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stem poorly connected to the material world it suffered the common fate of other esoteric disciplines such as astrology and kabbalah excluded from university curricula shunned by its former patrons ostracized by scientists and commonly viewed as the epitome of charlatanism and superstition these developments could be interpreted as part of a broader reaction in european intellectualism against the romantic movement of the preceding century be as it may it is sobering to observe how a discipline that held so much intellectual and material prestige for more than two thousand years could disappear so easily from the universe of western thought modern alchemy in modern times progress has been made toward achieving the goals of alchemy using scientific rather than alchemic means these developments may on occasion be called alchemy for rhetorical reasons in one nine one nine ernest rutherford used artificial disintegration to convert nitrogen into oxygen this process of bombarding the atomic nucleus with high energ

y particles is the principle behind modern particle accelerators in which transmutations of elements are common indeed in one nine eight zero glenn seaborg transmuted lead into gold though the amount of energy used and the microscopic quantities created negated any possible financial benefit in one nine six four george ohsawa and michio kushi based on the claims of louis kervran reportedly successfully transmutated sodium into potassium by use of an electric arc and later of carbon and oxygen into iron in one nine nine four r sundaresan and j bockris reported that they had observed fusion reactions in electrical discharges between carbon rods immersed in water however none of these claims have been replicated by other scientists and the idea is now thoroughly discredited as of two zero zero six a universal panacea remains elusive though futurists such as ray kurzweil believe sufficiently advanced nanotechnology may prolong life indefinitely some say the third goal of alchemy has been fulfilled by ivf and the

cloning of a human embryo although these technologies fall far short of creating a human life from scratch the aim of artificial intelligence research could be said to be creating a life from scratch and those philosophically opposed to the possibility of ai have compared it with alchemy such as herbert and stuart dreyfus in their one nine six zero paper alchemy and ai alchemy in art and entertainment references to alchemy in art and entertainment are far too numerous to list here we give only a few indicative samples more titles can be found in the philosopher s stone article novels and plays many writers lampooned alchemists and used them as the butt of satirical attacks two early and well known examples are geoffrey chaucer canon s yeoman s tale ca one three eight zero the main character an alchemist on the way to canterbury claims that he will pave it all of silver and of gold ben jonson the alchemist ca one six one zero in this five act play the characters set up an alchemy workshop to swindle people an

alchemical laboratory from the story of alchemy and the beginnings of chemistry in more recent works alchemists are generally presented in a more romatic or mystic light and often little distinction is made between alchemy magic and witchcraft mary shelley frankenstein one eight one eight victor frankenstein uses both alchemy and modern science to create frankenstein s monster goethe faust part two one eight three two faust s servant wagner uses alchemy to create a homunculus gabriel garc a m rquez one hundred years of solitude one nine six seven an alchemist named melqu ades adds to the novel s surreal atmosphere paulo coelho the alchemist one nine eight eight j k rowling harry potter and the philosopher s stone one nine nine seven features nicholas flamel as a character neal stephenson the baroque cycle two zero zero three two zero zero four features real and imaginary alchemists such as isaac newton de duillier and enoch root martin booth doctor illuminatus the alchemist s son two zero zero three margaret

mahy alchemy two zero zero four john fasman the geographer s library whose plot revolves around thirteen alchemical artifacts gregory keyes age of unreason features isaac newton and de duillier cornelia funke dragon rider two zero zero four twigleg the homonculus was created by an alchemist comics manga and video games stan lee and jack kirby fantastic four comics ca one nine six two villain diablo is an alchemist darklands pc game one nine nine two alchemy features prominently throughout the game mike mignola s hellboy comics one nine nine three the character roger the homunculus was created by alchemy nintendo s golden sun video game two zero zero one alchemy is an evil force that threatens the world hiromu arakawa fullmetal alchemist two zero zero two alchemists can transform anything within the principle of equivalent exchange nobuhiro watsuki weapon alchemist manga two zero zero three kazuki takahashi yu gi oh gx anime two zero zero four the character daitokuji is an alchemist who preserved his soul with

in a homunculus nintendo s final fantasy tactics advance video game two zero zero three has a playable class called alchemist bethesda softworks the elder scrolls iii morrowind prominently features alchemy as a method of creating various potions for use by the player indiana jones and the emperor s tomb computer game two zero zero three a large portion of the game is centered around a castle in prague formerly owned by an alchemist king world of warcraft computer game two zero zero four alchemy is one of the professions the player can learn music tool band album lateralus two zero zero one references trans rex warner trans william stoddart cavendish richard the black arts perigee books six th ed trans richard dales two nd ed see also other alchemical pages vulcan of the alchemists philosopher s stone hermeticism astrology and alchemy transmutation duality the four humours alkahest arcanum berith elixir quintessence alembic alchemical symbol gold water related and alternative philosophies western mystery tradi

tion astrology necromancy magic esotericism rosicrucianism illuminati taoism and the five elements kayaku jutsu acupuncture moxibustion ayurveda homeopathy anthroposophy psychology and carl jung new age scientific connections chemistry physics scientific method protoscience pseudoscience and anti science obsolete scientific theories historicism substances of the alchemists gold silver lead copper zinc mercury phosphorus sulfur arsenic antimony vitriol cinnabar pyrites orpiment galena magnesia lime potash natron saltpetre kohl ammonia ammonium chloride alcohol camphor acids sulfuric muriatic nitric acetic formic citric tartaric aqua regia gunpowder other resources list of alchemists list of occultists external links some websites discussing the original notion of alchemical transmutation for research in archetypal symbolism a pictorial and written archive of mythological ritualistic and symbolic images from all over the world and from all epochs of human history dictionary of the history of ideas alchemy skept

ical chemists from alchemy to chemistry tracing the contributions of paracelsus the alchemy museum in kutna hora world s first museum dedicated to alchemy in all its aspects a one six th century lab in a two one st century lab analytical study of the archaeological remains of an alchemical laboratory the story of alchemy and the beginnings of chemistry one nine one three from project gutenberg the alchemy website a collection of many alchemical texts and other alchemical information some websites which appear to espouse modern versions of alchemy rex research robert nelson alchemical taoism com eases study of the complex healing tao qi gong chi kung system essays by experienced students and instructors alchemy ancient egypt arabic words esoteric schools of thought gold history of ideas obsolete scientific theories automatic dependent surveillance broadcast also called ads b is a system by which airplanes constantly broadcast their current position and altitude category of aircraft airspeed identification and

whether the aircraft is turning climbing or descending over a dedicated radio datalink this functionality is known as ads b out and is the basic level of ads b functionality the ads b system was developed in the one nine nine zero s it relies on data from the global positioning system or any navigation system that provides an equivalent or better service the maximum range of the system is line of sight typically less than two zero zero nautical miles three seven zero km the ads b transmissions are received by air traffic control stations and all other ads b equipped aircraft within reception range reception by aircraft of ads b data is known as ads b in usage the initial use of ads b is expected to be by air traffic control and for surveillance purposes and for enhancing pilot situational awareness ads b is lower cost than conventional radar and permits higher quality surveillance of airborne and surface movements ads b is effective in remote areas or in mountainous terrain where there is no radar coverage or

where radar coverage is limited the outback of australia is one such area where ads b will provide surveillance where previously none existed ads b also enhances surveillance on the airport surface so it can also be used to monitor traffic on the taxiways and runways of an airport ads b equipped aircraft may also have a display unit in the cockpit picturing surrounding air traffic from ads b data ads b in and tis b traffic information service broadcast data derived from air traffic radar both pilots and air traffic controllers will then be able to see the positions of air traffic in the vicinity of the aircraft and this may be used to provide an asas airborne separation assurance system airborne collision avoidance systems may in the future also make use of ads b in supplementing the existing tcas collision avoidance system by what is called hybrid surveillance airbus and boeing are now expected to include ads b out i e the transmitter of information as standard on new build aircraft from two zero zero five

onwards this is in part due to the european requirements for mode s elementary surveillance which uses one zero nine zero mhz mode s transponder which now is normally capable of ads b via extended squitter and some common functionality with ads b out addressed and broadcast ads the radio technical commission for aeronautics rtca free flight selection committee defines surveillance as detection tracking characterization and observation of aircraft other vehicles and weather phenomena for the purpose of conducting flight operations in a safe and efficient manner automatic dependent surveillance ads is described as the process of creating and sending a message including the sender s current position and other surveillance information such as velocity intent and flight identification this information supports aircraft separation management by improving surveillance information at increased ranges situational awareness and decision making ads data can be used in cooperation with data from current radar beacon syst

ems such as air traffic control radar beacon systems atcrbs mode s traffic collision avoidance systems tcas and primary air traffic control atc radar and may also be used as a sole means of surveillance there are two commonly recognized types of ads for aircraft applications ads addressed ads a also known as ads contract ads c and ads broadcast ads b ads a provides a surveillance data report that is sent to a specific addressee for example ads a reports are employed in the future air navigation system fans using the aircraft communication addressing and reporting system acars as the communication protocol during transoceanic flight reports are periodically sent by an aircraft to the controlling air traffic region when ads b is used aircraft and other vehicles continuously broadcast a message including position heading velocity and intent other uses may include obstacles transmitting a position message aircraft ground based stations and other users monitoring the channels can receive the information and use it

in a wide variety of applications because of this potential for broad utilization a system using ads b is most often discussed as a replacement for or an augmentation to current methods of monitoring aeronautical traffic to understand the full capability of ads b consider how the current air traffic control system creates information the radar measures the range and bearing of an aircraft bearing is measured by the position of the rotating radar antenna when it receives a response to its interrogation from the aircraft and range is measured by the time it takes for the radar to receive the interrogation response the antenna beam becomes wider as the aircraft get farther away making the position information less accurate additionally detecting changes in aircraft velocity requires several radar sweeps that are spaced several seconds apart in contrast a system using ads b creates and listens for periodic position and intent reports from aircraft these reports are generated and distributed using precise instrum

ents such as the global positioning system gps and mode s transponders meaning integrity of the data is no longer susceptible to the range of the aircraft or the length of time between radar sweeps the enhanced accuracy of the information will be used to improve safety support a wide variety of applications and increase airport and airspace capacity use of ads b for ground based surveillance requires only ads b out transmit capability on the aircraft with the addition of ads b in receive capability the potential for ads b applications grows significantly some of the equipment and services associated with ads b in capability include cockpit display of traffic information cdti a display of proximate traffic based on ads b reports from other aircraft and ground based facilities traffic information services broadcast tis b a ground based uplink report of proximate traffic that is under surveillance by atc but is not ads b equipped this service would be available even with limited ads b implementation flight infor

mation services broadcast fis b a ground based uplink of flight information services and weather data ads b physical layer three link solutions are being proposed as the physical layer for relaying the ads b position reports one zero nine zero mhz mode s extended squitter es universal access transceiver uat and vhf digital link vdl mode four mode s the faa has announced its selection of the one zero nine zero mhz es and uat as the mediums for the ads b system in the united states one zero nine zero mhz es will be the primary medium for air carrier and high performance commercial aircraft while uat will be the primary medium for general aviation aircraft europe has also chosen one zero nine zero mhz as the primary physical layer for ads b however the second medium has not yet been selected between uat and vdl mode four with one zero nine zero es the existing mode s transponder or a stand alone one zero nine zero mhz transmitter supports a message type known as the es message it is a periodic message that provi

des position velocity heading time and in the future intent the basic es does not offer intent since current flight management systems do not provide such data called trajectory change points to enable an aircraft to send an extended squitter message the transponder is modified and aircraft position and other status information is routed to the transponder atc ground stations and tcas equipped aircraft already have the necessary one zero nine zero mhz receivers to receive these signals and would only require enhancements to accept and process the additional information one zero nine zero es will not support fis b due to regulatory requirements universal access transceiver the uat system is specifically designed for ads b operation a one mhz channel in the nine zero zero mhz frequency range is dedicated for transmission of airborne ads b reports and for broadcast of ground based aeronautical information uat users would have access to the additional ground based aeronautical data and would receive reports from

proximate traffic fis b and tis b vdl mode four the vdl mode four system could utilize one or more of the existing aeronautical vhf frequencies as the radio frequency physical layer for ads b transmissions vdl mode four uses a protocol stdma that allows it to be self organizing meaning no master ground station is required this medium is best used for short message transmissions from a large number of users vdl mode four systems are capable of increased range in comparison to l band mode s one zero nine zero mhz or uat systems implementation timetable the timetable for airborne ads b equipage will be determined by ground and airborne facility implementation equipment cost perceived benefits of equipping and regulatory actions by the civil aviation authorities caa the cost to equip with ads b out capability is relatively small and would benefit the airspace by enabling increased situational awareness ads b in capability can provide additional benefits when ground stations and the critical mass of aircraft are a

lso equipped this data was taken into consideration when building the following estimated implementation timetable near term implementation two zero zero six two zero zero eight the next three years will see a continuation of ads b trials and some implementation in pockets where limited aircraft equipage can bring operational benefits some of these include capstone in alaska the faa is conducting its capstone program to improve surveillance in some of the more remote locations of alaska and as a test bed for implementing elements of ads b into the atc environment approximately one nine zero general aviation users have been equipped with gps receivers uat transceivers and flight deck displays in addition one one ground based transceivers have been installed for radar like services and flight information services data fis b including weather information is being uplinked from the ground phase ii of the program will expand the coverage and add more than two five zero additional users gulf of mexico in the gulf o

f mexico where atc radar coverage is incomplete the faa is locating ads b one zero nine zero mhz receivers on oil rigs and buoys to relay information received from aircraft equipped with ads b extended squitters back to the atc centers to expand and improve surveillance coverage australia australia is implementing ads b trials in queensland to test the feasibility of one zero nine zero mhz ads b as an alternative to ground based radar ads b is expected to be a much more cost effective method of providing atc surveillance coverage for remote areas which currently have limited or no surveillance coverage cargo airline association cargo carriers operating at their hub airports operate largely at night equipage of these aircraft with ads b and cdti displays along with a ground based transceiver at these hubs will allow better situational awareness at night and in inclement weather and offers the potential for increased airport traffic handling capability embry riddle aeronautical university embry riddle aeronauti

cal university is equipping the training aircraft at its two main campuses in florida and arizona with ads b capability as a safety enhancement the faa will provide fis b and tis b uplink capabilities in those areas in support of this equipage safe flight two one east coast broadcast services the faa has announced its intention to implement ads b coverage for the entire east coast of the u s by the end of two zero zero four service range will extend inland one five zero miles with a goal of providing coverage at altitudes down to two zero zero zero feet the medium will be uat and the implementation will also include tis b and fis b information mid term implementation two zero zero eight two zero one two within four to eight years an increasing number of aircraft with ads b out capability along with the start of ground based ads b infrastructure will begin to make a number of ads b applications attractive benefits of pockets of implementation will become evident and these areas will be expanded encouraging mor

e users to equip with ads b capability beginning in two zero zero four the faa is expected to deploy ads b ground infrastructure based on asde x equipment this infrastructure will allow the use of ads b data for atc purposes such as surface movement tracking guidance and airborne surveillance ground uplinks of tis b and fis b will commence where the ground infrastructure is deployed other civil aviation authorities may install ads b ground infrastructure and require aircraft to be equipped with ads b out for operation in selected airspace australia is expected to be the first country to do so however a number of other countries with limited surveillance coverage may find ads b an attractive alternative to radar surveillance significant numbers of users will become equipped with a minimum of ads b out capability in europe one zero nine zero mhz es will become standard capability for all new mode s transponder installations after three one march two zero zero five uat will become increasingly popular in the upp

er end of the general aviation market airport situational awareness a combination of detailed airport maps airport multilateration asde x systems enhanced aircraft displays and ads b have the potential to significantly improve runway situational awareness oceanic in trail ads b can provide enhanced situational awareness and safety for oceanic in trail maneuvers as additional aircraft become equipped use of ads b and cdti will allow decreased approach spacing and closely spaced parallel approaches at congested airports with improved safety and capacity during low lower visibility operations long term implementations two zero one two and beyond air carriers fleets will achieve intended ads b benefits in the terminal and en route airspace new aircraft separation assurance applications will take advantage of the increased situational awareness and positional accuracy available in an airspace environment largely equipped with ads b capability fis b and tis b services will encourage general aviation equipage in all

market segments references see also do two one two minimal operational performance standards for airborne automatic dependent surveillance ads equipment external links airservices australia ads b info safe flight two one ads b projects capstone ads b project nup ii project ads medup project eurocontrol cascade programme european organisation for civil aviation equipment us crunches the numbers before committing to ads b jane s airport review avionics the republic of austria german republik sterreich is a landlocked country in central europe it borders germany and the czech republic to the north slovakia and hungary to the east slovenia and italy to the south and switzerland and liechtenstein to the west the capital is the city of vienna austria is a parliamentary representative democracy consisting of nine federal states and is one of two european countries that have declared their everlasting neutrality the other being switzerland austria is a member of the united nations since one nine five five and the eu

ropean union since one nine nine five for the first half of two zero zero six austria holds the seat of the presidency of the eu origin and history of the name the german name sterreich can be translated into english as the eastern realm which is derived from the old german ostarr chi reich can also mean empire and this connotation is the one that is understood in the context of the austrian austro hungarian empire holy roman empire although not in the context of the modern republic of sterreich the term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the medieval latin name for the region marchia orientalis which translates as eastern border as it was situated at the eastern edge of the holy roman empire that was also mirrored in the name ostmark applied after anschluss to germany history austria and the holy roman empire the territory of austria originally known as the celtic kingdom of noricum was a long time ally of rome it was occupied rather than conquered by the romans during the reign of augustus a

nd made the province noricum in one six bc later it was conquered by huns rugii lombards ostrogoths bavarii avars until c eight zero zero and franks in that order finally after four eight years of hungarian rule nine zero seven to nine five five the core territory of austria was awarded to leopold of babenberg in nine seven six being part of the holy roman empire the babenbergs ruled and expanded austria from the one zero th century to the one three th century battle of vienna one six eight three after duke frederick ii died in one two four six and left no successor rudolf i of habsburg gave the lands to his sons marking the beginning of the line of the habsburgs who continued to govern austria until the two zero th century with the short exception of charles vii albert of bavaria austrian habsburgs held the position of german emperor beginning in one four three eight with albert ii of habsburg until the end of the holy roman empire during the one four th and one five th century austria continued to expand it

s territory until it reached the position of a european imperial power at the end of the one five th century until the end of the habsburg monarchy in one nine one eight modern history just two years before the abolition of the holy roman empire in one eight zero six in one eight zero four the empire of austria was founded which was transformed in one eight six seven into the dual monarchy austria hungary the empire was split into several independent states in one nine one eight after the defeat of the central powers in world war i with most of the german speaking parts becoming a republic see treaty of saint germain between one nine one eight and one nine one nine it was officially known as the republic of german austria republik deutsch sterreich after the entente powers forbade german austria to unite with germany they also forbade the name and then it was changed to simply republic of austria the democratic republic lasted until one nine three three when the chancellor engelbert dollfu established an auto

cratic regime oriented towards italian fascism austrofascism austria became part of germany in one nine three eight through the anschlu and remained under nazi rule until the end of world war ii after the defeat of the axis powers the allies occupied austria until one nine five five when the country became a fully independent republic under the condition that it would remain neutral see austrian state treaty austria also became a member of the un in the same year after the collapse of communist states in eastern europe austria became increasingly involved in european affairs and in one nine nine five austria joined the european union and the euro monetary system in one nine nine nine politics austrian parliament in vienna austria became a federal parliamentarian democratic republic through the federal constitution of one nine two zero it was reintroduced in one nine four five to the nine states of the federal republic the head of state is the federal president who is directly elected the chairman of the feder

al government is the federal chancellor who is appointed by the president the government can be removed from office by either a presidential decree or by vote of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament the nationalrat the parliament of austria consists of two chambers the composition of the nationalrat is determined every four years by a free general election in which every citizen is allowed to vote to fill its one eight three seats a four percent hurdle prevents a large splintering of the political landscape in the nationalrat by awarding seats only to political parties that have obtained at least a four percent threshold of the general vote or alternatively have won a direct seat or direktmandat in one of the four three regional election districts the nationalrat is the dominant chamber in the formation of legislation in austria however the upper house of parliament the bundesrat has a limited right of veto the nationalrat can in most cases pass the respective bill a second time bypassing the bund

esrat altogether a convention called the sterreich konvent was convened in june three zero two zero zero three to decide upon suggestions to reform the constitution but has failed to produce a proposal that would receive the two thirds of votes in the nationalrat necessary for constitutional amendments and or reform however some important parts of the final report were generally agreed upon and are still expected to be implemented subdivisions a federal republic austria is divided into nine states german bundesl nder these states are divided into districts bezirke and cities statutarst dte districts are subdivided into municipalities gemeinden cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts and municipalities the states are not mere administrative divisions but have some distinct legislative authority separate from the federal government states of austria geography topography of austria austria is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the alps the central eastern alps northern

limestone alps and southern limestone alps are all partly in austria of the total area of austria eight four zero zero zero km or three two zero zero zero sq mi only about a quarter can be considered low lying and only three two of the country is below five zero zero metres one six four zero ft the high mountainous alps in the west of austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country map of austria austria may be divided into five different areas the biggest area are the austrian alps which constitute six two of austria s total area the austrian foothills at the base of the alps and the carpathians account for around one two of its area the foothills in the east and areas surrounding the periphery of the pannoni low country amount to about one two of the total landmass the second greater mountain area much lower than the alps is situated in the north known as the austrian granite plateau it is located in the central area of the bohemian mass and accounts for one zero of austria the

austrian portion of the viennese basin comprises the remaining four climate the greater part of austria lies in the cool temperate climate zone in which humid westerly winds predominate with over half of the country dominated by the alps the alpine climate is the predominant one in the east the climate shows continental features with less rain than the areas with high rainfall averages the six highest mountains in austria are economy the belvedere palace an example of the baroque austria has a well developed social market economy and a high standard of living until the one nine eight zero s many of austria s largest industry firms were nationalised however in recent years privatisation has reduced state holdings to a level comparable to other european economies labour movements are particularly strong in austria and have large influence on labour politics germany has historically been the main trading partner of austria making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the german economy slow growth in germany and el

sewhere in the world affected austria slowing its growth to one two in two zero zero one but since austria became a member state of the european union it has gained closer ties to other european union economies reducing its economic dependence on germany in addition membership in the eu has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by austria s access to the single european market and proximity to eu aspiring economies therefore estimates of growth in two zero zero five up to two are much more favourable than in the crippling german economy agriculture austrian farms like those of other west european mountainous countries are small and fragmented and production is relatively expensive industry although some industries such as several iron and steel works and chemical plants are large industrial enterprises employing thousands of people most industrial and commercial enterprises in austria are relatively small on an international scale services like in other western countries the biggest contributor to au

stria s gdp is its service sector most notably is tourism especially winter tourism to meet increased competition from both eu and central european countries austria will need to emphasize knowledge based sectors of the economy continue to deregulate the service sector and lower its tax burden see also list of austrian companies demographics vienna during the first half of the one eight th century painting by canaletto austria s capital vienna is one of europe s major cities with a population exceeding one six million two million with suburbs and constitutes a melting pot of citizens from all over central and eastern europe in contrast to this metropolis other cities do not exceed one million inhabitants in fact the second largest city graz is home of three zero five zero zero zero people followed by linz with one eight zero zero zero zero salzburg with one four five zero zero zero and innsbruck with one three four eight zero three two zero zero five all other cities have fewer than one zero zero zero zero ze

ro inhabitants austrians of german mother tongue by far the country s largest group form nine one one of austria s population the remaining number of austria s people are of non austrian descent many from surrounding countries especially from the former east bloc nations the austrian federal states of carinthia and styria are home to a significant indigenous slovenian minority with around one four zero zero zero members austrian census unofficial numbers of slovene groups speak of about four zero zero zero zero so called guest workers gastarbeiter and their descendants also form an important minority group in austria around two zero zero zero zero hungarians and three zero zero zero zero croatians live in the east most bundesland burgenland formerly part of hungary the official language german is spoken by almost all residents of the country austria s mountainous terrain led to the development of many distinct german dialects all of the dialects in the country however belong to austro bavarian groups of germa

n dialects with the exception of the dialect spoken in its west most bundesland vorarlberg which belongs to the group of alemannic dialects there is also a distinct grammatical standard for austrian german with a few differences to the german spoken in germany politics concerning ethnic groups volksgruppenpolitik an estimated two five zero zero zero four zero zero zero zero slovenians in the austrian state of carinthia as well as croatians and hungarians in burgenland were recognized as a minority and have enjoyed special rights following the austrian state treaty staatsvertrag of one nine five five the slovenians in the austrian state of styria estimated at a number between one six zero zero and five zero zero zero are not recognized as a minority and do not enjoy special rights although the state treaty of july two seven one nine five five states otherwise the right for bilingual topographic signs for the regions where slovene and croatian speaking austrians live alongside with the german speaking populatio

n as required by the one nine five five state treaty is still to be fully implemented there is also an undercurrent of thinking amongst parts of the carenthian population that the slovenian involvement in the partisan war against the nazi occupation force was a bad thing and indeed tito partisan is a not an infrequent insult hurled against members of the minority many carinthians are afraid of slovenian territorial claims pointing to the fact that yugoslav troops entered the state after each of the two world wars and considering that some official slovenian atlases still show parts of carinthia as slovenian cultural territory the current governor j rg haider has made this fact a matter of public argument in fall two zero zero five by refusing to increase the number of bilingual topographic signs in carinthia a poll by the k rntner humaninstitut conducted in january two zero zero six states that six five of carinthians are not in favour of an increase of bilingual topographic signs since the original requireme

nts set by the state treaty of one nine five five have already been fulfilled according to their point of view another interesting phenomenon is the so called windischen theorie stating that the slovenians can be split in two groups actual slovenians and windische based on differences in language between austrian slovenians who were taught slovenian standard language in school and those slovenians who spoke their local slovenian dialect but went to german schools to the latter group the term windische originally the german word for slovenians was applied claiming that they were a different ethnic group this theory was never generally accepted and has been ultimately rejected several decades ago list of cities in austria religion charles v austrian habsburg ruler and one of the major figures within the counter reformation while northern and central germany was the origin of the reformation austria and bavaria were the heart of the counter reformation in the one six th and one seven th century when the absolute

monarchy of habsburg imposed a strict regime to maintain catholicism s power and influence among austrians despite this establishment of catholicism as the predominant christian religion protestants have throughout austria s history remained a relatively small group austria s history as a multinational state has made it necessary for habsburg rulers to deal with a heterogeneous religious population religious freedom was declared a constitutional right as early as one eight six seven and austria hungary was home of numerous religions beside roman catholicism such as greek serbian romanian russian and bulgarian orthodox christians jews muslims austria neighboured the ottoman empire for centuries mormons and both calvinists and lutheran protestants still austria remained largely influenced by catholicism after one nine one eight first republic catholic leaders such as theodor innitzer and ignaz seipel took leading positions within or close to the austrian government and increased their influence during the time

of the austrofascism catholicism was treated much like a state religion by dictators engelbert dollfuss and kurt schuschnigg although catholic leaders welcomed the germans in one nine three eight during the anschluss of austria into germany austrian catholicism stopped its support of nazism later on and many former religious public figures became involved with the resistance during the third reich after one nine four five a stricter secularism was imposed in austria and religious influence on politics has nearly vanished as of the end of the two zero th century about seven three of austria s population are registered as roman catholic while about five consider themselves protestants both these numbers have been on the decline for decades especially roman catholicism which has suffered an increasing number of seceders of the church this is due partly to child sexual abuse scandals by priests as well as the alleged unwillingness of the roman catholic church to implement reforms in addition austrian catholics a

re obliged to pay a mandatory tax calculated by income ca one to the austrian roman catholic church which acts as another incentive to leave the church about one two of the population declare that they do not belong to any church or religious community of the remaining people about one eight zero zero zero zero are members of the eastern orthodox church and about seven three zero zero are jewish it has to be noted that the austrian jewish community of one nine three eight vienna alone counted more than two zero zero zero zero zero of which solely four zero zero zero to five zero zero zero remained after the second world war the influx of eastern europeans especially from the former yugoslav nations albania and particularly from turkey largely contributed to a substantial muslim minority in austria around three zero zero zero zero zero are registered as members of various muslim communities the numbers of people adhering to the islam has increased largely during the last years and is expected to grow in the fu

ture buddhism which was legally recognized as a religion in austria in one nine eight three enjoys widespread acceptance and has a following of two zero zero zero zero one zero four zero two at the two zero zero one census a two zero zero five survey among eight zero zero zero people in various european countries showed that austrians are still among the countries with the strongest belief in god eight four of all austrians do state they believe in god with only poland nine seven portugal nine zero and russia eight seven in front of the countries surveyed this is a much larger figure than the european average of seven one or germany with six seven culture ludwig wittgenstein although austria is a small country its history as a world power and its unique cultural environment in the heart of europe have generated contributions to mankind in every possible field one might argue that austria is internationally best known for its musicians it has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as wolfgang amadeu

s mozart joseph haydn franz schubert anton bruckner johann strauss sr johann strauss jr or gustav mahler as well as members of the second viennese school such as arnold schoenberg anton webern or alban berg complementing its status as a land of artists austria has always been a country of great poets writers and novelists it was the home of novelists arthur schnitzler stefan zweig thomas bernhard or robert musil of poets georg trakl franz werfel franz grillparzer rainer maria rilke or adalbert stifter famous contemporary playwrights and novelists are elfriede jelinek and peter handke among austrian artists and architects one can find painters gustav klimt oskar kokoschka egon schiele or friedensreich hundertwasser photographer inge morath or architect otto wagner austria was the cradle of numerous scientists including physicists ludwig boltzmann lise meitner erwin schr dinger ernst mach wolfgang pauli richard von mises and christian doppler philosophers ludwig wittgenstein and karl popper biologists gregor me

ndel and konrad lorenz as well as mathematician kurt g del it was home to psychologists sigmund freud alfred adler paul watzlawick and hans asperger psychiatrist viktor frankl economists joseph schumpeter eugen von b hm bawerk ludwig von mises and friedrich hayek austrian school and peter drucker and engineers such as ferdinand porsche and siegfried marcus although austrians can look back with pride on their cultural past current austria does not stand back in art and science austria hosts a tremendous amount of culture with its classical music festivals in vienna salzburg and bregenz its modern artists and writers its theatres and opera houses list of austrians music of austria miscellaneous topics austrian folk dancing austrian german communications in austria cuisine of austria education in austria foreign relations of austria media in austria military of austria public holidays in austria spanish riding school stamps and postal history of austria tourism in austria transportation in austria references ref

erences and bibliography can be found in the more detailed articles linked to in this article external links the aeiou encyclopedia homepage table of contents search amateur radio in austria answers com article on austria austria in pictures austria info official homepage of the austrian national tourist office german english and other languages austrian cultural forum new york cultural meeting place in manhattan austrian recipes on cookbookwiki com austrosearch bilingual austrian search engine and directory german english bundeskanzleramt sterreich federal chancellor of austria website of the federal chancellery of austria german english cia gov cia s factbook on austria dwellan com tourism in austria library of congress portals on the world austria peter diem the symbols of austria photoglobe info country studies austria info radio orf austrian radio stations both classical and modern music live feed tiscover at austria travel guide us department of state facts and information updated february two zero zero

five austrian airlines austria erasmus prize winners landlocked countries the commonwealth of australia is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the world s smallest continent and a number of islands in the southern indian and pacific oceans australia s neighbouring countries include indonesia east timor and papua new guinea to the north the solomon islands vanuatu and the french dependency of new caledonia to the northeast and new zealand to the southeast the continent of australia has been inhabited for over four zero zero zero zero years by indigenous australians after sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by european explorers and merchants starting in the one seven th century the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the british in one seven seven zero and officially settled as the penal colony of new south wales on two six january one seven eight eight as the population grew and new areas were explored another five largely self governing british crown colonies were successive

ly established over the course of the one nine th century on one january one nine zero one the six colonies federated and the commonwealth of australia was formed since federation australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a commonwealth realm the current population of around two zero four million is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of sydney melbourne brisbane perth and adelaide origin and history of the name the name australia is derived from the latin australis meaning southern legends of an unknown southern land terra australis incognita date back to the roman times and were commonplace in mediaeval geography but they were not based on any actual knowledge of the continent the dutch adjectival form australische australian in the sense of southern was used by dutch officials in batavia to refer to the newly discovered land to the south as early as one six three eight the first use of the word australia in english was a one six nine three translation of

les aventures de jacques sadeur dans la d couverte et le voyage de la terre australe a one six nine two french novel by gabriel de foigny under the pen name jacques sadeur alexander dalrymple then used it in an historical collection of voyages and discoveries in the south pacific ocean published in one seven seven one he used the term to refer to the entire south pacific region not specifically to the australian continent in one seven nine three george shaw and sir james smith published zoology and botany of new holland in which they wrote of the vast island or rather continent of australia australasia or new holland view of port jackson taken from the south head from a voyage to terra australis sydney was established on this site the name australia was popularised by the one eight one four work a voyage to terra australis by the navigator matthew flinders despite its title which reflected the view of the admiralty flinders used the word australia in the book which was widely read and gave the term general cu

rrency governor lachlan macquarie of new south wales subsequently used the word in his dispatches to england in one eight one seven he recommended that it be officially adopted in one eight two four the british admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as australia the word australia in australian english is pronounced as either or history the first human habitation of australia is estimated to have occurred between four two zero zero zero and four eight zero zero zero years ago the first australians were the ancestors of the current indigenous australians they arrived via land bridges and short sea crossings from present day southeast asia most of these people were hunter gatherers with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the dreamtime the torres strait islanders ethnically melanesian inhabited the torres strait islands and parts of far north queensland they possess distinct cultural practices from the aborigines lieutenant james co

ok charted the east coast of australia on hm bark endeavour claiming the land for britain in one seven seven zero this replica was built in fremantle in one nine eight eight for australia s bicentenary the first undisputed recorded european sighting of the australian continent was made by the dutch navigator willem jansz who sighted the coast of cape york peninsula in one six zero six during the one seven th century the dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of what they called new holland but made no attempt at settlement in one seven seven zero james cook sailed along and mapped the east coast of australia which he named new south wales and claimed for britain the expedition s discoveries provided impetus for the establishment of a penal colony there following the loss of the american colonies that had previously filled that role port arthur tasmania was australia s largest penal colony the british crown colony of new south wales started with the establishment of a settlement at port

jackson by captain arthur phillip on two six january one seven eight eight this date was later to become australia s national day australia day van diemen s land now known as tasmania was settled in one eight zero three and became a separate colony in one eight two five the united kingdom formally claimed the western part of australia in one eight two nine separate colonies were created from parts of new south wales south australia in one eight three six victoria in one eight five one and queensland in one eight five nine the northern territory nt was founded in one eight six three as part of the province of south australia victoria and south australia were founded as free colonies that is they were never penal colonies although the former did receive some convicts from tasmania western australia was also founded free but later accepted transported convicts due to an acute labour shortage the transportation of convicts to australia was phased out between one eight four zero and one eight six eight the indige

nous australian population estimated at about three five zero zero zero zero at the time of european settlement declined steeply for one five zero years following settlement mainly due to infectious disease forced migration the removal of children and other colonial government policies that some historians and indigenous australians have argued could be considered tantamount to genocide by today s understanding such interpretations of aboriginal history are disputed by some as being exaggerated or fabricated for political or ideological reasons this debate is known within australia as the history wars following the one nine six seven referendum the federal government gained the power to implement policies and make laws with respect to aborigines traditional ownership of land native title was not recognised until the high court case mabo v queensland no two overturned the notion of australia as terra nullius at the time of european occupation the last post is played at an anzac day ceremony in port melbourne v

ictoria two five april two zero zero five ceremonies such as this are held in virtually every suburb and town in australia a gold rush began in australia in the early one eight five zero s and the eureka stockade rebellion in one eight five four was an early expression of nationalist sentiment between one eight five five and one eight nine zero the six colonies individually gained responsible government managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the british empire the colonial office in london retained control of some matters notably foreign affairs defence and international shipping on one january one nine zero one federation of the colonies was achieved after a decade of planning consultation and voting and the commonwealth of australia was born as a dominion of the british empire the australian capital territory act was formed from new south wales in one nine one one to provide a location for the proposed new federal capital of canberra melbourne was the capital from one nine zero one to on

e nine two seven the northern territory was transferred from the control of the south australian government to the commonwealth in one nine one one australia willingly participated in world war i many australians regard the defeat of the australian and new zealand army corps anzacs at gallipoli as the birth of the nation its first major military action the gallipoli campaign is often erroneously portrayed as or conceived to have been a solely or mainly anzac campaign the reality was that british deaths during the campaign were twice as high as those of anzac forces much like gallipoli the kokoda track campaign is regarded by many as a nation defining battle from world war ii the statute of westminster one nine three one formally ended most of the constitutional links between australia and the united kingdom but australia did not adopt the statute until one nine four two the shock of the united kingdom s defeat in asia in one nine four two and the threat of japanese invasion caused australia to turn to the uni

ted states as a new ally and protector since one nine five one australia has been a formal military ally of the us under the auspices of the anzus treaty after world war ii australia encouraged mass immigration from europe since the one nine seven zero s and the abolition of the white australia policy immigration from asia and other parts of the world was also encouraged as a result australia s demography culture and image of itself were radically transformed the final constitutional ties between australia and the united kingdom ended in one nine eight six with the passing of the australia act one nine eight six ending any british role in the australian states and ending judicial appeals to the uk privy council australian voters rejected a move to become a republic in one nine nine nine by a five five majority but the result is generally viewed in terms of dissatisfaction with the specifics of the proposed republican model rather than attachment to the monarchy since the election of the whitlam government in

one nine seven two there has been an increasing focus on the nation s future as a part of the asia pacific region politics new parliament house in canberra was opened in one nine eight eight replacing the provisional parliament house building opened in one nine two seven the commonwealth of australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government queen elizabeth ii is the queen of australia a role that is distinct from her position as elizabeth ii of the united kingdom the queen is nominally represented by the governor general although the constitution gives extensive executive powers to the governor general these are normally exercised only on the advice of the prime minister the most notable exercise of the governor general s reserve powers outside the prime minister s direction was the dismissal of the whitlam government in the constitutional crisis of one nine seven five there are three branches of government the legislature the commonwealth parliament comprising the queen the s

enate and the house of representatives the queen is represented by the governor general who in practice exercises little or no power over the parliament the executive the federal executive council the governor general as advised by the executive councillors in practice the councillors are the prime minister and ministers of state whose advice the governor general accepts with rare exceptions the judiciary the high court of australia and other federal courts the state courts became formally independent from the judicial committee of the privy council when the australia act was passed in one nine eight six the bicameral commonwealth parliament consists of the queen the senate the upper house of seven six senators and a house of representatives the lower house of one five zero members members of the lower house are elected from single member constituencies commonly known as electorates or seats seats in the house of representatives are allocated to states on the basis of population in the senate each state regar

dless of population is represented by one two senators with the act and the nt each electing two elections for both chambers are held every three years typically only half of the senate seats are put to each election because senators have overlapping six year terms the party with majority support in the house of representatives forms government with its leader becoming prime minister there are three major political parties the labor party the liberal party and the national party independent members and several minor parties including the greens family first and the australian democrats have achieved representation in australian parliaments mostly in upper houses although their influence has been marginal since the one nine nine six election the liberal national coalition led by the prime minister john howard has been in power in canberra in the two zero zero four election the coalition won control of the senate the first time that a party or coalition of governing parties has done so while in government in mo

re than two zero years the labor party is in power in every state and territory voting is compulsory in each state and territory and at the federal level states and territories states and territories of australia australia consists of six states two major mainland territories and other minor territories the states are new south wales queensland south australia tasmania victoria and western australia the two major mainland territories are the northern territory and the australian capital territory in most respects the territories function similarly to the states but the commonwealth parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments by contrast federal legislation overrides state legislation only with respect to certain areas as set out in section five one of the constitution all residual legislative powers are retained by the state parliaments including powers over hospitals education police the judiciary roads public transport and local government each state and territory has its own legislature un

icameral in the case of the northern territory the act and queensland and bicameral in the remaining states the lower house is known as the legislative assembly house of assembly in south australia and tasmania and the upper house the legislative council the heads of the governments in each state and territory are called premiers and chief ministers respectively the queen is represented in each state by a governor an administrator in the northern territory and the governor general in the act have analogous roles australia also has several minor territories the federal government administers a separate area within new south wales the jervis bay territory as a naval base and sea port for the national capital in addition australia has the following inhabited external territories norfolk island christmas island cocos keeling islands and several largely uninhabited external territories ashmore and cartier islands coral sea islands heard island and mcdonald islands and the australian antarctic territory foreign rel

ations and military over recent decades australia s foreign relations have been driven by a close association with the united states through the anzus pact and by a desire to develop relationships with asia and the pacific particularly through asean and the pacific islands forum in two zero zero five australia secured an inaugural seat at the east asia summit following its accession to the treaty of amity and cooperation australia is a member of the commonwealth of nations in which the commonwealth heads of government meetings provide the main forum for co operation much of australia s diplomatic energy is focused on international trade liberalisation australia led the formation of the cairns group and apec and is a member of the oecd and the wto australia has pursued several major bilateral free trade agreements most recently the australia us free trade agreement australia is a founding member of the united nations and maintains an international aid program under which some six zero countries receive assista

nce the two zero zero five zero six budget provides a two five bn for development assistance as a percentage of gdp this contribution is less than that of the un millennium development goals australia s armed forces the australian defence force adf comprise the royal australian navy ran the australian army and the royal australian air force raaf all branches of the adf have been involved in un and regional peacekeeping most recently in east timor the solomon islands and sudan disaster relief and armed conflict including the two zero zero three invasion of iraq the government appoints the chief of the defence force from one of the armed services the current chief is air chief marshal angus houston in two zero zero five zero six the defence budget is a one seven five bn geography climate map of australia australia s seven six eight six eight five zero square kilometres two nine six seven nine zero nine sq mi landmass is on the indo australian plate surrounded by the indian southern and pacific oceans australia

is separated from asia by the arafura and timor seas australia has a total two five seven six zero kilometres one six zero zero seven mi of coastline and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of eight one four eight two five zero square kilometres three one four six zero five seven sq mi this exclusive economic zone does not include the australian antarctic territory the great barrier reef the world s largest coral reef lies a short distance off the north east coast and extends for over two zero zero zero kilometres one two five zero mi the world s two largest monoliths are located in australia mount augustus in western australia is the largest and uluru in central australia is the second largest at two two two eight metres seven three one zero ft mount kosciuszko on the great dividing range is the highest mountain on the australian mainland although mawson peak on the remote australian territory of heard island is taller at two seven four five metres nine zero zero six ft climate the largest part of au

stralia is desert or semi arid four zero of the landmass is covered by sand dunes only the south east and south west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil the northern part of the country has a tropical climate part is tropical rainforests part grasslands and very little desert australia receives snowfall in some cities but mostly in towns and at higher evaluations climate is highly influenced by ocean currents including the el ni o southern oscillation which is correlated with periodic drought and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern australia rainfall is highly variable with frequent droughts rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and therefore has no active volcanism only extinct volcanos although it may sometimes receive minor earthquakes the terrain is mostly heavily weathered low plateau with deserts rangelands and a fertile plain in southeast tasmania and the aus

tralian alps do not contain any permanent icefields or glaciers although they may have existed in the past the great barrier reef by far the world s largest coral reef lies a short distance off the north east coast mount augustus in western australia is the largest monolith in the world flora and fauna the koala and the eucalyptus make an iconic pair of australian flora and fauna although most of australia is semi arid or desert it covers a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests because of the great age and consequent low levels of fertility of the continent its extremely variable weather patterns and its long term geographic isolation much of australia s biota is unique and diverse about eight five of flowering plants eight four of mammals more than four five of birds and eight nine of in shore temperate zone fish are endemic many of australia s ecoregions and the species within those regions are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species the federal

environment protection and biodiversity conservation act one nine nine nine is a legal framework used for the protection of threatened species numerous protected areas have been created to protect and preserve australia s unique ecosystems six four wetlands are registered under the ramsar convention and one six world heritage sites have been established australia was ranked one three th in the world on the two zero zero five environmental sustainability index most australian plant species are evergreen and many are adapted to fire and drought including the eucalyptus and acacias australia has a rich variety of endemic legume species that thrive in nutrient poor soils because of their symbiosis with rhizobia bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi well known australian fauna include monotremes the platypus and echidna a host of marsupials including the koala kangaroo wombat and birds such as the emu cockatoo and kookaburra the dingo was introduced by austronesian people that traded with indigenous australians around fo

ur zero zero zero bce many plant and animal species became extinct soon after human settlement including the australian megafauna many more have become extinct since european settlement among them the thylacine tasmanian tiger economy melbourne s population is approximately three seven million the second largest in australia australia has a prosperous western style mixed economy with a per capita gdp slightly higher than those of the uk germany and france the country was ranked third in the united nations two zero zero five human development index and sixth in the economist worldwide quality of life index two zero zero five in recent years the australian economy has been resilient in the face of global economic downturn rising output in the domestic economy has been offsetting the global slump and business and consumer confidence remains robust australia s emphasis on economic reform is often claimed to be key factor behind the economy s strength in the one nine eight zero s the labor party led by prime minis

ter bob hawke and treasurer paul keating started the process of economic reform by floating the australian dollar in one nine eight three and deregulating the financial system since one nine nine six the howard government has continued the process of micro economic reform including the partial deregulation of the labour market and the privatisation of state owned businesses most notably in the telecommunications industry substantial reform of the indirect tax system was implemented in july two zero zero zero with the introduction of a one zero goods and services tax which has slightly reduced the heavy reliance on personal and company income tax that still characterises australia s tax system the australian economy has not suffered a recession since the early one nine nine zero s as of january two zero zero six unemployment was five three with one zero zero three four five zero zero persons employed the service sector of the economy including tourism education and financial services comprises six nine of gdp

agriculture and natural resources represent only three and five of gdp respectively but contribute substantially to australia s export performance australia s largest export markets include japan china the united states south korea and new zealand areas of concern to some economists include the chronically high current account deficit and also high levels of net foreign debt demographics most australians live in urban areas sydney is the most populous city in australia most of the estimated two zero four million australians are descended from one nine th and two zero th century immigrants the majority from great britain and ireland australia s population has quadrupled since the end of world war i spurred by an ambitious immigration program in two zero zero one the five largest groups of the two seven four of australians who were born overseas were from the united kingdom new zealand italy vietnam and china following the abolition of the white australia policy in one nine seven three numerous government initi

atives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism australia s population has increased by about six zero times since european settlement the self declared indigenous population including torres strait islanders who are of melanesian descent was four one zero zero zero three two two of the total population in two zero zero one a significant increase from the one nine seven seven census which showed an indigenous population of one one five nine five three indigenous australians have higher rates of imprisonment and unemployment lower levels of education and life expectancies for males and females that are one seven years lower than those of other australians perceived racial inequality is an ongoing political and human rights issue for australians fewer than one five of australians live in rural areas this picture shows the barossa valley wine producing region of south australia in common with many other developed countries australia is experiencing a dem

ographic shift towards an older population with more retirees and fewer people of working age a large number of australians seven five nine eight four nine for the period two zero zero two zero three live outside their home country australia has maintained one of the most active immigration programs in the world to boost population growth most immigrants are skilled the quota includes categories for family members and refugees english is the official language and is spoken and written in a distinct variety known as australian english according to the two zero zero one census english is the only language spoken in the home for around eight zero of the population the next most common languages spoken at home are chinese two one italian one nine and greek one four a considerable proportion of first and second generation migrants are bilingual it is believed that there were between two zero zero and three zero zero australian aboriginal languages at the time of first european contact only about seven zero of thes

e languages have survived and all but two zero of these are now endangered an indigenous language remains the main language for about five zero zero zero zero zero zero two people australia has a sign language known as auslan which is the main language of about six five zero zero deaf people australia has no state religion the two zero zero one census identified that six eight of australians call themselves christian two seven identifying themselves as roman catholic and two one as anglican australians that identify themselves as followers of non christian religions number five a total of one six were categorised as having no religion which includes non theistic beliefs such as humanism atheism agnosticism and rationalism and a further one two declined to answer or did not give a response adequate for interpretation as in many western countries the level of active participation in church worship is much lower than this weekly attendance at church services is about one five million about seven five of the popu

lation school attendance is compulsory throughout australia between the ages of six one five years one six years in south australia and tasmania contributing to an adult literacy rate that is assumed to be nine nine government grants have supported the establishment of australia s three eight universities and although several private universities have been established the majority receive government funding there is a state based system of vocational training colleges known as tafe institutes and many trades conduct apprenticeships for training new tradespeople approximately five eight of australians between the ages of two five and six four have vocational or tertiary qualifications culture golden summer eaglemont eaglemont victoria by arthur streeton one eight eight nine is an early example of the rich tradition of australian landscape painting the primary basis of australian culture up until the mid two zero th century was anglo celtic although distinctive australian features had been evolving from the env

ironment and indigenous culture over the past five zero years australian culture has been strongly influenced by american popular culture particularly television and cinema large scale immigration from non english speaking countries and australia s asian neighbours the vigour and originality of the arts in australia films opera music painting theater dance and crafts are achieving international recognition australia has a long history of visual arts starting with the cave and bark paintings of its indigenous peoples from the time of european settlement a common theme in australian art has been the australian landscape seen in the works of arthur streeton arthur boyd and albert namatjira among others the traditions of indigenous australians are largely transmitted orally and are closely tied to ceremony and the telling of the stories of the dreamtime australian aboriginal music dance and art have a palpable influence on contemporary australian visual and performing arts australia has an active tradition of mus

ic ballet and theatre many of its performing arts companies receive public funding through the federal government s australia council there is a symphony orchestra in each capital city and a national opera company opera australia first made prominent by the renowned diva dame joan sutherland australian music includes classical jazz and many popular music genres australian literature has also been influenced by the landscape the works of writers such as banjo paterson and henry lawson captured the experience of the australian bush the character of colonial australia as embodied in early literature resonates with modern australia and its perceived emphasis on egalitarianism mateship and anti authoritarianism in one nine seven three patrick white was awarded the nobel prize in literature the only australian to have achieved this he is recognised as one of the great english language writers of the two zero th century australian english is a major variety of the language its grammar and spelling are largely based

on those of british english overlaid with a rich vernacular of unique lexical items and phrases some of which have found their way into standard english australia has two public broadcasters the abc and sbs three commercial television networks three pay tv services and numerous public non profit television and radio stations australia s film industry has achieved critical and commercial successes each major city has daily newspapers and there are two national daily newspapers the australian and the australian financial review according to reporters without borders in two zero zero five australia is in three one st position on a list of countries ranked by press freedom behind new zealand nine th and the united kingdom two eight th but ahead of the united states this ranking is primarily due to the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in australia most australian print media in particular is under the control of either news corporation or john fairfax holdings australian rules football was developed

in melbourne australia and is played at amateur and professional levels sport is an important part of australian culture assisted by a climate that favours outdoor activities two three five australians over the age of one five regularly participate in organised sporting activities at an international level australia has particularly strong teams in cricket hockey netball rugby league rugby union and performs well in cycling and swimming australia has participated in every summer olympic games of the modern era and every commonwealth games australia has hosted the one nine five six and two zero zero zero summer olympics and has ranked among the top five medal takers since two zero zero zero in two zero zero four it collected four nine olympic medals one seven gold one six silver and one six bronze australia has also hosted the one nine three eight one nine six two and one nine eight two commonwealth games and will host the two zero zero six commonwealth games in melbourne australian rules football is the most

popular national sport players gain some international prominence through international rules which is an annual meeting between the australian code and irish gaelic football however rugby league is more popular than australian rules in new south wales and queensland the australian open is one of the four grand slam tennis tournaments held in melbourne each january the f one australian grand prix is also held in melbourne usually towards the end of march each year corporate and government sponsorship of many sports and lite athletes is common in australia televised sport is popular some of the highest rating television programs include the summer olympic games and the grand finals of local and international football competitions see also references sidney j baker the australian language second edition one nine six six gillespie r two zero zero two dating the first australians radiocarbon four four four five five four seven two smith l one nine eight zero the aboriginal population of australia australian nati

onal university press canberra tatz c one nine nine nine genocide in australia aiatsis research discussion papers no eight australian institute of aboriginal and torres strait islander studies canberra windschuttle k two zero zero one the fabrication of aboriginal history the new criterion vol two zero no one september two zero sheehan p two zero zero two our history not rewritten but put right the sydney morning herald november two five bean c ed one nine four one volume i the story of anzac the first phase first world war official histories one one th edition australian electoral commission two zero zero zero one nine nine nine referendum reports and statistics parliamentary library one nine nine seven the reserve powers of the governor general australian government two zero zero five budget two zero zero five two zero zero six department of the environment and heritage about biodiversity macfarlane i j one nine nine eight australian monetary policy in the last quarter of the twentieth century reserve bank

of australia bulletin october parham d two zero zero two microeconomic reforms and the revival in australia s growth in productivity and living standards conference of economists adelaide one october australian bureau of statistics labour force australia cat six two zero two australian bureau of statistics year book australia two zero zero five department of foreign affairs and trade two zero zero three advancing the national interest appenidix one australian bureau of statistics population growth australia s population growth department of immigration multicultural and indigenous affiars two zero zero five the evolution of australia s multicultural policy australian bureau of statistics two zero zero one census a snapshot of australia parliament of australia senate two zero zero five inquiry into australian expatriates department of immigration multicultural and indigenous affiars one nine nine five pluralist nations pluralist language policies ncls releases latest estimates of church attendance national chu

rch life survey media release two eight february two zero zero four australian film commission what are australians watching free to air one nine nine nine two zero zero four tv external links wikitravel guide to australia australian government entry portal commonwealth government online department of immigration and multicultural and indigenous affairs dimia department of foreign affairs and trade dfat country information satellite images of australia google maps national library of australia national museum of australia official australia tourism website bureau of meteorology official website of the melbourne two zero zero six commonwealth games australia continents members of the commonwealth of nations monarchies one nine zero one establishments align center style vertical align top colspan two national motto samoa muamua le atua samoa let god be first align center colspan two style background ffffff image locationamericansamoa png official languages samoan english capital fagatogo constitutional and de f

acto seat of government executive offices are located in utulei governor togiola tulafono area total water ranked two two six th one nine nine km seven six eight sq mi zero population total two zero zero three density ranked two zero three rd seven zero two six zero three five three km nine one four sq mi currency usd time zone utc one one no dst national anthem amerika samoa internet tld as calling code one six eight four style background efefef align center colspan two image fatu rock jpgfatu rock right and futi rock left islets on the reef of tutuila at the entrance to pago pago harbor seen behind fatu american samoa samoan amerika samoa is an unorganized unincorporated territory of the united states located in the south pacific ocean southeast of the sovereign state of samoa the main largest and most populous island is tutuila with the islands rose atoll and swains island also included in the territory american samoa is part of the samoan islands chain located west of the cook islands north of tonga and s

ome three zero zero miles five zero zero km south of tokelau to the west are the islands of the wallis and futuna group history main article history of samoa history of american samoa originally inhabited as early as one zero zero zero bc samoa was not reached by european explorers until the one eight th century international rivalries in the latter half of the one nine th century were settled by an one eight nine nine treaty of berlin in which germany and the u s divided the samoan archipelago the u s formally occupied its portion a smaller group of eastern islands with the noted harbor of pago pago the following year the western islands are now the independent state of samoa after the u s took possession of american samoa the u s navy built a coaling station on pago pago bay for its pacific squadron and appointed a local secretary the navy secured a deed of cession of tutuila in one nine zero zero and a deed of cession of in one nine zero four the last sovereign of the was forced to sign a deed of cession o

f following a series of us naval trials known as the trial of the ipu in pago pago and aboard a pacific squadron gunboat during world war ii u s marines in american samoa outnumbered the local population having a huge cultural influence after the war organic act four five zero zero a u s department of interior sponsored attempt to incorporate american samoa was defeated in congress primarily through the efforts of american samoan chiefs led by tuiasosopo mariota these chiefs efforts led to the creation of a local legislature the american samoa fono which meets in the village of fagatogo the territory s de facto and de jure capital see the trivia section below for more information on fagatogo in time the navy appointed governor was replaced by a locally elected one although technically considered unorganized in that the u s congress has not passed an organic act for the territory american samoa is self governing under a constitution that became effective on july one one nine six seven the u s territory of amer

ican samoa is on the united nations list of non self governing territories a listing which is disputed by territorial government officials administrative divisions american samoa is administratively divided into three districts and two unorganized islands these districts are subdivided into seven three villages districts eastern western manu a unorganized islands rose island swains island map of the districts of american samoa the villages for eastern and western districts are aasu afao afono agugulu alao alofau aloga amaluia amanave amaua amouli anua aoa aoloau asili atu u aua auasi aumi aunu u auto avaio faga alu faga itau fagaili i fagamalo faganeanea fagasa fagatogo failolo falenin fatumafuti futiga ili ili leloaloa leone leuli i malaeimi malaeloa aitulagi malaeloa ituau maloata mapusagafou masausi masefau matu u mesespa nu uuli nua onenoa pago pago pava ia i poloa sa ilele se etaga tafuna taputimu tula utulei utumea east utumea west vailoatai vaitogi vatia map of the villages of american samoa map of the

villages of the manua districts and swain s atoll the villages for the manu a district are faleasao leusoali i luma maia ofu olosega si ufaga sili there is one village on swains island rose island is an uninhabited wildlife refuge trivia american samoa is the location of rose atoll the southernmost point in the united states if insular areas and territories are included see extreme points for more information about three zero ethnic samoans many from american samoa currently play in the national football league a two zero zero two article from espn estimated that a samoan male either an american samoan or a samoan living in the five zero united states is four zero times more likely to play in the nfl than a non samoan american a number have also ventured into professional wrestling see especially persons born in american samoa are united states nationals but not united states citizens this is the only circumstance under which an individual would be one and not the other the american samoa national soccer tea

m holds an unwanted world record in international soccer the record defeat in an international match a three one zero crushing by australia on april one one two zero zero one although many respected reference sources list the neighboring village of pago pago as the capital fagatogo is the de facto and de jure i e constitutionally designated cf article five section nine seat of government additionally the governor s office is located in the village of utulei located on the opposite side of fagatogo from pago pago the reason why many sources list pago pago is because the name pago pago the most popular port of call in american samoa has become associated with the harbor itself thus pago pago is now generally applied to the harbor area and the capital however both the port itself and the legislature of american samoa known as the fono are located in fagatogo a village that is adjacent to and for all practical purposes indistinguishable from pago pago cf wikipedia entry for pago pago in march of one eight eight n

ine a german naval force shelled a village in samoa and by doing so destroyed some american property three american warships then entered the samoan harbor and were prepared to fire on the three german warships found there before guns were fired a hurricane blew up and sank all the ships american and german a compulsory armistice was called because of the lack of warships see also scouting in american samoa government list of american samoa governors elections in american samoa sports american samoa at the two zero zero zero summer olympics american samoa national rugby league team american samoa national soccer team cia factbook data from the cia world factbook two zero zero zero geography of american samoa demographics of american samoa politics of american samoa economy of american samoa communications in american samoa transportation in american samoa military defense is the responsibility of the us external links cia the world factbook american samoa cia s factbook on american samoa the passive resistanc

e of samoans to us and other colonialisms article in sovereignty matters ed joanne barker university of nebraska press two zero zero five history of american samoa essay which looks at the history of the territory from ancient to more modern times jane s american samoa page library of congress portals of the world american samoa library of congress resource which provides links to resources on american samoa map of american samoa map showing the basic layout of american samoa revised constitution of american samoa provides the text of the constition of american samoa the official webpage of the american samoa government lists information on the territorial government including officials and recent legislation united nations decolonization papers online united nations decolonization documents including current and past working papers on american samoa choohoo an online community for samoans features include forums chat blogs etc rulers org american samoa list of rulers for american samoa american samoa insular

areas of the united states oceanic dependencies alien or aliens may mean extraterrestrial life in scientific context extraterrestrial life in culture alien film one nine seven nine by ridley scott aliens one nine eight six film the sequel to the above film xenomorph the alien creatures from the alien movies aliens comic a group of comic book series alien biology a non native species alien computing a program that converts between different linux package distribution file formats alien law a person who is neither a native nor a citizen of their country of residence alien signifier use in literature and criticism as the embodiment of an outside perspective or the sense of the other the aliens roky erickson s backing band alien game a one nine eight two dos text adventure an astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics johannes hevelius was famed for his work on sunspots and being the first to study the surface of the moon astronomy is generally thought to have be

gun in ancient babylon by the persian zoroastrian priests the magi recent studies of babylonian records have shown them to be extremely accurate for the ancient night sky following the babylonians the egyptians also had an emphasis on observations of the sky mixtures of religious interpretations of the sky and the development of complex models for applying these interpretations led to a duality that we now identify as astrology it is important to recognize that before about one seven five zero there was no distinction between astrology and astronomy astronomers unlike most scientists cannot interact with the objects that they study they instead must resort to detailed observation in order to make discoveries generally astronomers use telescopes or other imaging equipment to make such observations the job itself is involved with travel to remote locations to study as well famous astronomers see also amateur astronomy list of astronomers there is also a well known painting by johannes vermeer titled the astrono

mer which is often linked to vermeer s the geographer these paintings are both thought to represent the growing influence and rise in prominence of scientific inquiry in europe at the time of their painting one six six eight six nine astronomers science occupations amoeba chaos diffluens foraminiferan ammonia tepida heliozoan actinophrys sol amoeboids are cells that move or feed by means of temporary projections called pseudopods false feet they have appeared in a number of different groups some cells in multicellular animals may be amoeboid for instance our white blood cells which consume pathogens many protists exist as individual amoeboid cells or take such a form at some point in their life cycle the most famous such organism is amoeba proteus the name amoebae is variously used to describe its close relatives other organisms similar to it or the amoeboids in general amoeboids may be divided into several morphological categories based on the form and structure of the pseudopods those where the pseudopods a

re supported by regular arrays of microtubules are called actinopods and forms where they are not are called rhizopods further divided into lobse filose and reticulose amoebae there is also a strange group of giant marine amoeboids the xenophyophores that do not fall into any of these categories lobose pseudopods are blunt and there may be one or several on a cell which is usually divided into a layer of clear ectoplasm surrounding more granular endoplasm most including amoeba itself move by the body mass flowing into an anterior pseudopod the vast majority form a monophyletic group called the amoebozoa which also includes most slime moulds a second group the percolozoa includes protists that can transform between amoeboid and flagellate forms filose pseudopods are narrow and tapering the vast majority of filose amoebae including all those that produce shells are placed within the cercozoa together with various flagellates that tend to have amoeboid forms the naked filose amoebae comprise two other groups the

vampyrellids and nucleariids the latter appear to be close relatives of animals and fungi reticulose pseudopods are cytoplasmic strands that branch and merge to form a net they are found most notably among the foraminifera a large group of marine protists that generally produce multi chambered shells there are only a few sorts of naked reticulose amoeboids notably the gymnophryids and their relationships are not certain actinopods are divided into the radiolaria and heliozoa the radiolaria are mostly marine protists with complex internal skeletons including central capsules that divide the cells into granular endoplasm and frothy ectoplasm that keeps them buoyant the heliozoa include both freshwater and marine forms that use their axopods to capture small prey and only have simple scales or spines for skeletal elements both groups appear to be polyphyletic traditionally the amoeboid protozoa are grouped together as the sarcodina variously ranked from class to phylum with each of the above categories as a for

mal subtaxon however since they are all based on form rather than phylogeny newer systems generally separate some out or abandon them entirely most amoeboids are now included in two major supergroups the amoebozoa including most lobose amoebae and slime moulds and the rhizaria including the cercozoa foraminifera radiolarian classes and certain heliozoa however amoeboids have appeared separately in many other groups including various different lines of algae not listed above external links the amoebae website brings together information from published sources amoebas are more than just blobs sun animacules and amoebas protistacell biologyamoeboidsmotile cells there are nine five printable ascii characters numbered three two to one two six ascii a merican s tandard c ode for i nformation i nterchange generally pronounced is a character encoding based on the english alphabet ascii codes represent text in computers communications equipment and other devices that work with text most modern character encodings have

a historical basis in ascii ascii was first published as a standard in one nine six seven and was last updated in one nine eight six it currently defines codes for three three non printing mostly obsolete control characters that affect how text is processed plus the following nine five printable characters starting with the space character abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz asteroid three five six eight ascii is named after the character encoding overview like other character representation computer codes ascii specifies a correspondence between digital bit patterns and the symbols glyphs of a written language thus allowing digital devices to communicate with each other and to process store and communicate character oriented information the ascii character encoding or a compatible extension see below is used on nearly all common computers especially personal computers and workstations the preferred mime name for this encoding is us ascii ascii is strictly a seven bit code meaning that it u

ses the bit patterns representable with seven binary digits a range of zero to one two seven decimal to represent character information at the time ascii was introduced many computers dealt with eight bit groups bytes or more specifically octets as the smallest unit of information the eighth bit was commonly used as a parity bit for error checking on communication lines or other device specific functions machines which did not use parity typically set the eighth bit to zero though some systems such as prime machines running primos set the eighth bit of ascii characters to one ascii only defines a relationship between specific characters and bit sequences aside from reserving a few control codes for line oriented formatting it does not define any mechanism for describing the structure or appearance of text within a document such concepts are within the realm of other systems such as the markup languages history ascii developed from telegraphic codes and first entered commercial use as a seven bit teleprinter c

ode promoted by bell data services the bell system had previously planned to use a six bit code derived from fieldata that added punctuation and lower case letters to the earlier five bit baudot teleprinter code but was persuaded instead to join the asa subcommittee that had started to develop ascii baudot helped in the automation of sending and receiving telegraphic messages and took many features from morse code however unlike morse code baudot used constant length codes compared to earlier telegraph codes the proposed bell code and ascii both underwent re ordering for more convenient sorting especially alphabetization of lists and added features for devices other than teleprinters bob bemer introduced features such as the escape sequence the american standards association asa later to become ansi first published ascii as a standard in one nine six three ascii one nine six three lacked the lowercase letters and had an up arrow instead of the caret and a left arrow instead of the underscore the one nine six

seven version added the lowercase letters changed the names of a few control characters and moved the two controls ack and esc from the lowercase letters area into the control codes area ascii was subsequently updated and published as ansi x three four one nine six eight ansi x three four one nine seven seven and finally ansi x three four one nine eight six other international standards bodies have ratified character encodings that are identical or nearly identical to ascii these encodings are sometimes referred to as ascii even though ascii is strictly defined only by the asa ansi standards the european computer manufacturers association published editions of its ascii clone ecma six in one nine six five one nine six seven one nine seven zero one nine seven three one nine eight three and one nine nine one the one nine nine one edition is the same as ansi x three four one nine eight six the international organization for standardization published its version iso six four six later iso iec six four six in one

nine six seven one nine seven two one nine eight three and one nine nine one iso six four six one nine seven two in particular established a set of country specific versions with punctuation characters replaced with non english letters iso iec six four six one nine nine one international reference version is the same as ansi x three four one nine eight six the international telecommunication union published its version of ansi x three four one nine eight six itu t recommendation t five zero in one nine nine two in the early one nine seven zero s under the name ccitt the same organization published a version as ccitt recommendation v three din published a version of ascii as din six six zero zero three in one nine seven four the ietf published a version in one nine six nine as rfc two zero and established the internet s standard version based on ansi x three four one nine eight six with the publication of rfc one three four five in one nine nine two ibm s version of ansi x three four one nine eight six is publ

ished in ibm technical literature as code page three six seven ascii has also become embedded in its probable replacement unicode as the lowest one two eight characters some observers consider ascii the most successful software standard ever promulgated ascii control characters ascii reserves the first three two codes numbers zero three one decimal for control characters codes originally intended not to carry printable information but rather to control devices such as printers that make use of ascii for example character one zero represents the line feed function which causes a printer to advance its paper and character two seven represents the escape key often found in the top left corner of common keyboards code one two seven all seven bits on another special character equates to delete or rubout though its function resembles that of other control characters the designers of ascii used this pattern so that it could erase a section of paper tape a popular storage medium until the one nine eight zero s by pun