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Viñales, a valley hidden away in the Sierra de los Organos in Western Cuba ranks among the loveliest regions of the country.<br/><br/> The entire northern horizon is dotted with limestone outcrops known locally as mogotes. Geologists explain that during the Cretaceous period around 100 million years ago underground rivers eroded the high land near present-day Viñales, creating great caves which eventually collapsed leaving the spectacular outcrops visible today.<br/><br/> Viñales is really just a small village, with a population of around 5,000 and a single main street. The centre of the town is Iglesia Viñales, a fine colonial church dating from around 1880.
La Habana Vieja (Old Havana) was declared a National Monument in 1977, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. It is the most significant centre of Spain’s colonial heritage in all the Americas.
The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (Spanish: Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista, POUM; Catalan: Partit Obrer d'Unificacio Marxista) was a Spanish communist political party formed during the Second Republic and mainly active around the Spanish Civil War.<br/><br/> It was formed by the fusion of the Trotskyist Communist Left of Spain (Izquierda Comunista de Espana, ICE) and the Workers and Peasants' Bloc (BOC, affiliated with the Right Opposition) against the will of Leon Trotsky, with whom the former broke. The writer George Orwell served with the party's militia and witnessed the Stalinist repression of the movement, which would help form his anti-authoritarian ideas in later life.
The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam, was a Sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh.<br/><br/> At its peak it was a formidable enemy of the Sultanate of Johor and Portuguese-controlled Malacca, both on the Malayan Peninsula, as all three attempted to control the trade through the Strait of Malacca and the regional exports of pepper and tin with fluctuating success. In addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted center of Islamic scholarship and trade.<br/><br/> The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873.<br/><br/> The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
The Black Flag Army (Chinese: Heiqi Jun; Vietnamese: Quan co den) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border from Guangxi province of China into Upper Tonkin, in the Empire of Annam (Vietnam) in 1865.<br/><br/> They became known mainly for their fights against French forces in cooperation with both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities. The Black Flag Army is so named because of the preference of its commander, Liu Yongfu, for using black command flags.
Rojava or Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavaye Kurdistane) is a de facto autonomous region in northern and north-eastern Syria. Rojava consists of the three non-contiguous cantons of Afrin, Jazira and Kobani. Rojava is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria and as of 2015 was at war with Daesh, ISIS or the 'Islamic State'.<br/><br/> The YPG (Yekineyen Parastina Gel or 'People's Protections Units') are the armed wing of the Kurdish autonomous movement in Rojava; the YPJ (Yekineyen Parastina Jine or 'Women's Protection Units') is the female armed wing of the Kurdish Autonomous movement in Rojava.
Joseon was a Korean kingdom founded by Yi Seonggye that lasted for approximately five centuries, from July 1392 to October 1897. It was officially renamed the Korean Empire in October 1897. It was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong.<br/><br/> The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the Yalu and Tumen Rivers through the subjugation of the Jurchens. Joseon was the last dynasty of Korea and its longest-ruling Confucian dynasty.
Shan State is traditionally divided into three sub-states: North Shan State, East Shan State, and South Shan State. It is also officially divided into 11 districts: Taunggyi, Loilem, Kyaukme, Muse, Laukkaing (Laogai), Kunlong, Lashio, Kengtung, Mong Hsat, Mong Hpayak and Tachileik.<br/><br/> An additional district, Hopang District, was formed as 12th District of Shan State by combining of Mongmao, Pangwaun (Panwai), Namphan (Ngaphan) and Pangsang (Pangkham) Townships from Lashio District, Matman Township from Kengtung District; Hopang Township, and Panlong and Namtit Sub-Townships from Kunlong District in September 2011.
The Flag of Kurdistan, also called Alaya Rengin ('The Colorful Flag') first appeared during the movement for Kurdish independence from the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/> Consisting of a tricolor of red, white, and green horizontal bands with a yellow sun disk of 21 rays at its center, it is currently the official flag of the autonomous Kurdistan Region in Iraq, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The Republic of Formosa (literally Democratic State of Taiwan, also known informally in English as the Republic of Taiwan) was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its invasion and occupation by Japanese troops.<br/><br/> The Republic was proclaimed on 23 May 1895 and extinguished on 21 October, when the Republican capital Tainan was occupied by the Japanese. Though sometimes claimed as the first Asian republic to have been proclaimed, it was predated by the Lanfang Republic, established in 1777, as well as by the Republic of Ezo established in 1869.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Islamic State (IS), and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.<br/><br/> The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many individual countries. ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has charged the group with ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern Iraq.
The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Zhongguo Gongnong Hongjun), also known as the Chinese Red Army, or simply the Red Army, was a group army under the command of the Communist Party of China.<br/><br/> The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was created on May 25, 1928 in the First Chinese Civil War. Between 1934 to 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns against the Nationalist forces who were led by the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and engaged in the Long March.<br/><br/> By the time of the 1934 Long March, numerous small units had been organized into three unified groups, the First Red Army, the Second Red Army and the Fourth Red Army. When the anti-Japanese war broke out on July 7, 1937, the communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units.
Avraham Stern or Avraham Shtern, alias Yair (born in Suwalki, PolandDecember 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942) was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun.<br/><br/> In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi a Hebrew acronym for Lohamei Herut Israel, meaning 'Fighters for the Freedom of Israel', in September 1940. Lehi was better known as the 'Stern Gang' by the British authorities and by the mainstream in the Yishuv Jewish establishment.
The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is a sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar.<br/><br/> Other countries near the Comoros are Tanzania to the northwest and the Seychelles to the northeast. Its capital is Moroni, on Grande Comore.
The Islamic State flag is similar to the flags of other extreme Salafi-Jihadi Sunni Muslim movements. It is based on the Black Standard flown by Muhammad in Islamic tradition and on the Black Banner of the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258).<br/><br/> In the flag of the Islamic State the <i>shahada</i> or Islamic statement of belief - <i>la ilaha illa-llah, Muhammadun rasulu-llah</i> ('There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God') - is emblazoned above the seal of the Prophet Muhammad (now kept in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul), with black Arabic script on a white background reading: <i>Allah rasul Muhammad</i> ('Muhammad, Messenger of God').
The Ryukyu Kingdom (historical English name: Lewchew, Luchu, or Loochoo) was an independent kingdom that ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th to the 19th century. The kings of Ryukyu unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan.<br/><br/> Despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East and Southeast Asia.
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN; Vietnamese: Lục quân Việt Nam Cộng hòa), also known as the South Vietnamese Army (SVA), were the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the armed forces of South Vietnam, which existed from 1955 until the Fall of Saigon in 1975. It is estimated to have suffered 1,394,000 casualties (killed and wounded) during the Vietnam War.<br/><br/> After the fall of Saigon to the invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA), the ARVN was dissolved. While some high-ranking officers had fled the country to the United States or elsewhere, thousands of former ARVN officers were sent to reeducation camps by the communist government of the new, unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The flag of Wales (Welsh: Baner Cymru or Y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'The Red Dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exist.<br/><br/> The flag incorporates the Red Dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St Paul's Cathedral. The red dragon was then included as a supporter of the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognised as the Welsh national flag in 1959.
The flag of Macau is light green with a lotus flower above the stylised Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars.<br/><br/> Guia Fortress (Portuguese: Fortaleza da Guia; Chinese: 東望洋炮台) is a historical military fort, chapel, and lighthouse complex. The fort and chapel were constructed between 1622 and 1638, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Netherlands to capture Macau from Portugal. The lighthouse was constructed between 1864 and 1865, the first western style lighthouse in east Asia or on the China coast.<br/><br/> Macau was both the first and last European colony in China. In 1535, Portuguese traders obtained rights to anchor ships in Macau's harbours and to trade, though not the right to stay onshore. Around 1552–53, they obtained permission to erect temporary storage sheds on the island and built small houses. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau, paying an annual rent of 500 taels of silver.<br/><br/> Macau soon became the major trafficking point for Chinese slaves, and many Chinese boys were captured in China, and sold in Lisbon or Brazil. Portugal administered the region until its handover to China on 20 December 1999. It is now best known for casinos and gambling.
The Republic of Venice (Italian: Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797.<br/><br/> It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the 'Most Serene Republics'. The Republic's modern reputation is widely based on its preference for economic supremacy over military might, despite its long history of war and conquest.
The Republic of Venice (Italian: Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797.<br/><br/> It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the 'Most Serene Republics'. The Republic's modern reputation is widely based on its preference for economic supremacy over military might, despite its long history of war and conquest.
The term Anglo-Egyptian Sudan refers to the period between 1891 and 1956 when Sudan was administered as a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.
The flag of Southern Sudan was adopted following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. The flag was previously used as the flag of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The flag is similar to the flag of Kenya with the addition of a blue triangle and gold star at the hoist.<br/><br/> The colours are said to represent the Southern Sudanese people (black), peace (white), the blood shed for freedom (red), the land (green) and the waters of the Nile (blue); the gold star, the Star of Bethlehem, represents unity of the states of Southern Sudan.
The Vietcong (Vietnamese: Việt cộng), or National Liberation Front (NLF), was a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War (1959–1975). It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled.<br/><br/> Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were attached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular North Vietnamese army.<br/><br/> During the war, communists and anti-war spokesmen insisted the Vietcong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi. The truth lies somewhere between these two interpretations.
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate was a Mongol khanate established in Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanate was based, originally, on Genghis Khan's campaigns in the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219–1224, and founded by Genghis's grandson, Hulagu, in territories which today comprise most of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and some regions of western Pakistan. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religions, but was initially sympathetic to Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, embraced Islam.<br/><br/> The Catalan Atlas (1375) is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham, a Jewish book illuminator who was self-described as being a master of the maps of the world as well as compasses.It has been in the royal library of France (now the Bibliothèque nationale de France) since the late 14th century.
Flag of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), 1982-83. White outline map of Cambodia bearing the Khmer word 'Kampuchea' in pale blue set against a pale blue field.
The United Suvadive Republic or Suvadive Islands was a short-lived breakaway nation in the remote Southern Atolls of the Maldive Islands, namely Addu Atoll, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah that geographically make up the Suvadive archipelago.
The royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Cambodia is the symbol of the Cambodian monarchy. It has existed in some form close to the one depicted since the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Cambodia in 1953. It is the symbol on the Royal Standard of the reigning monarch of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni (ascended 2004).
The flag of Afghanistan was adopted by the transitional government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan in 2002–2004. This flag is similar to the one flown in Afghanistan during the monarchy between 1930 and 1973. The difference is the addition of the shahadah (Islamic Confession of Faith) at the top of the coat of arms (seen in gold/yellow) in the center. The new flag was adopted January 4, 2004. The flag consists of three stripes of the colors black, red, and green. This has been present on most flags of Afghanistan in the last twenty years. The center emblem is the classical emblem of Afghanistan with a mosque with its mihrab facing Mecca.
Mengjiang was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control from 12 May 1936 until after Japan’s defeat in World War II. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It is occasionally called Měnggǔguó or Mengkukuo (in analogy to Manchukuo, another Japanese puppet state in Manchuria.) The capital was Kalgan, and the ruler was Chairman Demchugdongrub.
The Dutch West India Company was a chartered company (known as the 'WIC') of Dutch merchants. On June 3, 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America.<br/><br/> The area where the company could operate consisted of West Africa (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope) and the Americas, which included the Pacific Ocean and the eastern part of New Guinea. The intended purpose of the charter was to eliminate competition, particularly Spanish or Portuguese, between the various trading posts established by the merchants.<br/><br/> The company became instrumental in the Dutch colonization of the Americas.
Flag of Khmer Republic (Lon Nol Regime), in use from October 1970 to 1975, between the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk and the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge).
The Ma clique is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949.<br/><br/> There were three families in the Ma clique (‘Ma’ being a common Hui rendering of the common Muslim name, Muhammad), each of them respectively controlled one area. The three most prominent members of the clique were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Hongbin, collectively known as the Xibei San Ma, (The Three Ma of the Northwest).<br/><br/> Some contemporary accounts, such as Edgar Snow's, described the clique as the ‘Four Ma’, adding Ma Bufang's brother Ma Buqing to the list of the top warlords. Other prominent Mas included Ma Anliang, Ma Qi, Ma Lin, Ma Hu-shan and Ma Zhongying.
The royal standard of Cambodia bears the royal coat of arms on a dark blue field. Depicted on the coat of arms are two animals which are a gajasingha (a lion with an elephant trunk) on the left, and a singha, or a lion, on the right. Supported by the animals are two royal five-tiered umbrellas. In between is a royal crown with a ray of light at its top.
Flag of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), the political arm of the Khmer Rouge. Yellow Hammer and Sickle symbol on red field.
The Royal Lao flag is a three headed elephant referred to as an Erawan. The three headed elephant generally has the layered "umbrella" over its heads as opposed to one on either side.<br/><br/> The kingdom of Laos existed from the 14th to the 18th centuries, then split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms—Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak—uniting to form what is now known as Laos.<br/><br/> The country briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949.<br/><br/> Laos became independent in 1954, with a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France. In October 1887, the French announced the formation of the Union Indochinoise (Union of Indochina), which at that time comprised Cambodia and the three regions of Vietnam (Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina). In 1893, Laos was also annexed. Flag represents French flag canton on a yellow field.
Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979-1989). Five towers of Angkor on a red field.
From 1952 until the fall of the royal government in 1975 the country had a red flag, with a white three-headed elephant (the god Erawan) in the middle. On top of the elephant is a nine-folded umbrella, while the elephant itself stands on a five-level pedestal. The white elephant is a common royal symbol in Southeast Asia, the three heads referred to the three former kingdoms Vientiane, Luangprabang, and Champasak which made up the country. The nine-folded umbrella is also a royal symbol, originating from Mt. Meru in the Buddhist cosmology. The pedestal represented the law on which the country rested.
Flag of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). Three yellow towers of Angkor Wat on a red field.
The Rising Sun Flag as used by the Japanese Marine Self-Defence Forces; White with a red disc slightly to the hoist with 16 rays extending from the disc to the edges of the flag.<br/><br/> Although today associated with the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, the banner is perhaps better remembered as the Imperial Ensign of the Japanese Combined Fleet during World War II.
Flag of Cambodia under French rule, 1863-1945, 1945-1948. Three towers of Angkor Wat in white on a red field surrounded by a dark blue border.
The kingdom of Laos existed from the 14th to the 18th centuries, then split into three separate kingdoms.<br/><br/> In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms—Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak—uniting to form what is now known as Laos. The country briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949.<br/><br/> Laos became independent in 1954, with a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
Used mainly in Shanghai and eastern parts of northern China until 1928, this flag was widely flown even before the founding of the Republic of China by Chinese on the eastern coast and garnered the greatest respect at the founding of the ROC.<br/><br/> The stripes represent the five great races in China's history, according to Dr. Sun Yat-sen: red for Han Chinese, yellow to represent Manchus, blue as Mongols, white for both Huis and Uyghurs, and black for Tibetans.
Flag of the State of Cambodia (1989-1993). Five towers of Angkor against a red upper field and blue lower field.
Bali is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority with some 92% of the island’s 4 million population adhering to Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam.<br/><br/> Bali is the largest tourist destination in Indonesia, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leatherwork, metalwork and music.
Crest of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). The symbolism celebrates theoretical agricultural and industrial advances with emphasis on irrigation works, rice fields and a factory.
Flag of the short-lived Cambodian Pro-Tokyo puppet state established between March and October 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Indochina. Five white squares in and around a white frame against a red field. The five white squares represent the quincunx at Angkor Wat.
The national flag of Sikkim consisted of a Buddhist khorlo prayer wheel with the gankyil as the central element. Until 1967, the previous flag showed a very complex design with a fanciful border and religious pictograms surrounding the khorlo. A more simple design was adopted in 1967 because of the difficulty in duplication of the complex flag. The border became solid red, the pictograms were removed and the wheel was redesigned. With the annexation of Sikkim to India, and with the abolition of the monarchy, the flag was also abolished.
The flag consists of three horizontal strips, middle blue strip is twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the center is a white disk symbolizing the unity of the people under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the country's bright future. It is also said to represent a full moon against the Mekong River. The red stripes stand for the blood shed by the people in their struggle for freedom, and the blue symbolizes their prosperity.
Roundel of the air force of the communist republic of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979). Three yellow towers of Angkor Wat on a red field.
The Druk (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་) is the 'Thunder Dragon' of Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the Bhutanese Flag, holding jewels to represent wealth.<br/><br/> In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is called Druk Yul, or Land of Druk, and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo, Dragon Kings. The national anthem of Bhutan, Druk tsendhen, translates into English as 'The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon'.
Bali is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority with some 92% of the island’s 4 million population adhering to Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam.<br/><br/> Bali is the largest tourist destination in Indonesia, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leatherwork, metalwork and music.
Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 1948-1970, 1993 to the present. Three white towers of Angkor Wat against a red field, with dark blue band top and bottom.
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China. It is often referred to as the Burma Communist Party (BCP) by both the Burmese government and the foreign media.
The Vietcong (Vietnamese: Việt cộng), or National Liberation Front (NLF), was a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War (1959–1975). It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory it controlled.<br/><br/> Many soldiers were recruited in South Vietnam, but others were attached to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the regular North Vietnamese army.<br/><br/> During the war, communists and anti-war spokesmen insisted the Vietcong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of Hanoi. The truth lies somewhere between these two interpretations.
The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 (with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917). It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.<br/><br/> The dynasty was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in modern northeast China (also known as Manchuria). Starting in 1644 it expanded into China proper and its surrounding territories, establishing the Empire of the Great. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.<br/><br/> During its reign the Qing Dynasty became highly integrated with Chinese culture. The dynasty reached its zenith in the 18th century, during which both territory and population were increased. However, its military power weakened thereafter and, faced with massive rebellions and defeat in wars, the Qing Dynasty declined after the mid-19th century.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was overthrown following the Xinhai Revolution, when Empress Dowager Longyu abdicated on behalf of the last emperor, Puyi, on February 12, 1912.
The First Eastern Turkestan Republic (ETR), or Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET), also Republic of Uyghurstan, (Sherqiy Türkistan Yislam Jumuhuriyiti or Sarki Turk Islam Cumhuriyeti) was a short-lived breakaway would-be Islamic republic founded in 1933. It was centered on the city of Khotan in what is today the People's Republic of China-administered Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Although primarily the product of the independence movement of the Uyghur population living there, the ETR was Turkish-ethnic in character, including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in its government and its population.<br/><br/> With the sacking of Kashgar in 1934 by Hui warlords nominally allied with the Kuomintang government in Nanjing, the first ETR was effectively eliminated. Its example, however, served to some extent as inspiration for the founding of a Second East Turkestan Republic a decade later, and continues to influence modern Uyghur nationalist support for the creation of an independent East Turkestan.
The flag of Sudan was adopted on May 20, 1970, and consists of a horizontal red-white-black tricolor, with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag shared by Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, that uses a subset of the Pan-Arab colors in which green is less significant.<br/><br/> Before the 1969 military coup of Gaafar Nimeiry, a blue-yellow-green tricolor design was used.
Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (usually Wat Saket) dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was called Wat Sakae. King Rama I (1736 - 1809) or Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke renovated the temple and renamed it Wat Saket. The Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) is a steep hill inside the Wat Saket compound. It is not a natural outcrop, but an artificial hill built during the reign of Rama III (1787 - 1851) or King Jessadabodindra.
Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (usually Wat Saket) dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was called Wat Sakae. King Rama I (1736 - 1809) or Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke renovated the temple and renamed it Wat Saket. The Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) is a steep hill inside the Wat Saket compound. It is not a natural outcrop, but an artificial hill built during the reign of Rama III (1787 - 1851) or King Jessadabodindra.
Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (usually Wat Saket) dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was called Wat Sakae. King Rama I (1736 - 1809) or Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke renovated the temple and renamed it Wat Saket. The Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) is a steep hill inside the Wat Saket compound. It is not a natural outcrop, but an artificial hill built during the reign of Rama III (1787 - 1851) or King Jessadabodindra.
The national flag of Japan is a white rectangular flag with a large red disc (representing the sun) in the center.<br/><br/> This flag is officially called Nisshōki (日章旗, sun-mark flag) in Japanese, but is more commonly known as Hinomaru (日の丸, 'circle of the sun').