paragraph_text: From the 1880s to 1914, the European powers expanded their control across the African continent, competing with each other for Africa’s land and resources. Great Britain controlled various colonial holdings in East Africa that spanned the length of the African continent from Egypt in the north to South Africa. The French gained major ground in West Africa, and the Portuguese held colonies in southern Africa. Germany, Italy, and Spain established a small number of colonies at various points throughout the continent, which included German East Africa (Tanganyika) and German Southwest Africa for Germany, Eritrea and Libya for Italy, and the Canary Islands and Rio de Oro in northwestern Africa for Spain. Finally, for King Leopold (ruled from 1865–1909), there was the large “piece of that great African cake” known as the Congo, which, unfortunately for the native Congolese, became his personal fiefdom to do with as he pleased in Central Africa. By 1914, almost the entire continent was under European control. Liberia, which was settled by freed American slaves in the 1820s, and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in eastern Africa were the last remaining independent African states. (John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Volume Two: From the French Revolution to the Present, Third Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010), pp. 819–859).

paragraph_text: Country Region Membership Years Population (2016 est.) Area (km) Oil Production (bbl / day, 2016) Proven Reserves (bbl, 2016) Algeria North Africa 1969 -- 40,606,052 2,381,740 1,348,361 12,200,000,000 Angola Southern Africa 2007 -- 28,813,463 1,246,700 1,769,615 8,423,000,000 Ecuador South America 1973 -- 1992, 2007 -- 16,385,068 283,560 548,421 8,273,000,000 Equatorial Guinea Central Africa 2017 -- 1,221,490 28,051 227,000 1,100,000,000 Gabon Central Africa 1975 -- 1995, 2016 -- 1,979,786 267,667 210,820 2,000,000,000 Iran Middle East 1960 -- 80,277,428 1,648,000 3,990,956 157,530,000,000 Iraq Middle East 1960 -- 37,202,572 437,072 4,451,516 143,069,000,000 Kuwait Middle East 1960 -- 4,052,584 17,820 2,923,825 101,500,000,000 Libya North Africa 1962 -- 6,293,253 1,759,540 384,686 48,363,000,000 Nigeria West Africa 1971 -- 185,989,640 923,768 1,999,885 37,070,000,000 Qatar Middle East 1961 -- 2,569,804 11,437 1,522,902 25,244,000,000 Saudi Arabia Middle East 1960 -- 32,275,687 2,149,690 10,460,710 266,578,000,000 United Arab Emirates Middle East 1967 -- 9,269,612 83,600 3,106,077 97,800,000,000 Venezuela South America 1960 -- 31,568,179 912,050 2,276,967 299,953,000,000 OPEC Total 478,498,000 12,150,695 35,221,740 1,209,103,000,000 World Total 7,618,511,000 510,072,000 80,622,287 1,650,585,000,000 OPEC Percent 6% 2% 44% 73%

paragraph_text: Country Region Membership Years Population (2016 est.) Area (km) Oil Production (bbl / day, 2016) Proven Reserves (bbl, 2016) Algeria North Africa 1969 -- 40,606,052 2,381,740 1,348,361 12,200,000,000 Angola Southern Africa 2007 -- 28,813,463 1,246,700 1,769,615 8,423,000,000 Ecuador Americas 1973 -- 1992, 2007 -- 16,385,068 283,560 548,421 8,273,000,000 Equatorial Guinea Western Africa 2017 -- 1,221,490 28,051 227,000 1,100,000,000 Gabon Western Africa 1975 -- 1995, 2016 -- 1,979,786 267,667 210,820 2,000,000,000 Iran Middle East 1960 -- 80,277,428 1,648,000 3,990,956 157,530,000,000 Iraq Middle East 1960 -- 37,202,572 437,072 4,451,516 143,069,000,000 Kuwait Middle East 1960 -- 4,052,584 17,820 2,923,825 101,500,000,000 Libya North Africa 1962 -- 6,293,253 1,759,540 384,686 48,363,000,000 Nigeria Western Africa 1971 -- 185,989,640 923,768 1,999,885 37,070,000,000 Qatar Middle East 1961 -- 2,569,804 11,437 1,522,902 25,244,000,000 Saudi Arabia Middle East 1960 -- 32,275,687 2,149,690 10,460,710 266,578,000,000 United Arab Emirates Middle East 1967 -- 9,269,612 83,600 3,106,077 97,800,000,000 Venezuela Americas 1960 -- 31,568,179 912,050 2,276,967 299,953,000,000 OPEC Total 478,498,000 12,150,695 35,221,740 1,209,103,000,000 World Total 7,588,065,000 510,072,000 80,622,287 1,650,585,000,000 OPEC Percent 6% 2% 44% 73%

paragraph_text: During this period, Europe, North Africa and the Near East fell under increasing domination by the Roman Empire, which continued expanding, most notably conquering Britain under the emperor Claudius (AD 43). The reforms introduced by Augustus during his long reign stabilized the empire after the turmoil of the previous century's civil wars. Later in the century the Julio - Claudian dynasty, which had been founded by Augustus, came to an end with the suicide of Nero in AD 68. There followed the famous Year of Four Emperors, a brief period of civil war and instability, which was finally brought to an end by Vespasian, ninth Roman emperor, and founder of the Flavian dynasty. The Roman Empire generally experienced a period of prosperity and dominance in this period and the First Century is remembered as part of the Empire's golden age.

paragraph_text: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of United Kingdom recognises a Middle East and North Africa region, but not a Near East. Their original Middle East consumed the Near East as far as the Red Sea, ceded India to the Asia and Oceania region, and went into partnership with North Africa as far as the Atlantic.

paragraph_text: André Velter (born 1945), French poet, was born in Signy-l'Abbaye in the Ardennes région and was educated in Charleville and Paris. Having begun his first journeys in 1955 through Europe and the Middle East, he has traveled through Afghanistan, Tibet, China and India. As a result, his poetry displays a varied and colorful relation to the places, sounds and rhythms of the cultures he has visited.

paragraph_text: The trees and rivers of the Ardennes provided the charcoal industry assets that enabled the great industrial period of Wallonia in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was arguably the second great industrial region of the world, after England. The greater region maintained an industrial eminence into the 20th century, after coal replaced charcoal in metallurgy.

paragraph_text: East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 20 territories constitute Eastern Africa:

paragraph_text: Islamic architecture began in the 7th century CE, incorporating architectural forms from the ancient Middle East and Byzantium, but also developing features to suit the religious and social needs of the society. Examples can be found throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Spain and the Indian Sub-continent. The widespread application of the pointed arch was to influence European architecture of the Medieval period.

paragraph_text: Central America (Spanish: América Central, Centroamérica) is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with the South American continent on the southeast. Central America is bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The combined population of Central America is between 41,739,000 (2009 estimate) and 42,688,190 (2012 estimate).

paragraph_text: The gare de Laifour is a TER railway station in Laifour, France, in the Ardennes département. The station is served by regional trains of the TER Champagne-Ardenne on the line from Charleville-Mézières to Givet. There is no ticket machine.

paragraph_text: The origin and history of coffee dates back to the 10th century, and possibly earlier with a number of reports and legends surrounding its first use. The native (undomesticated) origin of coffee is thought to have been Ethiopia. The earliest substantiated evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree is from the 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, South India (Coorg), Persia, Turkey, Horn of Africa, and northern Africa. Coffee then spread to the Balkans, Italy and to the rest of Europe, to South East Asia and then to America.

paragraph_text: Hansapur is a Village Development Committee in Pyuthan, a "Middle Hills" district of Rapti Zone, western Nepal. The village lies to the north east of the district sharing its border mainly to Aargakhanchi. The area is mostly inhabited by Bhramins and other castes too. The village or VDC is prominently a developing area in the district with proper facilities of electricity and communication. The place is well established for ginger (Aduwa) and bee honey (Maha; local).

paragraph_text: North Dakota is in the U.S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota to the east. South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north. North Dakota is situated near the middle of North America with a stone marker in Rugby, North Dakota marking the ``Geographic Center of the North American Continent ''. With an area of 70,762 square miles (183,273 km), North Dakota is the 19th largest state.

paragraph_text: Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali (), is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over . The population of Mali is /1e6 round 1 million. 67% of its population was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017. Its capital is Bamako. The sovereign state of Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and mining. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt.

paragraph_text: Science and technology in Wallonia, the southern region of Belgium (Europe), is well developed with the presence of several universities and research institutes.

paragraph_text: Religious beliefs in the Eastern Empire and Iran were in flux during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. Judaism was an active proselytising faith, and at least one Arab political leader converted to it. Christianity had active missions competing with the Persians' Zoroastrianism in seeking converts, especially among residents of the Arabian Peninsula. All these strands came together with the emergence of Islam in Arabia during the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 632). After his death, Islamic forces conquered much of the Eastern Empire and Persia, starting with Syria in 634–635 and reaching Egypt in 640–641, Persia between 637 and 642, North Africa in the later seventh century, and the Iberian Peninsula in 711. By 714, Islamic forces controlled much of the peninsula in a region they called Al-Andalus.The Islamic conquests reached their peak in the mid-eighth century. The defeat of Muslim forces at the Battle of Tours in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate and its replacement by the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids moved their capital to Baghdad and were more concerned with the Middle East than Europe, losing control of sections of the Muslim lands. Umayyad descendants took over the Iberian Peninsula, the Aghlabids controlled North Africa, and the Tulunids became rulers of Egypt. By the middle of the 8th century, new trading patterns were emerging in the Mediterranean; trade between the Franks and the Arabs replaced the old Roman economy. Franks traded timber, furs, swords and slaves in return for silks and other fabrics, spices, and precious metals from the Arabs.

paragraph_text: Uganda (/ juː ˈɡændə / yew - GAN - də or / juː ˈɡɑːndə / yew - GAHN - də), officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south - west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.

paragraph_text: The Games have primarily been hosted in the continents of Europe (36 editions) and North America (12 editions); eight Games have been hosted in Asia and two have been hosted in Oceania. In 2016, Rio de Janeiro became South America's first Olympic host city, while the African continent is yet to hold the Games. Other major geographic regions which have never hosted the Olympics include the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

paragraph_text: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) is a non-profit organization for research and advice on Middle Eastern policy. It regards its target countries as the Middle East but adopts the convention of calling them the Near East to be in conformance with the practices of the State Department. Its views are independent. The WINEP bundles the countries of Northwest Africa together under "North Africa." Details can be found in Policy Focus #65.

Question: In the 1st century CE, who ruled much of North Africa, the Middle East and the continent where the region that shares a border with Champagne-Ardenne is located?
Answer: Roman Empire