Italian Grisons or Italian Grigioni (Italian: Grigionitaliano or Grigioni italiano; German: Italienischbünden; Romansh: Grischun talian; French: Grisons italiens) or sometimes also called Lombard Grisons (Lombard: Grison lombard, lumbard; Romansh: Grischun lumbard), is the region of the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland, in which Italian is the dominant language.
Located in the southernmost part of the canton, it comprises (from west to east) of the region of Moesa, the municipality of Bregaglia in the Region of Maloja and the region of Bernina. It has a population of about 15,000, of which more than 85% speak standard Italian or Lombard. The village and former municipality in Bivio in the district of Albula, located to the north of Bregaglia, once had an Italian-speaking plurality as well. Between 1980 and 1990, however, it was overtaken by German, which is now the majority language of the village.
At 1,659 km (641 sq mi), the Comoros is the third-smallest African country by area after São Tomé and Príncipe and Seychelles. In 2019, its population was estimated to be 850,886. The sovereign state consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all of the volcanic Comoro Islands with the exception of Mayotte. Mayotte voted against independence from France in a referendum in 1974, and continues to be administered by France as an overseas department. France has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have affirmed Comorian sovereignty over the island. Mayotte became an overseas department and a region of France in 2011 following a referendum which was passed overwhelmingly.
Antananarivo (Malagasy: [antananaˈrivʷ]; French: Tananarive, pronounced[tananaʁiv]), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (pronounced[tana]), is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "Antananarivo-Capital"), is the capital of Analamanga region. The city sits at 1,280 m (4,199 ft) above sea level in the center of the island, making it the highest national capital by elevation among the island countries. It has been the country's largest population center since at least the 18th century. The Presidency, National Assembly, Senate, and Supreme Court are located there, as are 21 diplomatic missions and the headquarters of many national and international businesses and non-governmental organizations. It has more universities, nightclubs, art venues, and medical services than any city on the island. Several national and local sports teams, including the championship-winning national rugby team, the Makis, are based here.
Antananarivo was historically the capital of the Merina people, who continue to form the majority of the city's 1,274,225 (2018 census) inhabitants. The surrounding urban areas have a total metropolitan population approaching three million. All eighteen Malagasy ethnic groups, as well as residents of Chinese, Indian, European, and other origins, are represented in the city. It was founded circa 1610, when the Merina King Andrianjaka (1612–1630) expelled the Vazimba inhabitants of the village of Analamanga. Declaring it the site of his capital, Andrianjaka built a rova (fortified royal dwelling) that expanded to become the royal palaces of the Kingdom of Imerina. The city retained the name Analamanga until the reign of King Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710), who renamed it Antananarivo ("City of the Thousand") in honor of Andrianjaka's soldiers.
The Belle Époque (French pronunciation:[bɛlepɔk]) or La Belle Époque (French for 'The Beautiful Era') was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic, it was a period characterised by optimism, enlightenment, regional peace, economic prosperity, nationalism, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In this era of France's cultural and artistic climate (particularly in Paris of that time), the arts markedly flourished, and numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre and visual art gained extensive recognition.
The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental European "Golden Age" in contrast to the violence of the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian R. R. Palmer, "European civilisation achieved its greatest power in global politics, and also exerted its maximum influence upon peoples outside Europe."
The U.S. has claimed the island as an appurtenance since 1857, based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Haiti's claim over Navassa goes back to the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 that recognized French, rather than Spanish, control of the western portion of the island of Hispaniola and other specifically named nearby islands. However, there was no mention of Navassa in the treaty detailing terms. Haiti's 1801 constitution claimed several nearby islands by name, among which Navassa was not listed, but also laid claim to "other adjacent islands", which Haiti maintains included Navassa. The U.S. claim to the island, first made in 1857, asserts that Navassa was not included among the unnamed "other adjacent islands" in the 1801 Haitian Constitution. Since the Haitian Constitution of 1874, Haiti has explicitly named "la Navase" as one of the territories it claims. It maintains that it has continuously been claimed as part of Haiti since 1801.
French language in the context of Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece
The Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece (ESAG) (French: École Suisse d'Archéologie en Grèce; German: Schweizer Archäologische Schule in Griechenland; Italian: Scuola Elvetica d'Archeologia in Grecia; Greek: Ελβετική Αρχαιολογική Σχολή στην Ελλάδα) is one of the foreign archaeological institutes operating in Greece. Since 1964, the Swiss archaeologists have been excavating the remains of the ancient site of Eretria (Euboea), a medium-sized city which has extensively contributed to the development and the influence of the Greek civilisation. Hosted in Switzerland by the University of Lausanne, the Swiss School has its head office in Athens, in an Art Nouveau building at Odos Skaramanga 4B. The school has also offices in a 19th-century neoclassical house in Eretria, Odos Apostoli 15.
A trebuchet (French: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a hinged arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weights and further distances than a traditional catapult.
There are two main types of trebuchet. The first is the traction trebuchet, or mangonel, which uses manpower to swing the arm. It first appeared in China by the 4th century BC. It spread westward, possibly via the Avars, and was adopted by the Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, and other neighboring peoples by the sixth to seventh centuries AD.