BANNER
Statistics
- CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
Database
- World Book Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
Online version of the complete reference work along with dictionary, atlas, links, magazines, historical documents, audio, video, images, and 3D photograph
- Britannica Schools This link opens in a new window
Britannica School covers the core subject areas of English, Maths, Science and History. Interactive lessons, activities, games, stories, worksheets, manipulatives, study guides and research tools.
Independence Movements
- Kim, H., & USA, T. (n.d). Catalonia is also eyeing secession. USA Today.
The Spanish region of Catalonia could briefly steal the referendum limelight from Scotland today during demonstrations in Barcelona for those opposed to Spanish rule. - NY Times – Catalan Vote Seen as Test for Separatists in Europe (5 Aug. 2014)BILBAO, Spain — On a recent drizzly morning here, Mariano Bilbao, a retired metals worker, took part in an event for the 120th anniversary of the first hoisting of the Ikurriña, the Basque flag. But with the neighboring region of Catalonia set to hold a vote this fall on whether to break from Spain, Mr. Bilbao’s thoughts were less on the past than on the future. The Ikurriña, he hopes, will eventually fly over a new Basque nation.
- The Telegraph - Why does Catalonia want independence from Spain? (2014)Catalonia will hold a vote on whether to seek independence on November 9. But why do they want to be separate from Spain? A look at history, politics, economics and culture.
- Maxwell, J. (2014). Inside the battle for Catalan independence. New Statesman, 143(5236), 15-16.The author offers his perspectives on the November 9, 2014, non-binding independence referendum in Catalonia, Spain, and profiles the Catalan autonomy movement. Topics include groups within the region's population tending to support or oppose independence, the pro-independence political party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya's (ERC's) level of public support, and Catalonia regional president Artur Mas of the political party Convergència.
- Robinson, A. (2014). Will Catalonia secede from Spain? Nation, 299(19), 22-24.
The article discusses Catalonia's desire to succeed from Spain with details on the autonomous community's nonbinding consultation planned for November 9. Topics include details on the protest on September 11 in Barcelona, Spain in support of a referendum on independence, mention of Catalans' inspiration from the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and mention of Scotland's attempt for independence from Great Britain. - Carrera, X. V. (2014). The domain of Spain. World Affairs, 176(5), 77-83.The article discusses the possibility of Catalan independence from Spain in the context of Spanish politics. Topics include a November 13, 2003 speech by Socialist Party politician José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on Catalan independence, a November 9, 2014 independence referendum in Catalonia, and economic conditions affecting Catalan separatism.
- Rolfe, P. (n.d). Spain rejects proposal on Basque independence. Washington Post, The.MADRID, Feb. 2 -- Spain's parliament overwhelmingly rejected a plan early Wednesday to give near total independence to the Basque region, following a lengthy floor debate in which the president of the restive region made the case for the step.
- Basque protesters rally in Spain. (2011, February 20). New Zealand Herald.Tens of thousands of separatists rallied in the troubled northern Basque region on Saturday to demand from the government that it allows a newly launched pro-independence party to run in upcoming elections. Those behind the party, called Sortu, insist it rejects armed group ETA's violence and hence merits legal status and the right to field candidates in May election.
- Wall Street Journal - Self-Rule Drive Stalls in Spain's Basque CountryThe nationalist parties that rose to power in Spain's Basque Country 1½ years ago promising a peaceful path to self-rule are now finding themselves stuck, even as another northern region moves decisively toward the same goal.
- The Conservation - Basque Separatists Inch Along, Watching Catalonia Closely (2014)There was a time when Catalan separatists looked at the Basque country enviously. Its independence movement seemed to have a strength and determination that the Catalans lacked. Not anymore. The Catalan regional government and parliament have called a referendum on independence for November, two months after the Scottish referendum.
- Uranga, M. G., & Etxebarria, G. (2000). Panorama of the Basque Country and its competence for self-government. European Planning Studies, 8(4), 521-535.The aim of this article is to present a panoramic view of the Basque Country's capacity and competence for self-government. We have analysed the historical process of industrialization, the effects of the industrial crisis and new possibilities for development of the area's own regional policy based on new institutions (Government and Provincial Councils) that emerged from administrative decentralization in Spain after 1980. In the following section, we analyse the scope of authority in EU regions.
- Bew, J. (2014). Sinn Fein is still a master of sectarian one-upmanship but support for Irish unity is at an all-time low. New Statesman, 143(5199), 21.The article looks at nationalism and autonomy movements in Ireland and Scotland as of 2014, in the context of the planned referendum on Scottish independence from Great Britain. The author says that after independence in 1922, Ireland had a lower standard of living, a condition he says most Irish were willing to accept in exchange for independence from Great Britain. He questions whether nationalist feeling in Scotland is equally strong. Scottish politician Alex Salmond is cited.
- Lunau, K. (2009). No more Bavarian separatism. Maclean's, 122(24), 35.The article reports on the Bavarian separatist movement, an organization that advocates the secession of Bavaria from greater Germany. The central issue of the article is the decline in popularity of the Bavaria Party, the leading advocate for Bavarian sovereignty. The article notes that the party did not win a seat in the June 2009 election for members of the European parliament.
- Deutsche Welle - A free and independent Free State of Bavaria?If the Scots vote 'yes,' it could be a huge boost for other independence movements around Europe. Maybe even for separatists in the southern German state of Bavaria.
- Telegraph - Bavaria Party inspired by Scots in bid for German secession (2014)Bavarian nationalists claim that a Scottish vote to leave the United Kingdom would provide a major boost for their party’s 60-year campaign to win independence for the southern German state.
- Bavaria. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/273126The largest state of Germany is Bavaria, a region of green-clad mountains and fertile valleys in the southeastern part of the country.
- RT - Bavaria needs 'more control of political and economic standing in Europe' (2013)In terms of population and economy, the German State of Bavaria is bigger than many European countries. It has over 12 million people and an annual GDP of over €440 billion. German politician Wilfried Scharnagl is calling for independence for the state.
- Maclean's - Bavaria = Quebec + Alberta. Could it go it alone? (2012)Bad Kreuznach, Germany — It’s a unique region of the country—home to a people with a separate and distinct historical, linguistic, social and political culture that often puts it at odds with the rest of the country.
- BBC - East Ukraine separatists seek union with RussiaA Ukrainian separatist leader is calling on Russia to "absorb" the eastern region of Donetsk after Sunday's referendum on self-rule.
- Leonard, P. (2014, May 31). Wild power struggle in east Ukraine. Toronto Star (Canada).The scruffy rebels who normally populate the headquarters of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic were mostly out of view on Friday. In their place were members of a new faction, who showed up a day before with an armoured personnel carrier and flushed out the occupants.
- Kedmey, D. (2014). Ukraine death toll rises as gunfights rage in restive east. Time.Com, 1. Retrieved from Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre.The deaths of soldiers apparently prompted the government in Kiev to block flights to the eastern region of the country, even as it claimed to have killed a growing number of pro-Russia militants.
- Karoun, D. (2015, January 2). Ukraine leaders vow to press fight in east. Washington Post, The.To hear it from their president, the Ukrainian people have never been more determined to beat back what they see as a threat to Western civilization - all the way to the Russian border.
- Shlapentokh, D. (2006). Ukraine between west and east: the ethnic problems of post-Soviet space. World & I, 21(9), 21.The article talks about the ethnic problems in post-Soviet Ukraine. This problem has two important manifestations: the clear split between East and West, and the issue of ethnic Russians. The women from Donetsk complained that while they themselves had been working, the participants in the Orange Revolution had spent their time in demonstrations. The author states that regardless of the outcome of the election, ethnic/regional problems will persist in Ukraine.
- The Guardian - East Ukraine goes to the polls for independence referendum (2014)Polling stations have opened in a hastily organised referendum in eastern Ukraine that will ask voters whether they want to create a quasi-independent statelet from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, as violence and chaos have plunged the east of the country into what increasingly resembles the beginning of a civil war.
- Shuster, S. (2014). Ukraine powerless to act as east slips under Russian control. Time.Com, 1.With military assistance from NATO unlikely to be forthcoming and little faith in its own military or police, Ukraine has no choice but to watch as its eastern regions gradually cede control to Russia.
Walls
- Education Scotland: Hadrian's WallThe emperor Hadrian visited Britannia in AD 122 and ordered his generals to build a wall from the Tyne to the Solway.
- English Heritage: History of Hadrian's WallHadrian’s Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman empire for nearly 300 years.
- English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman FortHousesteads Roman Fort, midway along Hadrian’s Wall, is widely recognised as the most complete example of a Roman fort in Britain, and is among the best-known from the entire Roman Empire.
- English Heritage: Birdoswald Roman FortThe visible remains at Birdoswald bear witness to all parts of its 1,800-year history – from the complete circuit of Roman fort walls, Roman granaries and ‘Dark Age’ hall buildings to the foundations of a medieval tower house, a 16th-century bastle house and a Victorian romantic landscape.
- Live Science: Hadrian's WallHadrian’s Wall, located in northern England, runs between Bowness-on-Solway in the west and Wallsend in the east.
- Hadrian’s Wall. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/609617Hadrian’s Wall is a barrier in northern England. It was built by the Roman Empire to keep invaders from the north out of the ancient Roman province of Britain.
- Berlin Wall. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/310181The Berlin Wall was the barrier that surrounded West Berlin and prevented access to it from East Berlin and adjacent areas of communist East Germany during the period from 1961 to 1989.
- History: Berlin WallOn August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” between East and West Berlin.
- The construction of the Berlin WallAround 2.7 million people left the GDR and East Berlin between 1949 and 1961, causing increasing difficulties for the leadership of the East German communist party, the SED.
- Belfast's peace walls to come down. (2013, May 10). World Today, The (ABC).The imposing walls that separate Catholic and Protestant communities in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland could be a thing of the past within a decade.
- ABC - Northern Ireland's peace walls: the great divide keeping Troubles at bay (2013)More than 15 years on from what was known as the Troubles, walls, gates and fences still separate some Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland.
- Huffington Post - Why Northern Ireland's 'Peace Walls' Show No Signs Of Following Berlin's Example (2015)Like the Berlin Wall, the Cupar Way "Peace Wall" in Belfast has cut an urban landscape in half for decades. Unlike the Berlin Wall, it is regularly reviewed on Trip Advisor.
- Associated Press - For Belfast, keeping peace means a city of walls (2013)When President Obama comes to Belfast, he's expected to praise a country at peace and call for walls that separate Irish Catholics and British Protestants to come tumbling down.
- Belfast Inferface ProjectIn spring of 2011 Belfast Interface Project commissioned a piece of research carried out by the Institute for Conflict Research to identify and classify the known security barriers and associated forms of defensive architecture in residential areas of Belfast.
- BBC - Good Friday AgreementThe Good Friday Agreement brought to an end the 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as 'The Troubles'.