Worcestershire

Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a non-metropolitan administrative, ceremonial and historic county, situated in the West Midlands region of England.
The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see History of Worcestershire). Over the centuries the county borders have been modified, but it was not until 1844 that substantial changes were made. This culminated with the abolition of Worcestershire in 1974 with its northern area becoming part of the West Midlands and the rest part of the county of Hereford and Worcester. However, in 1998 the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished and Worcestershire was reconstituted without the northern area ceded to the West Midlands.
Location.
The county borders Herefordshire to the west, Shropshire to the north-west, Staffordshire only just to the north, West Midlands to the north and north-east, Warwickshire to the east and Gloucestershire to the south. The western border with Herefordshire includes a stretch along the top of the Malvern Hills. At the southern border with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire meets the northern edge of the Cotswolds. Two major rivers flow through the county: the Severn and the Avon.
History.
The geographical area now known as Worcestershire was first populated at least 700,000 years ago. The area became predominantly agricultural in the Bronze Age, leading to population growth and more evidence of settlement. By the Iron Age, hill forts dominated the landscape. Settlement of these swiftly ended with the Roman occupation of Britain.
The Roman period saw establishment of the villa system in the Cotswalds and Vale of Evesham. Droitwich (Salinae) was probably the most important settlement in the county in this period, due to its product of salt. There is also evidence for Roman settlement and industrial activity around Worcester and King's Norton.
Anglo-Saxon Worcestershire.
The area which became Worcestershire formed the heartland of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the Hwicce. It was absorbed by the Kingdom of Mercia during the 7th century and became part of the unified Kingdom of England in 927. Worcestershire was established as an administrative and defensive unit in the early tenth century. Its purpose was to take into account and defend the estates within the northern area of the historic See of Worcester, held by the Episcopus Hwicciorum and Worcester Priory, along with the Abbots of Pershore, Westminster and Evesham. The shires and its sub-divisions known as hundreds, formed a framework for administering the resources of each burhs' outlying estates. It was a separate ealdormanship briefly in the 10th century before forming part of the Earldom of Mercia in the 11th century. The last known Anglo-Saxon Sheriff of Worcestershire was Cyneweard of Laughern.
Norman Conquest.
During the Middle Ages, much of the county's economy was based on the wool trade. Many areas of its dense forests, such as Feckenham Forest, Horewell Forest and Malvern Chase, were royal hunting grounds subject to forest law.
After the Norman conquest of England; the Domesday Book noted in 1086 that in seven of the twelve hundreds covering Worcestershire, the Crown had no authority. The Crown's authority was replaced by the Bishop of Worcester and the Abbots at Pershore, Westminster and Evesham.
William the Conqueror gave to his allies and friends manors and parishes captured from the Anglo-Saxons. Despite the Norman Conquest, the rest of the county was still held by the Abbeys of Pershore and Evesham, the Bishop of Worcester and Priory.
The first Norman Sheriff Urse d'Abetot, built the castle of Worcester and seized much church land, some of which became part of the Crown's hundreds in Worcestershire. and was in dispute with the Bishop of Worcester over the rights of the sheriff.
Bishop Wulfstan was the last Anglo-Saxon bishop in England, and remained in post until his death in 1095. Under his tenure the Cathedral began major reconstruction, and he opposed political interventions against William and the Normans. He was later made a saint.
High Medieval.
During Henry III's disputes and wars with his Barons, in 1263 Worcester's Jewish residents were attacked by a baronial force led by Robert Earl Ferrers and Henry de Montfort. Most were killed. The massacre in Worcester was part of a wider campaign by the De Montforts and their allies in the run-up to the Second Barons' War, aimed at undermining Henry III. Worcestershire was the site of the Battle of Evesham in which Simon de Montfort was killed on 4 August 1265. A few years later, in 1275, the Jews that were still living in Worcester were forced to move to Hereford, as they were expelled from all towns under the jurisdiction of the queen mother.
Civil War.
In 1642, the Battle of Powick Bridge was the first major skirmish of the English Civil War. The county suffered from being on the Royalist front line, as it was subject to heavy taxation and the pressing of men into the Royalist army, which also reduced its productive capacity. The northern part of the county, which was already a centre of iron production, was important for military supplies. Parliamentarian raids and Royalist requisitioning both placed a great strain on the county.
There were tensions from the participation of prominent Catholic recusants in the military and civilian organisation of the county. Combined with the opposition to requisitioning from both sides, bands of Clubmen formed to keep the war away from their localities.
The Battle of Worcester in 1651 effectively ended the third civil war. There was little enthusiasm or local participation in the mostly Scottish Royalist army, whose defeat was widely welcomed. Nevertheless, Parliamentarian forces ransacked the city of Worcester, causing heavy damage, looting and destruction of property. Around 10,000 mostly Scottish prisoners were sent into forced labour in the New World or fen drainage schemes. The small bands of Scots that fled into Worcestershire's countryside were attacked by local forces and killed.
Nineteenth century.
In the 19th century, Worcester was a centre for the manufacture of gloves; the town of Kidderminster became a centre for carpet manufacture, and Redditch specialised in the manufacture of needles, springs and hooks. Droitwich Spa, situated on large deposits of salt, was a centre of salt production from Roman times, with one of the principal Roman roads running through the town. These old industries have since declined, to be replaced by other, more varied light industry. The county is also home to the world's oldest continually published newspaper, the "Berrow's Journal", established in 1690. Malvern was one of the centres of the 19th-century rise in English spa towns due to Malvern water being believed to be very pure, containing "nothing at all".
Demographics.
The 2011 census found the population of Worcestershire to be 566,169, an increase of 4.4% from the 2001 population of 542,107.
Ethnicity.
Though the total number of people in every ethnic group increased between 2001 and 2011, the White British share of Worcestershire's population decreased from 95.5% to 92.4%, as did the share of White ethnic groups as whole, which went from 97.5% to 95.7%. Worcestershire is still much more ethnically homogeneous than the national average. In 2011, 79.8% of the population of England identified as White British; much lower than Worcestershire's figure of 92.4%.
Local government.
Local government in Worcestershire has changed several times since the middle of the 19th century.
1844–1911.
Worcestershire contained numerous exclaves, which were areas of land cut off from the main geographical area of Worcestershire and completely surrounded by the nearby counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire. The most notable islands were Dudley, Evenlode, Blockley and the area around Shipston-on-Stour. Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Shropshire had their own exclaves within the main part of Worcestershire at Rochford, Broome, Clent, Tardebigge (Tutnall and Cobley) and Halesowen respectively. Tardebigge's history outside the county is even more colourful, changing hands from Worcestershire to Staffordshire and Warwickshire, before returning to Worcestershire at differing times over the centuries. The southern boundary of the county was also complex, with parish boundaries penetrating deep into Gloucestershire and vice versa.
Worcestershire County Council came into existence following the Local Government Act 1888 and covered the historic traditional county, except for two designated county boroughs at Dudley and Worcester.
Birmingham's continuous expansion has been a major cause of Worcestershire's fluid boundary changes and associated housing issues. The district of Balsall Heath, which had originally constituted the most northerly part of the parish of King's Norton, was the first area of the county to be added to the County Borough of Birmingham, on 1 October 1891. This was followed by Quinton Urban District, which was ceded to Birmingham in November 1909, and then by the Rural District of Yardley and the greater part of the Urban District of King's Norton and Northfield, which were absorbed into Birmingham under the Greater Birmingham Scheme on 9 November 1911. Thus these areas were transferred from Worcestershire to Warwickshire. Dudley's historical status within the Diocese of Worcester and through its aristocratic links ensured that the exclave was governed on a largely autonomous basis. Worcester was designated a county corporate, and thus became separate from the rest of Worcestershire.
1926 boundary changes.
In 1926, Dudley County Borough council purchased several square miles of land to the north of the town centre, mostly in Sedgley (Staffordshire), including Dudley Castle. This was to build the Priory Estate, a large new council estate on which construction began in 1929. The boundaries of Worcestershire were altered to include all of the proposed new housing estate in Dudley.
1966–1974.
During the Local Government reorganisation of April 1966, Dudley expanded beyond its historical boundaries and took in the bulk of Sedgley, Brierley Hill and the south of Coseley as well as a small section of Amblecote. The Local Government Act redefined its status and the County Borough of Dudley became part of Staffordshire, the county of which all of these areas had been part. At the same time, Worcestershire gained a new county borough named Warley, which was an amalgamation of Oldbury Urban District, Rowley Regis Urban District, the County Borough of Smethwick and parts of Dudley and Tipton. During this reorganisation, the area of the administrative county grew only where Stourbridge took in the majority of Amblecote Urban District from Staffordshire and the designation of Redditch in 1964 as a New Town. This in turn saw expansion into the area in and around the villages of Ipsley and Matchborough in Warwickshire. The Redditch New Town designation coincided with a considerable programme of social and private house building in Droitwich, Worcester, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and along the Birmingham boundary at Frankley, Rubery and Rednal. Frankley parish was later split into two: New Frankley and the area around Bartley Reservoir transferred from Bromsgrove District to Birmingham in April 1995; but the small village of Frankley remained in Worcestershire and became a new civil parish under the same name.
1974–1998.
From 1974, the central and southern parts of the county were amalgamated with Herefordshire and with Worcester County Borough to form a single non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester. The County Boroughs of Dudley and Warley, along with Stourbridge and Halesowen, were incorporated into the new West Midlands Metropolitan county. The West Midlands County Council existed for only a few years before abolition in April 1986, although the West Midlands still exists as a ceremonial county.
1998–present.
In the 1990s UK local government reform, the county of Hereford & Worcester was abolished, and the non-metropolitan county or shire county of Worcestershire regained its historic border with Herefordshire. The recreated County of Worcestershire came into existence on 1 April 1998 as an administrative and ceremonial county, although this excluded the Black Country towns of Dudley, Halesowen, Oldbury and Stourbridge (which remained part of the West Midlands). Worcestershire County Council was reformed, although some services are shared with the newly formed Herefordshire Council, including waste management and the youth offending service.
The former Hereford and Worcester districts of Redditch, Worcester, Bromsgrove, Wychavon and Wyre Forest were retained with little or no change. However the Leominster and Malvern Hills districts straddled the historic border, so a new Malvern Hills district was constituted which straddled the pre-April 1974 county boundary to the west, south-west and north-west. The remaining parts of the former Hereford and Worcester district of Leominster, returned to Herefordshire.
Summary of main changes.
These settlements were historically part of the county as noted above, that now fall under the counties of Warwickshire and West Midlands.
Physical geography.
The Malvern Hills, which run from the south of the county into Herefordshire, are made up mainly of volcanic igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks, some of which date from more than 1200 million years ago. They are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Worcestershire Beacon, which at 425m is the highest point in the county, lies in this range.
The rest of the county consists of undulating hills and farmland stretching either side of the Severn valley. The Severn is the United Kingdom's longest river and flows through Bewdley, Stourport-on-Severn and Worcester. The River Avon flows through the Worcestershire town on Evesham and joins the Severn at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
Several coniferous and deciduous woodlands are located in the north of the county. The Vale of Evesham runs through the south of the county and to its south are the Cotswolds AONB.
Green belt.
Worcestershire contains a broad expanse of green belt area, widening to over in places. It is part of the larger belt surrounding the West Midlands county, and first drawn up from the 1950s. All of the county's districts other than Malvern Hills contain some portion of the belt.
Sport.
The largest and most successful football club in the county is Kidderminster Harriers. Founded in 1877 as a running club and doubling as a rugby club from 1880, the football club was founded in 1886. In 1987, the club won the FA Trophy for the first time, and seven years later reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, also winning the GM Vauxhall Conference title in 1994 but being denied Football League status as their Aggborough Stadium did not meet capacity requirements. However, when the club next won the Conference title six years later, their stadium had been upgraded and promotion was granted, giving the county its first (and thus far only) Football League members. However, the club's Football League membership was short-lived, as Harriers were relegated back to the Conference in 2005 after just five years in the Football League, and have yet to reclaim their status.
The most notable success story to come out of the county in recent times has been the talented football player and the man dubbed 'The Wonder from Worcestershire', Danny Ings who currently applies his trade at Southampton in the premier league.
The county is also represented by Alvechurch, Bromsgrove Sporting and Redditch United of the Southern Premier League, and Worcester City of the Midland Football League.
The county is home to Worcestershire County Cricket Club, traditionally first stop on for the touring national side's schedule in England. Formed officially in 1865, the Club initially played in Boughton Park, before moving to its current New Road ground, which today can host 5,500 spectators, in 1895. The club has won five County Championships in its history, most recently in 1989.
Worcester Rugby Football Club, the Worcester Warriors, are the county's largest and most successful Rugby Union team, having been promoted to the Premiership in 2004. The Warriors were relegated to the RFU Championship in 2010 but rebounded back to the Premiership in 2011. Worcester Warriors play at the Sixways Stadium on the outskirts of Worcester, holding over 12,000 spectators, thus making it the largest stadium in the county. Sixways has hosted the final of the LV Cup on three occasions.
Culture.
The village of Broadheath, about northwest of the city of Worcester, is the birthplace of the composer Edward Elgar.
It is claimed that the county was the inspiration for the Shire, a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". Tolkien was thought to have named Bilbo Baggins' house "Bag End" after his Aunt Jane's Worcestershire farm. Tolkien wrote of Worcestershire, "Any corner of that county (however fair or squalid) is in an indefinable way 'home' to me, as no other part of the world is."
Worcestershire is one of the three counties associated with the Border Morris style of English folk dancing. Worcestershire Monkey is a popular Border Morris dance; although normally performed as a group of eight, it is sometimes danced "en masse" with multiple Border Morris sides performing the dance together.
Media.
Worcestershire has a long history in radio broadcasting. The county is home to the Droitwich Transmitting Station near Wychbold, currently broadcasting BBC Radio 5 Live and commercial radio services - Absolute Radio and TalkSport on Medium Wave/AM and BBC Radio 4 on Long Wave. The site is the location of the British Broadcasting Corporation's most powerful long-wave transmitter, which during World War II, coded messages read during normal programme broadcasts, were received by the French Resistance. Lying close to the county's north western border is the Woofferton Transmitting Station, which was used during the Cold War to broadcast the Voice of America's Short Wave transmissions into the Eastern Bloc countries of Europe. These sets of transmitters are still in use today.
In 1939; the BBC bought the historic Wood Norton site near Evesham, and equipped the premises with a dozen temporary studios. These were to be used in the event of an evacuation of the BBC's operations in London and other urban areas. By 1940; Wood Norton was one of the largest broadcasting centres in Europe with an average output of 1,300 radio programmes a week. The BBC monitoring service were also based at Wood Norton, where linguists, many of them foreign nationals, were hired to listen in to broadcasts from Europe until they were relocated to Caversham Park in early 1943. The move was made to release space at Wood Norton so that it could become the BBC's main broadcasting centre, should London have to be evacuated because of the threat from Nazi Germany's V-weapons. The site was also prepared for use during the Cold War, as an emergency broadcast centre. The site is still in use for the BBC's engineering and technical training.
Local and regional radio.
BBC Hereford & Worcester and Free Radio (formerly Wyvern FM) broadcast to both Herefordshire and Worcestershire on analogue and digital radio platforms, whilst Greatest Hits Radio (formerly known as Signal 107) broadcasts to Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn, Bewdley and Droitwich. A community radio station - Youthcomm Radio, is licensed to serve the Worcester area. Meanwhile, Capital Mid-Counties (formerly known as Touch FM), Sunshine Radio and Like Radio, broadcast to the county on VHF/FM and/or DAB Digital Radio. Historically; West Midlands-based radio stations such as BBC Radio WM, BRMB and Beacon Radio have considered parts of Worcestershire as their broadcast areas. However Wyvern FM, Beacon Radio, BRMB along with Mercia FM are now known collectively as 'Free Radio' and under the same Bauer Radio ownership. Other regional stations, such as Heart and Smooth Radio also cover the county.
In 2007 the Office of Communications (Ofcom) awarded a DAB Digital Radio multiplex licence for Herefordshire & Worcestershire to MuxCo Ltd. MuxCo proposed new stations and a digital radio platform for Wyvern FM, Sunshine Radio and BBC Hereford & Worcester, who were initially licensed to broadcast on VHF/FM and/or AM. MuxCo eventually launched in December 2013 following changes in legislation through the Digital Economy Act 2010, and utilises existing transmitter locations at Great Malvern, Ridge Hill and Bromsgrove. The multiplex continues to uses the same transmission sites, albeit with an additional transmitter at Kidderminster and broadcasts a combination of local and national services. In 2008, MXR, who owned and operated the West Midlands regional DAB multiplex licence, improved coverage of DAB Digital Radio across other parts of the county to include Worcester and Malvern. This regional multiplex closed on 27 August 2013, partially replaced by CE Digital's Birmingham DAB Multiplex, who opened new transmitters at Lickey Hills and Headless Cross. Ofcom has earmarked two potential 'Small Scale DAB' digital radio multiplexes within Worcestershire - one at Worcester, and the other within Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Redditch. The legal framework for the potential new multiplexes come under 'The Small-Scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019'.
Economy.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Worcestershire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by "Office for National Statistics" with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Industry and agriculture.
Fruit farming and the cultivation of hops were traditional agricultural activities in much of the county. During the latter half of the 20th century, this has largely declined with the exception southern area of the county around the Vale of Evesham, where orchards are still worked on a commercial scale. Worcester City's coat of arms includes three black pears, representing a now rare local pear variety, the Worcester Black Pear. The county's coat of arms follows this theme, having a pear tree with black pears. The apple variety known as Worcester Pearmain originates from Worcestershire, and the Pershore plum comes from the small Worcestershire town of that name, and is widely grown in that area.
Worcestershire is also famous for a number of its non-agricultural products. The original Worcestershire sauce, a savoury condiment made by Lea and Perrins, is made in Worcester, and the now-closed Royal Porcelain works was based in the city. The town of Malvern is the home of the Morgan traditional sports car.
Education.
Worcestershire has a comprehensive school system with over thirty-five independent schools including the RGS Worcester, The King's School, Worcester, Malvern St James and Malvern College. State schools in Worcester, the Wyre Forest District, and the Malvern Hills District are two-tier primary schools and secondary schools whilst Redditch and Bromsgrove have a three-tier system of first, middle and high schools. Several schools in the county provide Sixth-form education including two in the city of Worcester. Several vocational colleges provide GCSE and A-level courses and adult education, such as South Worcestershire College, and an agricultural campus of Warwickshire College in Pershore. There is also the University of Worcester, which is located in the city itself and is home to the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit and five other national research centres.
Towns and villages.
The county town and only city is Worcester. The other major settlements are Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Redditch. There are also several market towns: Malvern, Bewdley, Evesham, Droitwich Spa, Pershore, Tenbury Wells, Stourport-on-Severn and Upton-upon-Severn. The village of Hartlebury housed the Bishop of Worcester from the 13th century until 2007.


Province of Lucca

The province of Lucca () is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca.
It has an area of and a total population of about 390,000. There are 33 "comuni" (singular: "comune") in the province.
Geography.
Situated in northwestern coastal Italy, within Tuscany, Lucca borders the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, the provinces of Massa e Carrara to the northwest, Pisa to the south, Pistoia to the north-east and Firenze to the east. To the north it abuts the region of Emilia-Romagna (Provinces of Reggio Emilia and Province of Modena). Access to the Tyrrhenian Sea is through municipalities such as Torre del Lago, Viareggio, and Forte dei Marmi. It is divided into four areas; Piana di Lucca, Versilia, Media Valle del Serchio and Garfagnana. Versilia is known for its extensive beaches, and there are coastal dunes and wetlands in the Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli Natural Park. The principal resorts of the province are located at Viareggio, Lido di Camaiore, Pietrasanta and Forte dei Marmi. Garfagnana is known for its wooded hills and olive trees.
Lago di Massaciuccoli is a lake with a surface area of , located mainly in the municipality of Massarosa and partly in Torre del Lago, a civil parish of Viareggio.
The lake was known in ancient times as the "Fossis Papirianis", a name used in the Tabula Peutingeriana. The composer Giacomo Puccini lived nearby and frequently hunted around the lake; today the Puccini Festival is held there annually in celebration.
The springs of Bagni di Lucca, in valley of the Lima River, a tributary of the Serchio are known from the early history of Lucca as the Vicaria di Val di Lima, and Fallopius once claimed that the springs cured his own deafness.
Main sights.
Situated along the Via Francigena, a major Medieval pilgrimage route, the province is dotted with castles, abbeys, parish churches and villas such as the Villa Torrigiani and Villa Mansi. Lucca Cathedral, also known as the Duomo of San Martino, was originally built in the 6th century, but was rebuilt in the 11th century in the Romanesque style, consecrated by Alexander II in 1070. It was restored again with Tuscan Gothic influences in the 14th century, when columns of the upper arches were added. The Church of San Frediano, also in the city Lucca, is reputed to be only example of Lombard architecture preserved without notable alteration, although the façade dates to about 1200. The church contains some valuable pieces of art, as does the Mansi Palace and the 14th-century Church of San Francesco, which contains the tomb of the Lucchese poet Giovanni Guidiccioni.
The Case Guinigi and the Guinigi Tower of Lucca is a fine example of remaining medieval architecture in the province; construction began in 1384 to accommodate the wealthy Guinigi family. Paolo Guinigi was a ruler of the town a little later in the early 15th century. high, it was built with sandstone and brick from Matraia and Verrucano from the Monti Pisani. Only one of the original towers remains, and loggia and the porch on the ground floor of it have been shut off.
Also of note is an Aqueduct of Nottolini consisting of 459 arches, constructed between 1823 and 1832.


Lawburrows

Lawburrows is a little-known civil action in Scots law initiated by one person afraid of another's possible violence.
Lawburrows Act 1429.
The 1429 Act remains in force and says:
Threats of Violence and Scots Civil Law.
Normally, where there is a fear of violence from certain known people, the normal recourse is through Scots criminal law and police. However, because of the need to involve the police and the Procurator Fiscal Service to seek remedies in criminal law; this recourse may be lengthy with no direct control by the "complainer" (in other jurisdictions, the "complainant"). There is also a need in criminal proceedings to provide witnesses and evidence to satisfy the corroboration requirement and to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt in order to secure a criminal conviction. As such, remedies available in criminal law may be limited if the threats of violence struggle to meet the criminal law's burden of proof.
Civil law primarily deals the enforcement of private rights and obligations between individuals and/or property. Lawburrows, as a civil law remedy, enables people to "take the law into their own hands" by exercising their rights under civil law. The burden of proof in civil cases is much less onerous than that of criminal law, only requiring that there is a likelihood of violence on the balance of probabilities and accordingly so too is the standard required of the evidence.
Interdicts.
The most common action against someone who threatens violence is interdict, in other jurisdictions, a "injunction", but this is awarded at the discretion of judge or Sheriff. Since public interest (the general effects of the action on the welfare of society) is involved, corroborative witnesses may be required. Interdict may require the defender to refrain from a specific conduct. Although provisional, or "interim", interdicts can be granted speedily, obtaining a perpetual interdict may be very time consuming and costly. A great disadvantage of interdict is the uncertainty about what happens should the defender disobey the interdict. If it is a first offence, a mild or nominal punishment, such as contempt of court, may be imposed or a warning given.
Lawburrows.
In Scotland an alternative to interdicts is "lawburrows". Lawburrows in a civil action allows a pursuer, in other jurisdictions termed a plaintiff, to require the defender to make a deposit of money as a guarantee they will not harm the pursuer. If the pursuer is later harmed by the defender, the deposit is forfeit and is split between the court and the pursuer. This was first passed by a Parliament of James I in 1429 as a remedy against threats to the safety of members of the public. The aim of Lawburrows was stated in the Act "...to prevent such delinquences (the issuing of threats) and terrify evil doers..." The process is remarkable for its simplicity, speed of execution, low cost of process and the absolute certainty of the exact penalty should the order be contravened. Neither the police nor the Procurator Fiscal is involved unless there is a contravention of lawburrows.
Very roughly: If Alice is put in fear by Bob, Alice asks a Sheriff to hear the case against Bob (this is a civil action and so standard of proof is low). If proven, the Sheriff shall require a deposit from Bob. If, later, Alice shows the Sheriff that Bob has continued to put Alice in fear, the deposit is forfeited and divided equally between Alice and the Court. This does not preclude a criminal action being taken against Bob.
The process of lawburrows.
In an initial writ to the Sheriff Court, the pursuer asserts that he fears harm to either his person, property, family, tenant or employees from the defender. He asks the Sheriff to obtain a certain sum of money (a "caution") or a bond as security against being molested or troubled further by the defender.
As soon as this writ is received, the Sheriff Clerk must immediately order it to be served on the defender and a date for an early hearing has to be fixed at the same time. At the court hearing, the standard of proof is on the balance of probabilities, so the pursuer need only show that on the balance of probabilities it is likely that harm may occur. This is a summary procedure—with no civil jury present and the Sheriff alone deciding on the facts of the case.
If the pursuer is successful, the Sheriff can order a sum of money to be found (or a bond to be given) and he can order that, should the defender fail to provide this, he shall be imprisoned for up to six months. If the defender does any harm of the kind specified in the initial writ, the pursuer may (with the consent of the Procurator Fiscal) raise an action for "contravention of lawburrows" asking that the money, or bond, be forfeited and divided equally between the Crown and himself.
The action for contravention of lawburrows does not preclude any other remedies, such as a civil action for damages for assault, or criminal proceedings by the Procurator Fiscal.
Application.
The remedy of lawburrows has a very long history. Its application is very narrow, referring only to people being put in fear and there are many alternative remedies in the criminal law, involving the police to whom people put in fear are most likely to appeal in the first instance. Many attempts to obtain remedies in this way are thwarted by the reluctance of the police to get involved in domestic disputes and quarrels between neighbours, often because of the difficulty of obtaining the witnesses needed in criminal proceedings. Such a need is largely circumvented in actions of lawburrows. Although little known to the public, and even to some solicitors, lawburrows is still in use in the present time.
Several cases in the 1980s failed because lawburrows was misapplied and, consequently, in 1988, the case for the repeal or the overhaul of lawburrows was argued cogently by W J Stewart.
Civil Judicial Statistics Scotland records 25 instances in the four-year period 1999—2002, 17 of which were in 2001.


List of municipalities of Sweden

This is a list of municipalities of Sweden after the division at the turn of the year of 2011–12. There are 290 municipalities.
All statistics are from 1 January 2013, except for population (30 September 2013) and density (1 January 2013 and 30 September 2013).
Code refers to the municipality code, Total area includes seawater area and Inland water area excludes the four largest lakes in Sweden (Vänern, Vättern, Mälaren and Hjälmaren).


Province of Massa and Carrara

The province of Massa-Carrara () is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the province.
History.
The province of "Massa e Carrara" was born in 1859 from the separation of the Lunigiana and the Garfagnana from the Duchy of Modena. Originally it was composed of three "circondari": I° "Circondario of Massa and Carrara" (a group of seven districts divided in 14 municipalities), II° "Circondario" of Castelnuovo Garfagnana (four districts divided in 17 municipalities), III° "Circondario" of Pontremoli (three districts divided into six municipalities).
Until the census of 1861, the province appears as part of "Compartimento territorial Modena, Reggio and Massa", but since the census of the population of 1871 it has been counted as part of Tuscany. Later, with the "Regio Decreto n. 1913 of September 2, 1923", the municipalities of Calice al Cornoviglio and Rocchetta Vara were detached from the province and added to the new province of La Spezia. In the same period ("Regio Decreto n.2490 of November 9, 1923") the 17 municipalities of the "Circondario" Castelnuovo Garfagnana were removed from Emilia and assigned to the province of Lucca, in order to compensate for the passage to the new province of Pistoia of all the municipalities of the Val di Nievole.
The province of Massa and Carrara was left crippled, waiting for a reorganization. In 1938, the municipalities of Carrara, Massa, and Montignoso joined and became the municipality of Apuania. In the same year, the industrial zone Apuana was instituted, including in relative Consortium C.Z.I.The municipalities of neighboring Versilia and the province assumed the name of a province of Apuania. In 1946, with decree Lieutenant one (Umberto II of Savoia) the new municipality of Apuania was formed, and the province (for error and/or historical ignorance) resumptions the denomination does not date from 1859 when it was "Massa and Carrara" but Massa. This was the name that had been designated to the city of Massa or Massa of Carrara from 1700 until the formation of the Kingdom of Italy (1860), to distinguish it from other homonymous cities.
In 2009, both decrees of 1938 and 1946 were abolished, restoring the old name.
Geography and administration.
The province covers an area of and a total population of about 200,000. There are 17 "comuni" (singular: "comune") in the province.
Economy.
The province's economical relevance, once mainly based on the production of the famous white Carrara marble, has now shifted to the importation and fabrication of blocks of marble and granite from all over the world.


South Ostrobothnia

South Ostrobothnia (; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobothnia is the ninth largest in terms of population. Seinäjoki is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area.
As a cultural area, South Ostrobothnia is larger than its current regional borders and includes the region of Ostrobothnia as well.
Municipalities.
The region of South Ostrobothnia is made up of 17 municipalities, of which eight have city status (marked in bold).
Järviseutu sub-region:
Kuusiokunnat sub-region:
Seinäjoki sub-region:
Suupohja sub-region:
Culture.
Some people have made this region better known to the world. For example, The Dudesons and the traditional Finnish sweater Jussishirt are something people would remember when asked about South Ostrobothnia.
One of the biggest rock festivals in Finland, Provinssirock and world's oldest tango festival Tangomarkkinat are both held in Seinäjoki.
Regional identity is generally stronger in South Ostrobothnia than in most regions of Finland.
Politics.
Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in South Ostrobothnia:


Heves County

Heves (, ) lies in northern Hungary. It lies between the right bank of the river Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Pest, Nógrád, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok. Eger is the county seat.
Geography.
Heves county is a geographically diverse area; its northern part is mountainous (the Mátra and Bükk are the two highest mountain ranges in Hungary), while at south it includes a part of the Great Hungarian Plain. From south it is bordered by Lake Tisza, the largest artificial lake in Hungary. The average temperature is between 8 and 10 °C (higher on the southern parts of the county).
History.
The county was a primary target for the Ottoman Empire during the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars where the Siege of Eger took place.
Demographics.
In 2015, it had a population of 301,296 and the population density was 83/km².
Ethnicity.
Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 19,000), Germans (1,000) Slovaks (500) and Romanians (500).
Total population (2011 census): 308,882
Ethnic groups (2011 census):
Identified themselves: 279,714 persons:
Approx. 43,000 persons in Heves County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
Religion.
Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:
Politics.
The Heves County Council, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:
Municipalities.
Heves County has 1 urban county, 10 towns, 3 large villages and 107 villages.
 municipalities are "large" villages.
International relations.
Heves County has a partnership relationship with:


Piracy in Scotland

Piracy in Scotland dates back to the presence of Viking pirates in Scotland in 617. Later, Scotland was the homeland of many privateers, including Captain William Kidd. Some scholars have argued that the lifestyles of Scottish clans in the borderlands was similar to those of pirates.
Notable Instances of Piracy in Scotland.
The Viking Sweyn Asleifsson was born in 1115 in Caithness and later lived in the Orkney Islands. From this home base he raided the British Isles around 1150. Around 1549, pirates resided on the islands of Pabay and Longay. The MacNeils of Barra frequently engaged in piracy to financially provide for the clan. The most famous was Ruari Og MacNeil. He particularly targeted English ships, leading Queen Elizabeth I to urge King James VI to seize his lands. The last Scottish pirate was Peter Lyle, who was a Barbary pirate. He converted to Islam in 1796, after which he raided from the former American ship "Betsy." Other famous pirates from Scotland include the following:
Scottish Borders.
Between 1567-1572 the borderlands between Scotland and England were inhabited by clans referred to as reiver families. The term comes from the word "areiving", which means raiding. The most powerful of these families were the Armstrongs and the Eliotts.Though they were not pirates on the sea, their lifestyle was very similar. They disavowed allegiance to any outside the clan and raided neighboring clans to gain wealth and territories.
Effects of Piracy on Scotland.
King James I became king of Scotland in 1424 after being kidnapped by pirates and sold to King Henry IV of England nineteen years earlier. Piracy presented security and economic problems to west Scotland, especially on the islands of Canna.
Privateers in Scotland.
Before the passing of the Piracy Act 1717, Scottish privateers were allowed to engage in piracy activities, such as plundering warships. The main difference between pirates and privateers is that privateers were given a permit by their sovereign country, which pardoned them from all legal actions taken against pirates. These government issued permits were called Letters of Marque.
Former privateers, such as Captain William Kidd, were issued Letters of Marque from their prospective countries. In the case of Kidd, this letter was issued in 1695 by William III/II, king of England and Scotland.


Southwest Finland

Southwest Finland, calqued as "Finland Proper" (; ), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The region's capital and most populous city is medieval Turku, which was known as the former capital city of Finland before Helsinki.
The area comprising the Southwest is largely the same as the historical province of Finland Proper, so named because it is the original home of the tribe known as the Finns.
Origin of the name Finland Proper.
The name of Finland Proper has a historical function. In historic times, in the area of the present Southern Finland lived three tribes, which were the Finns, the Tavastians and the Karelians. The southwestern part of the country, the province where the Finns lived, was called simply Finland (Finnish: "Suomi"). In the 17th century the name began to be used to refer to the whole land and a specified name for the lesser Finland was required. The first notes "Fennigia specialiter dicta" and "Fennigia presse dicta" were recorded in Latin in the 1650s and the Swedish "Finland för sig sielft" and "Egenteliga Finland" later in the 18th century the modern form "Egentliga Finland" being in official use at the end of the century. The Finnish term "Varsinais-Suomi" became established only around the 1850s.
Geography.
Southwest Finland's nature differs from other regions. The most notable biotopes are the Archipelago Sea and groves. 80% of Finland's insect species can be found in Southwest Finland. There are around 20,000 islands near the coast.
The southernmost point of Southwest Finland and the southernmost inhabited island is Utö. Its highest point is 164 meters in Kiikala.
Municipalities.
The region of Southwest Finland is made up of 27 municipalities, of which 11 have city status (marked in bold).
Åboland–Turunmaa sub-region:
Salo sub-region:
Turku sub-region:
Loimaa sub-region:
Vakka-Suomi sub-region:
Demographics.
As of 2018, Southwest Finland had an population of 478,582, making it the third most populated Finnish region after Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa. 87.18% speak Finnish, 5.67% Swedish and 7.15% speak other languages, the most common being Russian, Estonian, Arabic, Kurdish and Albanian.
It has the most summer cottages out of any Finnish region, with 49,000 as of 2012.
Politics.
Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Southwest Finland:
Heraldry.
The region uses the coat of arms of the historical province of Finland Proper.


Algarve

The Algarve (, , , ) is the southernmost region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities ("concelho or município" in Portuguese).
The region has its administrative centre in the city of Faro, where both the region's international airport (IATA: FAO) and public university, the University of Algarve, are located. The region coincides with Faro District. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarve's summer economy. Production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, different types of fruit and veggies such as oranges, figs, plums, carob pods, almonds, tomatoes, cauliflowers, strawberries and raspberries, are also economically important in the region.
Although Lisbon surpasses the Algarve in terms of tourism revenue, the Algarve is still, overall, considered to be the biggest and most important Portuguese tourist region, having received an estimated total of 7.1 million tourists in 2017. Its population triples in the peak holiday season due to seasonal residents. Due to the high standards of quality of life, mainly regarding safety and access to public health services, as well as due to cultural factors and considerably good weather conditions, the Algarve is becoming increasingly sought after, mostly by central and northern Europeans, as a permanent place to settle. A 2016 American-based study concluded that the Algarve was the world's best place to retire.
The Algarve is one of the most developed regions of Portugal and, with a GDP per capita at 83% of the European Union average, it has the second highest purchasing power in the country, standing only behind Lisbon.
History.
Pre Roman times.
Human presence in southern Portugal dates back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. The presence of megalithic stones in the area of Vila do Bispo, Lagos, Alcoutim and elsewhere in the region attests to this presence.
At around the year 1000 BC, the Phoenicians founded the city of Cádiz, and, subsequently, coastal ports along the Algarve coast. Olissipo (Lisbon) is believed to be of Phoenician origin. By the time of the Carthaginians, Portus Hannibalis – located in what is today either Portimão or Alvor - is named after Hannibal Barca.
The Cynetes, as they were known in Greek, Conii, in Latin, were established by the sixth century BC in the region of the Algarve (called Cyneticum). Their ethnic and linguistic origins remain widely disputed, although, due to geographical proximity, it is possible that they were related both to Tartessos and the Celtici, seeing that Conii, the likely designation they used to describe themselves, is derived of the Proto-Celtic kwon ('dog'). These Indo-European tribes, Celtic or pre-Celtic, created a settlement in Lacóbriga (today's Lagos) in the year 1899 BC.
Roman period.
The Algarve region came under Roman control after Fabius Maximus Servilianus defeated the Lusitanians and the Turduli in the context of the Lusitanian War, as was the case of much of the Iberian Peninsula, which was absorbed into the Roman Republic in the second century BC. Cyneticum (in reference to the Cynetes who inhabited the region), as it was then called, became integrated into Hispania Ulterior and into Lusitania afterwards, being under Roman influence for around 600 years (from 200 BC till 410 AD), having thus adopted Latin as the official language, as well as Roman cultural, political, architectonic, religious and economic tenets.
Seeing that during this time traveling through the land was dangerous, its geography meant that Cyneticum was of crucial importance as a passageway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, connecting countless Roman ports to several provinces, mainly in other parts of Hispania, Gaul and Britannia. This meant that the region experienced a great level of prosperity accrued through an expansion of its trading and commercial capabilities, mainly from the production and commercialization of olive oil and garum, products very much sought after throughout the Roman Empire. As Christianity rose in popularity, becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great, Cyneticum, following the same tendency of the rest of the Roman provinces, made the transition from a polytheistic society into a monotheistic one. The region made a gradual changeover into Christianity, as Pagan and Animistic religions became obsolete under this new cultural influence. Roman Emperor Theodosius I, himself a native of the Iberian Peninsula, would come to prohibit Paganism in 381. The Roman Temple of Milreu, originally dedicated to Venus, transformed later on into a Paleochristian temple, is an example of the religious changes that took place in this period.
Many Roman ruins, both in the form of temples, countryside villas (of which more than 30 were found in the Algarve), public baths, bridges, salting and fish-processing facilities and mosaics are widespread all over the region, notably in Vila do Bispo, Lagos, Portimão, Quarteira, Faro, Olhão, Tavira and in other areas, illustrating the strong contributions that Roman culture as a whole made to the Algarve.
Medieval period.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Visigoths, a Germanic tribe originally from Scandinavia but who had spread into Eastern Europe, occupied the Iberian Peninsula around the year 500. With the death of Amalaric in 531, the original dynastic shape of the Visigoths came to an end, and out of the fusion of the Roman and Germanic components a new Iberian identity came into being. The Visigothic Kingdom was thus founded in 542, with Toledo as its capital. Practicing Arianism at first, a big portion of the Visigoths eventually adopted Catholicism to secure their position in the region. In 552, the Algarve was conquered by the Byzantine Empire and, in 571, Liuvigild managed to secure the region for the Visigothic Kingdom once again, which lasted until the year 711, and comprised most of the Iberian Peninsula and parts of modern France.
When the Moors conquered Lagos in 716, it was renamed Zawaia. Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, which means "settlement of the knights". Due to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the region was called Gharb Al-Andalus: "Gharb" means "the west", while "al-Andalus" is the Arabic name for the Iberian Peninsula. For several years, the town of Silves was the capital of the region.
In the mid-13th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal took over the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. "Al-Gharb" became the Kingdom of the Algarve, and the Moors were expelled in 1294. There were subsequent Moorish attempts to recapture the region, without success. King Afonso III of Portugal started calling himself King of Portugal and the Algarve. After 1471, with the conquest of several territories in the Maghreb – the area considered an extension of the Algarve – Afonso V of Portugal began fashioning himself "King of Portugal and the Algarves", referring to the European and African possessions. The over five centuries-long Moorish rule over the Algarve (and Alentejo), left their mark and added to a unique blend of architectonic, gastronomicaland artistic features like the traditional Algarve corridinho, a folk dance found in this southernmost region of Portugal.
Modern times.
Prior to the independence of Brazil, "United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves" (1815–1822) was an official designation for Portugal which also alluded to the Algarve. Portuguese monarchs continued to use this title until the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910. Between 1595 and 1808, the Algarve was a semiautonomous area of Portugal with its own governor, as well as a separate taxation system.
In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator based himself near Lagos and conducted various maritime expeditions which established the colonies that comprised the Portuguese Empire. Also from Lagos, Gil Eanes set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to round Cape Bojador in West Africa. The voyages of discovery brought Lagos fame and fortune. Trade flourished and Lagos became the capital of the historical province of Algarve in 1577 and remained so until the fabled 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The earthquake damaged many areas in the Algarve and an accompanying tsunami destroyed or damaged coastal fortresses, while coastal towns and villages were heavily damaged except Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa lagoon. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. For many Portuguese coastal regions, including the Algarve, the destructive effects of the tsunami were more disastrous than those of the earthquake itself.
In 1807, while Jean-Andoche Junot led the first Napoleonic invasion in the north of Portugal, the Algarve was occupied by Spanish troops under Manuel Godoy. Beginning in 1808, and after subsequent battles in various towns and villages, the region was the first to drive out the Spanish occupiers. During the Portuguese Civil War, several battles took place in the region, especially the battle of Cape St. Vicente and the battle of Sant’Ana, between liberals and Miguelites. Remexido was the guerrilla Algarvian leader who stood with the Miguelite absolutists for years, until he was executed in Faro in 1838.
The establishment of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910 marked the end of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarve. The Algarve is a somewhat exotic region for the Portuguese, due to the Mediterranean climate, unique foods, architecture, and geographical location- many Portuguese traditionally spend their Summer break or own a holiday home in the Algarve.
Geography.
The Algarve covers 4997 km2, extending just south of the Tagus valley to the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, joining Spain. Its highest point is Fóia, , in the mountain range of Monchique. It also includes some islands and islets. The region is also the home of the Ria Formosa Lagoon, a nature reserve of over 170 km2 and a stopping place for hundreds of different species of birds. The length of the south-facing coastline is roughly 155 km. Beyond the westernmost point of Cape St. Vincent it stretches a further 50 km to the north. The coastline is notable for picturesque limestone caves and grottoes, particularly around Lagos, which are accessible by powerboat.
Climate.
The Algarve as a whole is one of the warmest places of Southern Europe, with an Atlantic influenced Mediterranean climate, it has mild wet winters and warm to very hot, dry summers. It is overall the sunniest region in Europe, with annual sunshine values ranging from 2700 h in the Monchique Range, to values well above 3100 h on the southern coast.
Generally, winter sees only subtle differences in daily maxima along the coast, mostly between , though temperatures as high as have been recorded. Conversely, overnight lows are higher in the west, with Sagres and Vila do Bispo averaging , whilst to the east, averages are lower and is more common. Temperatures very rarely fall below freezing (< ). On the interior, nights are usually cooler, averaging .
Summer sees its highest average temperatures in the east, where the maxima ranges from in the coast and in the interior. Daily temperatures in the Vicentine Coast are much cooler, usually maxima, consequence of the strong upwelling western Portugal experiences. The Algarvian interior can get very hot in the summer, temperatures above are not uncommon. Overnight lows are often independent on the location, around in most of the Algarve.
Portuguese waters, including the Algarve, experience a great level of seasonal lag, particularly the west coast, this means the lowest water temperatures are recorded in March and the highest in September-October. This aplies to the Vicentine Coast, where ocean temperatures average in February-March and in August-October. The southeast coast usually doesn't experience this effect as much, water temperatures average in February-March and in July-September, though in the summer, outflow of warm Mediterranean water can sometimes bathe the Algarve with warmer ocean temperatures.
Human geography.
About 450,000 permanent inhabitants (90 residents per km2) live in the area, although this figure increases to over a million people at the height of summer, due to an influx of tourists. The Algarve has several cities, towns, and villages; the region's capital is the city of Faro, while other cities include Albufeira, Lagoa, Lagos, Loulé, Olhão, Portimão, Quarteira, Silves, Tavira, and Vila Real de Santo António, in addition to various summer retreats such as Vilamoura, Praia da Rocha, Armação de Pêra, Alvor, Monte Gordo, Alcoutim, and Sagres.
Before 2004, the Faro District was the administrative unit governing the Algarve. In 2004, the Greater Metropolitan Area of the Algarve was formed, which was converted into an intermunicipal community in 2008. Algarve is also a NUTS II and NUTS III statistical region. The intermunicipal community of Algarve is subdivided into 16 municipalities:
Economy.
Agricultural products of the region include fig, almond, orange, carob and cork oak. Horticulture is important and the region's landscape is known for the large areas of land covered with greenhouses which are used to that end. Several types of fruit and veggies such as tomatoes, cauliflowers, strawberry and raspberry, are commercially grown and exported. Fishing and aquaculture are important activities in the coastal area of the Algarve, with sardines, squids, soles, cyprinids, gilt-head bream, and various seafood, including the grooved carpet shell, being the major products. The Algarve's wines are also renowned. Four wines in the region have Protected Designation of Origin ("Denominação de Origem Controlada" – DOC): Lagoa DOC, Lagos DOC, Portimão DOC, and Tavira DOC. Food processing, cement and construction are the main industries. Tourism-related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarve's economy during summer. The Algarve's economy has always been closely linked to the sea, and fishing has been an important activity since ancient times. Only since the 1960s has the region embraced tourism, which has become its most important economic activity. With the increase in life quality and purchasing power, many shopping malls have been constructed, mostly in the past 15–20 years. Recently, an Ikea opened in Loulé, one of five in Portugal.
In 2017, the Algarve was the Portuguese region that experienced the biggest economic growth, an increase of 4.6% of its GDP.
Development.
The Algarve has been experiencing a strong development since the beginning of the 1960s, initially due to the need to accommodate its foreign visitors. The region started the construction of better infrastructure, mainly roads, sanitation, power grids, telecommunications, hospitals, and housing. Due to the austerity measures introduced in 2011, tolls were placed on the main motorway that crosses the region to offset the expense of its maintenance. Private investors, with the support of municipalities, also began the construction of a variety of hotels, resorts, golf courses (which are considered to be some of the best in Europe), and villas. All this led to a large development in the region, especially for the locals, who had previously lived in harsher circumstances. Today, the Algarve is amongst the regions in Portugal with the best quality of life.
Tourism.
In the 1960s, the Algarve became a popular destination for tourists, mainly from the United Kingdom. It has since become a common destination for people from Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland. Many of these tourists own a property in the region. Algarve-based publications and newspapers are written in English specifically for this community. In recent years, the Algarve has seen a high increase in tourists from France, Spain and Italy, followed by Canadians, Americans, and Australians. Portuguese people from other parts of the country also visit the region in large numbers, especially in the peak of the summer (July and August).
Tourist attractions in the region include its beaches, Mediterranean climate, safety, cuisine, and relatively low prices. Well-known beaches in the Algarve include Marinha Beach, Praia da Rocha and Armação de Pêra. A well-known spa town is Caldas de Monchique. In addition to its natural features and beaches, the Algarve has invested in the creation of a network of golf courses.
The Algarve is also popular for religious tourism, notably pilgrimages to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Piety (best known as the Sovereign Mother), a Marian shrine dedicated to the patron saint of Loulé, that attract thousands of pilgrims of the Catholic faith to the city, or with the international pilgrimages to the site of the apparitions of Our Lady Mother of Goodness occurred near São Marcos da Serra.
The Algarve's mild climate attracts interest from Portuguese and Northern European people wishing to have a holiday home or residence in the region. Being a region of Portugal, and therefore in the European Union, any EU citizen has the right to freely buy property and reside with little formality in the Algarve.
Tourism plays an important role in the economy of the Algarve. A large number of seasonal job opportunities are tourism-related and are fulfilled by thousands of locals and immigrants. Due to its seasonal nature, most of the economy relies on the good weather available mostly for only about 5–6 months (characterised by a prolonged lack of rain and temperatures above 30 °C throughout the day), meaning that many Algarvians go unemployed during the low season. Nonetheless, due to the very high monetary income that the high season brings, most people in the Algarve are still able to have comfortable lives even while unemployed. In March 2007, the Portuguese economic minister, Manuel Pinho, announced the creation of the "Allgarve" brand, as a part of a strategic promotion of the Algarve as a tourism destination for foreign citizens. According to World Travel Awards, the Algarve was Europe's leading golf destination in 2013 and 2014. Over 25 top-class courses are located in the Algarve, most of which were designed by legendary names such as Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, and Christy O'Connor, Jr.
In 2018, the region's income from tourism was over a billion euros; the number of visitors totaled 4.2 million. Tourism contributed €1.08 billion to the economy in that year.
Criticism.
Although tourism and a generally high receptivity to globalism and foreign direct investment have brought a relatively high level of prosperity and development to the region, many personalities criticize the environmental impacts, the high cost of living and the eradication of Algarve's cultural and traditional characteristics that such outside influence has brought. Algarve native Fernando Silva Grade, a nationally renowned biologist, architect and activist, in his book "O Algarve como o destruímos", vehemently opposed the proliferation of the mass tourism and construction sectors, which, in his opinion, eroded large portions of a world unique coastline, degraded and destroyed Algarve's traditional architecture, along with the peaceful and slow-paced way of life that were once ubiquitous throughout the region. He further went on to criticize the inapt attitudes of politicians and city halls which continuously fail to preserve this legacy.
Other critics underline the over-dependency on the "sun and beach" modality of tourism, the one mostly advertised by local and national authorities and, thus, most widespread. They accentuate the saturation of beach-side resorts that leave other types of tourist establishments, such as the ones dedicated to nature and health, with little occupancy. These critics also stress that overcrowdedness, filthiness and pollution are the consequences of this lack of diversity in the Algarve's tourism industry.
Accommodation.
Accommodation in the Algarve ranges from high-rise resorts in places such as Albufeira, Vilamoura, Praia da Rocha and Armação de Pêra to apartment rental, bed and breakfast, hostels and traditional guesthouses located in small towns and villages, both inland and alongside the Algarve coast. Over the past few years, tourists with less acquisitive power have started visiting the Algarve in large numbers and steering away from expensive resorts, opting instead for more affordable touristic establishments such as guesthouses and hostels. Besides affordability, a higher flexibility in rules and conditions, good overall location, as well as a greater hospitality and interaction with guests, are often cited as some of the appealing factors of these accommodations. Throughout the Algarve, local accommodation, as its colloquially known, employs over 20 thousand people in more than 32 thousand legal establishments and generates an estimated 980 million Euros yearly. The vast majority of tourists who seek this type of accommodation are British, Portuguese and French, but an exponential increase in tourists from Germany, Spain and Brazil has also been seen.
Education.
The University of Algarve, headquartered in Faro, with an extension in Portimão, is a public university which awards all academic degrees in fields ranging from medicine and marine biology to economics and environmental engineering. The population of the Algarve is also served by several private higher-education institutions (Instituto Piaget in Silves, and others), state-run and private secondary schools, including a number of international schools, and a wide network of kindergartens and primary schools.
Sports.
The Algarve has many sports clubs, including football teams (S.C. Olhanense, Portimonense S.C., S.C. Farense, Imortal de Albufeira, etc.) which play in the first, second, and third lay tiers of professional football. S.C. Farense is the most successful football club in the Algarve and usually plays in the country's top-tier football. There are numerous open-water swimming events throughout the year as well as tennis. The Algarve is also home to some of the world’s most renowned golf-courses.
Algarve International Circuit, a motorsport venue, is located in the region.
Due to the strong Nortada winds blowing through the South coast of Portugal, Algarve is a popular summer holiday destination for the wind sports. Sailing, windsurfing and especially kitesurfing has a large and growing community. The nature of the Algarve coastline offers a mix of flat water lagoons such as those of the famous Ria Formosa Nature Park, or the waves of Sagres and the South-west coast.
There are many kitesurfing spots dotted all along the Algarve coastline but the most popular are:
Culture.
The Algarve is famous for its pottery and ceramics, particularly hand-painted pottery and "azulejos", which are painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles. Numerous ceramics and pottery outlets are open throughout the Algarve. For working potteries and ceramics workshops, the main (or best-known) pottery centers are located in the towns of Almancil, Porches, and Loulé, but many other potteries and workshops are in the Algarve region. Corridinho is the traditional dance of the Algarve.


Liberec Region

Liberec Region (, , ) is an administrative unit (Czech: "kraj") of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international borders with Germany and Poland. Domestically the region borders the Ústí nad Labem Region to the west, the Central Bohemian Region to the south and the Hradec Králové Region to the east.
Administrative divisions.
The Liberec Region is divided into 4 districts:
At a lower level, the region has 215 municipalities, comprising 65 in the Semily District, 59 in the Jablonec nad Nisou District, 57 in the Česká Lípa District and 34 in the Liberec District.
Cities and towns.
The table below gives an overview of towns and cities in the region that have at least 7,000 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2019).
Physical geography.
The region's landscape includes the Jizera Mountains, part of the Krkonoše Mountains and part of the Lusatian Mountains.
The region was affected by flash floods in August 2010, with swelling of the river Smědá being one of the factors to prompt evacuation efforts in the region.
Demography.
As of 1 January 2019, the population of the Liberec Region was 442,356 with 217,791 men and 224,565 women, accounting for 49.2% and 50.8% of the population respectively.
Economy.
The Liberec Region hosts manufacturing, glassmaking, mechanical engineering and jewellery production industries among others. The region is part of the so-called Black Triangle, an area of heavy industrialization and environmental damage on the three-way border of Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Culture.
The Liberec Region is home to 11 national cultural monuments including Bezděz Castle, Dlaskův statek in Dolánky u Turnova and the Ještěd Tower which transmits television signals as well as being a hotel. 2013 saw the proposal of an additional two sites to the list, those being a glass grinding plant in Harrachov dating from 1895 and the Janatův Mlýn watermill in Buřany, Jablonec nad Jizerou part of which remains from 1767.
A Neolithic site dating to around 4,500 BC was uncovered in 2007 near the village of Příšovice.
Lake Mácha near the town of Doksy is an important regional centre for leisure, attracting around 30,000 visitors annually. The vicinity of the lake has a caravan park and hosts an annual music festival called "", which was attended by approximately 8,000 people in 2013.
Since the region was for a long time part of the Holy Roman Empire, and later of Germany (Sudetenland), the local buildings and the culture in general have been influenced by the Germans, also considering the fact that parts of the region were populated by a majority of Germans, prior to World War II.
Transport.
The region is linked to Prague by the R10 expressway, which terminates in the town of Turnov. The length of operated railway lines in the region is . Three airports are in the region; Hradčany Airport, a disused military airport near the town of Ralsko, is the most significant. Other minor airports exist in Česká Lípa and Hodkovice nad Mohelkou.
Education.
The region is home to the public Technical University of Liberec, which was founded in 1953. The university, which originally specialised in Mechanical and Textile Engineering, added a further four faculties in the 1990s, namely those specialising in Education, Economy, Architecture and Mechatronics.


Province of Como

The Province of Como (; ; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Lecco to the East, the Province of Monza and Brianza to the south and the Province of Varese to the West. The city of Como is its capital — other large towns, with more than 10,000 inhabitants, include Cantù, Erba, Mariano Comense and Olgiate Comasco. Campione d'Italia also belongs to the province and is enclaved in the Swiss canton of Ticino.
, the main commune by population are:
The Lugano Prealps cover the territory of the province, and the most important body of water is the glacial Lake Como.
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