CYPRUS

Hello! I am Carlos and I am Cypriot. In my country (Cyprus) the official languages are Greek in the south and Turkish in the north part and we use the euro like currency. Our capital city is Nicosia and the population of the country is about 0.8 million. Cyprus is the largest island in the eastern Mediterranean and is situated south of Turkey. The total area of the island is 9 250 km². My government is a republic and we are members of the European Union since 2004.
The island’s main economic activities are tourism, clothing and craft exports and merchant shipping. Traditional local dishes include the meze – a selection of appetizers served as a main dish, halloumi cheese and the zivania schnapps.











ST.SOPHIE( Nicosia)

Cyprus was the site of early Phoenician and Greek colonies. For centuries its rule passed through many hands. It fell to the Turks in 1571, and a large Turkish colony settled on the island. It was declared a Crown colony in 1925. In 1955, a guerrilla war against British rule was launched by the National Organization of Cypriot Combatants (EOKA). In 1958, Greek Cypriot nationalist leader Archbishop Makarios began calling for Cypriot independence rather than union with Greece. During this period, Turkish Cypriots began demanding that the island be partitioned between the Greek and Turkish populations. Cyprus became an independent nation on 1960.

Cyprus is well known as the island of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, who, according to legend, was born here. In modern literature, names such as Costas Montis (poet and writer) and Demetris Gotsis (writer) stand out, while Evagoras Karageorgis and Marios Tokas are well known for their musical compositions.








Evagoras Karageorgis

ITALY.

 I am from Italy, so I am Italian and the official language in my country is also Italian!

Italy has belonged to the EU since 1952 and its pilotical system is a Republic. In Italy there are about 60 million inhabitants, and it runs from the Alps to central Mediterranean Sea.

It includes the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Elba and about 70 other smaller ones. There are two small independent states within peninsular Italy: the Vatican City in Rome, and the Republic of San Marino. The capital city is Rome. Italy occupies a total area of 301 263 km² and its currency is the euro.

A typical street of Venecia

The country's main economic sectors are tourism, fashion, engineering, chemicals, motor vehicles and food. Italy's northern regions are per capita amongst the richest in Europe.

The centre of the vast Roman Empire which left a huge archaeological, cultural and literary heritage, the Italian peninsula saw the birth of medieval humanism and the Renaissance.This further helped to shape European political thought, philosophy and art via figures like Machiavelli, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo.

 

'La Mona Lisa'
By: Da Vinci

The country has also produced artists like Eros Ramazzotti, Andrea Boccelli , Valentino Rossi or the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, famous largely due to various controversies that have surrounded his life.

An originaly Italian falg.

Italian cuisine is one of the most refined and varied in Europe, from the piquant flavours of Naples and Calabria to the pesto dishes of Liguria and the cheese and risotto dishes of the Italian Alps, and of course, the famous pizza!

I think Italy is a wonderful country, with a lot of history and beautiful interesting places to visit. I would like to live there because is a romantic and relaxing country, and also because I love italian language and food !

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has 10,562,214 of inhabitants, the mostly are Czechs, but there are Moravians, Slovakians and others unspecificates. The official language is Czech, but there are officially recognized minority languages too, like Slovak, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polisch, Romani, Russian, Rusy, Serbian and Ukranian. It’s a Parlamentary republic situated in the center of Europe and it borders Poland to the notheast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its currency is Czech koruna. The Czech Republic has an area of 78,866 Km2 , and the capital city is Prague.

About the history it´s important to know that The Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia until the "velvet divorce" in January 1993. The following timeline therefore follows the rich history of Czechoslovakia and the Slavic people who were the most numerous ethnic group in Europe:

The 'West Slavs' were the Poles, the Czechs and the Slovaks
The 'East Slavs' consisted of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians
The 'South Slavs' consisted of Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians Serbs and Slovenians
In the early Middle Ages Slavs were often used as slaves which is possibly the origin of the generic term 'Slavs'.

There are some famous people like: TaTana Kucharova ( Miss world), Jaromis Jarg (hockey player), Martina Navratilova (tennis player), Vaclav Havel ( dramatist, essayist, philosopher and the expresident of the Czech Republic) and Jaroslav Heyrovsky ( Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959).

Typical examples of favorite Czech dishes are soups, dumplings, pork and cabbage and beef sirloin in cream sauce.

This country isn´t a member of the European Union.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom, (UK) is an island located off the north-western coast of Europe. It has many islands, as Ireland. The UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

The UK is an unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London.

The official language in the UK is English, but also it has another regional languages as Irish, Scottish Gaelic or Welsh. It has a population about 62 million of people in 243610km2 and the currency is the Pound sterling (GBP).

Other importants cities in the UK are Brighton, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bristol, Liverpool Manchester or Oxford. The UK is a country of tourism and work.

The British Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the growing British Empire. During this time, the colonies in North America had been the main focus of British colonial activity. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, with their loss following the American War of Independence, imperial ambition turned to other parts of the world, like India.

The UK, along with Russia, France and the USA, was one of the major powers opposing the German Empire and its allies in World War I. After the war the UK received the League of Nations. In World War II, UK was one of the three main Allies of World War II.

In The 1973, the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community.

From the late 1960s Nothern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence, known as the Troubles.

During the history of UK, there have been many famous writters, as William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Isaac Newton, Williand Byrd or Benjamin Britten. But there also have been many famous musicians, actors, and sportsmans like John Lennon, David Beckham, Amy Winehouse, Orlando Bloom or Kate Moss.

'To be or not to be, that is the question'

UK has a great typical food, like roast beef, pies, fish & chips or apple pies, but personally I thing the best dish is fish & chips.

In summary, it is a beautiful country, with friendly people, lots of history and great food. I think this country is one of the best to live in because there are a lot of job and opportunities to young people.

CROATIA

Hello I am from Croatia. Its Political system is Republic and its capital city is Zagreb. Croatia has 56542 km² and 4.4 million of population. Its currency is kuna.

Croatia’s borders are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia and the language most spoken is croatian.

It became an independent state in 1991 following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

The Croatian Parliament (the Sabor) is a single-chamber legislative body made up of between 100 and 160 members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Croatia has an economy based mainly on light industry and services. Tourism is a notable source of income. Tourists are most familiar with Croatia for its Dalmatian coast with hundreds of islands as well as the historic cities of Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar.

Six World Heritage sites and eight national parks bear witness to Croatia’s immense cultural and natural wealth. The richness of Croatia’s culture is a result of its sometimes turbulent history, first as part of the Roman Empire and then as a frontier region on the border between the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.

Marco Polo was born in Korcula, Croatia and he discovered China.

Croatian cuisine includes dishes such as grilled meat, Dalmatian smoked ham, salted pilchards, sheep's cheese and paprika-flavoured salami. Croatia produces many fine wines.

In 2013 Croatia is going to belong to the European Union.

I would not like to live in Croatia because I think Spain is a more stable country and better to live.

GERMANY

My country is Germany. Its inhabitants are German. The official language is German, but other languages spoken are Turkish, Polish, the Balkan languages and Russian. Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative, democratic republic. The chancellor, currently Angela Merkel, is the head of the government and exercises executive power. It is one of the major political powers of the

-With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in the European Union.

-The currency is the Euro. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² . The capital city is Berlín. Germany comprises sixteen states, with many important cities like Munich, Frankfurt or Hannover. Germany is in the Western and Central Europe, bordering Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland in the south, France and Luxembourg in the south-west, and Belgium and the Netherlands in the north-west.European continent and a technological leader in many fields.

Germany is known in history by Adolf Hitler, head of state, which started in Nazi Germany. Hitler's policies led to the outbreak of the Second World War, September 1, 1939, when he attacked Poland. In what later became known as the Holocaust, the Nazi regime discriminated various s

ectors of society: Jews, communists, gypsies, homosexuals, etc. During the Nazi era, about eleven million people were murdered in the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler

-There are so many famous German people like: Karl Marx, Hitler (politicians); Albert Einstein, Gutemberg (scientists); Johann Sebastian Bach (musician); The Brothers Grimm (writers); Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum (models); Diane Kruger, Bruce Willis (actors); Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel (deportists).

Michael Schumacher

Albert Einstein Bruce Willis

-German cuisine varies from region to region. The southern regions share a culinary culture with Switzerland and Austria. In all regions, meat is often eaten in sausage form. A very typical food is Chucrut, called Sauerkraut. For snack is very famous Pretzels, that are made from flavor, milk and butter, they can be savory or sweet. The national alcoholic drink is beer, very popular by tourists in Germany.

Finally, I think I would like to live in this country because is very similar to Spain, and it's a very good place to live in.

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Iceland

Iceland is situated in the northwest of Europe. The capitol is Reikiavik. The population of Iceland is about 331 000 inhabitants and the area is about 103 000 km².

Is a vulcanic country where we find deserts, mountains and glaciers. Due to the warm ocean currents, Iceland has got a warm climate for its latitude.

Nowadays is a welfare state. In 2009 Iceland was declarated by the ONU as the third most developed country in the world.