paragraph_text: Forty - three countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 2008 and 2011 editions. Russia returned after their absence from the previous edition, and for the first time since 2011, no country withdrew from the contest.

paragraph_text: Tucker was born in Arizona and graduated from New York University. After the short subject film "The Mountain King", which was screened at over 31 international festivals, he wrote and directed his first feature film, "Transamerica". His book "Many Fish" is published by Ascent, and his photos and pictures are exhibited at many New York art galleries.

paragraph_text: This is a list of countries and territories with a flag that incorporates the Union Jack. Six Commonwealth nations have the Union Jack on their national flag. The first Commonwealth country to drop the Union Jack was Canada in 1965, after adopting a new national flag. The most recent country to drop the Union Jack from its flag was South Africa in 1994, after adopting a new national flag. The only overseas territory without the Union Jack on its current flag is Gibraltar.

paragraph_text: Kamilla and the Thief ("Kamilla og Tyven") is a Norwegian family movie from 1988 directed by Grete Salomonsen and produced by her husband Odd Hynnekleiv. The movie is an adaption from a Norwegian children's novel by Kari Vinje, and is the first feature film of renowned Norwegian actor Dennis Storhøi and also stars 1980s pop idol Morten Harket in a minor role. "Kamilla and the Thief" was a huge success in Norway, selling half a million tickets (in a country of about 4 million people). It was so popular that a sequel was made, Kamilla and the Thief II, which was released the year after. In 2005 both movies were digitally restored and released on DVD.

paragraph_text: The flag of Israel, depicting a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment. The origins of the flag's design date from the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the flag has subsequently been known as the ``flag of Zion ''.

paragraph_text: Many flags of the Islamic world are green, as the color is considered sacred in Islam (see below). The flag of Hamas, as well as the flag of Iran, is green, symbolizing their Islamist ideology. The 1977 flag of Libya consisted of a simple green field with no other characteristics. It was the only national flag in the world with just one color and no design, insignia, or other details. Some countries used green in their flags to represent their country's lush vegetation, as in the flag of Jamaica, and hope in the future, as in the flags of Portugal and Nigeria. The green cedar of Lebanon tree on the Flag of Lebanon officially represents steadiness and tolerance.

paragraph_text: The Messenger is a 2002 Novel by Markus Zusak, and winner of the 2003 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award.

paragraph_text: The Book Thief is a 2013 World War II war drama film directed by Brian Percival and starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse. The film is based on the 2005 novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and adapted by Michael Petroni. The film is about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era. Taught to read by her kind - hearted foster father, the girl begins ``borrowing ''books and sharing them with the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents in their home. The film features a musical score by Oscar - winning composer John Williams.

paragraph_text: The book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury and in the United States by Scholastic; in both countries the release date was 8 July 2000, the first time a book in the series was published in both countries at the same time. The novel won a Hugo Award, the only Harry Potter novel to do so, in 2001. The book was made into a film, which was released worldwide on 18 November 2005, and a video game by Electronic Arts.

paragraph_text: Helen Epstein (born 1961) is an American writer, molecular biologist, and independent consultant specializing in public health in developing countries. She has conducted research on reproductive health and AIDS in Africa for such organizations as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Population Council, and Human Rights Watch, and her articles have appeared in "The New York Review of Books", "The New York Times Magazine", "Granta Magazine", and many other publications. Her research interests include the right to health care in developing countries and the relationship between poverty and health in industrialized countries.

paragraph_text: The Book Thief Theatrical release poster Directed by Brian Percival Produced by Karen Rosenfelt Ken Blancato Screenplay by Michael Petroni Trudy White (novel) Based on The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Starring Geoffrey Rush Emily Watson Sophie Nélisse Narrated by Roger Allam Music by John Williams Cinematography Florian Ballhaus Edited by John Wilson Production company Fox 2000 Pictures Sunswept Entertainment Studio Babelsberg TSG Entertainment Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date October 3, 2013 (2013 - 10 - 03) (Mill Valley Film Festival) November 27, 2013 (2013 - 11 - 27) (United States) Running time 130 minutes Country United States Germany Language English German Budget $19 million Box office $76.6 million

paragraph_text: Thirty nations sent competitors, which was the highest number of participants at a Winter Games. New Zealand and Portugal took part in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time. Australia, Germany, and Japan returned after a 16-year absence. South Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey competed in 1948 but did not participate in the 1952 Games.

paragraph_text: A record total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 member nations of the Asian Games Federation participated in the Games. The number of participating countries was also greatest in comparison to the first two editions of the Games.

paragraph_text: In 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words ``my Flag ''to be changed to`` the Flag of the United States,'' so that new immigrants would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and the US. The words ``of America ''were added a year later. Congress officially recognized the Pledge for the first time, in the following form, on June 22, 1942:

paragraph_text: New Zealand Use National flag and state ensign Proportion 1: 2 Adopted 24 March 1902 In use since 1869 Design A Blue Ensign with the Southern Cross of four white - edged red five - pointed stars centered on the outer half of the flag.

paragraph_text: After the Communist Party of China took power in 1949, the flag of China became a red flag with a large star symbolizing the Communist Party, and smaller stars symbolizing workers, peasants, the urban middle class and rural middle class. The flag of the Communist Party of China became a red banner with a hammer and sickle, similar to that on the Soviet flag. In the 1950s and 1960s, other Communist regimes such as Vietnam and Laos also adopted red flags. Some Communist countries, such as Cuba, chose to keep their old flags; and other countries used red flags which had nothing to do with Communism or socialism; the red flag of Nepal, for instance, represents the national flower.

paragraph_text: Being the host nation, Australia sent a contingent of 474 athletes, participating in all of the 18 sports staged. Though only 469 competed. This was the highest number of athletes to represent Australia in a Commonwealth Games ever, eclipsing their previous record of 417 athletes at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Hockey athlete Mark Knowles was the country's flag bearer during the opening ceremony.

paragraph_text: ``Ticks ''is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released in March 2007 as the first single from the album 5th Gear. It reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart and was featured as a downloadable track for the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour. Paisley wrote this song with Kelley Lovelace and Tim Owens.

paragraph_text: Demon Thief is a book in Darren Shan's "Demonata" series. Though it is the second book in the series, it is a prequel to "Lord Loss", the first book in the series. The protagonist is also different from that of the first book. The narrator here is a new character called Kernel Fleck, as opposed to Grubbs Grady, the protagonist of the first book. Demon Thief takes place about thirty years before "Lord Loss" so most of the characters from the first book did not appear, though a few did. It was also actually the sixth book of the Demonata to be written, although it was the second released.

paragraph_text: Each country's delegation is led by a sign with the name of their country and by their nation's flag. Traditionally, Greece always enters first and leads the parade because of its historical status as the progenitor of the Olympics, and the host nation enters last. All other participating teams enter after Greece and before the host nation, in order according to a language selected by the organizing committee for those games, which is usually the dominant language in the area of the host city. Announcers announce each country's name in English, French and the dominant language of the area of the host city, if neither English nor French is the dominant language.

Question: How many stars are on the flag of the nation that first participated in the 1952 Olympics, located near the citizen country of the author of the 2005 novel Thief?
Answer: four