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Jubaland

Jubaland

Jubaland (also Jubbaland, Trans-Juba, It: Oltre Giuba) is the southwesternmost part of Somalia, on the far side of the Jubba River (thus the "trans-" name), bordering on Kenya. It has a total area of 87,000 km² (33,000 sq mi), and in 1926 a population of 12,000. The main city is Kismayo, on the coast near the mouth of the Jubba. Originally Jubaland was part of the British colony of Kenya, but was ceded to Italy June 29, 1925, purportedly as a reward for joining the Allies in World War I. It then had a brief existence as the Italian colony of Oltre Giuba, before its incorporation into the colony of Italian Somaliland on June 30, 1926. Jubaland declared its independence from Somalia in 1998, and its present status remains unsettled.

Stamps and postal history of Oltre Giuba

Italy issued its first postage stamps for the area on July 29, 1925, consisting of contemporary Italian stamps overprinted "OLTRE GIUBA". The same process was followed for the Italian commemorative issues of the time - the "Victor Emmanuel" issue, the "St Francis" issue. On April 21, 1926, Italy issued a set of seven stamps printed specifically for the colony, depicting a map of the territory and inscribed "COMMISSARIATO GENLE / DELL' OLTRE GIUBA", then on June 1 the omnibus Colonial Institute issue included a set inscribed "OLTRE GIUBA". Only a couple of the higher values have more than a minimal price for collectors, although as usual for remote colonies of brief existence, genuine usages on cover are seldom seen. Category:Regions of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia (Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال, As-Sumal), formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a coastal nation in East Africa. Continentally, it is entirely surrounded by Ethiopia and Djibouti on the north and mid-west, and Kenya on its south-west; with the Gulf of Aden on its east. It currently exists solely in a de jure capacity. Somalia has no recognized central government authority, no national currency, nor any other feature associated with an established nation state. De facto authority resides in the hands of the governments for the unrecognized entities of Somaliland, Puntland, and other rival warlords.

History

Main article: History of Somalia Independence of Somaliland from Britain was proclaimed on June 26, 1960, and on July 1, 1960, unification of the British and ex-Italian Somali protectorates took place. The government formed with Abdullahi Isse, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar was appointed President and Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as Prime Minister. Later, during 1967, Mohammed Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister in Aden Abdullahi Osman (nicknamed Aden Adde)'s government. Egal was later chosen as President of a self-declared Somaliland. He died in a hospital in Pretoria on May 3, 2002. In late 1969, a military government assumed power following the assassination of Shermarke who chosen for and served as President during 1967-1969. Mohamed Siad Barre, a General in the armed forces who was an ally to and helped protect Aden Abullahi Osman's government, became the President in 1969 following a coup d'état. The revolutionary army leaders, headed by Barre, established large-scale public works programmes. They also successfully implemented an urban and rural literacy campaign, in which they helped to dramatically increase the literacy rate from a mere 5% to 55% by the mid-1980s. 1980s Somali National Movemonent (SNM) overthrow the Siyaad Barre Government in 1989. Intermittent civil war has been a fact of life in Somalia since 1977. In 1991, the northern portion of the country declared its independence as Somaliland; although de facto independent and relatively stable compared to the tumultuous south, it has not been recognized by any foreign government. In 1990, the military government was forced out by Mohammed Farah Aidid who was officer from the Banadir region and the leader of United Somali Congress (USC) United Somali Congress Beginning in 1993, a two-year UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions. The UN withdrew in Operation United Shield by March 3 1995, having suffered significant casualties, and order has not yet been restored. Yet another secession from Somalia took place in the northeastern region. The self-proclaimed state took the name Puntland after declaring "temporary" independence in 1998, with the intention that it would participate in any Somali reconciliation to form a new central government. A third secession occurred in 1998 with the declaration of the state of Jubaland. The territory of Jubaland is now encompassed by the state of Southwestern Somalia and its status is unclear. A fourth self-proclaimed entity led by the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), was set up in 1999, along the lines of the heat or desert Puntland. This "temporary" secession was reasserted in 2002, leading to de facto autonomy of Southwestern Somalia. The RRA had originally set up an autonomous administration over the Bay and Bakool regions of south and central Somalia in 1999. Somalia was one of the many countries devastated by the tsunami which struck the Indian Ocean coast following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, destroying entire villages and killing an estimated 300 people.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Somalia Somalia has had no effective national government in 15 years. In the northwest, there is the breakaway republic of Somaliland. In the rest of the country there are various warlords, cf. Puntland and Southwestern Somalia. In 2000, the international community recognised the Transitional National Government, originally headed by Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, as the government for the entire country. Currently however it controls only part of the capital, Mogadishu. On October 10, 2004 Somali MPs elected warlord Abdullahi Yusuf, previously president of Puntland, to be the next president. Because of the chaotic situation in Mogadishu, the election was held in a sports centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Yusuf was elected transitional President by Somalia's transitional parliament. He won 189 of the 275 votes from members of parliament. The session of Parliament was also held in neighbouring Kenya. His government is recognized by most western nations as the country's legitimate rulers, though his actual authority is extremely questionable. Many other small political organizations exist, some clan-based, others seeking a Somalia free from clan-based politics (such as the United Somali Front). Many of them have come into existence since the new president was chosen. See also List of notable Somali leaders.

Population

List of notable Somali leaders Somalia has a population of around 8,591,000. However, estimates are very difficult because of the continuing situation. The last census was in 1975. Most outside analysts use this estimate but Somalia is one of the fastest growing countries in Africa and the world. Some estimates range between 6 to 15 million. Because of the war, Somalia has a large diaspora. Ethnic Somalis have lived for centuries in large areas of what is now Ethiopia and Kenya. They are also a majority in Djibouti, where they share area with the Afars. There are over a million Somalis (including the minorities) outside Africa. Somalia now has among one of the largest diaspora communites of the whole continent. All of these factors and the mostly nomadic nature of the Somalis has made proper estimates very difficult.

Provinces

Main article: Regions of Somalia Somalia is divided into 18 regions (singular gobolka, plural gobollada):
- Awdal
- Bakool
- Banaadir
- Bari
- Bay
- Galguduud
- Gedo
- Hiiraan
- Jubbada Dhexe
- Jubbada Hoose
- Mudug
- Nugaal
- Sanaag
- Shabeellaha Dhexe
- Shabeellaha Hoose
- Sool
- Togdheer
- Woqooyi Galbeed

Geography

Woqooyi Galbeed Main article: Geography of Somalia Somalia is located on the east coast of Africa on and north of the Equator between the Gulf of Aden on the north and Indian Ocean on the east. Together with Ethiopia and Djibouti it is often referred to as the Horn of Africa. It borders Djibouti on the northwest, Ethiopia on the west, and Kenya on southwest. Somalia comprises Italy's former Trust Territory of Somalia and the former British Protectorate of Somaliland (now seeking recognition as an independent state). The coastline extends 2,720 kilometres (1,700 mi) -- the longest coastline in Africa. The northern part of the country is hilly, and in many places the altitude ranges between 900 and 2,100 metres (3,000 ft.-7,000 ft.) above sea level. The central and southern areas are flat, with an average altitude of less than 180 metres (600 ft.). The Juba and the Shebelle Rivers rise in Ethiopia and flow south across the country towards the Indian Ocean. The Shebelle, however, does not reach the sea except during seasons of high rain. Major climatic factors are a year-round hot climate, seasonal monsoon winds, and irregular rainfall with recurring droughts. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from 30°C to 40°C (85° F-105°F), except at higher elevations and along the east coast. Mean daily minimums usually vary from about 15°C to 30°C (60°F-85°F). The southwest monsoon, a sea breeze, makes the period from about May to October the mildest season at Mogadishu. The December-February period of the northeast monsoon is also relatively mild, although prevailing climatic conditions in Mogadishu are rarely pleasant. The "tangambili" periods that intervene between the two monsoons (October-November and March-May) are hot and humid.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Somalia Economy of Somalia Somalia has a market economy. It has long been one of the world's poorest and least developed countries and has relatively few natural resources. Though one of the poorest countries in the world in 1991 before the civil war, poverty was even further aggravated by the hostilities. Though Somali remains one of the poorest countries in the world, when extreme poverty was measured in 1998 (percentage of individuals living on less than PPP$1 a day) it fared better than West Africa and neighboring countries. Despite the absence of a state the private sector has flourished. Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. After livestock, bananas are the principal export; sugar, sorghum, maize, and fish are products for the domestic market. The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP. Journalist Kevin Sites, after a recent trip to Somalia, reported: "Somalia, though brutally poor, is a kind of libertarian's dream. Free enterprise flourishes, and vigorous commercial competition is the only form of regulation. Somalia has some of the best telecommunications in Africa, with a handful of companies ready to wire home or office and provide crystal-clear service, including international long distance, for about $10 a month." However, despite modest gains, Somalia continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, with 10% of children dying at birth and 25% of those surviving birth dying before age five. Medecins Sans Frontieres has further stated that the level of daily violence in the lack of legitimate security structures is "catastrophic." Infrastructure, such as roads are as numerous as those in neighboring countries but of much lower quality. A World Bank report states that the private sector has found it too hard to build roads due to high transaction costs and the fact that those who pay road fees are not the only ones using the road (see free rider problem), presenting a problem with recuperation of investment. The telecommunications is private and highly developed, offering wireless service and internet cafés. Competing phone companies have agreed on interconnection standards, which were brokered by the United Nations funded Somali Telecom Association. Electricity is furnished by entrepreneurs, who have purchased generators and divided cities into manageable sectors ([http://www.somalianarchy.com/viewtopic.php?t=16 photo]). In 1989, before the collapse of the government, the national airline had only one airplane. Now the there are approximately 15 airlines, over 60 aircraft, 6 international destinations, and more domestic routes. The private sector also supplies drinking water. However, a statistic from 2000 indicated that only 21% of the population had access to safe drinking water at that time. With the collapse of the central government, the educations system is now private. A World Bank study reports "modest gains in education." As last measured in 2001, primary school enrollment, which stood at 17%, was nearly at pre-war levels, and secondary school enrollment had been increasing since 1998. However, "adult literacy is estimated to have declined from the already low level of 24% in 1989 to 17.1% in 2001." [http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/03/25/000112742_20040325090551/Rendered/PDF/282760Somalia0Country0reengagement0note.pdf] A more recent 2003 study repored that the literacy rate had risen to 19%. [http://rru.worldbank.org/Documents/PapersLinks/280-nenova-harford.pdf] In comparison, literacy is at 49% in wealthier West Africa and 35% among its neighbours. Higher education ended completely in the civil war of 1991, but Mogadishu University reopened in 1998 and its first class graduated in 2001. Other universities have opened in other cities. In addition to customer fees, much of the funding for the education system comes from international Islamic charities such as Al-Islah.[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35382.htm] The main problem affecting economic growth is the lack of stability. An example of this is that in Mogadishu, some businessmen would prefer to pay taxes to a government to maintain security rather than to pay warlords for protection from bandits. Remittance services has become a large industry in Somalia. Successful people from the world-wide diaspora who fled because of the war contribute to the economy around $2 billion annually. Wireless communications has also become a giant economic force in Somalia. Because of the war, nobody really knows the size of the economy or how much it is growing. References: [http://rru.worldbank.org/Documents/PapersLinks/280-nenova-harford.pdf Anarchy and Invention: How Does Somalia's Private Sector Cope without Government?]

Demographics and languages

Main article: Demographics of Somalia As early as the seventh century, indigenous Cushitic peoples began to mingle with Arab and Persian traders who had settled along the coast. Interaction over the centuries led to the emergence of a Somali culture bound by common traditions, a single language, and the Islamic faith. Today, about 60% of all Somalis are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists who raise cattle, camels, sheep, and goats. About 25% of the population are settled farmers who live mainly in the fertile agricultural region between the Juba and Shebelle rivers in southern Somalia. The remainder of the population (15%-20%) is urban. Sizable ethnic groups in the country include Bantu agricultural workers, several thousand Arabs and some hundreds of Indians and Pakistanis. Apart from the Brava people who speak a language similar to Swahili, nearly all inhabitants speak the Somali language. A population of Italian descent, which dated back to Somalia's colonial era, began to emigrate following independence and by the outbreak of war most Italian Somalis had left the country. The language remained unwritten until October 1973, when the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) proclaimed it the nation's official language and decreed an orthography using Latin letters. Somali is now the language of instruction in schools, which are few. Arabic, English, and Italian also are used extensively.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Somalia
- Islam in Somalia
- List of writers from Somalia
- Music of Somalia
- Female genital mutilation

Telecommunications

Somalia's public telecommunications system was almost completely destroyed or dismantled; however, private wireless companies exist in most major cities and actually provide better services than in neighbouring countries, despite (or perhaps due to) Somalia's lack of government. Somalia has the cheapest cellular calling rates in Africa, with some companies charging less than a cent a minute. Some of the factors that have created this situation are lack of a government-granted monopoly and taxation, and the neutrality of telecommunication firms vis-a-vis the warlords [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4020259.stm]. Companies providing telecommunication services are:
- Galkom
- Global Internet Company
- Hormuud
- Telcom
- Nationlink
- Netco
- STG

External links

News

- [http://allafrica.com/somalia/ AllAfrica.com - Somalia] news headline links
- [http://www.banadir.com/ Banadir] news headline links
- [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/41/ IFEX: Somalia]

Overviews

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1072592.stm BBC News Country Profile - Somalia]
- [http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/africa/2004/somalia/default.stm BBC News In Depth - Somalia: Emerging from Ruins?]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/so.html CIA World Factbook - Somalia]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/so/ US State Department - Somalia] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports

Directories

- [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/Somalia.html Columbia University Libraries - Somalia] directory category of the WWW-VL
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Somalia/ Open Directory Project - Somalia] directory category
- [http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/somalia.html Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Somalia] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Somalia/ Yahoo! - Somalia] directory category

Tourism

Other

- [http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/Open.aspx?id=3762 Anarchy and Invention: How Does Somalia's Private Sector Cope Without Government? (PDF version)] [http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:Y6b4hmt1RicJ:rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/ HTML version] A World Bank study
- [http://www.liberalia.com/htm/mvn_stateless_somalis.htm From nation-state to stateless nation: The Somali Experience]
- [http://www.mogadishuuniversity.com Mogadishu University] One of Somalia's largest universities describes itself as a "non-profit, non-sectarian and non-governmental institution of higher education."
- [http://www.somalianarchy.com SomaliAnarchy - "Defending and Celebrating Somalis' Freedom and Prosperity"]
- [http://www.radiodaljir.com/ Somalia Online] "giving the nomads their piece of the net!"
- [http://www.petermaass.com/core.cfm?p=1&mag=51&magtype=1 Ayn Rand Comes to Somalia] by Peter Maass for Atlantic Monthly Category:Arab League Category:African Union member states
- zh-min-nan:Somalia ko:소말리아 ms:Somalia ja:ソマリア simple:Somalia th:ประเทศโซมาเลีย

Jubba River

The Jubba River is a river in southern Somalia. It begins at the border with Ethiopia where the Dawa and Gebele rivers meet, and flows directly south to the Indian Ocean. Much of the Jubba valley (in the Gedo province) is inhabited by the Mareehan tribe of Somalia. The tropical river basin region is the greenest part of Somalia. It is the richest part of the country because it is the best place for farmers . The area receives the most rain in the country and some times the Jubba floods: it flooded in 1960 and it killed thousands of people, and it also flooded in 1997 and may 2005 the area has a a lot of rich savannahs with a lot of trees . wild life includes giraffes , cheetahs , lions , leopards , hyenas , buffalos , hippos , crocodiles , snakes , elephants , oryx , gazelles and wildass . Category:Rivers of Somalia Category:Rivers of Ethiopia

Kismaayo

Kismayo (Somali: Kismaayo) is a city in the Jubbada Hoose region of Somalia. It is near the mouth of the Jubba River, and is famous for its scenic surroundings. The city was founded by an offshoot of Bantu ethnic group called Bajuni. Ethnic Somali clans are most recent arrivals to the area. The city, along with region, was part of the British colony of East Africa from 1889 to 1925, when it was ceded to Italy. In 1926, it was incorporated into Italian Somaliland. Since the Somali civil war, Kismaayo has been a city in constant wars, fought by warring clans vying to control it. ja:キスマヨ Category:Cities in Somalia Category:Coastal cities

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.
Terminology

- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.
History
Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.
Government and politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.
Subdivisions
The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
Military
The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.
Geography
Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.
Economy
artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.
Society

Demographics
At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.
Culture
Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.
Sport
A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.
Miscellaneous topics

External links

- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

June 29

June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining.

Events

- 1613 - The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.
- 1749 - New Governor, Charles de la Ralière Des Herbiers, arrives at Isle Royale (Cape Breton Island).
- 1786 - Alexander Macdonnell and over five hundred Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario.
- 1850 - Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island.
- 1863 - George Custer is appointed as a U.S. Union brigadier-general
- 1864 - Ninety-nine people killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec.
- 1880 - France annexes Tahiti
- 1891 - United States National Forest Service is organized.
- 1891 - Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation.
- 1895 - Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government.
- 1905 - Moonlight Graham makes his only major league baseball appearance, in a game between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Superbas but gets no at-bat.
- 1914 - Jina Guseva attempts to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.
- 1922 - France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes."
- 1925 - Canada House opens in London, England.
- 1927 - First test of Wallace Turnbull's variable-pitch propeller.
- 1933 - Italian boxer Primo Carnera knocked out American Jack Sharkey to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
- 1937 - Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles.
- 1945 - Carpathian Ruthenia was annexed by Soviet Union
- 1950 - In soccer, United States defeats England 1-0 in the Football World Cup.
- 1976 - The Seychelles becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1986 - Argentina wins the
- 1995 - The NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time.
- 1995 - The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937.

Births

- 1397 - King John II of Aragon (d. 1479)
- 1517 - Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (d. [1585]])
- 1596 - Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan (d. 1680)
- 1798 - Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet (d. 1837)
- 1858 - George Goethals, American army engineer (d. 1928)
- 1861 - William Mayo, American physician and founder of the Mayo Clinic (d. 1939)
- 1868 - George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (d. 1938)
- 1880 - Ludwig Beck, German general (d. 1944)
- 1900 - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and writer (d. 1944)
- 1901 - Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (d. 1967)
- 1903 - Alan Blumlein, English electronics engineer (d. 1942)
- 1908 - Leroy Anderson, American composer (d. 1975)
- 1910 - Frank Loesser, American composer (d. 1969)
- 1911 - Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
- 1911 - Bernard Herrmann, American film composer (d. 1975)
- 1914 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech conductor (d. 1996)
- 1915 - Ruth Warrick, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1919 - Slim Pickens, American actor (d. 1983)
- 1920 - Ray Harryhausen, American filmmaker
- 1922 - Vasko Popa, Yugoslavian poet (d. 1991)
- 1924 - Flo Sandon's, Italian singer
- 1928 - Ian Bannen, Scottish Actor (d. 1999)
- 1933 - Bob Shaw, baseball player
- 1936 - Harmon Killebrew, baseball player
- 1941 - Kwame Ture, American civil rights activist
- 1943 - Little Eva, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1944 - Gary Busey, American actor
- 1945 - Chandrika Kumaratunga, President of Sri Lanka
- 1946 - Egon von Furstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (d. 2004)
- 1952 - Joe Johnson, English snooker player
- 1956 - Pedro Santana Lopes, Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1963 - Anne-Sophie Mutter, German violinist
- 1964 - Stedman Pearson, British singer
- 1968 - Theoren Fleury, Canadian hockey player
- 1969 - Ilan Mitchell-Smith, American actors
- 1971 - Kaitlyn Ashley, American actress
- 1971 - Matthew Good, Canadian musician and activist
- 1971 - Anthony Hamilton, English snooker player
- 1972 - Samantha Smith, American activist and actress (d. 1985)
- 1977 - Oleg Korenfeld, Poet
- 1979 - Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
- 1980 - Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano
- 1980 - Martin Truex Jr, American race car driver

Deaths

- 1252 - King Abel of Denmark (b. 1218)
- 1315 - Ramon Llull, Spanish philosopher (b. 1235)
- 1509 - Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (b. 1443)
- 1725 - Arai Hakuseki, Japanese writer and politician (b. 1657)
- 1744 - André Campra, French composer (b. 1660)
- 1764 - Ralph Allen, English businessman and politician (b. 1693)
- 1852 - Henry Clay, U.S. Senator (b. 1777)
- 1861 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (b. 1806)
- 1873 - Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bengali poet (b. 1824)
- 1875 - Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria (b. 1793)
- 1895 - Thomas Henry Huxley, English scientist (b. 1825)
- 1933 - Fatty Arbuckle, American actor (b. 1887)
- 1940 - Paul Klee, Swiss artist (b. 1879)
- 1941 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1860)
- 1967 - Jayne Mansfield, American actress (b. 1933)
- 1967 Primo Carnera, Italian boxer (b. 1906)
- 1979 - Lowell George, American musician (b. 1945)
- 1992 - Mohammed Boudiaf, President of Algeria (assassinated) (b. 1919)
- 1993 - Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican singer (b. 1946)
- 1994 - Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (b. 1908)
- 1995 - Lana Turner, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1999 - Allan Carr, American film producer and writer (b. 1937)
- 2000 - Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor (b. 1922)
- 2002 - Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)
- 2002 Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist (b. 1931)
- 2003 - Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907)

Holidays and observances

- Seychelles - Independence Day
- Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (also a local holiday in Rome, of which they are patron saints)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/29 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050629.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- June 28 - June 30 - May 29 - July 29 -- listing of all days ko:6월 29일 ms:29 Jun ja:6月29日 simple:June 29 th:29 มิถุนายน

1925

1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-May

- January 3 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
- January 5 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor in the United States.
- January 27–February 1 - The 1925 serum run to Nome, or the "Great Race of Mercy", relays diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled across the U.S. territory of Alaska to combat an epidemic
- February 21 - The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
- March 4 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to have his inauguration broadcasted on radio.
- March 6 - Pionerskaya Pravda, one of the oldest children's newspapers in Europe, is founded
- March 13 - Scopes Trial: A law in Tennessee prohibits the teaching of evolution.
- March 18 - The Tri-State Tornado raked through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana and killed 695 people.
- March 31 - WOWO radio station in Ft. Wayne, Indiana begins broadcasting.
- May 5 - Scopes Trial: Dayton, Tennessee, biology teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
- May 25 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- May 25 - The National Forensics League is founded.
- May 29 - Last communication from the British explorer Percy Fawcett, a telegram to his wife, before he disappears in the Amazon

June-September

- June 1 - Percy and Florence Arrowsmith were married. Celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary June 1, 2005 - Percy is now 105, and wife Florence is 100. Guinness_Book_of_Records said the pair held records for the longest marriage for a living couple and the oldest aggregate age of a married couple
- June 6 - The Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler.
- June 13 - Charles Francis Jenkins achieves the first synchronized transmission of pictures and sound, using 48 lines, and a mechanical system. A 10-minute film of a miniature windmill in motion is sent across 5 miles from Anacostia to Washington, DC. The images were viewed by representatives of the Bureau of Standards, the U.S. Navy, the Commerce Department, and others. Jenkins called this "the first public demonstration of radiovision".
- July 10 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.
- July 18 - Adolf Hitler publishes his personal manifesto Mein Kampf.
- July 21 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.
- September 3 - US dirigible Shenandoah breaks up en route to Scottfield, St. Louis - 14 crewmen dead

October-December

- October - Major money forgery and fraud of Alves Reis exposed in Portugal
- October 30 - John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter.
- November 28 - Country-variety show Grand Ole Opry makes its radio debut on station WSM (it would later become the longest-running live music show).

Unknown dates

- Thompson submachine gun sells for $175 in the Sears mail order catalog.
- Vladimir Zworykin takes out the first patent for colour television.
- Introduction of London's first double decker buses.
- The Royal Tweed Bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, is completed.
- The National Football League adds five teams: New York Giants, Detroit Panthers, Providence Steam Roller, a new Canton Bulldogs team, and Pottsville Maroons

Births

January-April

- January 6 - John De Lorean, American car maker (d. 2005)
- January 7 - Gerald Durrell, British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (d. 1995)
- January 11 - Grant Tinker, American television executive
- January 25 - Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher (d. 1995)
- January 26 - Paul Newman, American actor
- January 30 - Dorothy Malone, American actress
- February 8 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and film director (d. 2001)
- February 17 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003)
- February 17 - Hal Holbrook, American actor
- February 18 - George Kennedy, American actor
- February 20 - Robert Altman, American film director
- February 21 - Sam Peckinpah, American director (d. 1984)
- February 27 - Samuel Dash, American Congressional counsel (d. 2004)
- March 12 - Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 23 - David Watkin, British cinematographer
- March 26 - Pierre Boulez, French composer
- April 14 - Gene Ammons, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1974)
- April 14 - Rod Steiger, American actor (d. 2002)
- April 25 - Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)

May-July

- May 2 - Yogi Berra, baseball player
- May 19 - Pol Pot, Cambodian Khmer Rouge leader (d. 1998)
- May 19 - Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
- May 22 - James King, American tenor (d. 2005)
- May 23 - Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- May 25 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
- June 3 - Tony Curtis, American actor
- June 8 - Barbara Bush, First Lady of the United States
- June 14 - Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's White House Press Secretary (d. 2004)
- July 1 - Farley Granger, American actor
- July 6 - Merv Griffin, American game show developer and host
- July 6 - Bill Haley, American musician (Bill Haley and the Comets) (d. 1981)
- July 10 - Mahathir bin Mohamad, fourth Prime Minister of Maylasia
- July 28 - Baruch S. Blumberg, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

August-September

- August 3 - Dom Um Romão, Brazilian jazz drummer
- August 7 - M. S. Swaminathan, Indian scientist
- August 8 - Alija Izetbegović, President of Bosnia-Herzegovina (d. 2003)
- August 12 - Norris McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (d. 2004)
- August 12 - Ross McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (d. 1975)
- August 21 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003)
- August 27 - Nat Lofthouse, English footballer
- August 28 - Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)
- August 30 - Laurent de Brunhoff, French writer and illustrator
- September 8 - Peter Sellers, English comedian and actor (d. 1980)
- September 10 - Boris Alexandrovich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1996)
- September 24 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (d. 2004)
- September 28 - Arnold Stang, American actor

October-December

- October 13 - Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- October 16 - Angela Lansbury, American actress
- October 23 - Johnny Carson, American comedian and television host (d. 2005)
- October 24 - Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d. 2003)
- October 24 - Al Feldstein, American artist and comic book creator
- October 27 - Albert Medwin, American inventor
- October 31 - John Anthony Pople, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- November 11 - Jonathan Winters, American actor and comedian
- November 18 - Gene Mauch, baseball manager (d. 2005)
- November 20 - Robert Kennedy, American politician and Attorney General of the United States (d. 1968)
- November 24 - William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and commentator. Founder of National Review Magazine
- November 24 - Simon van der Meer, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 26 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (d.