Travel To Singapore

February 7th, 2008

Singapore (Malay: Singapura; Chinese: ???, X?nji?p?; Tamil: ???????????, Ci?kapp?r), officially the Republic of Singapore (Malay: Republik Singapura; Chinese: ??????, X?nji?p? Gònghéguó; Tamil: ??????????? ????????, Ci?kapp?r Kudiyarasu), is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the Equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesias Riau Islands. At 704.0 km², it is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.

The main island was a fishing village sparsely populated by indigenous Malays and Orang Lauts when it was colonized by the British East India Company in 1819. The British utilized its position as a tactical trading outpost along the spice route Occupied by the Japanese Empire during World War II, it reverted to British rule in 1945 and was later part of the merger which established Malaysia in 1963. Two years later, it was expelled due to ideological differences.

Since gaining independence, Singapore has seen its standard of living rise dramatically. Foreign investment and government-led island-wide industrialization have created a modern economy based on electronics and manufacturing, featuring entrepôt and financial trade centering around the countrys strategic location. The island-state has achieved Asian Tiger status after four decades of intense and open capitalist industrialization. In terms of GDP per capita, Singapore is the 18th wealthiest country in the world The geographically small nation has a foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion) In terms of quality of life, The Economist (2005) ranked Singapore highest in Asia and 11th in the world Despite wealth and a high standard of living, Singapore also has the highest per capita execution rate in the world at 13.57 per 100,000 residents, compared to just 4.65 in Saudi Arabia and 2.01 in China

The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the city-states political system as a representative democracy while the country has official United Nations recognition as a parliamentary republic. The Peoples Action Party has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Qatar

February 7th, 2008

Qatar (Arabic: ??? ; IPA: [?q??.t???r]), officially the State of Qatar (Arabic: ???? ??? transliterated as Dawlat Qatar), is an emirate in the Middle East and Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state.

Travel To Philippines

February 7th, 2008

The Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas), officially the Republic of the Philippines (Republika ng Pilipinas; RP), is an island nation located in Southeast Asia, with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine Archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The country reflects diverse indigenous Austronesian cultures from its many islands, as well as European and American influence from Spain, Latin America and the United States.

Filipinos are mostly of Austronesian descent. Filipino minorities include Chinese, American, Spanish, and Arab ancestry.

A former Spanish and United States colony, the Philippines has many affinities with the Western world including Spain and Latin America due to three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion, and Filipino and English are the official languages
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Travel To Pakistan

February 7th, 2008

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: ?????? ??????? ???????), is a sovereign country located in South Asia and the Greater Middle East It has a 1,046 kilometer coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and is the second most populous country with a Muslim majority. Its territory was a part of the pre-partitioned British India and has a long history of settlement and civilisation including the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most of it was conquered in the 1st millennium BCE by Persians and Greeks. Later arrivals include the Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Baloch and Mongols. The territory was incorporated into the British Raj in the nineteenth century. Since its independence, the country has experienced both periods of significant military and economic growth, and periods of instability, with the secession of East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Oman

February 7th, 2008

The Sultanate of Oman (Standard Arabic: ????? ????? , Sal?anat ?Um?n, IPA: [s?lt??n?t ??mæ?n]) is a country in Southwest Asia, on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates in the northwest, Saudi Arabia in the west, and Yemen in the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea in the south and east, and the Gulf of Oman in the northeast. The country also contains Madha, an enclave enclosed by the United Arab Emirates, and Musandam, an exclave also separated by Emirati territory.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Nepal

February 7th, 2008

Nepal, officially known according to its Interim Constitution as the State of Nepal (previously known as Kingdom of Nepal ) (Nepali: ????? [ne?pa?l] ) is a landlocked Himalayan country in South Asia that overlaps with East Asia. It is bordered by Tibet and China to the north and by India to the south, east and west.

The origin of the name Nepal may derive from the Nepal Bhasa language of Newars, who call the Kathmandu Valley Nepa. Some say the name also comes from an ancient sage living in the arean title=”This claim needs references to reliable sources since April 2007″ style=”white-space: nowrap;”>[citation needed].

For a small territory, the Nepali landscape is uncommonly diverse, ranging from the humid Terai in the south to the lofty Himalayas in the north. Nepal boasts eight of the worlds top ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, which is located near the Chinese border. The country is famous for: tourism, trekking, hiking, camping, mountain biking, national wildlife parks, jungle safaris, river rafting, sport fishing, and its many beautiful temples and places of worship.

Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. Other main cities include Pokhara, Biratnagar, Lalitpur (Patan), Bhaktapur, Birendranagar, Bharatpur, Nepal, Siddhartanagar (Bhairahawa), Birganj (Birgunj), Butwal, Janakpur, Nepalganj (Nepalgunj), Hetauda, Dharan, Damak, Dhangadhi, and Mahendranagar.

After a long and rich history, during which the region splintered and coalesced under a variety of absolute rulers, Nepal became a constitutional monarchy in 1990. However, the monarchy retained many important and ill-defined powers. This arrangement was marked by increasing instability, both in the parliament and, since 1996, in large swathes of the country that have been fought over by Maoist insurgents. The Maoists, alienated from mainstream political parties, went underground and started a guerrilla war against both monarchy and mainstream political parties. They have sought to overthrow feudal institutions, including the monarchy, and establish a Maoist state. This led to the Nepalese Civil War in which more than 15,000 people have died. After the intra-party conflict within the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) on the issue of continuation of state of emergency to deal with Maoist insurgents, then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recommended the king for the dissolution of lower house seeking a fresh mandate in 2002. The king accepted his recommendation and dissolved the house as per the constitution of the country. Later on, Mr. Deuba recommended the king for the postponement of the parliamentary election on the pretext of insecurity due to the Maoist insurgents. Then the king sacked the elected prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress (Democratic) in 2002 on the ground of not able to hold election and started ruling through prime ministers appointed by him. He then unilaterally declared a state of emergency early in 2005, and assumed all executive powers. Following the 2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, on May 18, 2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared Nepal a secular state. As of September, 2006, a complete rewrite of the countrys constitution was still expected to happen in the near future.

Travel To Myanmar

February 7th, 2008

Myanmar (pronounced /?mi?n?m??/), officially the Union of Myanmar (Burmese: [pjìdàunz? mj?mà nàin?ànd??]) is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. It is also known as Burma or the Union of Burma by many organizations and states. As the “Union of Burma”, Myanmar achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948. It became the “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” on 4 January 1974, before reverting to the “Union of Burma” on 23 September 1988. On 18 June 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council adopted the name “Union of Myanmar”.

Myanmar is bordered by the Peoples Republic of China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. One-third of Myanmars total perimeter, 1,930 km (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

Myanmars diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times. Its political system remains under the tight control of the State Peace and Development Council, the military government led, since 1992, by Senior General Than Shwe. The Burmese military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Part of the British Empire until 1948, Myanmar continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. The countrys culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Mongolia

February 7th, 2008

Mongolia (Mongolian: ?????? ???) is the worlds second-largest landlocked country after Kazakhstan. It is typically classified as being a part of East Asia, although sometimes it is considered part of Central Asia, and the northern rim of historical Mongolia extends into North Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. Mongolias political system is parliamentary democracy. Its capital and largest city is Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia was the center of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century and was later ruled by the Qing Dynasty from the end of the seventeenth century until 1911, when an independent government was formed with Russian assistance. The Mongolian Peoples Republic was proclaimed in 1924, leading to the adoption of communist policies and a close alignment to the Soviet Union. After the fall of communism in Mongolia in 1990, Mongolia adopted a new, democratic constitution which was ratified in 1992. This officially marked the transition of Mongolia to a democratic country, making it one of the worlds youngest democracies.

At 1,564,116 square kilometres, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest, and the least densely populated independent country in the world. The country contains very little arable land as much of its area is covered by arid and unproductive steppes with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Approximately thirty percent of the countrys 2.8 million people are nomadic or semi-nomadic. The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of the states citizens are of the Mongol ethnicity, though Buriats, Kazakhs and Tuvans also live in the country, especially in the west. About one-third of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Maldives

February 7th, 2008

Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives are located south of Indias Lakshadweep islands, and about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka. The twenty-six atolls encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, roughly two hundred of which are inhabited by local communities. Islands housing Hotels, antennae, fuel tanks, and other such premises, are not counted as inhabited islands by the administration.

The name “Maldives” derives from Maale Dhivehi Raajje (”The Island Kingdom [under the authority of] Male”). Some scholars believe that the name “Maldives” derives from the Sanskrit maladvipa, meaning “garland of islands”, or from mahila dvipa, meaning “island of women”, but these names are not found in ancient Sanskrit literature. Instead, classical Sanskrit texts mention the “Hundred Thousand Islands” (Lakshadweep); a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the Laccadives and the Chagos island groups. Some medieval Arab travellers such as Ibn Batuta called the islands “Mahal Dibiyat” from the Arabic word Mahal (”palace”). This is the name presently inscribed in the scroll of the Maldive state emblem.

Originally a Buddhist nation, Islam was introduced in 1153. It later became a Portuguese (1558), Dutch (1654), and British (1887) colonial possession. In 1965, Maldives obtained independence from Britain (originally under the name “Maldive Islands”), and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic. However, in thirty-eight years, the Maldives have seen only two Presidents, though political restrictions have loosened somewhat recently.

Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of population. It is also the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org

Travel To Macau

February 7th, 2008

The Macau Special Administrative Region (Traditional Chinese: ???????; Pinyin: Àomén Tèbié Xíngzhèngq?) [in Mandarin , in Cantonese ] ; Portuguese: Região Administrativa Especial de Macau [in Portuguese ], abbreviated as RAEM), commonly known as Macau or Macao (Traditional Chinese: ??, or informally known as ?? maa-gau) is one of the two special administrative regions (SARs) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), along with Hong Kong. Administered by Portugal until 1999, it was the oldest European colony in China, dating back to the 16th century. The administrative power over Macau was transferred to China in 1999.

Besides historical Chinese and Portuguese world-heritage relics, Macaus biggest attraction is its gambling industry and casinos. Though many forms of gambling are legal, the most popular game is baccarat, which generates over two thirds of the gaming industrys gross receipts.
This Text is a copy from en.wikipedia.org