.6 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 0.4% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 25,400 euros or 84% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 103% of the EU average.
Tourism plays a big part in the Corsican economy. The island's climate, mountains, and coastlines make it popular among tourists. The island has not had the same level of intensive development as other parts of the Mediterranean and is thus mainly unspoiled. Tourism is particularly concentrated in the area around Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio in the south of the island and Calvi in the northwest.
In 1584 the Genoese governor ordered all farmers and landowners to plant four trees yearly; a chestnut, olive, fig, and mulberry tree. Many communities owe their origin and former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods. Chestnut bread keeps fresh for as long as two weeks. Corsica produces gourmet cheese, wine, sausages, and honey for sale in mainland France and for export. Corsican honey, of which there are six official varieties, is certified as to its origin (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) by the French National Institute of Origin and Quality (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine – INAO).
Corsica's main exports are granite and marble, tannic acid, cork, cheese, wine, citrus fruit, olive oil and cigarettes.
Transport.
Airports.
Corsica has four international airports:
All airports are served by regional French airline Air Corsica, as well as Air France which mainly offers connections to Paris-Orly. Budget carriers such as EasyJet and Ryanair offer seasonal connections to different cities in Europe.
Railway.
The island has of metre gauge railway. The main line runs between Bastia and Ajaccio and there is a branch line from Ponte Leccia to Calvi. Chemins de fer de la Corse (CFC) is the name of the regional rail network serving the French island of Corsica. For a list of stations, see Railway stations in Corsica.
There was also the along the Thyrrenian seacoast; that line was heavily damaged during World War II, and subsequently closed for good.
Seaports.
Corsica is well connected to the European mainland (Italy and France) by various car ferry lines. The island's busiest seaport is Bastia, which saw more than 2.5 million passengers in 2012. The second busiest seaport is Ajaccio, followed by L'Île-Rousse and Calvi. Propriano and Porto Vecchio in the south also have smaller ferry docks and are seasonally served from France (Marseille), while Bonifacio's harbour is only frequented by smaller car ferries from the neighbouring island of Sardinia.
The ferry companies serving Corsica are Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries (from Savona, Livorno and Piombino in Italy; Toulon and Nice in France), SNCM (from Marseille, Toulon and Nice in France), CMN - La Méridionale (from Marseille in France) and Moby Lines (from Livorno and Genoa in Italy).
Politics.
There are several groups and two nationalist parties (the autonomist "Femu a Corsica" and the separatist "Corsica Libera") active on the island calling for some degree of Corsican autonomy from France or even full independence. Generally speaking, regionalist proposals focus on the promotion of the Corsican language, more power for local governments, and some exemptions from national taxes in addition to those already applying to Corsica.
The French government is opposed to full independence but has at times shown support for some level of autonomy. There is support on the island for proposals for greater autonomy, but polls show that a large majority of Corsicans are opposed to full independence.
In 1972, the Italian company Montedison dumped toxic waste off the Corsican coast, creating what looked like red mud in waters around the island with the poisoning of the sea, the most visible effects being cetaceans found dead on the shores. At that time the Corsican people felt that the French government did not support them. To stop the poisoning, one ship carrying toxic waste from Italy was bombed.
Nationalist organisations started to seek money, using tactics similar to those of the Mafia, to fund violence. Some groups that claim to support Corsican independence, such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica, have carried out a violent campaign since the 1970s that includes bombings and assassinations, usually targeting buildings and officials representing the French government or Corsicans themselves for political reasons. A war between two rival independence groups led to several deaths in the 1990s. The peaceful occupation of a "pied-noir" vineyard in Aléria in 1975 marked a turning point when the French government responded with overwhelming force, generating sympathy for the independence groups among the Corsican population.
In 2000, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin agreed to grant increased autonomy to Corsica. The proposed autonomy for Corsica would have included greater protection for the Corsican language ("Corsu"), the island's traditional language, whose practice and teaching, like other regional or minority languages in France, had been discouraged in the past. According to the UNESCO classification, the Corsican language is currently in danger of becoming extinct. However, plans for increased autonomy were opposed by the Gaullist opposition in the French National Assembly, who feared that they would lead to calls for autonomy from other "régions" (such as Brittany, Alsace, or Provence), eventually threatening France's unity as a country.
In a referendum on 6 July 2003, a narrow majority of Corsican voters opposed a proposal by the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin and then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy that would have suppressed the two "départements" of the island and granted greater autonomy to the territorial collectivity of Corsica.
On 13 December 2015, the regionalist coalition "Pè a Corsica" (), supported by both Femu a Corsica and Corsica Libera and led by Gilles Siméoni, won the territorial elections with a percentage of 36.9%.
On 17 December 2015, Jean Guy Talamoni was elected President of the Assembly of Corsica and Gilles Simeoni was elected Executive President of the Council of the Region. In addition, legislation granting Corsica a greater degree of autonomy was passed.


List of Finnish regions by GDP

This is a list of Finnish regions by GDP and GDP per capita. The equivalent countries which are comparable to the Finnish regions in GDP per capita are chosen by Worldbank data for the same year.
List of regions by GDP.
Regions by GDP in 2015 according to data by the OECD.
List of regions by GDP per capita.
Counties by GDP per capita in 2015 according to data by the OECD.