Tokelau is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is made of three atolls. These atolls have a surface area of about. About 1500 people lived there in 2016. The territory belongs to New Zealand. The atolls are Alatufu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. Together with Swains Island (which is part of American Samoa now) they are known as the Union Islands. Swains Island is about 180 km to the south of Fakaofo. Less than 50 people live on Swains Island. Tokelau is about half way between New Zealand and Hawaii.
Tokelau does not have an official capital. The most important languages spoken in Tokelau are English and Tokelauan.
The people live in four villages: Two of them are on Fakaofo. The islands Atafu and Nukunonu each have one village. The most common language is Tokelauan, about half the people are able to speak English.
According to the UN, many people on Tokelau are overweight: Many of the 15 to 64 age group also suffer from diabetes.
Tokelau is among the most remote areas in the Pacific: There are no airports; the islands can only be reached by ship: there are also no sea ports, which makes travelling difficult, even between the atolls. New Zealand pays for a ship, which connects Tokelau with the next bigger seaport (Apia, on Samoa). The trip from Apia to Fakaofo takes about a day, reaching the northernmost atoll Atafu will take another three to four hours. There is no large pier on any of the islands, which means that smaller boats (called barges) are needed to reach the shore. The ship reaches Tokelau about once every two weeks.
In 2004 there was a vote to change the status of Tokelau: Rather than being a dependent territory of New Zealand, the proposal was to be "in association with" New Zealand, much like Cook Islands and Niue. At the time, the people of Tokelau voted against this independence.
Communist state
A communist state is a state whose constitution claims to follow the principles of communism, despite following the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. Its form of government has only a single political party, the communist party. The governance of the state is guided by the principles of Leninism, Marxism, Maoism, or any other form of socialist ideology.
Technically, "communist state" is a contradictory term. In principle, a communist society is a . In practice, communist states do not actually refer to themselves as "communist states". They do not consider themselves to be communist societies at present. Instead, their constitutions call them "socialist states" or "workers' states".
During the 20th century, a "communist state" came to be understood as any country ruled by a single party and guided by a Marxist–Leninist or Maoist ideology. These countries would also have a planned economy. The ruling class is the working class (the proletariat).
As of February 2018, there are five countries that are called communist states. They are China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea. North Korea does not follow Marxism–Leninism but rather the ideology of Juche. Nonetheless, it is otherwise still considered to be in the same category.
There were, at one time, many countries that followed some type of Marxism. One of the most famous is the Soviet Union. However, many of these are now no longer regarded as socialist.
1792
1873
1873 was a year in the 19th century.
1849
1849 was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar.
Solitaire
Solitaire is a card game for one player game using a deck of playing cards. A player wins the game when the player has all the cards in four different deck by color and number.
There are many variations (types) of solitaire, such as Klondike, Freecell, Pyramid, Golf and Spider. Most computer operating systems include simple solitaire games.
In many countries, solitaire is called Patience.
Optics
Optics is the science of light and how it interacts with the world. Optics explains how rainbows exist, how light reflects off mirrors, how light refracts through glass or water, and what splits light shining through a prism. In addition to visible light in the standard "spectrum" of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, optics also deals with invisible parts of the whole electromagnetic spectrum of which visible light is but a small part.
Optics is both a science and an area of engineering. It has been used to make many useful things, including eyeglasses, cameras, telescopes, and microscopes. Many of these things are based on lenses, which focus light and can make images of things that are bigger or smaller than the original.
While optics is an old science, new things are still being discovered in it. Scientists have learned how to make light travel through a thin optical fiber made of glass or plastic. Light can go long distances in a fiber. Fibers are used to carry phone calls and the Internet between cities.
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is a Czech economist and politician who the president of Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. He also served was the second and last prime minister of the Czech Republic.
His presidency was very controversial, because of his opinion on global warming and because of amnesty he declared.
Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation and grew up in the Vinohrady neighborhood.
Klaus studied "economics of foreign trade" and graduated from University of Economics in Prague in 1963. He also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and at Cornell University. He also studied in the United States in 1969.
He soon obtained a position in the Czechoslovak State Bank. In 1987, Klaus joined the Institute for Prognostics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1995, as Prime Minister, Klaus was awarded the title of Professor of Finance, so he is sometimes addressed as "Mr. Professor". Since that time Klaus occasionally teaches seminars in economics at the University of Economics.
At a congress 1997, Klaus was confirmed as chairman of the ODS. Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic on 28 February 2003. He won with a majority of 142 votes out of 281.
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, producer, and director. She has won multiple Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards and Golden Globe awards. She is of Jewish descent.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean; it is part of the Greater Antilles. The island, in area, lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola. Its capital city is Kingston; other towns include Montego Bay, St. Ann's Bay and Spanish Town. The island is divided into three counties – Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey – which are subdivided into 14 parishes: Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James, Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas.
Jamaica is the third-largest island country in the Greater Antilles. Its Taíno name is "Xaymaca", meaning "Land of Springs". Jamaica is part of the West Indies.
The Taino indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by "caciques" (chiefs of villages). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour.
Christopher Columbus, during his second voyage to the Americas, claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there on 5 May 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay. There is some debate as to whether he landed in St. Ann's Bay or in Discovery Bay. St. Ann's Bay was named "Saint Gloria" by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land.
In 1503, during his fourth voyage, Columbus had to spend one year on the northern coast of the island, and he named the island "Isla de Santiago" (by Sant Iago Apostol, in Spanish "Santiago").