Argentine Republic

Jesuit ruins of San Ignacio in the Province of Misiones

Before the arrival of Europeans at the beginning of the 16th century, the area that is now known as Argentina had a population of about 100 000, with established settlements in the north west that were part of the Inca empire, and nomadic Indians scattered throughout the rest of the territory.  In 1516 Juan Díaz de Solís became the first European to set foot on Argentine soil, coming from the sea.  The first settlement of Buenos Aires in 1536 by Pedro de Mendoza, who came from Paraguay, was destroyed by the Indians.  Then in 1580, Buenos Aires was founded for a second and definitive time by Juan de Garay.  The colonizers brought with them the Spanish language, Catholicism and European traditions.  On May 25th 1810, the first independent government was established, however, independence was not formally declared until 9 July, 1816.  During this period and the first years of the following decade, Argentina fought to consolidate its independence and contributed through significant military campaigns to achieve the independence of neighbouring countries, Chile and Perú in particular.  From the 1820s a period of intense domestic struggle took place among political groups, which lasted until the middle of the century.  At the centre of the political dispute were the ideas of Unitarism and Federation, as well as the supremacy of Buenos Aires.

In 1833, British Forces invaded and occupied the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, a territory 500 kilometres east of the southern coast of Argentina, expelling the local government and Argentine citizens living there. ^[1]

antigua and barbuda history

It would be difficult to overestimate the impact on Antigua's history of the arrival, one fateful day in 1684, of Sir Christopher Codrington. An enterprising man, Codrington had come to Antigua to find out if the island would support the sort of large-scale sugar cultivation that already flourished elsewhere in the Caribbean.

 His initial efforts proved to be quite successful, and over the next fifty years sugar cultivation on Antigua exploded. By the middle of the 18th century the island was dotted with more than 150 cane-processing windmills--each the focal point of a sizeable plantation. Today almost 100 of these picturesque stone towers remain, although they now serve as houses, bars, restaurants and shops. At Betty's Hope, Codrington's original sugar estate, visitors can see a fully-restored sugar mill.

Most Antiguans are of African lineage, descendants of slaves brought to the island centuries ago to labor in the sugarcane fields. However, Antigua's history of habitation extends as far back as two and a half millenia before Christ. The first settlements, dating from about 2400 B.C., were those of the Siboney (an Arawak word meaning "stone-people"), peripatetic Meso-Indians whose beautifully crafted shell and stone tools have been found at dozens of sites around the island. Long after the Siboney had moved on, Antigua was settled by the pastoral, agricultural Arawaks (35-1100 A.D.), who were then displaced by the Caribs--an aggressive people who ranged all over the Caribbean. The earliest European contact with the island was made by Christopher Columbus during his second Caribbean voyage (1493), who sighted the island in passing and named it after Santa Maria la Antigua, the miracle-working saint of Seville. European settlement, however, didn't occur for over a century, largely because of Antigua's dearth of fresh water and abundance of determined Carib resistance. Finally, in 1632, a group of Englishmen from St. Kitts established a successful settlement, and in 1684, with Codrington's arrival, the island entered the sugar era.

Introduction to Andorra

The Principality of Andorra (officially known as the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra) is the sixth smallest nation in Europe and it is not a member of the European Union. Located in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by Spain and France, it is governed jointly by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain). Andorra’s estimated population of 83,888 in 2009 benefit from a favorable tax structure, making it a haven for many wealthy internationals. Its  capital  is Andorra la Vella and the official language is Catalan (Spanish, French and Portuguese are also common).

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANDORRA

Historical Periods:

1. Prehistory (3.500 B.C.-2nd. century B.C.)
2. Ancient Age (2nd century B.C. till 7th century A.D.)
3. Middle Age (700 A.D.-1.1512 A.D.)
4. Modern Age (1.512 A.D.-1.899 A.D.)
5. Twentieth Century 

1. Prehistory (3.500 B.C.-2nd. century B.C.)

There are no findings regarding populations in this area during the Paleolithic age, nevertheless nomad tribes crossed undoubtedly the area at that time. The valleys in the Pyrenees where inhabitated at a later time. The prehistoric glacial period delayed the population of the area.

the history of algeria

Prehistory of Central North Africa:

Early inhabitants of the central Maghrib (also seen as Maghreb; designates North Africa west of Egypt) left behind significant remains including remnants of hominid occupation from ca. 200,000 B.C. found near Saïda. Neolithic civilization (marked by animal domestication and subsistence agriculture) developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghrib between 6000 and 2000 B.C. This type of economy, so richly depicted in the Tassili-n-Ajjer cave paintings in southeastern Algeria, predominated in the Maghrib until the classical period. The amalgam of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into a distinct native population that came to be called Berbers. Distinguished primarily by cultural and linguistic attributes, the Berbers lacked a written language and hence tended to be overlooked or marginalized in historical accounts. North Africa During the Classical Period: Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around 900 B.C. and established Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) around 800 B.C. During the classical period, Berber civilization was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organization supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Berbers in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also brought about the enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and the extraction of tribute from others. The Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars, and in 146 B.C. the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew. By the second century B.C., several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. Berber territory was annexed to the Roman Empire in A.D. 24. Increases in urbanization and in the area under cultivation during Roman rule caused wholesale dislocations of Berber society, and Berber opposition to the Roman presence was nearly constant. The prosperity of most towns depended on agriculture, and the region was known as the “granary of the empire.” Christianity arrived in the second century. By the end of the fourth century, the settled areas had become Christianized, and some Berber tribes had converted en masse.

the history of albania

The Albania was inhabited since prehistoric times, as various archaeological finds.The progenitors of Albanians are the Illyrians, indigenous population that occupied a very large territory, from the Danube to the Balkans. This generation has played an important role in the political events of the Mediterranean way.
The first manifestations of this civilization go back to ‘start of the second millennium BC, when they were frequent wars between tribes. That is the Illyrians were soon forced to join in alliances, so that their territory is soon transformed into a powerful state. Historical illustrious, as Demosthenes and Strabo, remember the value of these “tigers of war”. In particular Strabo, which described all the Illyrian tribes, the appointment of Albanet. Around 1000 BC, the Illyrians occupied the territory of Albania History a kingdom. The clash with Rome, which sought to extend its control over ‘Adriatic, it was inevitable: the Illyrian-Roman wars, started in 229 BC Ended in 167 BC With the victory in Rome. The Illyrian people was reduced to slavery and its territory was split into small units’ administrative. The decadence of Rome and the barbarian invasions

(V sec. – XIV century).

After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, the Albanians were assigned territories of the East. In the same year pero ‘began a tragic series of barbaric raids: Visigoths, Huns, Ostrogoths is returning in Illyria, Macedonia and Greece. Finally, toward the end of the sixth century tribes Slave of Serbs reached the Albanian territory where many established independent principalities canceling from Albanian history and much of the population, assimilating. Only South Illyrians resisted the hurricanes Time to reappear on the scene a few centuries later as the Albania.

A Brief History of Afghanistan

By Adam Ritscher
This was delivered as a speech at a Students Against War teach-in in Duluth, Minnesota (USA)

The story of Afghanistan is in so many ways a very tragic one. Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished nations of the world. It is one of the most war-torn, most ravaged, and most beleaguered of nations. It is a nation that has been beset by invasion, external pressure and internal upheaval since before the time of Alexander the Great. Its people are a people who have endured more than most of us can ever imagine. In fact, for many Afghanis, all that has changed in the last one thousand years are the weapons which have been used against so many of them. It is therefore with great sadness and respect that I tell the story of Afghanistan.