Podgorica

Monday, 03 December 2012

Boban Rajovic - Podgorica ²⁰¹¹ █▬█ █ ▀█▀ (lyrics)

Hey you! What song are you listening to? Podgorica, Montenegro

Steve's Hostel - Steve Hein and Luka - Podgorica Montenegro from Berlin-Istanbul.com #20

Audi A4, Podgorica - Budva WATCH IN HD!!!

Podgorica, Montenegro by Border Movers, August 28, 2012

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Abkhazia
Abkhazia (Abkhaz: Аҧсны́ Apsny, IPA /apʰsˈnɨ/; Georgian: აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti; Russian: Абхазия Abkhaziya) is a disputed territory on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.
Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny. This status is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu and also by the partially recognised states of South Ossetia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Georgian government and the majority of the world's governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia's territory. Under Georgia's official designation it is an autonomous republic, called the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, whose government sits in exile in Tbilisi. On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution declaring Abkhazia a "Russian-occupied territory".
The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict. The wider region formed part of the Soviet Union until 1991. As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate towards the end of the 1980s, ethnic tensions grew between Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. This led to the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia that resulted in a Georgian military defeat, de facto independence of Abkhazia and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia. In spite of the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations, the status dispute has not been resolved, and despite the long-term presence of a United Nations monitoring force and a Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping operation, the conflict has flared up on several occasions. In August 2008, the sides again fought during the South Ossetia War, which was followed by the formal recognition of Abkhazia by Russia, the annulment of the 1994 cease fire agreement and the termination of the UN and CIS missions.^{[citation needed]}

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Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea ( /ˌeɪdriˈætɨk/) is a body of water separating the Apennine Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. Its coasts are part of (in decreasing order of coastline length without islands) Croatia, Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. The Adriatic contains over 1300 islands, mostly located along its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins—the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres (4,045 ft). The Otranto Sill, a decrease in depth, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western (Italian) coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the former collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the latter, acting as a dilution basin. The surface water temperatures generally range from 24 °C (75 °F) in summer to 12 °C (54 °F) in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin's climate.

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Adriatic coast
The Adriatic Sea ( /ˌeɪdriˈætɨk/) is a body of water separating the Apennine Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. Its coasts are part of (in decreasing order of coastline length without islands) Croatia, Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. The Adriatic contains over 1300 islands, mostly located along its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins—the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres (4,045 ft). The Otranto Sill, a decrease in depth, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western (Italian) coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the former collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the latter, acting as a dilution basin. The surface water temperatures generally range from 24 °C (75 °F) in summer to 12 °C (54 °F) in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin's climate.

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Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea ( /ˌeɪdriˈætɨk/) is a body of water separating the Apennine Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. Its coasts are part of (in decreasing order of coastline length without islands) Croatia, Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. The Adriatic contains over 1300 islands, mostly located along its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins—the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres (4,045 ft). The Otranto Sill, a decrease in depth, is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto, along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western (Italian) coast. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because the former collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the latter, acting as a dilution basin. The surface water temperatures generally range from 24 °C (75 °F) in summer to 12 °C (54 °F) in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin's climate.

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Albania
Albania (ⁱ/ælˈbeɪniə/ al-BAY-nee-ə, Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria; Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia), officially known as the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë pronounced Albanian pronunciation: [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a country in Southern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.
Albania is a member of the UN, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, World Trade Organisation, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founding members of the Union for the Mediterranean. Albania has been a potential candidate for accession to the European Union since January 2003, and it formally applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009.

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Amsterdam
Amsterdam (English /ˈæmstərdæm/; Dutch: [ˌɑmstərˈdɑm] ( listen)) is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The city's status as the capital of the nation is governed by the constitution. Amsterdam has a population of 790,654 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,289,762. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.
Amsterdam's name is derived from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were formed. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam (in Dutch: 'Grachtengordel'), located in the heart of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010.

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Andorra
Andorra (ⁱ/ænˈdɔrə/; Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdorə], locally: [anˈdɔra]), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km² (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 84,082 in 2009. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.
The Principality was formed in 1278. The role of monarch is exercised jointly by the two co-princes, the Catalan Bishop of Urgell and the President of France (the whole state is a part of Diocese of Urgell).
Andorra is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and also because of its status as a tax haven. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. The people of Andorra have the 4th highest human life expectancy in the world — 82 years at birth.

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Andorra la Vella
Andorra la Vella (Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdorə ɫə ˈβeʎə], locally: [anˈdɔra la ˈβeʎa]) is the capital of the Principality of Andorra, and is located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital.
As of 2011, the city has a population of 22,256, and the urban area, which includes Escaldes-Engordany plus satellite villages, has over 40,000 inhabitants.
The principal industry is tourism, although the country also earns foreign income from being a tax haven. Furniture and brandies are local products. Being at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft), it is the highest capital city in Europe and a popular ski resort.
The site of Andorra la Vella (literally, "Andorra the Old") has been settled since prior to the Christian era—notably by the Andosin tribe from the late Neolithic. The state is one of the Marca Hispanica created and protected by Charlemagne in the eighth century as a buffer from the Moorish settlers in the Iberian Peninsula.

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Andrijevica
Andrijevica (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Андријевица, pronounced [andrǐjɛv̞it͡sa]) is a town and municipality in eastern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,073 (2003 census). Its territory is outspread on 340 km2 and it is surrounded by massives of mountains Komovi, Bjelasica and Prokletije.
Andrijevica is the centre of Andrijevica Municipality (population of 5,785) and is considered unofficial centre of Vasojevići region.
The town of Andrijevica is a relatively new settlement, as its first rudiments begin in the middle of the nineteenth century. However, the territory the municipality is for a long time the area of human activity and space with numerous settlements that appeared and disappeared during the history.
Archaeological research of the Institute for monuments protection from Cetinje in 1956, it was discovered that traces of materialculture from Neolithic period exist in Berane valley. In addition, traces of the Illyrian culture were found also, so it can be assumed that the environment of Andrijevica was ecumenical space of numerous groups of people. Remainders of Roman settlements are also present in Berane valley, as well as in the vicinity of Andrijevica town.

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Ankara
Ankara (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈan.ka.ɾa]; historically known as Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 938 metres (3,077 ft), and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.
Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city. It is the center of the Turkish Government, and houses all foreign embassies. It is an important crossroads of trade, strategically located at the centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city was famous for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), Angora rabbits and their prized wool (Angora wool), pears, honey, and the region's muscat grapes.
The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a rocky hill, which rises 150 m (492 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East (39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333Coordinates: 39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333), about 450 km (280 mi) to the southeast of Istanbul, the country's largest city. Although situated in one of the driest places of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation except for the forested areas on the southern periphery, Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, which is 72 m² per head.

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Armenia
Armenia ⁱ/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.

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Astana
Astana (Russian/Kazakh: Астана, formerly known as Akmola (Kazakh: Ақмола / Aqmola, until 1998), Целиноград / Tselinograd until 1992) and Akmolinsk (Russian: Акмолинск, until 1961), is the capital and second largest city (after Almaty) of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010. It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though administrated separately from the province as a federal city area.
The current mayor of Astana is Imangali Tasmagambetov. He was appointed on 4 April 2008.
The word Astana in Kazakh literally means Capital but the word itself originates from Persian Astane (Persian: آستانه‎ means "sublime threshold," "royal porte" implying a royal capital city or a holy shrine town, (from the Persian verb Istadan (آستان) 'to stand' (in respect)), and literally means "threshold" (royal or sacred, where people stand in respect or awe),^{[citation needed]} implying where the court is seated (the capital city) or the body of a sacred person is interred (a shrine town). The city of Turkistan in Kazakhstan that hosts the body of the saint Ahmad Yasavi is also called the "astana" as is the city of Mashhad in Iran that is the burial place of the 8th Shiite Imam Reza. In fact, long before becoming the new capital of Kazakhstan, the city was "an astana," a burial ground of a saint, hence the old name of the city, Ak Mola (Ақмола), "white mausoleum."

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (ⁱ/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.

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Baku
Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı, IPA: [bɑˈcɯ]), sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City (21.5 ha). Baku's urban population at the beginning of 2009 was estimated at just over two million people. Officially, about 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country live in the metropolitan city area of Baku.
Baku is divided into eleven administrative districts (raions) and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 km (37 mi) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking, Baku is also among the world's top ten destinations for urban nightlife.

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Bar, Montenegro
Bar (Montenegrin/Serbian: Bar or Бар, pronounced [bâr]) is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727 (2011 census). Bar is the centre of municipality and a major seaport of Montenegro.
In Montenegrin and Serbian, the town is known as Bar (Бар); in Italian as Antivari or Antibari; in Albanian as Tivari; in Greek as Antivarion (Αντιβάριον) or Thivárion (Θηβάριον); and in Latin as Antibarium. The name of this city is connected to Bari, Italy as those cities are located on opposite sides of the Adriatic sea.
Like most Montenegrin towns, throughout its history Bar has belonged to various civilizations and cultures. What makes it stand out among Montenegrin towns today is that it is representative of several of the cultures that it belongs to, and in some cases had belonged to for centuries. Here, the heritage of one epoch would become the ground for development of the next. In the new heritage one could always clearly recognize the achievements of its predecessor.
As a city of olives, the sea gate of Montenegro, long-lasting melting-pot of different confessions and nations, Bar represents a mix of modernity, tradition and beauty. It is an important and dynamic economic centre within Montenegro, but is also a town of rich cultural and historical tradition. Some of the highest achievements of Montenegro’s civilization originated in Bar. The oldest written documents and the most important work of medieval Montenegrin literature and history can be found here. The town also served as the seat of the oldest religious institution of Montenegro (the Bar archbishopric). One of the world’s oldest olive trees grows here, the Old Olive of Mirovica, which is more than 2000 years old.

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Belarus
Belarus (ⁱ/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-ROOSS; Belarusian: Беларусь, Russian pronunciation: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ] Russian: Беларусь, Белоруссия, Belarus', Belorussiya), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Vitsebsk). Over forty percent of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
Until the 20th century, the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries, including the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Belarus became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). The borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were incorporated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland. The nation and its territory were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.

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Belgium
Belgium (ⁱ/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.

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Belgrade
Belgrade ( /ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Београд; [beǒɡrad] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Its name in English translates to White city. The city proper has a population of over 1.1 million, while its metropolitan area has over 1.6 million people, making it one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe.
One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved around the area Belgrade in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it became the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of a the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. The north of Belgrade remained a Habsburg outpost until 1918, when it was merged into the capital city. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.

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Belgrade Arena
The Belgrade Arena (Serbian: Београдска арена) is an indoor arena located in Novi Beograd, Belgrade. It is designed as a universal hall for sport, cultural events and other programs. With a total space that covers 48,000 square metres, and an official total capacity of 20,000 seats (for handball, volleyball, basketball and other events), it is one of the largest indoor arenas in the world. Maximum capacity can be up to 20.000 - 25.000, depending on the event being held. Its cost was estimated at €70 million. The Belgrade Arena is the largest member (by capacity) of the European Arenas Association.
In 1989, The City of Belgrade was chosen to host the Basketball World Championship of 1994. However, there was a condition for the city to build an all-new basketball arena. The city government immediately started a competition to find the best design of the new arena that was supposed to have a seat capacity of 20,000. The design submitted by Belgrade architect Vlada Slavica was chosen as the best.

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Belgrade–Bar railway
The Belgrade–Bar railway (Serbian: Пруга Београд-Бар or Pruga Beograd-Bar) is a railway connecting the Serbian capital of Belgrade with the town of Bar, a major seaport in Montenegro.
The Belgrade–Bar railway is a standard gauge railway, 476 km long. Of this length, 301 km of the railway goes through Serbia, and 175 km through Montenegro. It is electrified along the entire corridor (25 kV, 50 Hz AC). It passes through 254 tunnels of total length of 114,435 m and over 435 bridges (total length 14,593 m). The longest tunnels are "Sozina" (6.17 km) and "Zlatibor" (6.17 km). The biggest and the best known bridge is Mala Rijeka viaduct, 498 m long and 198 m above ground level.
The highest point of the railway is at 1,032 m (3,386 ft) AMSL, at town of Kolašin. The railway descends to 40 m AMSL at Podgorica in a relatively short distance, thus the gradient of 25‰ on this section.
A small 9 km section of the railway actually passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the town of Štrpci, but the trains do not stop there.

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Berane
Berane (Cyrillic: Беране, pronounced [bɛ̂ranɛ]), formerly Ivangrad, is a town in eastern Montenegro. It has a population of 11,073 living in the urban area (2011 census).
Berane is the centre of the municipality, which has a population of 33,970 and one of the regional centres of Polimlje area, named after the Lim River, on which Berane is situated.
During the medieval period the Montenegrin land of Berane was known as Budimlja. It was of great holistic, political, and economic importance in the Serbian state of Raška. Saint Sava, the first Serbian archbishop, founded here one of the first Serbian episcopates in 1219. The Monastery Đurđevi Stupovi was built by the end of 12th century by Prvoslav, the son of Nemanja's brother Tihomir. Many monasteries and churches tell the story on the rich holistic life of Serbs in this area. There were seven bishops and nine metropolitans. Literary and painting schools existed in this Monastery. Apart from Đurđevi Stupovi, the second most important monastery in this area was Sudikovo, which was destroyed and burned by the Turks in 1738.

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Berlin
Berlin ( /bɜrˈlɪn/; German pronunciation: [bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ( listen)) is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.5 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city and is the second most populous city proper and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 5.9 million residents from over 190 nations. Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.
First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945).Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—the capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.

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Brussels
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ( listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.

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Bucharest
Bucharest (Romanian: București pronounced [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ( listen)) is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389Coordinates: 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.4325°N 26.10389°E / 44.4325; 26.10389, and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.
Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of "Little Paris" (Micul Paris). Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom..

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Budapest
Budapest ( /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/ or /ˈbʊdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, the largest in East-Central Europe and the seventh largest in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. According to 2011 Census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.
The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918. After the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, when Hungary lost 72% of its former territory, culturally and economically the country became wholly Budapest-dominated. The capital dominates the country both by the size of its population—which dwarfs those of Hungary's other cities Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.

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Bulgaria
Coordinates: 42°45′N 25°30′E / 42.75°N 25.5°E / 42.75; 25.5
Bulgaria ⁱ/bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ (Bulgarian: България, IPA: [bɤ̞ɫˈɡarijɐ]), is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and the Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe's 14th-largest country. Its location has made it a historical crossroad for various civilisations and as such it is the home of some of the earliest metalworking, religious and other cultural artifacts in the world.
Prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history was marked by the presence of the Thracians, and later by the Greeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian ethnicity and state dates back to the First Bulgarian Empire, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavic peoples during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five hundred years. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 resulted in the Third Bulgarian State, recognised in 1908. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both World Wars. In 1946 it became a Communist republic with a single-party system until 1989, when the Communist Party allowed multi-party elections. After 1990 Bulgaria transitioned to democracy and a market-based economy.

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Cetinje
Cetinje (Montenegrin: Цетиње / Cetinje; Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [tsětiɲe]) is a town and Old Royal Capital of Montenegro. It is also a historical and the secondary capital of Montenegro (Приjестоница / Prijestonica), with the official residence of the President of Montenegro. It had a population of 13,991 as of 2011.
It is the centre of municipality (population 16,757 in 2011). The city nestles on a small karst plain surrounded by limestone mountains, including Mt. Lovćen, the Black Mountain from which Montenegro gets its name.
Cetinje is a town of immense historical heritage, founded in the 15th century. It became the center of Montenegrin life and both a cradle of Montenegrin culture and a Serbian Orthodox religious center. It is because of its heritage as a long-term Montenegrin capital that it is today the honorary capital of Montenegro.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Цетинѣ / Cetině (archaic) or Цетиње / Cetinje (modern); in Italian as Cettigne; in Greek as Κετίγνη (Ketígni); and in Turkish as Çetince.

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Chişinău
Chișinău (Romanian pronunciation: [kiʃiˈnəw]; historically also known as Kishinev, from Russian: Кишинёв) is the capital and largest city of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc. According to January 2012 official estimates, Chișinău proper has a population of 723,500 and the municipality of Chișinău is home to 794,800 residents.
Chișinău is the most economically prosperous locality in Moldova, and its largest transportation hub. As the most economically and socially important municipality in Moldova, the city has a broad range of educational facilities.
The origin of the city's name is unclear. In one version, the name comes from the archaic Romanian word chișla (meaning "spring", "source of water") and nouă ("new"), because it was built around a small spring, located at the corner of Pushkin and Albișoara streets.
An alternative version, by Ștefan Ciobanu, Romanian historian and academician, holds that the name was formed the same way as the name of Chișineu (alternative spelling: Chișinău) in Western Romania, near the border with Hungary. Its Hungarian name is Kisjenő, from which the Romanian name originates. Kisjenő in turn comes from kis "small" + the "Jenő" tribe, one of the seven Hungarian tribes that entered the Carpathian Basin in 896 and gave the name of 21 settlements.

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City of San Marino
The City of San Marino, also known simply as San Marino, is the capital city of the Republic of San Marino on the Italian peninsula, near the Adriatic Sea. The city has a population of 4,493. It is on the western slopes of San Marino's highest point, Monte Titano.
Although the capital, most of the businesses are in Borgo Maggiore. It is the third largest city in the country, after Dogana and Borgo Maggiore. It borders the San Marino municipalities Acquaviva, Borgo Maggiore, Fiorentino, and Chiesanuova and the Italian municipality San Leo.
Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj San Marino is centered here.
Due to its being the capital and previously the only city in San Marino, the history of this city is almost the same as the History of San Marino. For more information on that topic, see that article.
The city was founded by Saint Marinus and several Christian refugees in the year 301. From then on the city became a center of Christian refugees who fled from Roman persecution. As a result, the city become the oldest republic in Europe, for the republic's territory at that time only included the single city of San Marino.

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Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( /ˈkoʊpənheɪɡən/ or /ˈkoʊpənhɑːɡən/; Danish: København pronounced [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn] ( listen), Latin: Hafnia) is the capital of Denmark and its most populous city, with an urban population of 1,213,822 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)^[update]) and a metropolitan population of 1,935,746 (as of 1 April 2012 (2012 -04-01)^[update]). With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region. Within this region, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are growing into a combined metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager.
First documented in the 11th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century. During the 17th century, under the reign of Christian IV, it became a significant regional centre.
Copenhagen is a major regional centre of culture, business, media, and science, as indicated by several international surveys and rankings (see International rankings below). Life science, information technology and shipping are important sectors, and research & development plays a major role in the city's economy. Its strategic location and excellent infrastructure, with the largest airport in Scandinavia,Kastrup, located 14 minutes by train from the city centre, have made it a regional hub and a popular location for regional headquarters and conventions.

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Croatia
Croatia (ⁱ/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatia's Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The country's population is 4.29 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism.
In the early 7th century the Croats arrived in area of present-day Croatia. They organised the state into two dukedoms by the 9th century. Tomislav became the first king by 925 AD, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria–Hungary and co-founded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II as a fascist puppet state. After the war, Croatia became a founding member and a federal constituent of the Second Yugoslavia, a socialist state. In June 1991, Croatia declared independence, which came into effect on 8 October of the same year. The Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration.

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Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies are self-governing possessions of the British Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.
Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom nor of the European Union.
"The Crown" is defined differently in each Crown Dependency. In Jersey, statements in the 21st century of the constitutional position by the Law Officers of the Crown define it as the "Crown in right of Jersey", with all Crown land in the Bailiwick of Jersey belonging to the Crown in right of Jersey and not to the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. Legislation of the Isle of Man defines the "Crown in right of the Isle of Man" as being separate from the "Crown in right of the United Kingdom". In Guernsey, legislation refers to the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick", and the Law Officers of the Crown of Guernsey submitted that "The Crown in this context ordinarily means the Crown in right of the république of the Bailiwick of Guernsey" and that this comprises "the collective governmental and civic institutions, established by and under the authority of the Monarch, for the governance of these Islands, including the States of Guernsey and legislatures in the other Islands, the Royal Court and other courts, the Lieutenant Governor, Parish authorities, and the Crown acting in and through the Privy Council." This constitutional concept is also worded as the "Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey".

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Cyprus
Cyprus ⁱ/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.

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Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (ⁱ/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.

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Danilovgrad
Danilovgrad (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Даниловград, pronounced [dǎnilɔv̞ɡraːd]) is a town in central Montenegro. It has a population of 5,208 (2003 census). It is situated in the Danilovgrad Municipality which lies along the main route between Montenegro's two largest cities, Podgorica and Nikšić.
The town of Danilovgrad is located in the fertile valley of the Zeta River, sometimes called also the Bjelopavlići plain, after the name of the local clan. It is the centre of the municipality, which has a population of 16,523.
In the place of Danilovgrad, there are remains of Gradina (Martinići), remains can be found of the ruler Petar Gojniković. The court was built by prince Mutimir, who was also once buried in there, also from the dynasty of Vlastimirović (Višeslavić). Gradina is also a prominent seat from the Nemanjić period, believed to be the birthplace of Prince Rastko, also known as Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Danilovgrad was founded with the purpose of being the capital of Montenegro. Foundations for this planned city were first laid by King Nikola I in 1870. However, after the cities of Nikšić and Podgorica where taken from Bosnia and Albania, respectively, during the Congress of Berlin its significance diminished. It got its name after Nicholas' predecessor Prince Danilo.

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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.

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Douglas, Isle of Man
Coordinates: 54°08′43″N 4°28′54″W / 54.14521°N 4.48172°W / 54.14521; -4.48172
Douglas (Manx: Doolish) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people (2006). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping bay of two miles. The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour and main commercial port.
Douglas is home to the High Courts and the Isle of Man Government.
The town serves as the Island's main hub for business, finance, legal services, shipping, transport, shopping, and entertainment.
The discovery of a bronze weapon in central Douglas, and the large Ballaquayle Viking treasure hoard on the outskirts, both in the 1890s, hint at the early importance of the site now occupied by Douglas. Scholars agree that the name of the town derives from Early Celtic 'Duboglassio' meaning 'black river'. Douglas is twice referred to in the Monastic 'Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles'; first in 1192, when the monks of St Mary's Abbey at Rushen, were transferred there for a four-year stay, then again in 1313, when Robert (Bruce), King of Scotland, spent the night at the 'monastery of Duglas' on his way to seize Castle Rushen. These may be references to the site of the later Nunnery, a little upstream from the port.

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Dublin
Dublin ( /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland. The English name for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.
Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.

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Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (pronounced [dǔbroːʋnik], note that the stress is on the first syllable) is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641 (census 2011). In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, also known as a Maritime Republic (together with Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, Venice and other Italian cities), it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries.
The beginning of tourism in Dubrovnik is often associated with the construction of the late 19th-century luxury hotels in Croatia, such as Grand Hotel (1890) in Opatija and the Hotel Imperial (1897) in Dubrovnik. According to CNNGo, Dubrovnik is among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world and among the 10 best places in the world for a fairytale proposal of the Valentine's Day. Although Dubrovnik was demilitarised in the 1970s to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for 7 months and received significant shelling damage.

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Faroe Islands
Coordinates: 62°00′N 06°47′W / 62°N 6.783°W / 62; -6.783
The Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroyar pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ], Danish: Færøerne Danish pronunciation: [ˈfæɐ̯øːˀɐnə]) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland. The islands form a self-governing country under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. The total area is approximately 1,400 km² (540 sq mi) with a 2010 population of almost 50,000 people.
The Faroe Islands has been a self-governing dependency of Denmark since 1948. Over the years, the Faroese have taken control of most domestic matters. Areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, police, justice, currency and foreign affairs. The Faroe Islands also has representatives in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation.
The Faroe Islands were associated with and taxed by Denmark and Norway up to 1814, when Norway fell under the rule of Sweden. Scandinavia was in political turmoil following the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in 1814. The Danish trade monopoly ended in 1856.

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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finland ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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FRY
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY): Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY; Serbian: Савезна Република Југославија, СРЈ; Savezna Republika Jugoslavija, SRJ). In 2003, it was reconstituted as a political union called the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (Serbian: Државна Заједница Србија и Црна Гора, СЦГ; Državna Zajednica Srbija i Crna Gora, SCG).
The FRY aspired to be a sole legal successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but those claims were opposed by other former republics. The United Nations also denied its request to automatically continue the membership of the former state. Eventually, after the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević from power as president of the federation in 2000, the country rescinded those aspirations and accepted the opinion of Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession, and reapplied for and gained UN membership on November 2, 2000. From 1992 to 2000, some countries, including the United States, referred to the FRY as "Serbia and Montenegro".

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Georgia (country)
Georgia ⁱ/ˈdʒɔrdʒə/ (Georgian: საქართველო Sakartvelo, IPA: [sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ] ( listen)) is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 km² and its population is almost 4.7 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.
During the classical era independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. A unified Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 11th–12th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire. After a brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia was occupied by Soviet Russia in 1921, becoming the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic and part of the Soviet Union. After independence in 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s. This lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, after which the new government introduced democratic and economic reforms.

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Germany
Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

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Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( /dʒɨˈbrɒltər/) is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6.8 square kilometres (2.6 sq mi) and a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was an important base for the Royal Navy; today its economy is based largely on tourism, financial services, and shipping.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and again in 2002. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.

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Greece
Greece ⁱ/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).

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Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey ( /ˈɡɜrnzi/ GURN-zee; French: Bailliage de Guernesey, IPA: [bajaʒ də ɡɛʁnəzɛ]), is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, and Lihou. Furthermore, the Bailiwick includes Alderney and Sark, which each has its own parliament.
Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Bailiwick of Guernsey is not part of the UK; and while it participates in the Common Travel Area, it is not part of the European Union.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is included (along with the Bailiwick of Jersey) in the grouping known as the Channel Islands.
The name of Guernsey, as well as that of neighbouring Jersey, is of Old Norse origin. The second element of Guernsey (-ey) is the Old Norse for "island". Guern similar to Spanish "Cuerno", French "Coi(r)n", Dutch "Hoorn", Frisian "Hoarn", Swedish "Hörn", Swiss "Gorn" means "Corner". - Corner Island.

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Helsinki
Helsinki ( listen (help·info); Swedish: Helsingfors, listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 596,233 (31 January 2012), making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is located some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of St. Petersburg, Russia and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area includes the city of Helsinki and three other cities: Espoo and Vantaa, which immediately border Helsinki to the west and north, respectively; and Kauniainen, which is an enclave within the city of Espoo. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the world's northernmost urban area among those with a population of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of a EU member state. Altogether 1.1 million people, approximately one in five Finns, live in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

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Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Херцег Нови; pronounced [xěrtseɡ nôʋiː]) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants. Herceg Novi was known as Castelnuovo ("New castle" in Italian) between 1420 and 1797 when it was part of the Albania Veneta of the Republic of Venice. Herceg Novi has had a turbulent past, despite being one of the youngest settlements on the Adriatic. A history of varied occupations has created a blend of diverse and picturesque architectural style in the city. The City Administration is formed by a coalition of the SNP, SNS, NS and DSS political parties.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Herceg Novi or Херцег Нови; in Italian as Castelnuovo; and in Greek as Νεοκαστρον (Neòkastron).
Herceg Novi was founded (on a former small fishing village existing since Roman Empire times) as a fortress in 1382 by Bosnian King Stjepan Tvrtko I and was called Sveti Stefan or Castelnuovo. After the death of Tvrtko, Duke Sandalj Hranić of the Herzegovinian Kosačas acquired Castelnuovo. During his reign, Herceg Novi picked up trading salt. When Hranić died, his nephew, Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, inherited Castelnuovo. Under Stjepan, Castelnuovo expanded and thus became a city, renaming it to Herceg Novi. The Turks conquered Herceg Novi in 1482, and ruled for 200 years, until 1687. However, there was a short pause between 1538 and 1539 when it was overtaken by the Spaniards after the Siege of Castelnuovo.

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Hungary
Hungary ⁱ/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).

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Iceland
Iceland ⁱ/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km² (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.

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Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( /ˈmæn/; Manx: Ellan Vannin, pronounced [ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn]), otherwise known simply as Mann (Manx: Mannin, IPA: [ˈmanɪn]), is a self-governing Crown Dependency of the United Kingdom, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom, but its foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the UK Government. Although the United Kingdom does not usually interfere in the island's domestic matters, its "good government" is ultimately the responsibility of the Crown (that is, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom).
The island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD, and the Manx language, a branch of the Gaelic languages, gradually emerged. In the 9th century, the Norse began to settle there. A Norse-Gaelic culture arose and the island came under Norse control. In 1266, the island became part of Scotland as formalised by the Treaty of Perth. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal overlordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of Great Britain or its successor the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing Crown dependency.

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Istanbul
Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is considered capital. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe.
Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on the Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.

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Italy
Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

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Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, French: Bailliage de Jersey ( /ˈdʒɜrzi/, French: [ʒɛʁzɛ]; Jèrriais: Jèrri), is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs.
Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems.
The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands. Although the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to collectively as 'the Channel Islands', they are not a constitutional or political unit. Jersey has a separate relationship to the British Crown from the other Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It is not part of the United Kingdom, and has an international identity separate from that of the UK but the United Kingdom is constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey. Jersey is not a part of the European Union but has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods.

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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (ⁱ/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.

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Kolašin
Kolašin (Montenegrin and Serbian: Колашин / Kolašin, pronounced [kɔlǎʃin]), is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census).
Kolašin is the centre of the municipality (population 9,949) and unofficial centre of Morača region, named after Morača River.
Kolašin, fortress-settlement, was raised by the Turks in the middle of the 17th century in the namesake village in Nikšić district (nahiye). The village of Kolašin was first mentioned in the Sultan's Decree in 1565, by which the deceased Grand Duke Miloš was replaced by his son Todor. The Turkish town was named after the former village of Kolašin.
In 1651, Patriarch Gavrilo assigned Eparch of Zahumsko, the Eparchy of Nikšić, Plana, the Kolašinovićevs and the Morača to Basil of Ostrog. This document also, like the one from 1667, shows that the Orthodox Christian population of this region called the Kolašinovići, was organized in a recognized and respected tribal community of the Kolašinovićs. The historical science and sources recognize the surname Kolašinović. By all odds, the name was also derived, same as the name of the region, fortress - settlement and the tribe from the same source—the village of Kolašin.

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Konik, Montenegro
Coordinates: 42°26′18″N 19°16′55″E / 42.43824°N 19.2819°E / 42.43824; 19.2819Konik (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Коник) is a suburb located in the Podgorica, in the Republic of Montenegro. Konik is the largest suburb in capital of Montenegro.

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Kosovo
Kosovo ( /ˈkɒsəvoʊˌ ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/; Albanian: Kosovë, Kosova; Serbian: Косово or Косово и Метохија or Космет, Kosovo or Kosovo i Metohija or Kosmet) is a region in southeastern Europe. In antiquity, it was known as the independent kingdom, and later Roman province, of Dardania. Part of the medieval Serbia, it was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire, later incorporated into Serbia after the First Balkan War and before the constitution of Yugoslavia, later still it became the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija) within Serbia (Serbia then being one of the constituent republics of Yugoslavia). Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations have left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1999. Following the Kosovo War, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) relinquished governance of this territory, whose governance was taken over by the United Nations, Kosovo remained legally the sovereign territory of the FRY after the transfer of authority. The partially recognised Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово, Republika Kosovo), a self-declared independent state, has de facto control over most of the territory, while North Kosovo, the largest Kosovo Serb enclave, is under the control of institutions of the Republic of Serbia.Serbia does not recognise the unilateral secession of Kosovo and considers it a UN-governed entity within its sovereign territory.

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Kotor
Kotor (Montenegrin: Котор / Kotor, pronounced [kɔ̌tɔr]) is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality.
The old Mediterranean port of Kotor is surrounded by an impressive city wall built by the Republic of Venice and Venetian influence remains predominant in the city's architecture. The Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska; Bocche di Cattaro), one of the most indented parts of the Adriatic Sea, is sometimes called the southern-most fjord in Europe (though it is actually a submerged river canyon). Together with the nearly overhanging limestone cliffs of Orjen and Lovćen, Kotor and its surrounding area form an impressive and picturesque Mediterranean landscape.
In recent years, Kotor has seen a steady increase in tourists, many of them coming by cruise ship. Visitors are attracted both by the natural beauty of the Gulf of Kotor and by the old town of Kotor itself.
Kotor is part of the World Heritage Site dubbed the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor.

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Latvia
Latvia ⁱ/ˈlætviə/ (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (border length 343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), to the southeast by Belarus (141 km), and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden. With 2,067,887 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi) it is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian and the currency is called Lats (Ls). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.
The Latvians are a Baltic people, culturally related to the Lithuanians. Together with the Finno-Ugric Livs (or Livonians), the Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia.Latvian is an Indo-European language and along with Lithuanian the only two surviving members of the Baltic branch. Indigenous minority languages are Latgalian and the nearly extinct Finno-Ugric Livonian language. In terms of geography, territory and population Latvia is the middle of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history: historical Livonia, times of German (Teutonic Order), Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, Nazi German and Soviet rule, 13th century Christianization and 16th century Protestant Reformation. Both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia) of whom some are non-citizens. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant, except for the region of Latgalia in the southeast which is historically predominantly Roman Catholic.

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Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (ⁱ/ˈlɪktənstaɪn/ LIK-tən-styn; German: Fürstentum Liechtenstein, German pronunciation: [ˈfʏʁstn̩tuːm ˈlɪçtn̩ʃtaɪn]) is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan. Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity, and has the world's lowest external debt. Liechtenstein also has the second lowest unemployment rate in the world at 1.5% (Monaco is first).
Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest (by measure of GDP per capita) German-speaking country in the world and the only country to lie entirely within the Alps. It is known as a principality as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince. Liechtenstein is divided into 11 municipalities. Much of its terrain is mountainous, making it a winter sports destination. Many cultivated fields and small farms characterize its landscape both in the south (Oberland, upper land) and in the north (Unterland, lower land). The country has a strong financial sector located in the capital, Vaduz, and has been identified as a tax haven. It is a member of the European Free Trade Association and part of the European Economic Area, the Schengen Area but not of the European Union.

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Lithuania
Lithuania (ⁱ/ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ or /ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and a Russian exclave (Kaliningrad Oblast) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3.2 million as of 2011, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

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Ljubljana
Ljubljana (locally: [lʲubˈlʲana] ( listen); German: Laibach, Italian: Lubiana, Latin: Labacum or Aemona) is the capital of Slovenia and its only centre of international importance. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. With approximately 272,000 inhabitants, it classifies as the only Slovenian large town. Throughout its history, it has been influenced by its geographic position at the crossroads of the Slavic world with the Germanic and Latin cultures.
For centuries, Ljubljana was the capital of the historical region of Carniola. Now it is the cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative centre of Slovenia, independent since 1991. Its transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and cultural tradition are contributing factors to its leading position.

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London
London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

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Longyearbyen
Coordinates: 78°13′N 15°39′E / 78.22°N 15.65°E / 78.22; 15.65
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard, Norway. As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040. Longyearbyen is located in the valley of Longyeardalen and on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. The town is also the seat of the Governor of Svalbard and is the world's northernmost town.
Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after John Munroe Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal mining operations in 1906. Operations were taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) in 1916, which still conducts mining. The town was almost completely destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1943, but was rebuilt after the Second World War. Traditionally, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations have moved to Sveagruva since the 1990s, while the town has seen an large increase in tourism and research. This has seen the arrival of institutions such as the University Centre in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. The community is served by Svalbard Airport, Longyear and Svalbard Church.

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Luxembourg
Luxembourg (ⁱ/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.

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Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerg, German: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City (Luxembourgish: Stad Lëtzebuerg, French: Ville de Luxembourg, German: Stadt Luxemburg), is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.
Luxembourg City lies at the heart of Western Europe, situated 213 km (132 mi) by road from Brussels, 372 km (231 mi) from Paris, 209 km (130 mi) from Cologne, and 65 km (40 mi) from Metz in northeast France.
As of 2011, the commune of Luxembourg City had a population of 94,034, which was almost three times the population of the country's second most populous commune. The city's metropolitan population, including that of surrounding communes of Hesperange, Sandweiler, Strassen, and Walferdange, is 103,973.

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Madrid
Madrid (English /məˈdrɪd/, Spanish: [ma'ðrid]) is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third largest in the European Union after London and Paris. The city spans a total of 604.3 km² (233.3 sq mi).
The city is located on the Manzanares river in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political centre of Spain. The current mayor is Ana Botella from the People's Party (PP).
Madrid urban agglomeration has the 3rd largest GDP in the European Union and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, Iberia or Repsol. Madrid is the most touristic city of Spain, the fourth-most touristic of the continent, and is the 10th most livable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2010 index. Madrid also ranks among the 12 greenest European cities in 2010. Madrid is currently a Candidate City for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

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Malta
Malta ⁱ/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km² (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.
Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.

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Mariehamn
Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.
The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. The city is located on a peninsula, and has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Mariehamn Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Jomala, some 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Mariehamn city centre.

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Minsk
Coordinates: 53°54′N 27°34′E / 53.9°N 27.567°E / 53.9; 27.567
Minsk (Russian: Минск, [mʲinsk]; Belarusian: Мінск, pronounced [minsk]) is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus; it is also the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblast) and Minsk raion (district). It has a population of 1,836,808 inhabitants (2009).
The earliest historic references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.
From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919–1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.

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Mojkovac
Mojkovac (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Мојковац, pronounced [mɔ̌ːjkɔv̞at͡s]) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 4,120 (2003 census). Mojkovac is also the centre of the municipality, which has a population of 10,066.
Mojkovac is on the west bank of the river Tara between the mountains Bjelasica and Sinjajevina. It is near the old mining town of Brskovo. During rule of King Stefan Uroš Nemanjić there was a money foundry there, from which Mojkovac got its name.
Mojkovac is famous for the Battle of Mojkovac (1916) where the Montenegrin army defeated the more powerful, Austro-Hungarian army.
Mojkovac has some tourism. As the Tara River is near Mojkovac, there is also white water rafting. The Monastery of Saint George in Dobrilovina, is the most important cultural and historic monument; it dates back to 1592.
Mojkovac has a station on Belgrade - Bar railway. It is also at the intersection of the main road connecting Montenegro's coast and Podgorica with northern Montenegro and Serbia (E65, E80), and the road leading towards Žabljak and Pljevlja. Mojkovac is on the west bank of the Tara River, between the mountains of Bjelasica and Sinjajevina. The old mining village of Brskovo is nearby. Brskovo is one of the oldest mines in the region.

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Moldova
Moldova ⁱ/mɒlˈdoʊvə/, officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: Republica Moldova pronounced [reˈpublika molˈdova]) is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991 as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 29 July 1994, the new constitution of Moldova was adopted. A strip of Moldova's internationally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.
The nation is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

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Monaco
Monaco ⁱ/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 15 km (9.3 mi) north east of Nice, France. It has an area of 1.98 km² (0.76 sq mi), and a population of 35,986, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco has a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi) and 349 metres (382 yards). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km² (0.79 sq mi), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.

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Montenegro
Montenegro (ⁱ/ˌmɒntɨˈneɪɡroʊ/ or /ˌmɒntɨˈniːɡroʊ/; or /ˌmɒntɨˈnɛɡroʊ/; Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора [tsr̩̂ːnaː ɡɔ̌ra] ( listen), meaning "Black Mountain") is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the southeast. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica (Пријестоница), meaning the former Royal Capital City.
In the 10th century, there existed three Slavic principalities on the territory of Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia, the north. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in independence of Duklja and the establishment of the Vojislavljević dynasty. Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislav's son, Mihailo (1046–81), and his son Bodin (1081–1101). By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm, which at the time was part of the Serbian Grand Principality of the Nemanjić dynasty.

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Morača
Morača (Cyrillic: Морача, pronounced [mɔ̌ratʃa]) is a river in Montenegro. It originates in northern Montenegro, under Rzača mountain. It generally flows southwards for some 113 km (70 mi), before emptying into Lake Skadar.
In its northern part, the Morača is a fast mountain river, and has cut a canyon north of Podgorica. After merging with its largest tributary, Zeta, just north of Podgorica, the Morača enters the Zeta plain. It flows through this flat area of Montenegro until it empties into Lake Skadar.
The Morača is a relatively small river, rarely more than 100 m (330 ft) wide and mostly shallow, so it is generally not navigable. Its canyon is currently a corridor for the main road leading from Montenegro's coast and Podgorica to northern Montenegro and Serbia. This road is considered very dangerous, and will likely be bypassed in future by a motorway which is currently being planned.
The Morača River is considered one of the symbols of Podgorica, and is the biggest river that flows through the city. It is featured on some flags and country symbols.

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Morača River
Morača (Cyrillic: Морача, pronounced [mɔ̌ratʃa]) is a river in Montenegro. It originates in northern Montenegro, under Rzača mountain. It generally flows southwards for some 113 km (70 mi), before emptying into Lake Skadar.
In its northern part, the Morača is a fast mountain river, and has cut a canyon north of Podgorica. After merging with its largest tributary, Zeta, just north of Podgorica, the Morača enters the Zeta plain. It flows through this flat area of Montenegro until it empties into Lake Skadar.
The Morača is a relatively small river, rarely more than 100 m (330 ft) wide and mostly shallow, so it is generally not navigable. Its canyon is currently a corridor for the main road leading from Montenegro's coast and Podgorica to northern Montenegro and Serbia. This road is considered very dangerous, and will likely be bypassed in future by a motorway which is currently being planned.
The Morača River is considered one of the symbols of Podgorica, and is the biggest river that flows through the city. It is featured on some flags and country symbols.

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Morača Sports Center
Morača Sports Center (Montenegrin: Sportski centar Morača, Спортски центар Морача) is a sport venue located in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The venue is located in the new part of Podgorica, on the right bank of Morača River, after which it got its name. Construction of this sports complex began in 1978, and various sport facilities are scattered across a five hectare area.
Indoor facilities consist of:
Outdoor facilities:
Large hall serves as main indoor arena in Podgorica. It is best known as home of Budućnost basketball, volleyball and handball teams.
It hosted six preliminary-round games of EuroBasket 2005. For this occasion, the venue underwent major refurbishment to meet the standards imposed by FIBA.
With immense growth of popularity of water polo in Montenegro, two brand new open air swimming pools were added to the facility in 2009, which hosted 2009 FINA Water Polo World League.
Besides being a sports venue, Morača Sports Center also hosts various concerts and happenings.
Coordinates: 42°26′16″N 19°15′15″E / 42.43778°N 19.25417°E / 42.43778; 19.25417

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Moscow
Moscow ( /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.

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Netherlands
The Netherlands (ⁱ/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] ( listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").

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Nicosia
Nicosia (/ˌnɪkəˈsiːə/ NIK-ə-SEE-ə), known locally as Lefkosia (Greek: Λευκωσία, Turkish: Lefkoşa), is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Nicosia remained the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line. It is located near the center of the island, on the banks of the Pedieos River.
Nicosia is the capital and seat of government of the Republic of Cyprus. The northern part of the city functions as the capital of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a disputed breakaway region whose independence is recognized only by Turkey, and which the rest of the international community considers as occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus since the Turkish Invasion in 1974.
Despite the division Nicosia has managed to become a sophisticated and cosmopolitan city, rich in history and culture that combines its historic past with the amenities of a modern city.

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Nikšić
Nikšić (Montenegrin: Nikšić, Никшић, pronounced [nîkʃit͡ɕ]) is a city in Montenegro (42°47′N 18°56′E / 42.78°N 18.94°E / 42.78; 18.94). In 2003 the city had a total population about 75,000.
Nikšić is located in Nikšić plain, at the foot of Mount Trebjesa. It is the center of the municipality (Population of 75,282), which is the largest in Montenegro by area. Nikšić is the second largest city in Montenegro, after Podgorica, and is an important industrial, cultural, and educational center.
The first settlement in the area of modern-day Nikšić is thought to be formed in the 4th century, as a Roman military camp. The camp was probably founded on the site of the previous Illyrian tribal settlement. The camp and the settlement were known as Anagastum, which was later transliterated as Onogošt, which was the name of the city throughout the Middle Ages.
The settlement got its Slavic name of Onogošt during the migrations of the Slavs into the area. During the early Slavic state of Duklja, Onogošt was mentioned as one of the župas (administrative divisions) within Podgorje area. Along with the rest of Duklja, Nikšić became a part of Rascia in 9th century. With the dissolution of Rascia, Nikšić came under the rule of Kingdom of Bosnia in 1373, and was under the rule of Kosača family of Herzegovina from 1448 until Herzegovina fell to the Ottomans.

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Niš
Niš (Serbian: Ниш, pronounced [nîːʃ] ( listen)) is the largest city of southern Serbia and the third-largest city in Serbia (after Belgrade and Novi Sad). According to the preliminary results of the 2011 census, the city has an urban population of 182,208 inhabitants, while its municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of 597 km², including the urban core, town of Niška Banja and 68 suburbs. Niš is the administrative center of the Nišava District.
It is one of the oldest cities in the Balkans and Europe, and has from ancient times been considered a gateway between the East and the West. The Paleo-Balkan Thracians first inhabited the area in the Iron Age, and Triballians dwelled here prior to the Celtic invasion in 279 BC which established the Scordisci as masters of the region. Modern-day Niš was among the cities taken in the Roman conquest in 75 BC. The Romans built the Via Militaris in the 1st century, with Naissus being one of the key towns. Niš is also notable as the birthplace of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor and the founder of Constantinople, as well as two other Roman emperors, Constantius III and Justin I. It is home to one of Serbia's oldest churches dating to the 4th century AD in the suburb of Mediana.

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North Nicosia
North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia (Turkish: Lefkoşa Greek: Λευκωσία), is the capital and largest city of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern half of Nicosia, and governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. Located on the River Pedieos and situated almost in the center of the island, it is the host for the seat of the government as well as the main business center.
Following the intercommunal violence of the 1960s, the capital of Republic of Cyprus was divided between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the south and north respectively in 1963. An attempted coup by the Greek military-junta to unite the island with Greece in 1974 led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
84,893 people live in North Nicosia. North Nicosia is important commercially with many shops, two modern shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment. The city is a trade centre and manufactures textiles, leather, pottery, plastic, and other products. Nicosia is the seat of two Turkish Cypriot Universities.

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Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti), commonly called Northern Cyprus, is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is considered by the international community to be occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the north east, westward to Morphou Bay and Cape Kormakitis (the Kokkina/Erenköy exclave marks the westernmost extent of the area), and southward to the village of Louroujina/Akıncılar. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both states.
Tensions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot populations in Cyprus culminated in 1974 with a coup d'état, an attempt to annex the island to Greece, and an invasion by Turkey in response. This resulted in the partitioning of the island, the resettlement of many of its inhabitants, and a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

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Norway
Norway ⁱ/ˈnɔrweɪ/ (Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and the subantarctic Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 5 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.

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Oslo
Oslo (English pronunciation: /ˈɒzloʊ/, OZ-loh,Norwegian pronunciation: [²ʊʃlʊ] ( listen) or [²ʊslʊ]) is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, when its original Norwegian name was restored.
Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are amongst the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

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Plav
Plav (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Плав, pronounced [plâv̞]) is a town in north-eastern Montenegro. It has a population of 3,615 (2003 census).
Plav is the centre of the municipality (population of 13,805).
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Plav or Плав; in Bosnian as Plav; and in Albanian as Plava.
Plav is located at the foot of the Prokletije mountain range, adjacent to the springs of the river Lim. It is considered to have derived its name from old Catholic Albanian surname.
Plav is surrounded by beautiful and wildly varying mountainous scenery. The area abounds in lakes and the most known is Lake Plav, one of the largest and most beautiful in this region. The lakes Hrid and Visitor are mountain lakes, and Visitor is noted for its floating island.
Plav is also renowned for its karsts wells, among which are Ali Pasha of Gucia Springs and Oko Skakavica. Old library, Old mosque, Holy Trinity Church at Brezojevići, and the Tower of the Redžepagići are only a part of the cultural heritage of this town. Villages in the municipality include GUSINJE.

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Pljevlja
Pljevlja (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Пљевља, pronounced [pʎɛ̂v̞ʎa]) is a town and municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The city lies at an altitude of 770 m (2,530 ft). The highest point of the municipality is on the Ljubišnja mountain at an altitude of 2,238 m (7,343 ft), while the lowest point is in the canyon of Tara river with an altitude of 529 m (1,736 ft) above sea level.
In 2003, the municipality of Pljevlja had a population of 36,918, while the city itself had a population of about 21,000. The municipality borders those of Žabljak, Bijelo Polje and Mojkovac in Montenegro, as well as the republics of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a total area of 1,346 km² (520 sq mi), it is the third largest municipality in Montenegro.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Pljevlja or Пљевља; in Bosnian as Pljevlja; and in Turkish as Taşlıca.
The first human settlements in Pljevlja’s region were in the last Ice Age. The evidence, which is considered to be the earliest in this part of Europe, can be found in Mališina cave close to the modern city of Pljevlja. However, far richer are the settlements from the Stone Age found in Medena Stijena.

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Plužine
Plužine (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Плужине, pronounced [plûʒinɛ]) is a town in northwesten Montenegro. It has a population of 1,494 (2003 census).
Plužine is the centre of the municipality (population 4,272) and unofficial centre of Piva region, named after Piva River.
After the building of Mratinje Dam in 1975, the town was transferred uphill, while the previous location was flooded by newly created Piva Lake.
Plužine is administrative centre of Plužine municipality, which in 2003 had a population of 4,272. The town of Plužine itself has 1,494 citizens.
Population of Plužine:
Ethnic groups (1991 census):
Ethnic groups (2003 census):
Plužine is located on a road connecting Podgorica and Nikšić with central Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Poland
Poland ⁱ/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.

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Portugal
Portugal ⁱ/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.

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Prague
Prague ( /ˈprɑːɡ/; Czech: Praha pronounced [ˈpraɦa] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and fourteenth largest city in European Union. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of nearly 2.0 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate with warm summers and chilly winters.
Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100 year existence. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus then also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in modern history generally as the principal conurbation in Bohemia and Moravia whose second city is Brno.

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Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina listen (help·info) and Priština (Albanian: Prishtinë or Prishtina, Serbian: Приштина or Priština; Turkish: Priştine) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district.
Preliminary results of the 2011 census put the population of Pristina at 198,000. The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities including Bosniaks, Roma and others. It is the administrative, educational, and cultural centre of Kosovo. The city is home to the University of Pristina and is served by the Pristina International Airport.
The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Przyszek, and in the Polish surname Przyszek) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'.^{[citation needed]} The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь, preserved as a surname in Polish Przysz and Sorbian Priš, a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ. A false etymology^{[citation needed]} connects the name Priština with Serbo-Croatian prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding to an adjective and/or name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.

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Republic of Ireland
Ireland (/ˈaɪərlənd/ or /ˈɑrlənd/; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen)) is a sovereign state in Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. Its capital is Dublin. The population of the state was 4.59 million in 2011. It is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy, with an elected president serving as head of state. In the 1937 constitution, the name of the state is given as simply "Ireland". The Constitution of Ireland (Article 4) and the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 provides that the "Republic of Ireland" (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is "the description of the state".
Ireland is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations. A developed country with the seventh highest Human Development Index, Ireland is also highly ranked for press freedom, economic freedom and democracy and political freedom.
The modern Irish state was established in 1922 as the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Empire, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty which brought an end to the Irish War of Independence. The partition of Ireland had already been provided for in previous British legislation in 1921 in response to opposition to Irish Home Rule or independence by Unionists, who formed a majority in the north-eastern part of the country. Six of the nine counties in the northern province of Ulster were established under that legislation as Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, with which the Irish state shares its only land border. The state is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south east, and the Irish Sea to the east.

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Reykjavík
Reykjavík (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈreiːcaˌviːk] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city in Iceland.
Its latitude, at 64°08' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay. With a population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area), it is the heart of Iceland's economic and governmental activity.
Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around 870 C.E. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was founded in 1786 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the next decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities.
The first permanent settlement in Iceland by Norsemen is believed to have been established in Reykjavík by Ingólfur Arnarson around AD 870; this is described in Landnámabók, or the Book of Settlement. Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have decided the location of his settlement using a traditional Viking method; by casting his high seat pillars (Öndvegissúlur) into the ocean when he saw the coastline, then settled where the pillars came to shore. Steam from hot springs in the region is said to have inspired Reykjavík's name, which loosely translates to Smoke Cove (the city is often referred to as the Bay of Smokes or Bay of Smoke) The original name was Reykjarvík with an additional "r" that vanished around 1300.^{[citation needed]}

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Ribnica (river)
The Ribnica River (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Рибница, pronounced [rîbnit͡sa]) is a small river that runs through Podgorica, Montenegro. It is a tributary to Morača River, their confluence being at the city centre. It is mainly dried up in the summer. Podgorica was known as "Ribnica" after the Ribnica River in Middle Ages. Today, an area of Podgorica, Vrela Ribnička, is named after the river, which flows through the area as well.
Coordinates: 42°26′N 19°15′E / 42.433°N 19.25°E / 42.433; 19.25

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Ribnica River
The Ribnica River (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Рибница, pronounced [rîbnit͡sa]) is a small river that runs through Podgorica, Montenegro. It is a tributary to Morača River, their confluence being at the city centre. It is mainly dried up in the summer. Podgorica was known as "Ribnica" after the Ribnica River in Middle Ages. Today, an area of Podgorica, Vrela Ribnička, is named after the river, which flows through the area as well.
Coordinates: 42°26′N 19°15′E / 42.433°N 19.25°E / 42.433; 19.25

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Riga
Riga (Latvian: Rīga, pronounced [riːɡa] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 657,424 inhabitants ( 2011) Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltic Sea region.^{[citation needed]} The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the river Daugava. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km² (118.60 sq mi) and lies between 1 and 10 metres (3.3 and 33 ft) above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.
Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. The city will be the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. The city hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and the 2006 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states.

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Romania
Romania (ⁱ/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.

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Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km² (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.

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Rožaje
Rožaje (Montenegrin: Rožaje, Рожаје, pronounced [rɔ̂ʒajɛ]), is a town in northeastern Montenegro. It has a population of 9,121 (2003 census.)
Rožaje is the centre of the municipality, which has a population of 22,693. The municipality is located in the geographical region of Sandžak (Raška).
The history of Rožaje (Rogaje) goes back to 1571 and 1585 when it was first mentioned. The settlement surrounding the then fort was called Trgovište, which it was called until 1912.
In 1797 the Ganić kulla, a defensive measurement of the Islamified Kuči (Muslim members of the clan) who supported muslim authority and culture, was built. Today the building is the town museum.
Since 1912 the city is a part of Montenegro.
In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, Bosniaks (Muslims by nationality) of Foča were resettled in Rožaje.
During the Kosovo War in 1999, some 1,000 ethnic Albanians settled in the south of Rožaje.
Rožaje is administrative centre of Rožaje municipality, which has 22,693 residents. The town of Rožaje itself has a population of 9,121.

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Russia
Russia ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

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Saint Helier
Saint Helier (French language: Saint-Hélier, Jèrriais: Saint Hélyi) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the capital of the Island (although Government House is situated in St. Saviour). The urban area of the parish of St. Helier makes up most of the largest town in Jersey, although some of the town area is situated in adjacent St. Saviour, with suburbs sprawling into St. Lawrence and St. Clement. The greater part of St. Helier is predominantly rural.
The parish covers a surface area of 4.1 square miles (10.6 km²), being 9% of the total land area of the Island (this includes reclaimed land area of 494 acres (2.00 km²) or 200 ha).
The parish crest is two crossed gold axes on a blue background, symbolising the martyrdom of Helier and the sea.
It is thought that the site of St. Helier was settled at the time of the Roman control of Gaul.

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Saint Peter Port
Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from Saint Pierre Du Bois.
As well as being a parish, St. Peter Port is a small town consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town has existed here since before Roman times, the pre-Christian name of which has not survived into the modern era.
The post code for addresses in this parish starts with GY1.
People from St. Peter Port, were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.
St. Peter Port is located on the East coast of Guernsey. It borders St Sampson's in the North, The Vale in the North-West, St Andrew's in the West and St Martin's in the South.
The land in the North and by the harbour is low lying but in the South, the land gets much higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). This means that there are quite a few cliffs on the coast between Havelet and Fermain.

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San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (ⁱ/sæn məˈriːnoʊ/ san-mə-REE-noh; Italian: Repubblica di San Marino) and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 61 km² (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino. San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.
San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Rab. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.
The constitution of San Marino, enacted in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in effect. The country's economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to some of the more developed Italian regions, such as Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.

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Sarajevo
Sarajevo (Cyrillic: Сарајево) (pronounced [sǎrajɛʋɔ]) is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated population of over 311,161 people within its administrative limits. It is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, as well as the center of the Sarajevo Canton, which has a population of 438,757. Nestled within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.
Sarajevo is the leading social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its region-wide influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts contribute to its status as Bosnia and Herzegovina's major economic center.
The city is historically famous for its traditional cultural and religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious and cultural variety, Sarajevo is often called the "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It was, until recently in the 20th century, the only major European city to have a mosque, cathedral, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighborhood.

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Serbia
Serbia ⁱ/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km² and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.
The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.

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SFRY
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Serbia, in addition, included two autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metohija.
Initially siding with the Eastern bloc under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito at the beginning of the Cold War, Yugoslavia pursued a policy of neutrality after the Tito-Stalin split of 1948, and became one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. After the death of Tito in 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics, followed by collapse of inter-republic talks on transformation of the country and recognition of their independence by some European states in 1991. This led to the country collapsing on ethnic lines, followed by wars fraught with ethnic discrimination and human rights violations.

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Shkodër
Shkodër (Definite Albanian form: Shkodra; see the etymology section for other names), is a city located on Lake of Shkoder in northwestern Albania in the District of Shkodër, of which it is the capital. It is one of the oldest and most historic towns in Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. Population of Shkodër is 74,876, while Shkodër County has a population of 217,375.
The name on coins minted in Hellenistic Scodra (during the rule of Genthius) have the legend ΣΚΟΝΔΡΙΝΩΝ. Some believe the name has a Latin^[who?] root, while others^[who?] that it is Illyrian. In early 20th century, Shkodër was referred to in English by the Italian name Scutari. In Greek, it is known as Skoutarion (Σκουτάριον) or Skodra (Σκόδρα), in Serbian and Montenegrin as Skadar (Скадар), and in Turkish as İşkodra. A folk etymology derives the name from "Shko-drin" which in Albanian means "where Drin goes", Drin being the Drin River that connects with the Buna River next to the castle of Rozafa. Some others believe that the name derives form "Shko-kodër (Shko në Kodër)" which in Albanian means "Go to the hill" which symbolizes the Castle of Rozafa in the hill at the entrance to Shkodra.

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Sitnica (Morača)
The Sitnica River (pronounced [sǐtnitsa]) is a river that flows through Podgorica, Montenegro.
Coordinates: 42°23′N 19°12′E / 42.383°N 19.2°E / 42.383; 19.2

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Sitnica River
The Sitnica River (pronounced [sǐtnitsa]) is a river that flows through Podgorica, Montenegro.
Coordinates: 42°23′N 19°12′E / 42.383°N 19.2°E / 42.383; 19.2

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Skopje
Skopje (Macedonian: Скопје, [ˈskɔpjɛ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282 the town was part of the Serbian realm and its capital city since 1346. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912 the city was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital city of independent Macedonia.

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Slovakia
The Slovak Republic (short form: Slovakia ⁱ/sloʊˈvɑːkiə/ or /sləˈvækiə/; Slovak: Slovensko (help·info), long form Slovenská republika (help·info)) is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is the capital, Bratislava, and the second largest is Košice. Slovakia is a member state of the European Union, NATO, United Nations, OECD and WTO among others. The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family.
The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration period. In the course of history, various parts of today's Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Principality of Nitra (as independent polity, as part of Great Moravia and as part of Hungarian Kingdom), Great Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. A separate Slovak state briefly existed during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1944. From 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

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Slovenia
Slovenia (ⁱ/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija, [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.

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Sofia
Sofia (Bulgarian: София, pronounced [ˈsɔfijɐ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 15th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.2 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.
Prehistoric settlements were excavated in the centre of the present city, near the royal palace, as well as in outer districts Slatina and Obelya. The well-preserved town walls (especially their substructures) date back before the 7th century BC, when Thracians established their city around a mineral spring, which exists to the present day. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence. Its ancient name, Serdika or Serdica, derives from the local Celtic tribe of the serdi who inhabited the region since the 1st century BC. Serdica was a Roman capital during the tetrarchic system of government. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the major commercial centres of the Bulgarian Empire, along with Tarnovo. Sofia's population remained small until 1879, when it was declared a capital of the Principality of Bulgaria after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

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South Ossetia
South Ossetia ( /əˈsɛtiə/ə-SET-ee-ə or /ɒˈsiːʃə/o-SEE-shə; Ossetic: Хуссар Ирыстон, Xussar Iryston; Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთი, Samxret Oseti; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya) or Tskhinvali Region (Georgian: ცხინვალის რეგიონი, Tsxinvalis regioni; Russian: Цхинвальский регион, Tskhinvalskiy region) is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
South Ossetians declared independence from Georgia in 1990, calling themselves the Republic of South Ossetia. The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to retake the region by force. This led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008. The last conflict led to the 2008 South Ossetia war, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full, de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

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Spain
Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.

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Stepanakert
Stepanakert (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտ; called Khankendi (Azerbaijani: Xankəndi) by Azerbaijan) is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a de facto independent republic, though is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The city population comprises about 53,000 ethnic Armenians.
According to medieval Armenian sources, the settlement was first mentioned as Vararakn (Վարարակն, meaning "rapid spring" in Armenian) which it remained until it was renamed Khankendi in 1847. Azerbaijani sources generally say that the settlement was founded in the late eighteenth century by a Karabakh khan, and was thus called Khankendi (Turkic for "the khan's village").
In 1923 Khankendi was renamed Stepanakert by the Soviet government to honor Stepan Shahumyan, ethnic Armenian leader of the 26 Baku Commissars, and, after the Shusha pogrom had resulted in major destruction at Shusha, the former regional capital, Stepanakert was made the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. In time, Stepanakert grew to become the region's most important city (a status it received in 1940). Its population rose from 10,459 in 1939 to 33,000 in 1978.

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Stockholm
Stockholm (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɔkːˈhɔlm, ˈstɔkːˈɔlm, ˈstɔkːɔlm]( listen to the second one)) is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 864,324 in the municipality (2010), 1.4 million in the urban area (2010), and around 2.1 million in the 6,519 km² (2,517.00 sq mi) metropolitan area (2010). As of 2010, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population.
Founded no later than c. 1250, possibly as early as 1187, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia. Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North.

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Sukhumi
Sukhumi (Abkhaz: Аҟәа, Aqwa; Georgian: სოხუმი, Sokhumi; Russian: Сухум or Сухуми, Sukhum or Sukhumi) is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.
In Abkhaz, the city is known as Аҟәа (Aqwa) which according to native tradition signifies water. In Georgian, the city is known as სოხუმი (Sokhumi) or აყუ (Aqu), in Megrelian as აყუჯიხა (Aqujikha), and in Russian as Сухум (Sukhum) or Сухуми (Sukhumi).
The etymology of the name Sokhumi is disputed. The medieval Georgian sources knew the town as Tskhumi (ცხუმი). Later, under the Ottoman control, the town was known in Turkish as Suhum-Kale, which can be derived from the earlier Georgian form Tskhumi or can be read to mean 'water-sand fortress'. Tskhumi in turn is supposed to be derived from the Svan language word for 'hot', or the Georgian word for 'hornbeam tree'. The competing etymologies have been used as putative evidence in the argument over the ethnicity of Sukhumi's historical inhabitants.^{[citation needed]}

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Svalbard
Svalbard (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsʋɑlbɑɖ]) is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude (inside the Arctic Circle), and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the largest island, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The administrative center is Longyearbyen, and other settlements include the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. The archipelago is administered by the Governor of Svalbard.
The islands were first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. This act also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian Arktikugol are the only mining companies remaining on the islands. Research and tourism have become important supplementary industries. Two major research facilities are the University Centre in Svalbard and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve inter-community transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear serves as the main gateway to the rest of Europe.

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Sweden
Sweden (ⁱ/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.

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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.

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Tallinn
Tallinn (/ˈtɑːlɪn/ or /ˈtælɪn/,Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtɑlʲˑinˑ]) is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of 159.2 km² (61.5 sq mi) with a population of 416,470. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku, Finland.
Tallinn is the oldest capital^{[clarification needed]} in Northern Europe. The city was known as Reval from the 13th century until the 1920s.
In 1154 a town called Qlwn or Qalaven (possible derivations of Kalevan or Kolyvan) was put on the world map of the Almoravid by the Muslim cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as a small town like a large castle among the towns of Astlanda. It has been suggested that the Quwri in Astlanda may have denoted the predecessor town of today's Tallinn.

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Tbilisi
Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისი [tʰb̥ilisi] ( listen)) is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi (ტფილისი) and it was officially known as Tpilisi (in Georgian) or Tiflis (in Russian) until 1936. The city covers an area of 726 km² (280 sq mi) and has 1,480,000 inhabitants.
Founded in the 5th century by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the monarch of Georgia's precursor Kingdom of Iberia, Tbilisi has served, with various intervals, as Georgia's capital for nearly 1500 years and represents a significant industrial, social, and cultural center of the country. Located near the southeastern edge of Europe, Tbilisi's proximity to lucrative east-west trade routes often made the city a point of contention between various rival empires throughout history and the city's location to this day ensures its position as an important transit route for global energy and trade projects. Tbilisi's varied history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix of medieval, classical, and Soviet structures.

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Tirana
Tirana ⁱ/tɨˈrɑːnə/ (indefinite form in Albanian: Tiranë, in the region sub-dialect of Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of 400,000 , with metro area population of 763,634 . The city is host to public institutions and private universities, and is the center of the political, economical, and cultural life of the country.
The Municipality of Tirana is located at (41.33°N, 19.82°E) in Tirana District, Tirana County on the river Ishëm, about 32 kilometers (20 mi) inland. Tirana's average altitude is 110 meters (360 ft) above sea level and its highest point measures 1,828 m (5,997.38 ft) at Mali me Gropa. The city is mostly surrounded by hills, with Dajti Mountain on the East and a slight valley opening on the North-West overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. The Tiranë river also runs through the city, whereas the Lanë river is a brook. The city borders the surrounding municipalities of Paskuqan, Dajt, Farkë, Vaqarr, Kashar, and Kamëz. It also contains a total of four artificial lakes: the Tirana Artificial Lake around which was built the Big Park, Paskuqani Lake, Farka Lake, and Tufina Lake. Tirana is on the same parallel as Naples, Madrid, Istanbul, and New York, and on the same meridian as Budapest and Kraków.

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Tiraspol
Tiraspol ( /tɪˈræspəl/, Romanian pronunciation: [tiˈraspol]; Russian and Ukrainian: Тирасполь) is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria). The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of light industry, such as furniture and electrical goods production.
The modern city of Tiraspol was founded by the Russian generalissimo Alexander Suvorov in 1792, although the area had been inhabited for thousands of years by varying ethnic groups. The city celebrates its anniversary every year on October 14.
The toponym consists of two words: Τύρας, Tyras — the ancient Greek name for the Dniester River, and polis, i.e., a city.^{[citation needed]}
Tyras, also spelled Tiras, was a colony of the Greek city Miletus, probably founded about 600 BCE, situated some 10 km. from the mouth of the Tiras River (Dniester). Of no great importance in early times in the 2nd century BCE, it fell under the dominion of indigenous kings whose names appear on its coins. It was destroyed by the Getae about 50 BCE.

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Tivat
Tivat (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Тиват, pronounced [tîv̞at]) is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. It has a population of 14,111 (2011 census).
Tivat is the centre of the municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Tivat or Тиват; in Italian and Venetian as Teodo; and in Greek as Θειοδος (Thiodhos).
The origin of the name Tivat supposedly goes back to the 3rd century BC. According to most sources, the name Tivat comes from the name of the old Illyric queen Teute, whose residence was in Risan and summer residence between the church of St Roco in Donja Lastva and Seljanovo. The name could also come from the names of old Christian saints: Saint Theodulus, Theodocius or Theodotus. Besides popular name Theudo, there is also a Latin expression Latus Tiuveti from 16th century. Finally the name could originate from Celtic word "touto" which means town.
Tivat, the youngest town in the Boka area was established on the spacious plateau at the bottom of Vrmac. According to the archives of Kotor (then called "Cattaro", the following names were mentioned here in the 14th century: Teude, Theode, and Theudo who are related to the queen Teuta.

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Transnistria
Transnistria (also called "Trans-Dniestr" or "Transdniestria") is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as "Pridnestrovie"), a state with limited recognition which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester, the city of Bender and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the secession and considers the territories controlled by the PMR to be part of Moldova's autonomous region of Stînga Nistrului ("Left Bank of the Dniester").

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Trebinje
Trebinje (Serbian Cyrillic: Требиње, Serbian pronunciation: [trɛ̌biɲɛ]) is the southernmost municipality and town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity and is located in southeastern Herzegovina, some 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Adriatic Sea. The town was first mentioned in the 10th century.
The town lies in the Trebišnjica River valley in southeastern Herzegovina, some 24 km (15 mi) by road from Dubrovnik, Croatia, on the Adriatic coast. There are several mills along the river, as well as several bridges, including two in the town of Trebinje itself, as well as a historic Ottoman Arslanagic bridge nearby. The river is heavily exploited for hydro-electric energy. After it passes through the Popovo Polje area southwest of the town, the river - which always floods in the winter - naturally runs underground to the Adriatic, near Dubrovnik.
Trebinje has a sub-tropical, Mediterranean climate with short mild winters and long blazing summers. Trebinje is now the warmest city in the Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The average annual temperature in the city is 16.6 ° C (2011) and the average January temperature is 7.5 °C, while the July temperature is 26.5 °C. Snow is very rare. In the summer, temperatures at day are around 40 °C and in winter the temperature rarely drops below 0 °C. The highest recorded temperature was 45.5 °C on 22 July 2007. And the lowest recorded temperature was -8.6 °C on 17 January 2003. The climate is favorable for the cultivation of mandarin, orange, lemon, olives, grapefruit and many other subtropical plants.

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Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali (also spelled Cchinvali or Cxinvali; Georgian: ცხინვალი [t͡sxinvali]; Ossetic: Цхинвал or Чъреба listen (help·info), Tskhinval or Ch'reba; Russian: Цхинвал(и)), is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia and another four UN members, and is regarded by Georgia and all other UN member states de jure as a region within Georgian sovereign territory.
It is located on the Great Liakhvi River approximately 100 km (62 mi) northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The name of Tskhinvali is derived from the Georgian Krtskhinvali (Georgian: ქრცხინვალი), literally meaning "the land of hornbeams", which is the historical name of the city. From 1934 to 1961, the city was named Staliniri (Georgian: სტალინირი), after Joseph Stalin. Modern Ossetians call the city Tskhinval (leaving off the final "i", which is a nominative case ending in Georgian); the other Ossetian (unofficial) name of the city is Chreba.
The area around the present-day Tskhinvali was first populated back in the Bronze Age. The unearthed settlements and archaeological artifacts from that time are unique in that they reflect influences from both Iberian (east Georgia) and Colchian (west Georgia) cultures with possible Sarmatian elements.

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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

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Tórshavn
Tórshavn (IPA: [ˈtʰɔuʂhaun]; Danish: Thorshavn) is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the 347-metre (1,138 ft) high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the 350-metre (1,150 ft) high Kirkjubøreyn. The city proper has a population of 13,000 (2008), and the greater urban area a population of 19,000.
The Vikings established their parliament on the Tinganes peninsula in 850 CE, thus Tórshavn was made capital of Faroe Islands and has remained so ever since. All through the Middle Ages the narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea made up the main part of Tórshavn. Sources do not mention a built-up area in Tórshavn until after the Protestant Reformation in 1539. Early on, Tórshavn became the center of the monopoly trade, thereby being the only legal place for the islanders to sell and buy goods. In 1856, the trade monopoly was abolished and the islands were left open to free trade. The town has grown rapidly ever since the turn of the 20th century into the undisputed administrative, economic and cultural center of the Faroes.

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Ukraine
Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

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Ulcinj
Ulcinj (Montenegrin: Ulcinj/Улцињ, pronounced [ǔlt͡siɲ]; Albanian: Ulqin or Ulqini; Italian: Dulcigno) is a coastal resort town and municipality in Montenegro. The town of Ulcinj has a population of 10,828 (2003 census) of which the majority are Albanians. Ulcinj is the centre of the municipality and the centre of the Albanian community in Montenegro.
The wider area of Ulcinj has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, based on dating of Illyrian tombs (tumuli) found in the village of Zogaj, in the vicinity of Ulcinj. The town is believed to have been founded in the 5th century BC by colonists from Colchis, as mentioned in the 3rd century BC poem by Apollonius of Rhodos.
Illyrians lived in the region at the time, and under Greek influence built immense so-called Cyclopean Walls. In 163 BC, the Romans captured Colchinium from the Illyrian tribe of Olciniates and renamed the town Olcinium (aka Ulcinium) after the tribe. Under Roman rule the town received the status of Opidum Civium Romanorum (Town with Special Privileges), only to be later granted Municipium (Independent Town) status. When the Roman Empire was split in two, Olcinium became a part of the Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire).

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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

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Vaduz
Vaduz (German pronunciation: [faˈduːts] or [faˈdʊts]) is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants (as of 2009^[update]), most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vaduz.
Although Vaduz is the best-known town internationally in the principality, it is not the largest: neighbouring Schaan has a larger population.
Vaduz is said to be mentioned in historic 12th-century manuscripts as Farduzes. It is, however, commonly believed to have been founded circa 1322 by the Counts of Werdenberg. In 1322 a mention of the castle is made, which was sacked by the Swiss in 1499 during the Swabian War. The entire town was also destroyed.
In the 17th century the Liechtenstein family was seeking a seat in the Imperial diet, the Reichstag. However, since they did not hold any territory that was directly under the Imperial throne, they were unable to meet the primary requirement to qualify.

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Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (English: The City) in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,966. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's principal administrative district. However, Valletta, like many historical city centres, forms part of a larger continuous urban agglomeration; this is often referred to as "Greater Valletta."
Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as Knights Hospitaller. The city is essentially Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture in selected areas, though World War II left major scars on the city. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.
The city is named for Jean Parisot de la Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565. The official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta — The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The bastions, curtains and ravelins along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima — 'Most Proud'.

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Vatican City
Vatican City ⁱ/ˈvætɨkən ˈsɪti/, or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano (pronounced [ˈstaːto della t͡ʃitˈta del vatiˈkaːno]), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800. This makes Vatican City the smallest independent state in the world by both area and population.
Vatican City State was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of Pope Pius XI and by Prime Minister and Head of Government Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Vatican City State is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe. Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City State issues normal passports. In each case very few passports are issued.

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Vienna
Vienna ( /viːˈɛnə/; German: Wien (help·info) [viːn]) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million (2.4 million within the metropolitan area, more than 25% of Austria's population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 9th-largest city by population in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was the largest German speaking city in the world, and before the first world war and the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian empire the city had 2 million inhabitants. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city lies in the east of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Vilnius
Vilnius ([ˈvʲɪlʲnʲʊs] ( listen); see also other names) is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 554,060 (838, 852 together with Vilnius County) as of 2011. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County. The first known written record of Vilnius as the Lithuanian capital is known from Gediminas' letters in 1323. Vilnius is classified as a Gamma global city according to GaWC studies.
The name of the city originated from the Vilnia River. The city has also been known by many derivate spellings in various languages throughout its history. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include: Polish: Wilno, Belarusian: Вiльнюс, Вiльня, German: Wilna, Latvian: Viļņa, Russian: Вильнюс, Yiddish: ווילנע (Vilne). An older Russian name was Вильна / Вильно (Vilna/Vilno), although Вильнюс (Vilnius) is now used. The names Wilno, Wilna and Vilna have also been used in older English, German, French and Italian language publications. The name Vilna is still used in Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Hebrew.

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Warsaw
Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [varˈʂava] ( listen); see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most populous city proper in the European Union. The area of the city covers 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the city's agglomeration covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi).
Warsaw is an Alpha- global city, a major international tourist destination and an important economic hub in Central Europe. It is also known as the "phoenix city" because it has survived many wars throughout its history. Most notably, the city had to be painstakingly rebuilt after the extensive damage it suffered from World War II, during which 80% of its buildings were destroyed. On 9 November 1940 the city was awarded Poland's highest military decoration for heroism, the Virtuti Militari, for the Siege of Warsaw (1939).

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Yerevan
Coordinates: 40°11′00″N 44°31′00″E / 40.183333°N 44.516667°E / 40.183333; 44.516667
Yerevan (Armenian: Երևան, Armenian pronunciation: [jɛɾɛˈvɑn]) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by king Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide settled in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became one of the fifteen republics in the Soviet Union. In fifty years, Yerevan was transformed from a town of a few thousand residents within the Russian Empire, to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.

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Zagreb
Zagreb (Croatian pronunciation: [zǎːɡrɛb]) is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m (400 ft) above sea level. In the last official census of 2011, the population of the settlement of Zagreb was 686,568, while the total population of its administrative area was 792,875. The wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County with a population of 317,642, bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,110,517. It is the only metropolitan area in Croatia with a population of over one million.
Its favourable geographic position in the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin, which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic and Pannonic regions, provides an excellent connection for traffic between Central Europe and the Adriatic Sea. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position in Croatia. Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and almost all government ministries.

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Zeta plain
Zeta Plain (pronounced [zɛ̂ta]) is a fertile lowland in Montenegro. It stretches from Podgorica in the north to the Skadar Lake in the south. It is the biggest plains area in Montenegro, with an average elevation around 40 m (130 ft) above sea level.^{[citation needed]}
The name "Zeta" derives from an early root meaning "harvest" or "grain" (modern words žetva and žito).^{[citation needed]} Confusingly, Zeta River flows not through Zeta plain but through another significant valley in Montenegro, Bjelopavlići.
Zeta Plain is one of the most densely populated areas in Montenegro. Golubovci, the capital of Golubovci urban municipality, which encompasses most of the Plain, is the largest settlement. The vineyards of "Plantaže," a Montenegrin quality wine producer, are situated in the plain, which is ideal for growing Mediterranean fruits and vegetables.
Zeta Plain is the site of the Podgorica Airport and the Podgorica Aluminium Plant, which is considered to be the worst pollutant of the Plain.^{[citation needed]}

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Zeta Plain
Zeta Plain (pronounced [zɛ̂ta]) is a fertile lowland in Montenegro. It stretches from Podgorica in the north to the Skadar Lake in the south. It is the biggest plains area in Montenegro, with an average elevation around 40 m (130 ft) above sea level.^{[citation needed]}
The name "Zeta" derives from an early root meaning "harvest" or "grain" (modern words žetva and žito).^{[citation needed]} Confusingly, Zeta River flows not through Zeta plain but through another significant valley in Montenegro, Bjelopavlići.
Zeta Plain is one of the most densely populated areas in Montenegro. Golubovci, the capital of Golubovci urban municipality, which encompasses most of the Plain, is the largest settlement. The vineyards of "Plantaže," a Montenegrin quality wine producer, are situated in the plain, which is ideal for growing Mediterranean fruits and vegetables.
Zeta Plain is the site of the Podgorica Airport and the Podgorica Aluminium Plant, which is considered to be the worst pollutant of the Plain.^{[citation needed]}

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Zeta River
Zeta (Cyrillic: Зета, pronounced [zɛ̂ta]) is a river in Montenegro. It starts near Nikšić, under the Planinica hill flows eastwards for 86 km (53 mi) until it confluences into the Morača River just north of Podgorica.
One theory is that the name "Zeta" derives from an early root meaning "harvest" or "grain" (modern words žetva and žito).
The Zeta River is the most significant tributary of the Morača. The Perućica hydroelectric power plant near Nikšić (307 MW, 970 GWh) uses the waters of the Zeta River to generate power. After that, the river meanders through the Bjelopavlići Valley, until it empties into the Morača a few miles north of Podgorica.
Coordinates: 42°27′52″N 19°15′40″E / 42.46444°N 19.26111°E / 42.46444; 19.26111

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Åland Islands
The Åland Islands (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland], Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population.
Åland comprises Fasta Åland (the "Main Island," with 90% of the population), together with an archipelago to the east that comprises over 6,500 skerries and islands. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.
Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.

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Šavnik
Šavnik (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Шавник, pronounced [ʃǎv̞niːk]) is a city in Montenegro, on the Šavnik river. It is the central settlement of the Šavnik Municipality.

Šavnik is a relatively new settlement, founded in 1861. It was populated by internal migrants from other parts of Montenegro, mostly craftsmen, which were needed by local farmers. The town quickly became a center for the Drobnjaci region, and incorporated a post office, school, primary court, and military post.
Industrialization during the SFR Yugoslavia era mostly bypassed Šavnik, so did any major transit road or rail links, so the economy of town went into stagnation. Population of Šavnik and entire municipality is since in slow but steady decrease. Most of the residents are migrating to Nikšić and southern Montenegro, and Šavnik is often a synonym for a poor and deteriorating town.
The future road Risan - Nikšić - Šavnik - Žabljak, and proximity of Žabljak as a main mountain tourist resort in Montenegro may boost Šavnik's economic prospects.

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Žabljak
Žabljak (Montenegrin/Serbian Cyrillic: Жабљак, pronounced [ʒâbʎaːk]) is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,937.
Žabljak is the seat of the municipality (2003 population: 4,204). The town is in the centre of the Durmitor mountain region and with an altitude of 1,456 metres, it is the highest situated town on the Balkans.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Žabljak or Жабљак; in Albanian as Zhabljak; in Bosnian as Žabljak; and in Turkish as Yabliyak.
The first Slav name of the place was “Varezina voda” (Варезина вода) possibly because of the strong source of drinkable water nearby, making a settlement possible. Later, the town was renamed “Hanovi” (originally “Anovi”) because it was where caravans rested. The modern name dates from 1870, when in a single day the building of a school, church and captain's home began. However, almost all the original buildings were destroyed during the Balkan Wars. All that has remained is the old church of Sv. Preobraženje (Holy Transfiguration), built in 1862 as a monument to a Montenegrin victory in the battle against the Turks. After Žabljak was established as a town, stores and cafés were opened. As such, in the 1880s Žabljak became a market town, leading it to become administrative center of the region.

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Austria
Austria (ⁱ/ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/; German: Österreich [ˈøːstɐˌʁaɪç] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

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Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs (Bosnian: Bošnjak, pl: Bošnjaci, pronounced [bɔːˈʃɲaːtsi]) are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. Bosniaks are typically characterized by their historic tie to the Bosnian historical region, traditional adherence to Islam since the 15th and 16th centuries, common culture and language. In the English-speaking world, Bosniaks are also referred to as Bosnian Muslims or simply Bosnians. Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an official ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam. The term Bosnian is used to denote all inhabitants of Bosnia regardless of ethnic origin.
Bosniaks are a South Slavic people. Nonetheless, it has been proposed, based on genetic signatures, that their roots also date back to pre-Slavic inhabitants of the Dinaric region, effectively predating many modern European homogenous ethnic groups. There are well over two million Bosniaks living in the Balkans today, with an estimated additional million settled and living around the world.^{[citation needed]} Several instances of ethnic cleansing and genocide have had a tremendous effect on the territorial distribution of the population. Partially due to this,^{[citation needed]} a notable Bosniak diaspora exists in a number of countries, including Austria, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Turkey, Canada and the United States. Both within the region and throughout the world, Bosniaks are often noted for their unique culture, which has been influenced by both eastern and western civilizations and schools of thought over the course of their history.

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Croat
Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have migrated throughout the world, and established a notable Croatian diaspora. Large Croat communities exists in The United States, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Australia, Peru, Canada, Serbia, New Zealand and South Africa. Croats are noted for their culture, which has been influenced by a number of other neighbouring cultures through the ages. The strongest influences came from Central Europe and the Mediterranean where, at the same time, Croats have made their own contribution. The Croats are predominantly Catholic with minor groups of Protestants, Muslims, Orthodox, Jews and secular non religious atheists and agnostics. Their language is Croatian.
Croatia is the nation state of the Croats, while in the adjacent Bosnia and Herzegovina they are one of the three constituent peoples alongside Bosniaks and Serbs.

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Croats
Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have migrated throughout the world, and established a notable Croatian diaspora. Large Croat communities exists in The United States, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Austria, Australia, Peru, Canada, Serbia, New Zealand and South Africa. Croats are noted for their culture, which has been influenced by a number of other neighbouring cultures through the ages. The strongest influences came from Central Europe and the Mediterranean where, at the same time, Croats have made their own contribution. The Croats are predominantly Catholic with minor groups of Protestants, Muslims, Orthodox, Jews and secular non religious atheists and agnostics. Their language is Croatian.
Croatia is the nation state of the Croats, while in the adjacent Bosnia and Herzegovina they are one of the three constituent peoples alongside Bosniaks and Serbs.

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Dejan Savićević
Dejan Savićević (Montenegrin: Дејан Савићевић, pronounced [dɛ̂jan saʋǐːt͡ɕɛʋit͡ɕ]) (born 15 September 1966 in Titograd, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia), is a Montenegrin former football player. Since 2004 he's been the president of Montenegrin FA.
Savićević's close control and superb vision have won him many admirers during his time with Red Star Belgrade and A.C. Milan. Following an illustrious professional playing career that lasted 19 seasons, as well as a short and unsuccessful head coaching stint during early 2000s, he's turned to administrative matters - becoming, during summer 2004, the president of Montenegrin FA (FSCG).
Born to Orthodox parents Vladimir Savićević and Vojislava Đurović, young Dejan had an immediate affinity for football and quickly developed his gift for the game.
Savićević began playing structured football during the summer of 1981 in the youth teams of OFK Titograd. He was almost 15 years old at the time, which by professional football standards is considered fairly late to be starting out. Before that, and even in parallel to playing with OFK, his involvement with the game revolved around outdoor futsal tournaments on concrete and clay surfaces. Since this kind of "scaled-down football" was very popular in Titograd at the time, many tournaments of semi-formal character were organized in and around the town. Barely a teenager at this point, Savićević played for a team that consisted of men from his street (the informal team was named Tehnohemija after the entire block of apartment buildings in the neighbourhood that was known under that name) and quickly marked himself out as skilled player with great ball control and good overall technical ability.

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Diocletian
Diocletian (Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus; c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. With his accession to power, Diocletian ended the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian Augustus his senior co-emperor in 285.

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Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars ( /ˈævɑrz/) were a Turkic people from the steppes of Central Asia, and later they became a confederation of Eurasian tribes of mixed origin. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors. Although the name Avar first appeared in the mid-fifth century, the Avars of Europe enter the historical scene in the mid-sixth century AD, when they established a pax spanning considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Their state was the Avar Khaganate. The rule of their country over much of the Pannonian Plain persisted until the early 9th century.
The origin of the Eurasian Avars is unclear. Information about origins is derived primarily from the works of Byzantine historians Menander Protector and Theophylact Simocatta. John of Ephesus used the term "those, who are called "Avars," because of their long hair." The confusion is compounded by the fact that many clans carried a particular name because they believed it to be prestigious, or it was attributed to them by outsiders describing their common characteristics, believed place of origin or reputation.^{[citation needed]} Such a case has been seen repeatedly for many nomadic confederacies.

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John C. Wells
John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939 in Bootle, Merseyside) is a British phonetician and Esperanto teacher. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics.
His father was originally from South Africa, and his mother was English; he has two younger brothers. After a childhood in poverty, he studied languages and taught himself Gregg Shorthand. Having learned Welsh, he was interviewed in Welsh on radio; he has a reasonable knowledge of ten different languages. He was apparently approached by the Home Office to work on speaker identification but turned down the offer as it was still considered unacceptable to be homosexual at the time, and he feared that the security check would make his homosexuality public.
Wells earned his BA at Cambridge, and his MA and Ph.D. at London.
He is well known for his book and cassette Accents of English, the book and CD The Sounds of the IPA, Lingvistikaj Aspektoj de Esperanto, and the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. He is the author of the most widely used English-Esperanto dictionary.

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Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [jɔ̂sip brɔ̂ːz tîtɔ]; born Josip Broz; Cyrillic: Јосип Броз Тито; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles from 1945 until his death in 1980. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, due to his successful economic and diplomatic policies, Tito was seen by most as a benevolent dictator, and was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad. Viewed as a unifying symbol, his internal policies successfully maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation. He gained international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, working with Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt.
Josip was born as the seventh child of Franjo and Marija Broz in the village of Kumrovec within Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia). Drafted into the army, he distinguished himself, becoming the youngest Sergeant Major in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After being seriously wounded and captured by the Russians, Josip was sent to a work camp in the Ural Mountains. He participated in the October Revolution, and later joined a Red Guard unit in Omsk. Upon his return home, Broz found himself in the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

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Marko Miljanov
Marko Miljanov Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Миљанов Поповић, pronounced [mâːrkɔ mǐʎanɔʋ pɔ̌pɔʋit͡ɕ]) (25 April 1833 – 2 February 1901) was a warrior and writer from Montenegro. He led the Kuči clan against the Turks in 1862 and distinguished himself in the War of 1876-78. He was also an accomplished writer who gained repute for his descriptions of Montenegrin life.
Marko Miljanov Popović Kuč was born into a distinguished family in the village of Medun, in Podgorica municipality. He had a Serbian Orthodox Christian father (Kuči clan) and Albanian Catholic Christian mother (Koja e Kuçit clan). Like all of his countrymen, in his youth, he took part in attacks on Turks.
In 1856, he came to the Montenegrin capital Cetinje and entered the service of Prince Danilo in his guards unit called perjanici. For his bravery and successes in raids on Turkish territory and as a man of confidence, he was awarded in 1862 the position of judge and head of Bratonožići clan. For his work on unification of Kuči with Montenegro in 1874, he had a price set on his head by the Turks. The same year saw his appointment to the Montenegrin Senate (from 1879 transformed into a State Council). In the 1876-78 war against the Turks, he victoriously commanded Montenegrin forces in the Battle of Fundina. After a fierce disagreement with Prince Nikola in 1882, he had to leave the State Council and decided to retire from public life to his native Medun.

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Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire or Turkish Empire or Sublime Ottoman State or sometimes also referred to as Turkey (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِيّهٔ عُثمَانِیّه Devlet-i ʿAliyye-yi ʿOsmâniyye (also عثمانلى دولتى Osmanlı Devleti),Modern Turkish: Osmanlı Devleti or Osmanlı İmparatorluğu) was a Turkish empire which lasted from 27 July 1299 to 1 November 1922, when the Sultanate was abolished.
The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires in history; such that the Ottoman State, its politics, conflicts, and cultural heritage in a vast geography provide one of the longest continuous narratives. During the 16th and 17th centuries, in particular at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the empire was one of the most powerful states in the world – a multinational, multilingual empire that stretched from the southern borders of the Holy Roman Empire to the outskirts of Vienna, Royal Hungary (modern Slovakia) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the north to Yemen and Eritrea in the south; from Algeria in the west to Azerbaijan in the east; controlling much of southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. At the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.

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Predrag Mijatović
Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović (Serbian: Предраг Мијатовић Пеђа) (born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin football player and former sports director of Real Madrid. He is considered^{[by whom?]} one of Yugoslavia's best players of the 1990s. He was acclaimed as the best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1997. During his career his position on the pitch was striker but was very often deployed, especially later in his career, as a midfield creator.
On the club level, Mijatović played for 6 different clubs: Budućnost Podgorica, FK Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina, and Levante. Internationally, Mijatović has been capped 73 times, scoring 28 goals (the appearances are split between the SFR Yugoslavia and the FR Yugoslavia national teams). He played in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
A very technically gifted player known for his outstanding skill and vision, as well as his prolific goalscoring ability, Mijatović is well remembered for scoring impressive 28 goals in the 1995/1996 Primera División season for Valencia, which in turn led him to controversially move to Real Madrid, where he scored a goal for Real Madrid in the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final that brought the biggest European title back to Madrid after 32 years. He also had many memorable moments on the big stage, at both club and international levels.

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Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.
Roman emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.

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Serbs
The Serbs (Serbian: Срби, Srbi, pronounced [sr̩̂bi]) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs live mainly in Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form significant minorities in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in Romania, Hungary, Albania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There is also a large Serbian diaspora in Western Europe, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. More than a million people of Serbian origin live in German-speaking countries, including Luxembourg (1%), Austria (1.8%), Switzerland (1%), and Germany (~1%). Outside Europe, there are significant Serbian communities in the United States (198,000 Serbian plus additional 326,000 "Yugoslav" nationals),Canada (72,690 in 2006) and Australia (95,000 in 2006).
The Serbs are a Slavic people, specifically of the South Slavic subgroup, which has its origins in the 6th and 7th century communities developed in Southeastern Europe (see Great Migration). Slav raids on Eastern Roman territory are mentioned in 518, and by the 580s they had conquered large areas referred to as Sclavinia (transl. Slavdom, from Sklavenoi – Σκλαυηνοι, the early South Slavic tribe which is eponymous to the current ethnic and linguistic Indo-European people). In 649, Constantine III relocates conquered Slavs "from the Vardar" to Gordoservon (Serb habitat). Among communities part in the Serb ethnogenesis are the Romanized Paleo-Balkan tribes of Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians, Celts, Greek colonies and Romans.

wn.com/Serbs

Podgorica - Montenegro

Driving around Podgorica - Montenegro...

published: 28 Jul 2011

author: stratosvougas

Boban Rajovic - Podgorica ²⁰¹¹ █▬█ █ ▀█▀ (lyrics)

balcan-music.blogspot.com doseofhumor.blogspot.com Gdje ste sokolovi sive boje Gdje ste br...

published: 16 Jun 2011

author: TheMrstocker

Hey you! What song are you listening to? Podgorica, Montenegro

Thanks to Ty Cullen for the idea/ Hvala Ty Cullen-u na ideji About the video at / Detaljni...

published: 25 Jun 2011

author: DziTiCnujfa

Podgorica Popodne

...

published: 27 Mar 2009

author: ZokaMNE

Steve's Hostel - Steve Hein and Luka - Podgorica Montenegro from Berlin-Istanbul.com #20

When I had my hostel in Montenegro, in 2010, a German guy and his Turkish girlfriend made ...

published: 01 May 2012

author: eqivideos

Boban Rajovic ♕ PODGORICA 2011

Boban Rajovic - PODGORICA2011...

published: 16 Jun 2011

author: DINOGROMofficial

Audi A4, Podgorica - Budva WATCH IN HD!!!

Audi A4 B8 2.0TDI (140KS + Tuning Box) Multitronic...

published: 13 Sep 2012

author: Drasko Draskovic

A walking tour of Podgorica, Montenegro

A walking tour of Podgorica, Montenegro. Vic Stefanu, vstefanu@yahoo.com...

published: 09 Jan 2012

author: Vic Stefanu

Sergej & Pero & Edo & Igor - Podgorica

...

published: 02 Apr 2009

author: barbahercegnovi

Podgorica, Montenegro by Border Movers, August 28, 2012

Border Movers are in the capital and largest city of Montenegro -- Podgorica. In Montenegr...

published: 03 Sep 2012

author: bordermovers

PODGORICA

Different Perspectives Pilot-cameraman: Velemir Sikimić www.facebook.com/rc.helivideo Assi...

published: 18 Sep 2012

author: RChelivideo

Podgorica - My City

Podgorica, capital City of Montenegro....

published: 07 Jan 2009

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Breakdancers of Konik City, Podgorica

1st Place: 2007 Short Film Festival - Breakdancers of Konik City by George Grayson, DJ Aki...

published: 25 Aug 2011

author: montenegronews

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble live in Podgorica (2012)

Watch The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble play "You Make Me Real", "Bop" and "Broken Pieces" ...

published: 30 Nov 2012

author: ElectronicBeatsVideo

PODGORICA

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Podgorica

published: 04 Apr 2012

author: Velemir Sikimic

Budva - Podgorica

published: 21 Jul 2011

author: Aleksandar Jaredic

Cityscapes: Podgorica

published: 09 Aug 2012

author: Koray Polat

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photo: UN / Shareef Sarhan

File- A view of the outer perimeter of Palestine Stadium, severely damaged by Israeli air strikes in Gaza City earlier this week, 19 November, 2012.

The End of Jewish Power

WorldNews.com

02 Dec 2012

Article by WN.com Guest Writer Gilad Atzmon. Israel suffered a humiliating defeat at The UN recently. The nations of the world stood up and said NO to the Jewish state - NO to Israeli occupation, NO to Israeli human rights abuse, NO to Jewish racism. In effect, they stood up and confessed to serious Zio-fatigue ... This is a very good news indeed. But interestingly, this united opposition to Israel is not in response to Israeli strength ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)

photo: USAF / Senior Airman Patrice Clarke

File - U.S. Army Capt. Peggy Hu, Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team civil affairs, speaks with a local child during a routine patrol in the local area Nov. 21, 2012, in Afghanistan.

'Taliban attackers' target US Afghanistan base

BBC News

02 Dec 2012

There have been "multiple explosions" near an airfield at a US base in eastern Afghanistan, Nato has said. Afghan intelligence officials told the BBC seven suicide attackers targeted the base in Jalalabad, and witnesses said that gunfire was heard ... Counter claims ... There were no Nato casualties in the attack, officials said ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)

photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland

Israel settlement bid a 'fatal blow' to peace

New Straits/Business Times

03 Dec 2012

UNITED NATIONS. UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Sunday that if Israel implemented its latest plan for new settlements it would deal an “almost fatal blow” to any prospects for peace with the Palestinians.   Israel’s announcement about the 3,000 Jewish settler homes, whose planned location was not revealed, came in the wake of a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade Palestine’s diplomatic status ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)

photo: AP / Patrick Semansky

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, center, steps out of a security vehicle as he is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, for a pretrial hearing.

Pfc. Manning: From Bloody Eagle to Bloody Cage

WorldNews.com

02 Dec 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Much like the United States, the Vikings were a paradoxical and duplicitous civilization. Not only were they highly skilled shipbuilders and tremendous explorers, not to mention their expertise in the fishing, farming and trading industries, but they helped establish and contribute to the nation-states of France, England, Ireland, Germany, Russia, and Iceland ... This came to mind when Pfc....(size: 5.5Kb)

photo: AP / Jerome Delay

A Congolese policeman in riot gear keeps an eye on Goma residents including street children who gathered for an anti Kabila demonstration supported by the M23 rebel movement in Goma, eastern Congo, Wednesday Nov. 28, 2012.

Congo rebels' withdrawal from Goma 'purely tactical', say analysts

The Guardian

03 Dec 2012

Despite retreat by the M23, there's no sign that any of the major players are willing to act to stop the violence flaring up again. A Congolese M23 rebels sleeps in the back of a truck as the rebels withdraw from Goma. Photograph. Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images. After much initial confusion, reports indicate that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have finally withdrawn from the eastern city of Goma ... This seems unlikely now ... ....(size: 7.1Kb)

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Vote for the Grundfos World Handball Players of the Year 2012! (International Handball Federation)

noodls

01 Dec 2012

Popovic had returned to the Montenegrin powerhouse Buducnost Podgorica in 2010 after winning the EHF Champions League five times with the Danish sides Slagelse (3 times) and Viborg (2) ... And the final in London had been the last match of living legend Popovic, who is now sports director of her club Buducnost Podgorica ... against Podgorica (Montenegro)....(size: 14.8Kb)

Prize money released (UEFA - Union des Associations Européennes de Football)

noodls

30 Nov 2012

FK Željezničar (BIH), FK Sarajevo (BIH), FK Borac Banja Luka (BIH), PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL), Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP), Maccabi Netanya FC (ISR), FK Shkendija 79 (MKD), Floriana FC (MLT), FK Budućnost Podgorica (MNE), FK Rudar Pjevlja (MNE), Ruch Chorzów (POL), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), FC Vaslui (ROU), FC Rubin Kazan (RUS), Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) and Eskişehirspor (TUR) ... 071. distributed by ... (noodl. 16792437) ....(size: 3.6Kb)

UEFA Club Financial Control Body investigatory chamber releases funds to 16 clubs (UEFA - Union des Associations Européennes de Football)

noodls

30 Nov 2012

71) ... FK Željezničar (BIH), FK Sarajevo (BIH), FK Borac Banja Luka (BIH), PFC CSKA Sofia (BUL), Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP), Maccabi Netanya FC (ISR), FK Shkendija 79 (MKD), Floriana FC (MLT), FK Budućnost Podgorica (MNE), FK Rudar Pjevlja (MNE), Ruch Chorzów (POL), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), FC Vaslui (ROU), FC Rubin Kazan (RUS), Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) and Eskişehirspor (TUR) ... Note to editors. ... 071. distributed by ... (noodl....(size: 3.8Kb)

Government projects Montenegro economy growth of 0.5% in 2012 (Government of the Republic of Montenegro)

noodls

29 Nov 2012

Government projects Montenegro economy growth of 0.5% in 2012 ... Author PR Bureau. Podgorica, Montenegro (29 November 2012) - At today's session, the Government adopted the Analysis of Macroeconomic Trends and Structural Reforms in 2012, which corresponds with the earlier projections that forecast the Montenegrin economy's growth of 0.5% in 2012 ... distributed by....(size: 2.1Kb)

Greek minister scraps Albania trip over PM's territorial remark

Yahoo Daily News

28 Nov 2012

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's foreign minister cancelled a trip to Albania on Wednesday after the neighboring country's prime minister suggested a northwestern Greek town was "Albanian land" ... In the statement, he referred to "the Albania of all the Albanian lands from Preveza to Presevo, Skopje to Podgorica." ... Skopje is the capital of Macedonia and Podgorica the capital of Montenegro, both bordering Albania ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)

Albania marks independence with giant cake and quarrels

Sun Sentinel

28 Nov 2012

TIRANA (Reuters) - The foreign minister of neighboring Greece boycotted festivities on Wednesday marking 100 years of Albania's independence after its prime minister hailed a town over the border as "Albanian lands" ... In the statement, he referred to "the Albania of all the Albanian lands from Preveza to Presevo, Skopje to Podgorica" ... Skopje is the capital of Macedonia and Podgorica the capital of Montenegro, both bordering Albania ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)

Spat with neighbors sours Albanian century party

Newsday

28 Nov 2012

Photos. TIRANA, Albania - (AP) -- Albania celebrated 100 years of independence Wednesday with a military parade, festive cavalcades and an 18-ton cake ... Prime Minister had spoken Tuesday of "Albanian lands" stretching from Preveza in Greece to Presevo in Serbia, and from the Macedonian capital of Skopje to the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica ... Greek Foreign Minister promptly cancelled his visit to Tirana on Wednesday ... ....(size: 2.5Kb)

>Spat with neighbors sours Albanian century party

Seattle Post

28 Nov 2012

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania celebrated 100 years of independence Wednesday with a military parade, festive cavalcades and an 18-ton cake ... Prime Minister Sali Berisha had spoken Tuesday of "Albanian lands" stretching from Preveza in Greece to Presevo in Serbia, and from the Macedonian capital of Skopje to the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica ... ....(size: 1.9Kb)

Albania celebrates 100 years of independence, yet angers half its neighbors

Star Tribune

28 Nov 2012

TIRANA, Albania - Albania celebrated 100 years of independence Wednesday with a military parade, festive cavalcades and an 18-ton cake ... Prime Minister Sali Berisha had spoken Tuesday of "Albanian lands" stretching from Preveza in Greece to Presevo in Serbia, and from the Macedonian capital of Skopje to the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)

Enlargement: Committee of the Regions brings together EU–Montenegrin local authorities (European Commission)

noodls

16 Nov 2012

In his opening statement the Montenegrin JCC co-chair, Miomir Mugoša, Mayor of Podgorica, stressed that. "the Union of Montenegrin Municipalities and the city of Podgorica have been fully devoted to the achievement of meeting EU membership criteria" but pointed out that they were still at the beginning of the process and that much remained to be done....(size: 7.8Kb)

Container homes installation underway at refugee camp Konik in Podgorica as middle-term solution, completion expected within schedule (Government of the Republic of Montenegro)

noodls

15 Nov 2012

Container homes installation underway at refugee camp Konik in Podgorica as middle-term solution, completion expected within schedule ... Podgorica, Montenegro (15 November 2012) - As of 14 November 2012, a total of 126 container homes (which will house 90 families) out of 216 planned, were set up in the refugee camp Konik I, as a medium-term solution for accommodating the population that suffered from a severe fire this summer....(size: 2.5Kb)

Podgorica: Work begins on the “green” building complex (Ministero degli Affari Esteri)

noodls

15 Nov 2012

... for the Environment, Corrado Clini, and his Montenegrin colleague, Predrag Sekulic, have opened the construction site for an environmentally-friendly building development in Podgorica....(size: 1.2Kb)

Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina sign bilateral extradition agreement (Government of the Republic of Montenegro)

noodls

15 Nov 2012

Podgorica, Montenegro (15 November 2012) - Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a bilateral agreement on the extradition of criminals in severe crimes cases earlier today in Podgorica ... distributed by ... The issuer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information contained therein.. (noodl. 16616443) ....(size: 1.8Kb)

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This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Podgorica
Подгорица

— City —

Flag

Coat of arms

Podgorica

Location in Montenegro

Coordinates: 42°28′N 19°16′E / 42.467°N 19.267°ECoordinates: 42°28′N 19°16′E / 42.467°N 19.267°E

Country

Montenegro

Municipality

Podgorica

Founded

Before 11th century

Government

• Mayor

Miomir Mugoša (DPS)

Area

• Metro

1,441 km² (556 sq mi)

Elevation

44 m (144 ft)

Population (2011)^[1]

• City

150,977

• Metro

185,937

Demonym

Podgoričani(males)/Podgoričanke(females)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

Postal code

81000

Area code(s)

+382 20

License plate

Website

http://podgorica.me/

Podgorica (/ˈpɒdɡəriːtsə/ POD-gorr-ee-tsə;^[2] Montenegrin/Serbian: Podgorica / Подгорица [pǒdgoritsa], lit. "under the small hill") is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.

Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement. The city is close to winter ski centres in the north and seaside resorts on the Adriatic Sea.

A census in 2011 put the city's population at 150,977. The Podgorica municipality contains 10.4% of Montenegro's territory and 29.9% of its population. It is the administrative centre of Montenegro and its economic, cultural and educational focus.

Etymology [link]

The name Podgorica means "under the Gorica" in Montenegrin language. Gorica (meaning "little hill" or hillock) is the name of the cypress-covered hill that overlooks the city centre.

Some three kilometres (1.9 miles) north-west of Podgorica lie the ruins of Doclea, a town known in Greek, pre-Roman and Roman times. The Roman Emperor Diocletian came from this region. In later centuries, Romans "corrected" the name to Dioclea, guessing wrongly that an "i" had been lost in vulgar speech. "Duklja" is the later (Slavic) version of that word.

When founded (before the 11th century), the town was called Birziminium. In the Middle Ages, it was known as Ribnica (pronounced [rîbnitsa]). The name Podgorica was used from 1326. From 1946 to 1992, the city was named Titograd ([tîtoɡraːd]) in honour of Josip Broz Tito, the former President of Yugoslavia.

History [link]

Sahat kula, an Ottoman clock tower, one of the very few Ottoman landmarks that survived WW2 bombings

King Nikola monument

Winter royal palace

Royal garden

Marko Miljanov monument

Podgorica is at the crossroads of several historically important routes, near the rivers Zeta, Morača, Cijevna, Ribnica, and Sitnica, in the valley of Skadar lake and near the Adriatic Sea, in fertile lowlands with favourable climate. The earliest human settlements were in prehistory: the oldest physical remains are from the late Stone Age. In the Illyrian age, the area between the Zeta and Bjelopavlići valleys was occupied by two Illyrian tribes, the Labeates and the Docleats. The population of the city was 8,000–10,000, in which all core urban issues were resolved. The high population density (in an area of about 10 km/6 mi radius) was made possible by the geographical position, favourable climate and economic conditions and by the defensive positions that were of great importance at that time.

From the 5th century, with the arrival of the first Slavic and Avar tribes and the beginning of the break-up of the Roman Empire, the area bore witness to many noteworthy events. With time, the fortifications ceased their function and new towns were built. Slavic groups in the area were in constant war with Byzantium and tended to establish a new state. The result was establishment of a new settlement that was probably named after the river Ribnica on whose banks it was built. The first mention of Ribnica is during the rule of the Serbian royal family of the Nemanjići. The importance of Ribnica was its position as crossroads in communications with the west. In occupying these areas, the Slavs created a new state and developed their own culture and art, acceptable to the mediaeval church and feudal class.

The name Podgorica was first mentioned in 1326 in a court document of the Kotor archives. The city was economically strong: trade routes between Dubrovnik and the State of Nemanjici, well developed at that time, were maintained via the road that led to Podgorica through Trebinje and Nikšić. As a busy crossroads, Podgorica was a vibrant regional centre of trade and communication. This boosted its development, economic power, military strength and strategic importance.

The Ottoman capture of Podgorica in 1474 interrupted its economic, cultural and artistic development. Podgorica became a kaza of the Sanjak of Scutari in 1479. The Ottomans built a large fortress in Podgorica and the existing settlement, with its highly developed merchant connections, became the main Ottoman defensive and attacking bastion in the region. At the beginning of 1474 there were informations about intention of Ottoman sultan to rebuild Podgorica and Baleč and settle them with 5,000 Turkish families in order to establish an additional obstacle for cooperation of Principality of Zeta and Venetian Shkodër.^[3]^[4] The fortified city, with towers, gates and defensive ramparts, enabled the Ottomans to resist all attacks. In 1864, Podgorica became a kaza of the Scutari Vilayet called Böğürtlen 'blackberry'. It was also known Burguriçe in Albanian.

The Berlin Congress in 1878 annexed Podgorica to Montenegro, marking the end of four centuries of Ottoman rule, and the beginning of a new era in the development of Podgorica and Montenegro. The city developed quickly and became a strong marketplace. The first forms of capital concentration were seen. In 1904, Zetska savings bank, the first significant financial institution, was formed. It would soon grow into Podgorička bank. Roads were built to all neighbouring towns and, in 1902, a tobacco plant became Podgorica's first significant commercial company.

World War I marked the end of dynamic development for Podgorica, by then the largest city in the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Montenegro. Podgorica was occupied, as was the rest of the country, by Austria-Hungary from 1916 to 1918. After the liberation by the allies in 1918, a controversial Podgorica Assembly was held at Podgorica Tobacco Monopoly building. The assembly marked the end of Montenegrin statehood, as Montenegro was merged with Serbia and incorporated in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between the two world wars, the population of Podgorica was about 13,000.

Podgorica suffered heavily during World War II; the city was bombed over 70 times throughout the course of the war and razed to the ground, causing the deaths of over 4,100 people. The city was liberated on 19 December 1944. Under the name of Titograd, the city became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro on 13 July 1946. A period of unprecedented expansion followed, which marked the SFRY era: the population increased dramatically, the city was heavily industrialized, infrastructure was improved, and health, educational, and cultural institutions were founded. The city rapidly became the commercial, socio-economic and cultural centre of the country. The progress halted again when the break-up of SFRY began in the 1990s. The name of Podgorica was reinstated on 2 April 1992.

The destructive Yugoslav wars bypassed Montenegro, but the entire country was greatly affected economically. A period of severe economic stagnation lasted throughout the 1990s. The economy began to recover in the early years of the 21st century, when Podgorica began to emerge as a modern, pro-western city. Following the successful independence referendum in May 2006, Podgorica became the official capital of an independent state, boosting its status as a regional centre and raising its economic prospects.

Geography [link]

River Moraca

Podgorica is located in central Montenegro. The area is crossed with rivers and the city itself is only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Lake Skadar. The Morača and Ribnica rivers flow through the city, while the Zeta, Cijevna, Sitnica and Mareza flow nearby. This richness in bodies of water is a major feature of the city.

In contrast to most of Montenegro, Podgorica lies in a mainly flat area at the northern end of the Zeta plain. The only exceptions are hills which overlook the city. The most significant is Gorica Hill (107 m/351 ft), which rises above the city centre. The other hills include Malo brdo ("little hill"), Velje brdo ("big hill"), Ljubović, Dajbapska gora and Čardak. In the main, these are too steep for development and thus limit the city's expansion, especially to the north.

Climate [link]

Podgorica has a modified Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool winters. Although the city is only some 50 km from the Adriatic Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean, the proximity of the Dinaric Alps to the north alters its climate. The mean annual rainfall is 1,600 mm (63 in). The temperature exceeds 25 °C (77 °F) on about 135 days each year and the median daily temperature is 16.4 °C (61.5 °F). The number of rainy days is about 120, and those with a strong wind around 60. An occasional strong northerly wind influences the climate in the winter, with a wind-chill effect lowering the perceived temperature by a few degrees.

Podgorica is particularly known for its extremely hot summers: temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) are common in July and August. The highest temperature recorded in Montenegro was 45.8 °C (114.4 °F), on 16 August 2007.

Snow is a rare occurrence in Podgorica: it rarely snows more than a few days per year. In February 2012, Podgorica had a snow cover for a record 25 days. The all-time maximum snowfall record was beaten on the 11th of February, when 58 cm of snowfall were measured. Before that, the biggest snowfall in Podgorica was in 1954, when 52 cm of snowfall were recorded.

Climate data for Podgorica
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	18 (64)	20 (68)	26 (79)	31 (88)	33 (91)	38 (100)	43 (109)	46 (115)	39 (102)	30 (86)	23 (73)	19 (66)	46 (115)
Average high °C (°F)	9 (48)	11 (52)	14 (57)	19 (66)	24 (75)	29 (84)	33 (91)	33 (91)	27 (81)	21 (70)	15 (59)	12 (54)	20.6 (69.0)
Average low °C (°F)	2 (36)	3 (37)	5 (41)	9 (48)	14 (57)	18 (64)	21 (70)	21 (70)	17 (63)	12 (54)	8 (46)	4 (39)	11.2 (52.1)
Record low °C (°F)	−21 (−6)	−20 (−4)	−8 (18)	0 (32)	4 (39)	10 (50)	12 (54)	9 (48)	4 (39)	−3 (27)	−14 (7)	−20 (−4)	−21 (−6)
Precipitation mm (inches)	163 (6.42)	179 (7.05)	146 (5.75)	98 (3.86)	105 (4.13)	59 (2.32)	38 (1.5)	51 (2.01)	110 (4.33)	230 (9.06)	213 (8.39)	225 (8.86)	1,617 (63.66)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	13	14	11	10	11	6	5	4	7	11	16	15	123
Mean monthly sunshine hours	113	124	186	210	248	300	341	341	240	186	120	93	2,502
Source: BBC Weather:Podgorica

Cityscape [link]

Millennium Bridge

Two bridges over river Moraca

Republic Square

Blok V

Podgorica's mixture of architectural styles reflects the turbulent history of the city and country: as one régime replaced another, the corresponding style was introduced.

As part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, Podgorica has many examples of Turkish architecture. The oldest parts of the city, Stara Varoš (Old town) and Drač are typical of this, with two mosques, a Turkish clock tower and narrow, winding streets.

When the city was incorporated to Montenegro, the urban core shifted to the other bank of the Ribnica River, where the town developed in a more European style: wider streets with an orthogonal layout. This part of the city is today traditionally regarded as city centre, and is called Nova Varoš (New town)

During World War II, Podgorica was almost razed to the ground, being bombed over 70 times. After liberation, rebuilding began as in other cities of the communist-ruled SFRY. Mass residential blocks were erected, with basic design typical of Eastern bloc countries. All that part of the city on the right bank of the Morača River was built this way. Even the empty spaces in the city centre were filled with near-brutalist structures, resulting in an unfortunate fusion of old and new. The residential and business blocks of the SFRY era provided ample housing but have been much criticized for their uninventive and grey appearance.^{[citation needed]}

The main contemporary traffic arteries were laid out during this period, which extended the orthogonal street layout of city center, to the south and west. Residential and infrastructural developments in the SFRY era have mostly shaped the layout of today's Podgorica, and accommodated the unprecedented population growth that followed World War II.

However, in area surrounding residential blocks, the city expanded in a form of often chaotic urban sprawl, with densely built private lowrise dwellings leaving little space for streets and sidewalks. The trend of sprawling informal settlements was at peak during the 1990s. Efforts have been made since to improve the infrastructure of those settlements, but many problems remain, especially in large lowrise neighbourhoods in north and northeast Podgorica.

A major advance in Podgorica architecture began in the late 1990s and, since then, the face of the city has changed rapidly. Residential and business construction are proceeding rapidly, incorporating contemporary glass-and-steel architectural trends. In an effort to create a recognizable and modern state capital, city officials are routing significant investments in city's public spaces. Thus, the city has gained entirely new squares, parks and monuments. New landmarks include the Hristovog Vaskrsenja orthodox temple and the Millennium Bridge, the main feature of the Podgorica skyline. Podgorica today is transforming rapidly from a featureless town to a modern European capital.

Culture [link]

Entertainment and performing arts [link]

Montenegrin National Theatre

Podgorica is home to many Montenegrin cultural institutions and events. It hosts the Montenegrin National Theatre and a number of museums and galleries. The Montenegrin National Theatre is the most significant theatre not only in Podgorica but in all of Montenegro. Podgorica is also host to the City Theatre (Gradsko pozorište), which includes the Children's Theatre and the Puppet Theatre. Although not as rich in museums and galleries as the historic royal capital Cetinje, there are several noteworthy museums:

The Podgorica City Museum (Muzej grada Podgorice) preserves Podgorica's rich heritage. Founded in 1950, it has four categories: archaeological, ethnographic, historical and cultural-historical. It houses artefacts which date back to the Roman and Illyrian eras.

The Archaeological Research Centre (Centar za arheološka istraživanja) was founded in 1961. Its mission is to gather, classify, restore and display archaeological sites.

The Museum of Marko Miljanov (Muzej Marka Miljanova) in Medun shows life in 19th century Montenegro. It is the most significant Montenegrin memorial museum of its kind.

The Natural History Museum (Prirodnjački muzej) displays specimens of Montenegrin flora and fauna. This museum has no exhibition space of its own, despite many proposals and initiatives to build one.

There is a notable art gallery in the Dvorac Petrovića (Petrović's Castle) complex in Podgorica's largest public park. King Nicholas's castle, Perjanički dom (House of the Honour Guard), castle chapel and surrounding buildings were converted to an art gallery in 1984. Since 1995, it has been part of the Modern Arts Centre (Centar savremenih umjetnosti) and houses approximately 1,500 works of art. The historic Cinema Culture (Kino kultura), which was founded in 1949, was closed in November 2008 due to continuous financial losses it generated. It was the only cinema in the city for 6 decades. The building of the former cinema will be converted to host the Podgorica City Theatre. Shortly after its closure, a Ster-Kinekor (later acquired by Cineplexx) 6-screen multiplex cinema opened at Delta City shopping mall.

A significant cultural institution of over fifty years' standing is the Cultural-informational centre Budo Tomović (KIC Budo Tomović). It is a public institution which organises various artistic events, including Podgorica's Cultural Summer (Podgoričko Kulturno Ljeto), FIAT – International Alternative Theatre Festival (Festival Internacionalnog Aletarnativnog Teatra), DEUS – December Arts Scene (Decembarska Umjetnička Scena). 'KIC budo Tomović was a host for such names as Tony Parsons or Brooklyn Funk Essentials during their visits to Podgorica.

Media [link]

The radio frequency spectrum control tower, overlooking the city

Podgorica is undoubtedly the media hub of Montenegro. It is home to the headquarters of the state-owned public television broadcaster RTCG. Commercial broadcasters in Podgorica include TV In, NTV Montena, Elmag RTV, RTV Atlas, TV Vijesti and MBC. It was announced that cities local television will be open soon.^[5] Their programmes can be received in much of Montenegro.

All Montenegro's daily newspapers (oldest Montenegrin daily newspaper Pobjeda, and Vijesti, DAN) are published in Podgorica, as is the popular weekly magazine Monitor.

Sports [link]

Morača Sports Center

The most popular sports by far are football and basketball. Basketball became especially popular with the success in the late 20th and early 21st centuries of KK Budućnost Podgorica, both in Yugoslav and European competitions.

Football in Podgorica has a very long tradition associated with FK Budućnost Podgorica. World-famous players Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Savićević were born in Podgorica and made their debut in that team. FK Zeta (from the Podgorica suburb of Golubovci) has also reached the former first league of Serbia and Montenegro. These clubs, along with FK Mogren of Budva, usually compete with each other for leading position in the First League of Montenegro. Other clubs from Podgorica and its surroundings play in the Montenegrin First League e.g. FK Dečić (Tuzi), FK Kom and FK Mladost. One of the most popular clubs from the suburbs is FK Ribnica from Konik. The volleyball team OK Budućnost Podgorica and the women's handball team ŽRK Budućnost T-Mobile have had significant success in European competition. Budućnost Podgorica is the most important sports club in Podgorica. Its name means Future.

Sporting events like the annual Podgorica Marathon and the Morača River jumps attract international competitors. Podgorica was the host of 2009 FINA Men's Water Polo World League.

Venues [link]

Podgorica City Stadium

Podgorica has a number of sporting venues; some are under reconstruction and expansion. The main ones are:

Podgorica City Stadium. When eastern stand is completed, it will have a capacity of 24,000. It is the home of FK Budućnost Podgorica and the Montenegro national football team. It is currently the only venue in Montenegro that complies with FIFA standards for international football matches.
Morača Sports Center, a multi functional indoor sport facility. It has a capacity of 4,200 seats. It hosted one group of Eurobasket 2005, while other games were played in Belgrade, Vršac and Novi Sad.

Almost every football club in Podgorica has its own stadium, although these are often only fields with small stands or no stand at all.

Other notable venues are the Stadium of Small Sports (Малих спортова стадиум, Malih sportova stadium) under Gorica hill and the sport shooting range under Ljubović hill. There are many other sports facilities around the city, most notably indoor soccer fields.

Economy [link]

National bank of Montenegro

Hotel Podgorica

Podgorica is not only the administrative centre of Montenegro but also its main economic engine. Most of Montenegro's industrial, financial and commercial base is in Podgorica. Before World War I, most of Podgorica's economy was in trade and small-scale manufacture – an economic model established during the long rule of the Ottoman Empire. After World War II, Podgorica became Montenegro's capital and a focus of the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation of the Yugoslav era. Industries such as aluminium and tobacco processing, textiles, engineering, vehicle production and industrialised wine production were established in and around the city. In 1981 Podgorica's GDP per capita was 87% of the Yugoslav average.^[6] The Yugoslav wars, and the dissolution of Yugoslavia left Podgorica's industries without markets, suppliers or funds to invest and modernise equipment. This led to a decline of many factories, some of which closed down. Those surviving were privatised and have now largely recovered. The Podgorica aluminium smelter (Kombinat aluminijuma Podgorica – KAP, owned by Rusal) and AD Plantaže (a wine and brandy making company) are still among the biggest companies in Montenegro.

In the early 2000s, Podgorica's financial and service sector expanded rapidly and its economy became more service-oriented. The Montenegro Stock Exchange is situated in the city, as well as most Montenegrin banks' headquarters. Economic activity in Podgorica has mostly shifted from heavy industries to telecommunications, construction and banking. Investors and foreign companies which open outlets in Podgorica add significantly to the growth and diversification of its economy. As a side effect, the prices of property and development land in the centre of Podgorica have increased greatly. The growth, although somewhat slowed down due to late 2000s recession, is expected to continue, as Podgorica became capital of an independent country in 2006.

Religion [link]

Christ's Resurrection Church

Podgorica is home to three main religious groups : Orthodox Christians, Sunnite Muslims and Catholic Christians

Orthodox Christian population mostly originates from local Serb and Montenegrin population, which accepted Orthodox Christianity in Middle Ages after a major split during The Great Schism. Most of them settled in Podgorica after final defeat of Ottoman Empire and represent major religious group. There are various sacral objects of Eastern Orthodox churches in the City such as St. George church which originates from 13.th century, or Christ's Resurrection Church which is largest temple in the city recently erected. Catholic population mainly consists of local autochthonous Albanian minority as well as Croat minority. Main sacral object for Catholic population located in the Konik neighbourhood is Catholic Church "Hearth of Jesus" constructed in 1966. in Brutalist style which makes this object unique. Other Catholic objects are located in eastern suburb Tuzi

Podgorica Mosque

Religion	Number	Percentage
Eastern Orthodox	145,575	78,29%
Islam	16,275	8,75%
Muslims	4,608	2,48%
Roman Catholicism	7,947	4,27%
Christians	568	0,31%
Agnostic	225	0,12%
Atheist	3,698	1,99%
Other	1,961	1,05%
Did not declare	4,583	2,46%

Demographics [link]

Although medium-sized by European standards, Podgorica is by far the largest city in Montenegro: almost one third of Montenegrin citizens live there. According to 2011 census, there are 185,937 people in the Podgorica municipality, which includes small towns of Tuzi and Golubovci, while 150,977 people live in the city itself.

Population (city)

Census	Population
1948	14,369
1953	19,868
1961	35,054
1971	61,727
1981	96,074
1991	117,875
2003	136,473
2011	150,977

Ethnicity in 2011 (municipality)

Ethnicity	Number	Percentage
Montenegrins	106,642	57.35%
Serbs	43,248	23.26%
Albanians	9,538	5.13%
Muslims	4,122	2.22%
Roma	3,988	2.14%
Bosniaks	3,687	1.98%
Croats	664	0.36%
Others	1,222	0.66%

Population (municipality)

Census	Population
1948	48,599
1953	55,669
1961	72,319
1971	98,796
1981	132,290
1991	179,401
2003	169,132
2011	185,937

According to the census, the municipality of Podgorica is the metropolitan area, while the city of Podgorica represents the urban area.

Politics [link]

Podgorica city hall

U.S. embassy in Podgorica

The city administration consists of mayor, city assembly and a number of secretariats and administrative bodies which together act as a city local government. The city assembly has 57 members, elected directly for four-year terms. The mayor used to be directly elected for five-year term, but since the new law was introduced in Montenegrin municipalities mayors will be elected by the city assembly and will have to maintain it's support during his term. Separate elections are held for local sub-divisions of Golubovci and Tuzi since it is part of their administrative autonomy inside Podgorica municipality. Constant questions are raised by various politicians over gaining separate municipality status for Golubovci and Tuzi

On local elections held on 23 May 2010, the Democratic Party of Socialists won 28 seats in the municipal assembly (with coalition partners Bosniak Party and Liberal Party), from 29 needed to form a majority. The opposition coalition "For better Montenegro", consisting of PZP, SNP, NOVA and some minor parties won 24 seats, while Social Democratic Party of Montenegro won 5 mandates. Position of the mayor is held by senior DPS official, Miomir Mugoša, who has been incumbent since 2000. He has succeeded in obtaining support from two opposition members in the city assembly, and thus in formation of a 30-seat majority.

Local subdivisions [link]

Main article: Subdivisions of Podgorica

The municipality of Podgorica consists of Podgorica City Proper and two subdivisions called Urban municipalities (Градске општине, Gradske opštine), Golubovci and Tuzi.

The entire municipality of Podgorica is further divided into 57 local communities (мјесне заједнице, mjesne zajednice), bodies in which the citizens participate in decisions on matters of relevance to the local community.

Education [link]

University of Montenegro main building

Most of Montenegro's higher education establishments are in Podgorica. It is home to the University of Montenegro, the country's most significant such institution. It consists of the following faculties:

Faculty of Economics
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology
Faculty of Political Sciences
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Faculty of Medicine

The University includes four scientific research institutes as well:

Institute of Foreign Languages
Institute of Biotechnology
Institute of History
Institute of Marine Biology

The Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts is also in Podgorica, as is the DANU cultural organization.

The University "Mediterranean" was founded 2006 as first private university in Montenegro. In the meantime, the number of private institutions for higher education has increased. The municipality of Podgorica has 34 elementary schools and 10 secondary schools, including one gymnasium. The first secondary school established in Podgorica is Slobodan Škerović. The rebuilt economic high school now offers new features and higher quality education. The Radosav Ljumović national library is considered the most comprehensive in Montenegro.

Transport [link]

George Washington's boulevard

Old Locomotive "Lovcen" in podgorica

Train Station in Podgorica

Podgorica Airport near Golubovci.

Podgorica Airport

Public transport [link]

Public transport in Podgorica consists of bus lines. City owned AD Gradski saobraćaj public transport company used to be the sole bus operator, until the 1990s, when private carriers were introduced. The city-owned company went bankrupt in 2001, and buses were since operated solely by private carriers.

Public transport has struggled to deal with competition. Unlicensed taxis that once threatened the bus services are now extinct, but cheaper despatched taxicab services have become more popular.

The taxicab service is well-organised. Over 20 companies operate over 800 vehicles. These boast a high level of service, including new cars, same car model for entire company, drivers in uniforms and GPS-tracked vehicles.

Road [link]

Podgorica's location in central Montenegro makes it a natural hub for rail and road transport. Roads in Montenegro (especially that which connects Podgorica to northern Montenegro and Serbia) are usually inferior to modern European roads. Both major Montenegrin motorway projects, Bar – Boljare motorway and Adriatic Ionian motorway, will pass near Podgorica. Those roads are currently in planning stages. The newly-built Sozina tunnel (4.2 km) shortened the journey from Podgorica to Bar (Montenegro's main seaport) to under 30 minutes. Also a new road bypass has been constructed in 2011, to remove transportation routes from north to south of the country out of the City center. A south-western bypass has also been planned, with same goal of moving heavy transport out of the City core. Podgorica is also characteristic for its extensive network of 2+2 or 3+3 boulevards which make inner city transport quick and effective. Traffic over the Morača river also goes fluently since both coasts are very well connected with over 5 bridges.

The current main transit connections of Podgorica are:

north (E65, E80), towards Belgrade and on to Central Europe
west (E762), towards Nikšić, Bosnia and on to Western Europe
south (E65, E80) towards the Adriatic coast
east (E762), towards Albania

Rail [link]

Podgorica is a hub of X-shaped Montenegrin rail network. The Belgrade–Bar line converges with the line to Nikšić and line to Shkodër at the Podgorica Rail Station. The station itself is located 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the southeast of the main city square. Podgorica's main railway link (for both passenger and freight traffic) is Belgrade–Bar. The link to Nikšić is currently under reconstruction and electrification.,^[7] with passenger service expected to start in 2012. The rail link to Shkodër is currently used as freight-only.

Air [link]

Podgorica Airport is 10 km south of the city center located in Zeta Plain and is Montenegro's main international airport. It consists of one terminal and was recently connected to the city with a boulevard. A new passenger terminal was opened on 13 July 2006. Podgorica Airport served over 650,000 passengers in 2010. There are regular flights from Podgorica to Belgrade, Budapest, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Ljubljana, Niš, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Vienna, Zagreb and Zurich.

Sister cities [link]

Yerevan (Armenia), Since 1974 (Partner city)
Skopje (Macedonia)
London (United Kingdom)
Zagreb (Croatia)
Tirana (Albania)
Moscow (Russia)
Stockholm (Sweden)

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Podgorica

References [link]

^ "Montenegrin 2011 census". Monstat. 2011.
^ Wells, John C.. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
^ Božić, Ivan (1979) (in Serbian), Nemirno pomorje XV veka, Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, p. 295, OCLC 5845972, http://books.google.rs/books?id=X2AeAAAAMAAJ&q=%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87&dq=%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Eu0aT6bsLe_E4gSixvjuDQ&redir_esc=y, "почетком 1474 ... о султановој намери да обнови Подгорицу и да је насели са пет хиљада турских домаћинстава, а исто тако да подигне из рушевина стари град Балеч"
^ Ćorović, Vladimir (2005) (in Serbian). Istorija Srba. Zoograf. p. 357. http://books.google.rs/books?id=IGotAQAAIAAJ&q=%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87&dq=%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%87&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XC4bT-boOvP54QTmlrmEDQ&redir_esc=y. Retrieved 21 January 2012. "...очвидно из разлога да спрече везе између Зећана и Албанаца"
^ Mugoša: Podgorica dobija svoju televiziju
^ Radovinović, Radovan; Bertić, Ivan, eds. (1984) (in Croatian). Atlas svijeta: Novi pogled na Zemlju (3rd ed.). Zagreb: Sveučilišna naklada Liber.
^ U Željeznicu ulažu 52 miliona eura

v t e Seats of Montenegrin Municipalities

Andrijevica · Bar · Berane · Bijelo Polje · Budva · Cetinje · Danilovgrad · Herceg Novi · Kolašin · Kotor · Mojkovac · Nikšić · Plav · Pljevlja · Plužine · Podgorica · Rožaje · Šavnik · Tivat · Ulcinj · Žabljak

Capitals of European states and territories

Capitals of non-sovereign territories or constituent nations shown in SmallCaps

Western	Northern	Central	Southern	Eastern

Amsterdam,⁶ Netherlands Andorra la Vella, Andorra Brussels,⁵ Belgium Douglas, Isle of Man⁴ Dublin, Ireland London, United Kingdom Paris, France Saint Helier, Jersey⁴ Saint Peter Port, Guernsey⁴	Copenhagen,⁷ Denmark Helsinki, Finland Longyearbyen, Svalbard Mariehamn, Åland Islands Oslo, Norway Reykjavík, Iceland Riga, Latvia Stockholm, Sweden Tallinn, Estonia Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Vilnius, Lithuania	Belgrade, Serbia Berlin, Germany Bern, Switzerland Bratislava, Slovakia Bucharest, Romania Budapest, Hungary Chişinău, Moldova Ljubljana, Slovenia Luxembourg, Luxembourg Prague, Czech Republic Vienna, Austria Warsaw, Poland Vaduz, Liechtenstein Zagreb, Croatia	Ankara, Turkey¹ Athens, Greece Gibraltar, Gibraltar⁴ Lisbon, Portugal Madrid, Spain Monaco, Monaco Nicosia, Cyprus² North Nicosia, Northern Cyprus^{2, 3} Podgorica, Montenegro Pristina, Kosovo³ Rome, Italy San Marino, San Marino Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Sofia, Bulgaria Tirana, Albania Valletta, Malta Vatican City, Vatican City	Astana, Kazakhstan¹ Baku, Azerbaijan¹ Kiev, Ukraine Minsk, Belarus Moscow, Russia¹ Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh^{2, 3} Sukhumi, Abkhazia^{2, 3} Tbilisi, Georgia¹ Tiraspol, Transnistria³ Tskhinvali, South Ossetia^{2, 3} Yerevan, Armenia¹

¹ Transcontinental country.
² Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.
³ Partially recognised country.
⁴ Crown Dependency or Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.
⁵ Also the seat of the European Union, see Location of European Union institutions and Brussels and the European Union.
⁶ Also the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

v t e Capital cities of the Candidate Countries of the European Union

Ankara Belgrade Podgorica Reykjavík Skopje Zagreb

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Contents

Etymology [link]

History [link]

Geography [link]

Climate [link]

Cityscape [link]

Culture [link]

Entertainment and performing arts [link]

Media [link]

Sports [link]

Venues [link]

Economy [link]

Religion [link]

Demographics [link]

Politics [link]

Local subdivisions [link]

Education [link]

Transport [link]

Public transport [link]

Road [link]

Rail [link]

Air [link]

Sister cities [link]

External links [link]

References [link]

http://wn.com/Podgorica

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