nomad9 - travel

chronicle 2 - country profile liberia

noreply@blogspirit.com (nomad9) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 00:32:24 +0200

liberia is one of the african countries i am starting to take a closer look at. so please find an edited information from different websites about liberia:

Liberia is Africa's oldest republic, but it became better known in the 1990s for its long-running, ruinous civil war and its role in a rebellion in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Although founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, Liberia is mostly made up of indigenous Africans, with the slaves' descendants comprising 5% of the population.

The West African nation was relatively calm until 1980 when William Tolbert was overthrown by Sergeant Samuel Doe after food price riots.

The coup marked the end of dominance by the minority Americo-Liberians, who had ruled since independence, but heralded a period of instability.

By the late 1980s, arbitrary rule and economic collapse culminated in civil war when Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) militia overran much of the countryside, entering the capital in 1990. Mr Doe was executed.

Fighting intensified as the rebels splintered and battled each other, the Liberian army and West African peacekeepers. In 1995 a peace agreement was signed, leading to the election of Mr Taylor as president.
The respite was brief, with anti-government fighting breaking out in the north in 1999. Mr Taylor accused Guinea of supporting the rebellion. Meanwhile Ghana, Nigeria and others accused Mr Taylor of backing rebels in Sierra Leone.

Matters came to a head in 2003 when Mr Taylor - under international pressure to quit and hemmed in by rebels - stepped down and went into exile in Nigeria. A transitional government steered the country towards elections in 2005.

Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia's civil war and many thousands more fled the fighting. The conflict left the country in economic ruin and overrun with weapons. The capital remains without mains electricity and running water. Corruption is rife and unemployment and illiteracy are endemic.

The UN maintains some 15,000 soldiers in Liberia. It is one of the organisation's most expensive peacekeeping operations.

Population: 3.6 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Monrovia
Area: 99,067 sq km (38,250 sq miles)
Languages: English, 29 African languages belonging to the Mande, Kwa or Mel linguistic groups
Major religions: Christianity, Islam, indigenous beliefs
Life expectancy: 41 years (men), 43 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents
Main exports: Diamonds, iron ore, rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa
GNI per capita: US $110 (World Bank, 2005)
Internet domain: .lr
International dialling code: +231

President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

US-educated economist and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won the second round of presidential elections in November 2005 and in January 2006 she was inaugurated as Africa's first elected woman head of state. The poll was intended to draw a line under Liberia's war.

Her rival, the footballer and political novice George Weah, alleged fraud. International observers said the vote had been broadly free and fair.
Known in Liberia as the "Iron Lady", Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf drew much of her support from women voters, and from Liberia's small educated elite. She faces the twin challenges of trying to rebuild the country and of fostering reconciliation. One of her priorities is to reintegrate into society former child soldiers. She has declared a "zero tolerance" of corruption.

The president served as finance minister under President William Tolbert in the late 1970s and fled the country after the Tolbert government was overthrown. She has worked for the UN and the World Bank.

Some of the opposition to Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf stems from her one-time association with former Liberian leader Charles Taylor. She briefly supported the then warlord in his quest to overthrow military leader Samuel Doe.

Born in 1938, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a widowed mother-of-four.

Vice president: Joseph Nyuma Boakai
Foreign minister: George Wallace
Finance minister: Antoinette Sayeh

Years of civil war left Liberia's broadcasters and publishers with the task of repairing damage caused by fighting and looting and the need to find resources to pay staff.

The state-run broadcaster has no television service and operates a single radio service. The station does not have national coverage.

Many private radio stations were shut down by former president Charles Taylor, leaving the airwaves dominated by stations run by Mr Taylor's Liberian Communication Network (LCN).

In its heyday LCN ran a TV service, FM radio stations, a shortwave radio station and two newspapers.

Community radio stations are on the air, some of them run with the support of international agencies.

The press

The Inquirer - private daily
The News - private daily
The Analyst - private daily
The Heritage - private weekly
Poll Watch - private daily
The Independent - private daily
Television

DC TV - private
Radio

ELBC - state-run, operated by Liberian Broadcasting System
Star Radio - FM and shortwave station, operated in partnership with Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation
UNMIL Radio - operated by United Nations mission
Kiss FM - private Monrovia station
DC 101 - private Monrovia station
Radio Veritas - Catholic station
ELWA - Christian station
Sky FM - private Monrovia station
News agency

Liberian News Agency

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and a chronology of events:

1847 - Constitution modelled on that of the US is drawn up.

Monrovia: Capital is striving to recover after 14-year conflict
Founded 1822 as haven for freed slaves from Americas
Named after US President James Monroe
Population: 543,000 (2002)

1847 July - Liberia becomes independent.

1917 - Liberia declares war on Germany, giving the Allies a base in West Africa.

1926 - Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company opens rubber plantation on land granted by government. Rubber production becomes backbone of economy.

1936 - Forced-labour practices abolished.

1943 - William Tubman elected president.

1944 - Government declares war on the Axis powers.

1951 May - Women and indigenous property owners vote in the presidential election for the first time.

1958 - Racial discrimination outlawed.

1971 - Tubman dies and is succeeded by William Tolbert Jr.

INDEPENDENCE
[Providence] will miraculously make Liberia a paradise...
President J J Roberts, 1847
Listen to a reading of his inaugural address
1974 - Government accepts aid from the Soviet Union for the first time.
1978 - Liberia signs trade agreement with the European Economic Community.

1979 - More than 40 people are killed in riots following a proposed increase in the price of rice.

Years of instability

1980 - Master Sergeant Samuel Doe stages military coup. Tolbert and 13 of his aides are publicly executed. A People's Redemption Council headed by Doe suspends constitution and assumes full powers.

Samuel Doe: Leader of 1980 coup was killed in 1990
1984 - Doe's regime allows return of political parties following pressure from the United States and other creditors.
1985 - Doe wins presidential election.

1989 - National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor begins an uprising against the government.

1990 - Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) sends peacekeeping force. Doe is executed by a splinter group of the NPFL.

1991 - Ecowas and the NPFL agree to disarm and set up an Interim Government of National Unity.

1992 - The NPFL launches an all-out assault on West African peacekeepers in Monrovia, the latter respond by bombing NPFL positions outside the capital and pushing the NPFL back into the countryside.

Tentative ceasefire

1993 - Warring factions devise a plan for a National Transitional Government and a ceasefire, but this fails to materialise and fighting resumes.

1994 - Warring factions agree a timetable for disarmament and the setting up of a joint Council of State.

1995 - Peace agreement signed.

1996 April - Factional fighting resumes and spreads to Monrovia.

CHARLES TAYLOR
Taylor and his forces in 1990, during the rebellion against Doe
1996 August - West African peacekeepers begin disarmament programme, clear land mines and reopen roads, allowing refugees to return.
1997 July - Presidential and legislative elections held. Charles Taylor wins a landslide and his National Patriotic Party wins a majority in the National Assembly. International observers declare the elections free and fair.

Border fighting

1999 January - Ghana and Nigeria accuse Liberia of supporting Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone. Britain and the US threaten to suspend aid to Liberia.

1999 April - Rebel forces thought to have come from Guinea attack town of Voinjama. Fighting displaces more than 25,000 people.

1999 September - Guinea accuses Liberian forces of entering its territory and attacking border villages.

2000 September - Liberian forces launch "massive offensive" against rebels in the north. Liberia accuses Guinean troops of shelling border villages.

2001 February - Liberian government says Sierra Leonean rebel leader Sam Bockarie, also known as Mosquito, has left the country.

2001 May - UN Security Council reimposes arms embargo to punish Taylor for trading weapons for diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone.

2002 January - More than 50,000 Liberians and Sierra Leonean refugees flee fighting. In February Taylor declares a state of emergency.

Rebel offensives

2003 March - Rebels advance to within 10km of Monrovia.

2003: Citizens run for cover as rebels, government forces clash
2003 June - Talks in Ghana aimed at ending rebellion overshadowed by indictment accusing President Taylor of war crimes over his alleged backing of rebels in Sierra Leone.
2003 July - Fighting intensifies; rebels battle for control of Monrovia. Several hundred people are killed. West African regional group Ecowas agrees to provide peacekeepers.

Taylor in exile

2003 August - Nigerian peacekeepers arrive. Charles Taylor leaves Liberia after handing power to his deputy Moses Blah. US troops arrive. Interim government and rebels sign peace accord in Ghana. Gyude Bryant chosen to head interim administration.

2003 September-October - US forces pull out. UN launches major peacekeeping mission, deploying thousands of troops.

2004 February - International donors pledge more than $500m in reconstruction aid.

2004 October - Riots in Monrovia leave 16 people dead; the UN says former combatants were behind the violence.

2005 June - UN extends a ban on Liberian diamond exports - a source of funding for the civil war.

2005 September - Liberia agrees that the international community should supervise its finances in an effort to counter corruption.

2005 23 November - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes the first woman to be elected as an African head of state. She takes office the following January.

2006 February - Truth and Reconciliation Commission is set up to investigate human rights abuses between 1979 and 2003.

2006 April - Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, appears before a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone on charges of crimes against humanity.

edited by Jose Pascal da Rocha, www.proconsensus.org, from website such as bbc.co.uk., crisisgroup.org

chronicle 1 - bulgaria

noreply@blogspirit.com (nomad9) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 00:22:57 +0200

hi there! from now one, i will post once in a while information about my travel destinations, to give you a general idea on the observations i made, or just to share infos and documentation over a certain city, region, country and culture. bear with me if sometimes i might expect a lot from you, but i didn't always have time to translate all of the info i got. please do not hesitate to ask me for a revised abstract or excerpt of what i am trying to explain.
to start with: a recent east european, i visited not long ago: bulgaria.

Länderinformationen: Bulgarien (Бългapия)

Amtliche Bezeichnung:

Republika Balgarija (Republik Bulgarien)

Hauptstadt:

Sofia.

Weitere größere Städte:

Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse (...)

Einwohner:

ca. 8,2 Mio. (davon 1,1 Mio. in Sofia)

Fläche:

110 993 km²

Verwaltungsgliederung:

9 Regionen (Oblast): Stadt Sofia, Region Sofia (Pernik, Kjustendil, Blagoevgrad), Region Plovdiv (Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Smolian), Region Haskovo (Haskovo, Stara Zagora, Kardjali), Region Burgas (Burgas, Yambol, Sliven), Region Varna (Varna, Shoumen, Dobrich), Region Ruse (Ruse, Silistra, Razgrad), Region Lovech (Lovech, Pleven, Gabrovo), Region Montana (Montana, Vratsa, Vidin).

Amtssprache:

Bulgarisch.
Das Bulgarische ist eine südslawische Sprache. Hauptdialekte sind Ost- und Westbulgarisch. Es wird die kyrillische Schrift verwendet.

Religion:

ca. 86% Bulgarisch-orthodoxe Christen, 13% Muslime

Politik:

Bulgarien ist seit 1991 parlamentarische Republik.

Die Regierung von Bulgarien.

Das Parlament von Bulgarien.

Der Präsident von Bulgarien.

Parteien: Vereinigte Demokratische Kräfte (ODS), Nationale Bewegung Simeon II. (NDSW), Sozialisten (SP), "Bewegung für Recht und Freiheit" (DPS; Partei der türkischen Minderheit) u.a.

Konstitucionen sad - Verfassungsgericht

Währung:

1 Lew (Lw) = 100 Stotinki (St.)

FX Converter von oanda.com

Wirtschaft & Finanzen:

Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ministerstvo na ikonomikama - Wirtschaftsministerium.

Ministerstvo na financite - Finanzministerium.

Balgarska Narodna Banka - Bulgarian National Bank.

Privatization Agency Bulgaria.

Foreign Investment Agency Bulgaria.

Die deutschen Außenhandelskammern.

National Center for Information and Documentation (NACID).

International Fair Plovdiv.

Verkehr:

BALKAN Bulgarien Airlines.

Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ).

Bildung & Wissenschaft:

Sofijski universitet Sv. Kliment Ohridski - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, (...)

Kultur:

SLOVOTO, die virtuelle Bibliothek bulgarischer Literatur (die meisten Texte sind nur auf Bulgarisch, eine englische Version ist im Aufbau);
bulgarische Schriftsteller: Jordan Jowkow (1880-1937) u.a.

Alles über bulgarische Musik der Richtungen Klassik, Folk, Pop, Rock und Jazz gibt es im Bulgarian Music Guide.

Alles über den bulgarischen Film: B'lgarskijat kino sajt.

Ministerstvo na kulturata - Ministerium für Kultur.

Geschichte:

681-1018: Erstes Bulgarisches Reich (Staatsgründer: Chan Asparuch), 864 nimmt Boris I. das Christentum an.

1018-1185: Bulgarien steht unter byzantinischer Herrschaft.

1187-1393: Zweites Bulgarisches Reich.

1393-1876: Bulgarien steht unter der Herrschaft des Osmanischen Reiches.

1878: Nach dem Russisch-Türkischen Krieg (1877-1878) erlangt Bulgarien im Frieden von San Stefano die Unabhängigkeit vom Osmanischen Reich. Dies wird jedoch nach dem Berliner Kongress teilweise revidiert: Das nördliche Bulgarien wird ein autonomes Fürstentum, bleibt aber dem Osmanischen Reich tributpflichtig. (Dagegen wird den Fürstentümern Rumänien, Serbien und Montenegro die Unabhängigkeit bestätigt) Alexander von Battenberg wird zum Fürsten gewählt. Das durch den Berliner Vertrag entstandene Ostrumelien (=Südbulgarien mit damaliger Hauptstadt Plovdiv) bleibt osmanische Provinz.

1885: Vereinigung Bulgariens mit Ostrumelien. Serbisch-Bulgarischer Krieg.

1908: Prinz Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (Nachfolger Battenbergs) erklärt Bulgarien zu einem unabhängigen Königreich und läßt sich zum Zaren krönen.

1912: Bulgarien, Serbien, Griechenland und Montenegro schließen sich zum Balkanbund zusammen und greifen im 1. Balkankrieg die Türkei an, um das türkische Makedonien für sich zu gewinnen. Die Türkei muss als Verlierer den Großteil seines europäischen Gebietes abtreten.

1913: Bulgarien beginnt wegen eines Streits um die Aufteilung Makedoniens den 2. Balkankrieg gegen Serbien und Griechenland. Im Frieden von Bukarest verliert Bulgarien die zuvor gewonnenen Gebiete und muß die [Süddobrudscha] an Rumänien abtreten. Makedonien kommt an Serbien und Griechenland, Adrianopel zurück an die Türkei.

1915-1918: Bulgarien schließt sich im Ersten Weltkrieg den Mittelmächten (Deutschland und Österreich-Ungarn) an und beteiligt sich an der Niederwerfung Serbiens und Rumäniens. Die Süddobrudscha erhält es zurück. 1918 Waffenstillstand mit der Entente (Frankreich, England, Russland). Zar Boris III. wird Nachfolger seines Vaters.

1919: Bulgarien muß im Frieden von Neuilly die Süddobrudscha erneut an Rumänien abtreten. Ostthrakien kommt an Griechenland und Strumica (Stadt in Mazedonien) an Serbien. Präsident A. Stambulijski wird 1923 gestürzt und ermordet.

1935: Nach einem Militärputsch (1934) und der Auflösung der politischen Parteien folgt eine autoritäre Regierung unter Zar Boris III.

1940: Bulgarien schließt sich den Achsenmächten an und gestattet deutschen Truppen gegen territoriale Versprechen den Durchmarsch nach Jugoslawien und Griechenland. Die Süddobrudscha erhält es auf deutschen Druck (2. Wiener Schiedsspruch) von Rumänien zurück.

1943: Tod Boris III., sein minderjähriger Sohn Simeon II. wird König.

1944: (Sept.) Die Sowjetunion erklärt Bulgarien den Krieg, Einmarsch sowjetischer Truppen. Machtübernahme durch die kommunistische "Vaterländische Front". Bulgarien erklärt dem Deutschen Reich den Krieg.

1945-48: Bulgarien wird Volksrepublik mit Georgi Dimitrov als Regierungschef. Ebenso wie in den anderen ehemaligen Feindstaaten der UdSSR (Rumänien und Ungarn) werden Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft nach sowjetischem Vorbild umgestaltet. Abschaffung der Monarchie, König Simeon II. wird aus Bulgarien vertrieben.

1947: Im Friedensvertrag von Paris werden die Grenzen von 1940 bestätigt.

1954: Todor Živkov wird Generalsekretär der KP. Innen- und außenpolitisch erfolgt eine enge Anlehnung an die Sowjetunion.

1989: Schwere Unruhen, Ausreise Hunderttausender bulgarischer Türken (Živkov betrieb eine minderheitenfeindliche Politik). Živkov wird durch reformorientierte kommunistische Kräfte gestürzt.

1990: Bei den ersten freien Wahlen setzen sich zunächst die reformbereiten Kommunisten durch. Bis Mitte der 90er Jahre gibt es zahlreiche Regierungswechsel.

1996: Petar Stojanov (von der Oppositionsartei ODS) wird zum Präsidenten gewählt. Bankenkrise.

1997-2001: Nach Wirtschafts- und politischer Krise (Stürmung des Parlaments) Reformen unter Ministerpräsident Kostov.

2001: Simeon Sakskoburggotski (der frühere Zar Simeon II.) wird neuer Ministerpräsident.

2004: NATO-Beitritt

(...)

New York Pictures, Vol. 2

noreply@blogspirit.com (nomad9) — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:34:00 +0100

visit the next consecutive visit to new york: wonderful images, thanks to twinsister72!

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2119383150&mode=invite

New York Pictures

noreply@blogspirit.com (nomad9) — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 04:40:00 +0100

new york is always a good place to be. check out these pics and the other new york album to discover more:

< http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2119542757&mode=invite >

by twinsister72

Taking the sub: mta in nyc vs. kvb in köln

noreply@blogspirit.com (nomad9) — Sun, 22 May 2005 02:37:22 +0200

hi there! hard to cope, i know, but taking the subway in one of the world's largest cities is by no means even more frustrating than getting upset about the mediocre kvb (kölner verkehrsbetriebe = kommt vielleicht bald) in cologne (köln). it seems to me that someone at mta (metropolitan transportation authority) took it wrong when analyzing the transportation needs of resident new-yorkers, he kind of found out that you ought to be creative if you want to survive in this city. the fact is that you also have to be creative when taking the subway. you think you could take a local 6 train from canal street uptown to spring street? in theory, this is a wonderful thought - but in real-life, the 6, supposingly local, which means = stop at every stupid ramp, is bypassing, literally flying all over the different stops, so you find yourself back in a remote location and wonder if you should have thought about taking your passport with you so you could cross without a prob the canadian border.
anyway,....for those living in cologne, it should be a feel-good revelation that there is more than just waiting for trains that are announced but never arrive: having trains, that arrive, but take you to no-man's-land! that is the great apple!
bye