make a list of 43 things i know very little about, and then learn at least 3 things about each of them

1. Population

The British founded the first settlement and named it Sydney in 1788. Many of the first settlers were convicts. Free settlers arrived in increasing numbers, particularly after the discovery of gold in the mid-19th century.

Politics: Liberal Party PM John Howard leads a conservative coalition; he has been in office since 1996
Economy: The strong, services-based economy has seen sustained growth; mining and agriculture provide the lion’s share of exports
International: Australia is a regional policeman; further afield, its troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan

Australia’s original inhabitants, the Aborigines, numbered a few hundred thousand before the European influx. But two centuries of discrimination and expropriation followed, and at one point the number of Aborigines fell as low as 60,000.

Today 99% of the population are of European or Asian descent, but calls for a formal apology for past injustices towards the Aborigines are still made. Indigenous Australians suffer high rates of unemployment, imprisonment and drug abuse.

The gradual dismantling of the “White Australia” immigration policy in the decades after World War II heralded an increase in the number of non-European arrivals.

Migration continues to shape Australia and is a politically-sensitive issue. The country has taken a tough stance on unauthorised arrivals. Asylum seekers are held in detention centres, which have been criticised at home and abroad, until their cases are heard.

Australia’s foreign policy has shifted in the past 20 years or so from Europe and the US to its near neighbours. It mediated between warring groups in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and deployed thousands of peacekeepers in newly-independent East Timor.

Australia’s economy is also geared to Asia. It is a foremost member of Apec, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and aims to forge free trade deals with China and Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The country has considered cutting its ties with the British monarchy. In 1999 Australians narrowly voted against plans for the country to become a republic

2. Facts

Full name: Commonwealth of Australia
Population: 21 million (official estimate, 2007)
Capital: Canberra
Largest city: Sydney
Area: 7.7 million sq km (2.9 million sq miles)
Major language: English
Major religion: Christianity
LIfe expectancy: 78 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Australian dollar = 100 cents
Main exports: Ores and metals; wool, food and live animals; fuels, transport machinery and equipment
GNI per capita: US $32,220 (World Bank, 2006)
Internet domain: .au
International dialling code: +61

3. Media

Australia’s media scene is creatively, technologically and economically advanced. There is a tradition of public broadcasting, but privately-owned TV and radio enjoy the lion’s share of listening and viewing.

Media ownership rules have been relaxed

2006: Australian media set for shake-up

Ownership of print and broadcast media is highly-concentrated. For example, four major media groups own 80% of Australia’s newspaper titles.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs national and local public radio and TV stations as well as Australia Network, a TV service for the Asia-Pacific region. The other main public broadcaster is the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), whose radio and TV networks broadcast in many languages.

National commercial TV is dominated by three large networks. Commercial broadcasters have to carry a minimum percentage of Australian-made programming. Pay-TV services have gained a substantial foothold. Digital TV is available via satellite, cable and terrestrially.

Sport, news, game shows, imported and home-made dramas top the TV ratings in Australia. The industry has successfully exported some of its productions to English-speaking markets overseas.

More than 70% of Australians use the internet.

The John Howard government changed the regulations governing media ownership. The rules, introduced in 2007, allow for greater cross-ownership of press and TV outlets as well as higher levels of foreign ownership.

All information came from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/country_profiles/default.stm

1. The tower is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Pisa.

2. Construction began in 1173 and work was carried out for the next 200 years.

3. There are conflicting stories that the tower was meant to incline however today this has been proven wrong and interventions are being carried out within the sub-soil in order to significantly reduce the inclination and to make sure that Tower will have a long life.

Information came from http://torre.duomo.pisa.it/index_eng.html

OMG this is going to be harder than I thought theres a few lists this will take me some time;

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:

The Great Pyramid of Giza

1. Located in Cairo, Egypt
2.The monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb when he died.
3.New theories concerning the origin and purpose of the Pyramids of Giza have been proposed… Astronomic observatories… Places of cult worship… Geometric structures constructed by a long-gone civilization… Even extraterrestrial-related theories have been proposed with little evidence in support…

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

1.Located on the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq.
2.The Babylonian kingdom flourished under the rule of the famous King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). It was not until the reign of Naboplashar (625-605 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty that the Mesopotamian civilization reached its ultimate glory. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens.
3. Description from greek source; “The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns… Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels… These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches… This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators”.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Pharos of Alexandria

The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind:
Stonehenge
The Colosseum
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
The Great Wall of China
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Hagia Sophia
The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World:
Mount Everest
The Great Barrier Reef
The Grand Canyon
Victoria Falls
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Paricutin Volcano
The Northern Lights

The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World:
Palau
The Belize Barrier Reef
The Galapagos Islands
The Northern Red Sea
Lake Baikal
The Great Barrier Reef
The Deep Sea Vents

The Seven Wonders of the Modern World:
The Empire State Building
The Itaipú Dam
The CN Tower
The Panama Canal
The Channel Tunnel
The North Sea Protection Works
The Golden Gate Bridge

The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World:
Angel Falls
The Bay of Fundy
Iguaçú Falls
Krakatoa Island
Mount Fuji
Mount Kilimanjaro
Niagara Falls

The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World:The Clock Tower (Big Ben)
The Eiffel Tower
The Gateway Arch
The Aswan High Dam
Hoover Dam
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Petronas Towers

The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medeival Mind:
Abu Simbel Temple
Angkor Wat
Taj Mahal
Mont Saint-Michel
The Moai Statues
The Parthenon
The Shwedagon Pagoda

The Forgotten Wonders:
The Aztec Temple
The Banaue Rice Terraces
The Borobudur Temple
The Inca City
The Statue of Liberty
The Mayan Temples
The Temple of the Inscriptions
The Throne Hall of Persepolis
Petra
The Suez Canal
The Sydney Opera House
The Red Fort in India

1. Facts

Full name: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Population: 465,000 (UN, 2005)
Capital: Luxembourg
Area: 2,586 sq km (999 sq miles)
Major languages: French, German, Luxembourgish
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 75 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Euro = 100 cents
Main exports: Steel products, chemicals, rubber products
GNI per capita: US $65,630 (World Bank, 2006)
Internet domain: .lu
International dialling code: +352

2. Leaders

Head of state: Grand Duke Henri

Prime Minister Juncker
Prime minister: Jean-Claude Juncker

Jean-Claude Juncker, of the conservative Christian Social Party, has been prime minister since 1995 when his predecessor, Jacques Santer, became president of the European Commission.

He carries on as premier in coalition with the Socialist Workers Party following general elections in June 2004. For the five years before that his party had formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party.

Jean-Claude Juncker was born in 1954 and is a lawyer by training.

Foreign minister: Jean Asselborn
Interior minister: Jean-Marie Halsdorf
Finance minister: Jean-Claude Juncker

3. Media

Luxembourg exerts immense media clout and has a long tradition of operating radio and TV services for pan-European audiences, including those in France, Germany and the UK.

The Luxembourg-based media group RTL is behind much of this activity. RTL’s radio stations have been a part of the broadcasting landscape in France and Germany for decades.

Generations of British listeners grew up with Radio Luxembourg, which beamed pop music programmes into the UK on the legendary “208” wavelength. “The Great 208” is no more, but RTL’s TV and radio stations remain key players in media markets across Europe.

Luxembourg’s media empire extends to the skies. The country is home to Europe’s largest satellite operator, Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), which operates the Astra satellite fleet.

RTL and other privately-owned radio and TV stations broadcast to domestic audiences. The constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. Print media are privately owned and reflect diverse viewpoints.

1. The Taj Mahal is in India in a town called Agra.

2. It was commisioned by Mughal Emporar Shah Jahan for his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal. Construction began in 1635 and was finished approximately 1948.

3. The Taj Mahal (sometimes called “the Taj”) is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as a “universally admired masterpiece of the world’s heritage.”

1. What are the Northern Lights?

Northern lights is the name of a light phenomena often seen in the northern regions.

2. Where are the northern lights?

Under normal conditions the aurora oval covers the following areas in the northern hemisphere:

- Northern parts of the Nordic countries, including all of Greenland and Svalbard.

- Northern parts of Alaska, USA.

- Northern and middle parts of Canada.

- Northern parts of Russia.

3. Mythology

Since people in olden times did not understand what northern lights were, they often created mythology and superstition to explain the dancing spirits or fighting hordes in the sky. Auroras were commonly associated with dancing in Norway; inhabitants believed that northern lights were old maids, dancing and waving.

Vikings
During the Viking period, northern lights were referred to as reflections from dead maidens. The well-known Scottish expression for auroras is “merry dancers”.
Among the Eskimos in Greenland and northern Canada, the aurora was the realm of the dead, and when the lights changed rapidly, it meant that dead friends were trying to contact their living relatives.

Native Americans
Many native Americans believed that they could conjure up ghosts and spirits by whistling to the lights. It was a common belief that the northern lights were the reflections in the sky of huge fires in the distant north, or that the mighty God himself lighted up the dark and cold parts of the world.

Danish
One romantic conception found in Danish folklore is that these lights were due to a throng of swans flying so far to the north that they were caught in the ice. Each time they flapped their wings, they created reflections which created the northern lights.

A vengeful force
In ancient times, most people were afraid of the lights. Children would be brought inside when the mystifying flames of auroras spread across the heavens, for the lights could descend and cut their heads off. Thus, in many places northern lights were a threat to people’s lives and health.

In many areas in the Nordic countries it was widely believed that the northern lights were a vengeful force which killed those who mocked it.

The mythological role of the aurora was important in religion. Many believed it was a message from the creator. Flaming auroras reminded people that their creator still cared for them. An old tale from the Nordic countries said that, “God is angry when the aurora flames”.

It was a common interpretation during medival times that northern lights were an omen of war, or disasters or plagues. It was concluded that many serious disasters were caused by the aurora.