Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Naples

2007-05-20T01:55:17Z

Poojah: commonwealth spelling

'''Naples''' (Napoli in [[Italian]]) is a large city in southern [[Italy]].

It was founded as Neapolis (or new city) by the [[Greek]]s in the the 7th century BC.

The Roman cities of [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]] are nearby.

It was the center of the [[Kingdom of Naples]] in mediaeval times.

[[Category:Cities]]

Commonwealth of Nations

2007-05-20T00:09:18Z

Poojah:

[[Image:Commonwealth.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Emblem of the Commonwealth of Nations]]
The Commonwealth of Nations is a free association of 53 mostly former British colonies. The '''Commonwealth''', as it is commonly known, brings together countries on every continent and encompasses nearly 2 billion citizens. The Commonwealth does not have a constitution, instead it is governed by a set of core beliefs, espoused by declarations or statements made at meetings of the Commonwealth. These fundamental beliefs are encapsulated by the 1st major Commonwealth statement in 1971.[http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/20723/32987/singapore_declaration_of_commonwealth_principles/]

'''1971 Declaration of Commonwealth Principles.'''
*International peace and security;
*Democracy;
*Liberty of the individual and equal rights for all;
*The importance of eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease;
*It opposes all forms of racial discrimination.

The activities of the Commonwealth as a whole are coordinated by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the main intergovernmental authority of the Commonwealth and is tasked to facilitate communication between member states.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) allows these nations to discuss common issues and to improve bi-lateral relations between member states. Synonymous with the Commonwealth is the [[Commonwealth Games]], an event held every 4 years and similar in nature to the [[Olympics]].

==History==
The Commonwealth was formerly known as the British Commonwealth and before that the [[British Empire]]. The evolution of its title has been indicative of the status of its members and the function of the organisation. From a colonial empire to a modern collective of free states the Commonwealth has mirrored the major political changes of the 20th Century.

==Membership==
The current membership of the Commonwealth includes:
Antigua & Barbuda,
[[Australia]],
The Bahamas,
Bangladesh,
Barbados,
Belize,
Botswana,
Brunei Darussalam,
Cameroon,
[[Canada]],
Cyprus,
Dominica,
Fiji Islands*,
The Gambia,
Ghana,
Grenada,
Guyana,
India,
Jamaica,
Kenya,
Kiribati,
Lesotho,
Malawi,
Malaysia,
Maldives,
Malta,
Mauritius,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Nauru,
[[New Zealand]],
Nigeria,
Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea,
St Kitts and Nevis,
St Lucia,
St Vincent and the Grenadines,
Samoa,
Seychelles,
Sierra Leone,
Singapore,
Solomon Islands,
[[South Africa]],
Sri Lanka,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Tonga,
Trinidad & Tobago,
Tuvalu,
Uganda,
[[United Kingdom]],
Vanuatu,
Zambia,

* Fiji’s military regime was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth on 8th Dec 2006

==External links==
*[http://www.thecommonwealth.org Commonwealth Secretariat]
*[http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/article.php Commonwealth of Nations]

[[Category:Politics]]

English language

2007-05-20T00:06:56Z

Poojah:

English is the predominant language of the [[United States of America|United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and other former members of the [[British Empire]]. Due to the enormous political and economic influence of the these nations, English functions as the world's major international language.

English is a member of the Germanic language family, but with significant influence from [[French]], a Romance language. This is largely due to the conquest of Saxon-speaking [[England]] by [[French]] speaking Normans in 1066 AD. English owes some of its structure (its system of auxiliary verbs, for example) to French. In terms of the lexicon, Old English words are a minority (though they predominate when one looks at the most commonly-used words) whereas words from [[French]] are more numerous, followed by [[Latin]], [[Greek]], and other modern languages.

Since that time, English has continued to grow and evolve, borrowing thousands of words from other languages, among them [[French]], [[Latin]], [[Greek]], and [[Spanish]], as well as generating new words of its own. In large part as a result, English has one of the largest lexicons (vocabularies) of any world language, and is particularly rich in [[synonym]]s and near-synonyms. It is the primary (native) language of approximately 400 million people worldwide, as well as a secondary, or learned language of 600 million more. There are estimated to be nearly one billion people currently learning English.

English spelling, though originally phonetic, has evolved considerably over time. By the Middle English period, spelling had become quite variable, and standard spellings did not evolve until the late seventeenth century. In the United States, the lexicographer [[Noah Webster]] argued for simplifying some spelling which were no longer phonetic, such as the -our in words such as "colour". Most, though not all, of his proposed changes were adopted, such that US English spelling differs from UK English in some hundreds of instances. UK English spelling is the standard in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and most of the Commonwealth of Nations including Canada and Australia; US English spelling is the standard in the [[United States]] and its territories.

The term "English" may also be used to refer to a person from the United Kingdom born in the country of England.
[[Category:Languages]]

British

2007-05-20T00:06:06Z

Poojah:

'''British''' refers to a person being a citizen of the [[United Kingdom]]. It is not usually used as an expression of nationality by British citizens, as many will prefer to use the expressions "English", "Scottish", or "Welsh", referring to which constituent country of the UK they self-identify with. An exception to this is its use in [[Northern Ireland]] by [[Unionist|Unionists]] to show their support for the continued inclusion of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.

Historically, "British" was also the name given to the largest empire the world has ever seen, administered in the United Kingdom in the name of the British monarch. British colonies were established all over the world, covering roughly a quarter of the world's land surface area in 1921, even after losing much of its North American territory after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The large empire was possible because Britain "ruled the seas" through the stong domination of the [[Royal Navy]], and used this to ensure free trading for British interests. With up to a quarter of the world as British subjects, the Empire was also the world's foremost military power. For many centuries, populations lived under a period of relative peace and prosperity that was the ''Pax Brittannica'', though from a modern perspective, the methods used to control and ensure this superiority on occasion were on occasion particularly vicious.

Sadly, the empire no longer exists, though its legacy can still be appreciated today, be it through the popularity of traditional British sports such as soccer, cricket, rugby and golf; or from the status of [[English]] as the current global [[lingua franca]]; or from the use of the [[Westminster system]] of government and English common law around the world.

The Empire's successor is the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], which still features the British monarch [[Queen Elizabeth II]] as the [[Head of the Commonwealth]]. The commonwealth consists of the UK, [[Commonwealth Realms]] which still have the British monarch as Head of State, and republics.

Recently, Australians voted in a referendum to retain the British monarch as their Head of State, rather than declare Australia a republic.

British

2007-05-20T00:05:49Z

Poojah: fleshed out article, removed historical innacurracy

{{stub}}

'''British''' refers to a person being a citizen of the [[United Kingdom]]. It is not usually used as an expression of nationality by British citizens, as many will prefer to use the expressions "English", "Scottish", or "Welsh", referring to which constituent country of the UK they self-identify with. An exception to this is its use in [[Northern Ireland]] by [[Unionist|Unionists]] to show their support for the continued inclusion of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.

Historically, "British" was also the name given to the largest empire the world has ever seen, administered in the United Kingdom in the name of the British monarch. British colonies were established all over the world, covering roughly a quarter of the world's land surface area in 1921, even after losing much of its North American territory after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The large empire was possible because Britain "ruled the seas" through the stong domination of the [[Royal Navy]], and used this to ensure free trading for British interests. With up to a quarter of the world as British subjects, the Empire was also the world's foremost military power. For many centuries, populations lived under a period of relative peace and prosperity that was the ''Pax Brittannica'', though from a modern perspective, the methods used to control and ensure this superiority on occasion were on occasion particularly vicious.

Sadly, the empire no longer exists, though its legacy can still be appreciated today, be it through the popularity of traditional British sports such as soccer, cricket, rugby and golf; or from the status of [[English]] as the current global [[lingua franca]]; or from the use of the [[Westminster system]] of government and English common law around the world.

The Empire's successor is the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], which still features the British monarch [[Queen Elizabeth II]] as the [[Head of the Commonwealth]]. The commonwealth consists of the UK, [[Commonwealth Realms]] which still have the British monarch as Head of State, and republics.

Recently, Australians voted in a referendum to retain the British monarch as their Head of State, rather than declare Australia a republic.