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Zaragoza

Zaragoza

:For alternative meanings, see Zaragoza (disambiguation). Zaragoza (disambiguation) Zaragoza (frequently Saragossa in English; Latin Caesaraugusta) is the capital city of the autonomous region and former kingdom of Aragón in Spain, and is located on the river Ebro, and its tributaries the Huerva and Gállego, near the centre of the region, in a great valley with a variety of landscapes, ranging from desert (los Monegros) to thick forest, meadows and mountains. According to data from Zaragoza council from 1 January 2004, the population of the city of Zaragoza was 641,581. The population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2003 at 656,922 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth-largest urban area in Spain. The municipality is home to more than 50% of the Aragon population. The city is 199 metres above sea level, and constitutes a crossroads between Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao, all about 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Zaragoza. mile Zaragoza is linked by legends to the beginnings of Christianity in Spain. According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared miraculously to Saint James the Great in the 1st century, standing on a pillar. This legend is commemorated by a famous Catholic basilica called Nuestra Señora del Pilar ("Our Lady of the Pillar"). The event, called "Las Fiestas del Pilar", is celebrated on October 12th which is a major fiesta in Zaragoza. Since it coincided in 1492 with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, that day is also celebrated as El Día de la Hispanidad (Columbus Day, literally Hispanic Day) by Spanish-speaking people worldwide. Near the basilica on the banks of the Ebro are located the city hall, the Lonja (old currency exchange), the cathedral or Seo de San Salvador, and the ruins of the Roman city wall. Near this area is a tapas zone called El Tubo and a nightclub district called El Casco. Other nightclub districts are La Zona and El Royo. There is a clean and popular gay bath house called Nordic nearby. Some distance from the center of the old city is an expansive Moorish castle/palace called the Aljafería, one of the northernmost important Moorish buildings in Spain and the setting selected by Verdi for his famous opera Il Trovatore (The Troubadour.) The Aragonese parliament currently sits in the building. The palace was the setting of Verdi's famous opera Il Trovatore. Zaragoza is linked by Renfe's AVE high speed train service to Madrid and to Lérida in Catalonia. Catalonia]

History

Zaragoza was the scene of two famous martyrdoms: those of Saint Dominguito del Val, a choirboy in the basilica, and Pedro de Arbués, an official of the Spanish Inquisition. Zaragoza was the seat of a Moorish taifa in the Middle Ages. It suffered two famous sieges during the Peninsular War: a first from June to August 1808; and a second from December 1808 to February 1809 (see Agustina de Aragón). During the Spanish Civil War it was briefly liberated from Fascism by the Durruti Column, led by Buenaventura Durruti.

External links

- [http://www.zaragoza.es/ Council of Zaragoza] Category:Aragon Category:Municipalities in Spain

ja:サラゴサ

Zaragoza (disambiguation)

Zaragoza is the name of several places:
- Colombia
- Zaragoza, Antioquia
- El Salvador
- Zaragoza, La Libertad
- Guatemala
- Zaragoza, Chimaltenango
- Mexico
- Zaragoza, Coahuila
- Zaragoza, Chiapas
- Zaragoza, Chihuahua
- Zaragoza, Puebla
- Zaragoza, Veracruz
- Philippines
- Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija
- Spain
- City of Zaragoza in Aragón.
- Province of Zaragoza in Aragón. The Spanish places are also occasionally referred to by the English spelling Saragossa (which comes from Catalan). This variant is always used in referring to The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (also known as the Saragossa Manuscript), a novel by Jan Potocki, upon which a film was also based. Zaragoza can also be a personal name:
- Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican military commander of the 19th century Other uses:
- Metro Zaragoza (a station on the Mexico City Metro)

English language

English is a West Germanic language that is spoken in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and many other countries. English is now the third-most spoken native language worldwide (after Chinese and Hindi), with some 380 million speakers. It has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries and that of the United States from the 20th century to the present. Through the global influence of native English speakers in cinema, airlines, broadcasting, science, and the Internet in recent decades, English is now the most widely learned second language in the world. Many students worldwide are required to learn some English, and a working knowledge of English is required in many fields and occupations.

History

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Old Saxon language brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany. The original Old English language was subsequently influenced by two successive waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of languages in the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second wave was of the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke a variety of French. These two invasions caused English to become "creolised" to some degree (though it was never a full creole in the linguistic sense of the word); creolisation arises from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Friesian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of European languages; this new layer entered English through use in the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of considerable suppleness and huge vocabulary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, around the year 449, Vortigern, King of the British Isles, invited the "Angle kin" (Angles led by Hengest and Horsa) to help him against the Picts. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the south-east. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes). The Chronicle talks of a subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the heptarchy. Modern scholarship considers most of this story to be legendary and politically motivated. These Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants, whose languages survived largely in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The dialects spoken by the invaders formed what would be called Old English, which resembled some coastal dialects in what are now the Netherlands and north-west Germany. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the north-east (see Jorvik). The new and the earlier settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distant, including the prefixes, suffixes and inflections of many of their words. The Germanic language of these Old English inhabitants of Britain would be partly creolised by the contact with Norse invaders. This resulted in a stripping away of much of the grammar of Old English, including gender and case, with the notable exception of the pronouns; thus, the language became simpler and plainer. The most famous work from the Old English period is the epic poem "Beowulf", by an unknown poet. For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and the high nobility spoke only a variety of French. A large number of Norman words were assimilated into Old English, with some words doubling for Old English words (for instance, ox/beef, sheep/mutton). The Norman influence reinforced the continual evolution of the language over the following centuries, resulting in what is now referred to as Middle English. Among the changes was a broadening in the use of a unique aspect of English grammar, the "continuous" tenses, with the suffix "-ing". During the 15th century, Middle English was transformed by the Great Vowel Shift, the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration, and the standardising effect of printing. Modern English can be traced back to around the time of William Shakespeare. The most well-known work from the Middle English period is Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

Classification and related languages

The English language belongs to the western subbranch of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The closest living relative of English is Scots (Lallans), a West Germanic language spoken mostly in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland. Like English, Scots is a direct descendant of Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon. After Scots, the next closest relative is Frisian—spoken in the Netherlands and Germany. Other less closely related living languages include Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Plattdüütsch and the Scandinavian languages. Many French words are also intelligible to an English speaker (pronunciations are not always identical, of course), because English absorbed a tremendous amount of vocabulary from French, via the Norman language after the Norman conquest and directly from French in further centuries; as a result, a substantial share of English vocabulary is quite close to the French, with some minor spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.), as well as occasional differences in meaning.

Geographic distribution

Norman conquest English is the second or third most widely spoken language in the world today; a total of 600–700 million people use English regularly. About 377 million people use English as their mother tongue, and an equal number of people use it as their second or foreign language. It is used widely in either the public or private sphere in more than 100 countries all over the world. In addition, the language has occupied a primary place in international academic and business communities. The current status of the English language compares with that of Latin in the past. English is the primary language in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia (Australian English), the Bahamas, Barbados (Caribbean English), Bermuda, Belize, Canada (Canadian English), the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland (Irish English), Isle of Man, Jamaica (Jamaican English), Jersey, Montserrat, New Zealand (New Zealand English), Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom (various forms of British English), the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States. English is also an important minority language of South Africa (South African English), and in several other former colonies and current dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the United States, for example Guam and Mauritius. In Hong Kong, English is an official language and is widely used in business activities. It is taught from kindergarten, and is the medium of instruction for a few primary schools, many secondary schools and all universities. Substantial numbers of students acquire native-speaker level. It is so widely used and spoken that it is inadequate to say it is merely a second or foreign language, though there are still many people in Hong Kong with poor or no command of English. The majority of English native speakers (67 to 70 per cent) live in the United States. Although the U.S. federal government has no official languages, it has been given official status by 27 of the 50 state governments, most of which have declared English their sole official language. Hawaii, Louisiana, and New Mexico have also designated Hawaiian, French, and Spanish, respectively, as official languages in conjunction with English. In many other countries where English is not a major first language, it is an official language; these countries include Cameroon, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Ghana, Gambia, India, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. English is the most widely learned and used foreign language in the world, and as such, many linguists believe it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English speakers", but rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it grows in use. Others believe that there are limits to how far English can go in suiting everyone for communication purposes. It is the language most often studied as a foreign language in Europe (32.6 per cent), followed by French, German, and Spanish. It is also the most studied in Japan, South Korea and in the Republic of China (Taiwan), where it is compulsory for most high school students. See English as an additional language.

English as a global language

See also: English on the Internet Because English is so widely spoken, it has been referred to as a "global language". While English is not the official language in many countries, it is the language most often taught as a second language around the world. It is also, by international treaty, the official language for aircraft/airport communication. Its widespread acceptance as a first or second language is the main indication of its global status. There are numerous arguments for and against English as a global language. On one hand, having a global language aids in communication and in pooling information (for example, in the scientific community). On the other hand, it excludes those who, for one reason or another, are not fluent. It can also marginalise populations whose first language is not the global language, and lead to a cultural hegemony of the populations speaking the global language as a first language. Most of these arguments hold for any candidate for a global language, though the last two counter-arguments do not hold for languages not belonging to any ethnic group (like Esperanto). A secondary concern with respect to the spread of global languages (English, Spanish, etc.) is the resulting disappearance of minority languages, often along with the cultures and religions that are primarily transmitted in those languages. English has been implicated in a number of historical and ongoing so-called "language deaths" and "linguicides" around the world, many of which have also led to the loss of cultural heritage. In the Americas, Native American nations have been most strongly affected by this phenomenon.

Dialects and regional variants

The expansiveness of the British and the Americans has spread English throughout the globe. Because of its global spread, it has bred a variety of English dialects and English-based creoles and pidgins. The major varieties of English in most cases contain several subvarieties, such as Cockney within British English, Newfoundland English within Canadian English, and African American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") within American English. English is considered a pluricentric language, with no variety being clearly considered the only standard. Some consider Scots as an English dialect. Pronunciation, grammar and lexis differ, sometimes substantially. The Scottish dialect retains many German aspects including guttural pronunciations. Because of English's wide use as a second language, English speakers can have many different accents, which may identify the speaker's native dialect or language. For more distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see Regional accents of English speakers. For more distinctive characteristics of regional dialects, see List of dialects of the English language. Many countries around the world have blended English words and phrases into their everyday speech and refer to the result by a colloquial name that implies its bilingual origins, which parallels the English language's own addiction to loan words and borrowings. Named examples of these ad-hoc constructions, distinct from pidgin and creole languages, include Engrish, Wasei-eigo, Franglais and Spanglish. (See List of dialects of the English language for a complete list.) Europanto combines many languages but has an English core.

Constructed variants of English

- Basic English is simplified for easy international use. It is used by some aircraft manufacturers and other international businesses to write manuals and communicate. Some English schools in the Far East teach it as an initial practical subset of English.
- Special English is a simplified version of English used by the Voice of America. It uses a vocabulary of 1500 words.
- English reform is an attempt to improve collectively upon the English language.
- Seaspeak and the related Airspeak and Policespeak, all based on restricted vocabularies, were designed by Edward Johnson in the 1980s to aid international co-operation and communication in specific areas.
- European English is a new variant of the English language created to become the common language in Europe.

Sounds

Vowels

Notes: It is the vowels that differ most from region to region. Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to the sounds used in North American English, the second corresponds to English spoken elsewhere. #North American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with or . According to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998), this sound is present in Standard Canadian English. #Many dialects of North American English do not have this vowel. See cot-caught merger. #The North American variation of this sound is a rhotic vowel. #Many speakers of North American English do not distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, roses and Rosa's are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is schwa . #This sound is often transcribed with or with . #The letter U can represent either /u/ or the iotated vowel /ju/.

Consonants

This is the English Consonantal System using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). #The velar nasal is a non-phonemic allophone of /n/ in some northerly British accents, appearing only before /g/. In all other dialects it is a separate phoneme, although it only occurs in syllable codas. #The alveolar flap is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in North American English and increasingly in Australian English. This is the sound of "tt" or "dd" in the words latter and ladder, which are homophones in North American English. This is the same sound represented by single "r" in some varieties of Spanish. #In some dialects, such as Cockney, the interdentals /θ/ and /ð/ are usually merged with /f/ and /v/, and in others, like African American Vernacular English, /ð/ is merged with /d/. In some Irish varieties, /θ/ and /ð/ become the corresponding dental plosives, which then contrast with the usual alveolar plosives. #The sounds are labialised in some dialects. Labialisation is never contrastive in initial position and therefore is sometimes not transcribed. #The voiceless velar fricative /x/ is used only by Scottish or Welsh speakers of English for Scots/Gaelic words such as loch or by some speakers for loanwords from German and Hebrew like Bach or Chanukah /xanuka/, or in some dialects such as Scouse (Liverpool) where the affricate [kx] is used instead of /k/ in words such as docker . Most native speakers have a great deal of trouble pronouncing it correctly when learning a foreign language. Most speakers use the sounds [k] and [h] instead. #Voiceless w is found in Scottish, Irish, some upper-class British, some eastern United States, and New Zealand accents. In all other dialects it is merged with /w/.

Voicing and Aspiration

Voicing and aspiration of stop consonants in English depend on dialect and context, but a few general rules can be given:
- Voiceless plosives and affricates (//, //, //, and //) are aspirated when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable and are not part of a consonant cluster—compare pin [] and spin [].
- In some dialects, aspiration extends to unstressed syllables as well.
- In other dialects, such as Indian English, most or all voiceless stops may remain unaspirated.
- Word-initial voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects.
- Word-terminal voiceless plosives may be unreleased or accompanied by a glottal stop in some dialects (e.g. many varieties of American English)—examples: tap [], sack [].
- Word-terminal voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects (e.g. some varieties of American English)—examples: sad [], bag []. In other dialects they are fully voiced in final position, but only partially voiced in initial position.

Intonation

Tone groups

English is an Intonation language. This means that the pitch of the voice is used syntactically, for example, to convey surprise and irony, or to change a statement into a question. In English, intonation patterns are on groups of words, which are called tone groups, tone units, intonation groups or sense groups. Tone groups are said on a single breath and, as a consequence, are of limited length, more often being on average five words long or lasting roughly two seconds. The structure of tone groups can have a crucial impact on the meaning of what is said. For example: :- :- :-

Characteristics of intonation

Each tone group can be subdivided into syllables, which can either be stressed (strong) or unstressed (weak). There is always a strong syllable, which is stressed more than the others. This is called the nuclear syllable. For example: :That | was | the | best | thing | you | could | have | done! Here, all syllables are unstressed, except the syllables/words "best" and "done", which are stressed. "Best" is stressed harder and, therefore, is the nuclear syllable. The nuclear syllable carries the main point the speaker wishes to make. For example: :John had stolen that money. (... not I) :John had stolen that money. (... you said he hadn't) :John had stolen that money. (... he wasn't given it) :John had stolen that money. (... not this money) :John had stolen that money. (... not something else) The nuclear syllable is spoken louder than all the others and has a characteristic change of pitch. The changes of pitch most commonly encountered in English are the rising pitch and the falling pitch, although the fall-rising pitch and/or the rise-falling pitch are sometimes used. For example: :When do you want to be paid? :Nów? (rising pitch. In this case, it denotes a question: can I be paid now?) :Nòw (falling pitch. In this case, it denotes a statement: I choose to be paid now)

Grammar

English grammar is based on its Germanic roots, though some scholars during the 1700s and 1800s attempted to impose Latin grammar upon it, with little success. English is just slightly inflected, much less so than most Indo-European languages. It compensates for this by placing more grammatical information in auxiliary words and word order. Unlike most other Indo-European languages, modern nominal groups (nouns) in English do not carry gender, although an archaic form of gender is technically assigned as either masculine, feminine, neuter or common. Engendered nouns are only apparent in special cases, such as "I loved that ship as if she were my own", where the noun "ship" is referred to by its feminine pronoun.

Vocabulary

Almost without exception, Germanic words (which include all the basics such as pronouns and conjunctions) are shorter and more informal. Latinate words are often regarded as more elegant or educated. However, the excessive use of Latinate words is often mistaken for either pretentiousness (as in the stereotypical policeman's talk of "apprehending the suspect") or obfuscation (as in a military document which says "neutralise" when it means "kill"). George Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language gives a thorough treatment of this feature of English. An English speaker is often able to choose between Germanic and Latinate synonyms: "come" or "arrive"; "sight" or "vision"; "freedom" or "liberty"—and sometimes also between a word inherited through French and a borrowing direct from Latin of the same root word: "oversee", "survey" or "supervise". The richness of the language is that such synonyms have slightly different meanings, enabling the language to be used in a very flexible way to express fine variations or shades of thought. List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents In everyday speech the majority of words will normally be Germanic. If a speaker wishes to make a forceful point in an argument in a very blunt way, Germanic words will usually be chosen. A majority of Latinate words (or at least a majority of content words) will normally be used in more formal speech and writing, such as a courtroom or an encyclopedia article. English is noted for the vast size of its active vocabulary and its fluidity. English easily accepts technical terms into common usage and imports new words which often come into common usage. In addition, slang provides new meanings for old words. In fact this fluidity is so pronounced that a distinction often needs to be made between formal forms of English and contemporary usage. See also sociolinguistics.

Number of words in English

As the General Explanations at the beginning of the Oxford English Dictionary state: :The Vocabulary of a widely diffused and highly cultivated living language is not a fixed quantity circumscribed by definite limits.... there is absolutely no defining line in any direction: the circle of the English language has a well-defined centre but no discernible circumference. The vocabulary of English is undoubtedly vast, but assigning a specific number to its size is more a matter of definition than of calculation. Unlike other languages, there is no Academy to define officially accepted words. Neologisms are coined regularly in medicine, science and technology—some enter wide usage; others remain restricted to small circles. Foreign words used in immigrant communities often make their way into wider English usage. Archaic, dialectal, and regional words might be considered "English" or not. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) includes over 500,000 headwords, following a rather inclusive policy: :It embraces not only the standard language of literature and conversation, whether current at the moment, or obsolete, or archaic, but also the main technical vocabulary, and a large measure of dialectal usage and slang (Supplement to the OED, 1933). The difficulty of defining the number of words is compounded by the emergence of new versions of English, such as Asian English.

Word origins

One of the consequences of the French influence is that the vocabulary of English is, to a certain extent, divided between those words which are Germanic (mostly Old English) and those which are "Latinate" (Latin-derived, mostly from Norman French but some borrowed directly from Latin). A computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd ed.) was published in Ordered Profusion by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff (1973) which estimated the origin of English words as follows:
- French, including Old French and early Anglo-French: 28.3%
- Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
- Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Dutch: 25%
- Greek: 5.32%
- No etymology given: 4.03%
- Derived from proper names: 3.28%
- All other languages contributed less than 1% James D. Nicoll made the oft-quoted observation: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary." [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1990May15.155309.8892%40watdragon.waterloo.edu&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]

Writing system

English is written using the Latin alphabet. The spelling system or orthography of English is historical, not phonological. The spelling of words often diverges considerably from how they are spoken, and English spelling is often considered to be one of the most difficult to learn of any language that uses an alphabet. See English orthography.

Basic sound-letter correspondence

Written accents

English includes some words which can be written with accent marks. These words have mostly been imported from other languages, usually French. But it is increasingly rare for writers of English to actually use the accent marks for common words, even in very formal writing, to the point where actually writing the accent may be interpreted as a sign of pretension—though this view is counterbalanced by the view that fine typography should preserve accents, especially where it makes a distinction in pronunciation (compare façade vs. facade which would rhyme with cascade). The strongest tendency to retain the accent is in words that are atypical of English morphology and therefore still perceived as slightly foreign. For example, café has a pronounced final e, which would be silent by the normal English pronunciation rules. Some examples: ångström, appliqué, attaché, blasé, bric-à-brac, café, cliché, crème, crêpe, façade, fiancé(e), flambé, naïve, né(e), papier-mâché, passé, piñata, protégé, raison d'être, résumé, risqué, über-, vis-à-vis, voilà. For a more complete list, see List of English words with diacritics. Some words such as rôle and hôtel were first seen with accents when they were borrowed into English, but now the accent is almost never used. The words were considered very French borrowings when first used in English, even accused by some of being foreign phrases used where English alternatives would suffice, but today their French origin is largely forgotten. The accent on "élite" has disappeared from most publications today, but Time magazine still uses it. For some words such as "soupçon" however, the only spelling found in English dictionaries (the OED and others) uses the diacritic. Italics, with appropriate accents, are generally applied to foreign terms that are uncommonly used in or have not been assimilated into English: for example, adiós, coup d'état, crème brûlée, pièce de résistance, raison d'être, über (übermensch), vis-à-vis. It is also possible to use a diaeresis to indicate a syllable break, but again this is often left out or a hyphen used instead. Examples: coöperate (or co-operate), daïs, naïve, noël, reëlect (or re-elect). One publication that still uses a diaeresis to indicate a syllable break is the New Yorker magazine. Written accents are also used occasionally in poetry and scripts for dramatic performances to indicate that a certain normally unstressed syllable in a word should be stressed for dramatic effect, or to keep with the meter of the poetry. This use is frequently seen in archaic and pseudoarchaic writings with the "-ed" suffix, to indicate that the "e" should be fully pronounced, as with cursèd. In certain older texts (typically in Commonwealth English), the use of ligatures is common in words such as archæology, œsophagus, and encyclopædia. Such words have Latin or Greek origin. Nowadays, the ligatures have been generally replaced in Commonwealth English by the separated letters "ae" and "oe" ("archaeology", "oesophagus") and in American English by "e" ("archeology", "esophagus"). However, the spellings "oeconomy" and "oecology" are now generally replaced by "economy" and "ecology" in Commonwealth English, making these spellings the same as in American English.
See also

- English literature
- Formal written English - regional differences
- List of languages
- Common phrases in various languages
Dialects

- American and British English differences
- English speaking Europe
- General American
- List of dialects of the English language
Pronunciation

- General American
- International Phonetic Alphabet for English
- List of words of disputed pronunciation
- Non-native pronunciations of English
- Phonemic differentiation in English
- Received Pronunciation
- Regional accents of English speakers
- Rhotic and non-rhotic accents
Social, cultural or political

- English as a lingua franca for Europe
- English as an additional language
- English on the Internet
- Foreign language influences in English
- Languages in the United States
- Lists of English words of international origin
- Anglosphere
- Anglo-Saxon
Grammar

- English declension
- English plural
- English verb conjugation
- Initial-stress-derived noun
- Present progressive tense
Usage

- Dictionary
- Like
- List of archaic English words and their modern equivalents
- List of unusual English words
- Longest word in English
- Misspelling
- Gender-neutral language
- Singular they
- Siamese twins (English language)
External links

- [http://www.abroadlanguages.com/al/english/ Learning English abroad] and online. With dictionaries, games, penpals, etc.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/index.shtml BBC - Radio 4 - Routes of English]
- [http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com Short Discriptions of the English Tenses]
- [http://www.ego4u.com/ English Grammar Online] free exercises, explanations, games and teaching materials on English as a foreign language
- [http://www.eslbase.com/ TEFL] - Teaching English as a Foreign Language - information and advice
- http://www.teach-yourself-english.com/ Easy-going learning aid
- [http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en Learning English Online] grammar, vocabulary, exercises, exams - English as a second language.
- [http://www.english.hb.pl Pako's English Page - Articles and advice on learning English]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=eng Ethnologue report for English]
- [http://www.LanguageMonitor.com LanguageMonitor] - Watchdog on contemporary English usage
- [http://www.vec.ca/english/1/english.cfm Development of English]
- [http://www.esu.org English Speaking Union]
- [http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages]
- [http://www.antimoon.com/ Antimoon - How to learn English] - Advice and inspiration for learners of English.
- [http://www.zozanga.com/ Zozanga ESL - Learn Online English] How to learn English.
- [http://www.quiz-tree.com/English_Spelling_main.html Free English spelling quizzes]
- [http://inenglishofcourse.pl Conversation and Resource Point for Learners of English]
- [http://www.globalenglishsalon.com Global English Salon] - Listen to English online free.
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=2&learn-English/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in English] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- [http://www.whatdoesthatmean.com What Does That Mean?] A wiki based lexicon of English idioms from around the world
- [http://www1.ku-eichstaett.de/SLF/EngluVglSW/ELiX/bge.pdf Basic Global English]
Dictionaries

- [http://www.oed.com Oxford English Dictionary] The definitive record of the English language
- [http://dicts.info/dictlist1.php All free English dictionaries] Collection of many free English dictionaries.
- [http://dictionary.cambridge.org Cambridge Dictionary]
- [http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/french.html Freelang - French-English Dictionary made by Bertrand Cornu]
Further reading

- Baugh AC and Cable T. A history of the English language (5th ed), Rouledge, 2002 (ISBN 0415280990_
- Crystal, D. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language (2nd ed), Cambridge University Press, 2003 (ISBN 0521530334)
- Halliday, MAK. An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed), London, Edward Arnold, 1994 (ISBN 0340557826)
- McArthur, T (ed). The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992 (ISBN 019214183X)
- Robinson, Orrin, "Old English and Its Closest Relatives", Stanford Univ Press, 1992 (ISBN 0-8047-2221-8) English language Category:Languages of Fiji Category:Languages of Guam Category:Languages of Hong Kong Category:Languages of Singapore Category:Languages of the Philippines Category:Languages of the United Kingdom Category:Languages of the United States Category:Languages of Canada Category:Languages of New Zealand Category:Languages of India als:Englische Sprache ko:영어 ms:Bahasa Inggeris zh-min-nan:Eng-gí ja:英語 nb:Engelsk språk simple:English language th:ภาษาอังกฤษ

Capital

:This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation) In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of "capital") is the principal city or town associated with its government. It is almost always the city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and fixed by law. The word capital is derived from the Latin caput meaning "head," and the related term capitol refers to the building where government-business is chiefly conducted. Seats of government in major substate jurisdictions are usually called "capitals", but at lower administrative subdivisions, terms such as county town, county seat, or borough seat are also used. As the focal point of power for the country or region, the capital naturally attracts the politically motivated and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of government such as lawyers, journalists, and public policy researchers. Older capitals have often developed into prime economic, cultural, or intellectual centers as well. Such is certainly the case with Paris and Buenos Aires among national capitals, and Irkutsk or Salt Lake City in their respective state or province. Such concentration may be controversial. The siting of Brasília in Brazil's heartland was done in order to bring progress to the interior of the country, since the old capital, Rio de Janeiro, along with entire Southeastern Brazil was already crowded. The government of South Korea announced in 2004 it would move its capital from Seoul to Yeongi-Gongju — even though the word Seoul itself means "capital" in the Korean language. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, as occurred with Thebes by Alexandria, Nanjing by Shanghai, or Edinburgh by Glasgow. The decline of a dynasty or culture could mean the extinction of its capital city as well, as occurred with Babylon and Cahokia. And many modern capital cities, such as Abuja and Ottawa, were deliberately fixed outside existing economic areas, and may not have established themselves as new commercial or industrial hubs since.

Multiple capitals

:See also: List of multiple capitals A number of cases exist where states or other entities have multiple capitals. In South Africa, for example, the administrative capital is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, the outcome of the compromise that created the Union of South Africa in 1910. In others, the "effective" and "official" capital may differ for pragmatic reasons, resulting in a situation where a city known as "the capital" is not, in fact, host to the seat of government:
- Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1983, but as of 2004 most government offices and embassies were still located in Abidjan
- Sucre is still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but most of the national government long abandoned that region for La Paz
- Amsterdam is the nominal national capital of the Netherlands even though the Dutch government and supreme court are both located in The Hague. In such cases, the city housing the administrative capital is usually understood to be the "national capital" among outsiders. For instance, Santiago is understood to be the capital of Chile even though its Congress is in Valparaiso.

Capital as symbol

With the rise of modern empires and the nation-state, the capital city has become a symbol for the state and its government, and imbued with political meaning. Unlike medieval capitals, which were declared wherever a monarch held his or her court, the selection, relocation, founding, or capture of a modern capital city is an emotional affair. For example:
- Ruined and almost uninhabited Athens was made capital of newly independent Greece with the romantic notion of reviving the glory of the ancients;
- Peter I of Russia moved his government to Saint Petersburg to give the Russian Empire a western orientation, while Kemal Atatürk did the same by ironically moving east to Ankara, away from Ottoman Istanbul;
- The selection or founding of a "neutral" city, one unencumbered by regional or political identity, represented the unity of a new state with Madrid in Spain, Washington, D.C. in the United States, and Canberra in Australia among others;
- During the American Civil War, tremendous resources were expended to defend Washington, D.C. from Confederate attack even though the small federal government could have been moved relatively easily in the era of railroads and telegraph.
- Berlin has risen from the ashes of World War II (Stunde Null) to become the new/old capital city of the third most prosperous nation in the World, Germany.

The effects of the capital

The capital city is almost always the main target in a war, as capturing it usually guarantees capture of much of the enemy government, and victory for the attacking forces. In the tradition of drama, capital cities are usually associated with high stake final battles, such as in the Lord of the Rings series where the forces of Mordor besiege the Gondorian capital of Minas Tirith; it is assumed if the city falls, Gondor falls with it. In old China, the relatively fragile dynasties could easily be toppled with the fall of their capital. In the Three Kingdoms period, both Shu and Wu fell when their respective capitals of Cheng Du and Jian Ye fell. The Ming were destroyed when the Manchus took their seat of power, and this pattern endlessly repeats itself in Chinese history. In the West, things were vastly different. The Byzantine Empire lasted for nearly 60 years after Crusaders took their capital city of Constantinople. The American revolutionaries lost their capital of Philadelphia, but survived the blow.

Largest national capital cities

Some of the largest cities in the world are not national capitals. The largest national capitals on each continent, by urban/metropolitan area population, are:
- Africa: Cairo (11,146,000)
- Asia: Tokyo (35,237,000)
- Europe: Moscow (13,600,000)
- North America: Mexico City (17,809,471)
- Oceania: Wellington (367,600)
- South America: Buenos Aires (13,349,000)

Lists of capitals

- Lists of national capitals
- by name
- by country (with also the largest city)
- by continent and country
- List of historical national capitals
- List of capitals of subnational entities
- List of multiple capitals
- List of countries that have the name of their capital included in their name
- List of countries whose capital is not their largest city Category:Capitals Category:Political geography als:Hauptstadt ko:수도 ja:首都 ms:Ibu negara simple:Capital (city) th:เมืองหลวง zh-min-nan:Siú-to·

Autonomous communities of Spain

Spain's fifty provinces (provincias) are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas), in addition to two African autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) (Ceuta and Melilla).

Formation and powers

Centralism, nationalism and separatism played an important role in the Spanish transition. For fear that separatism would lead to instability and a dictatorial backlash, a compromise was struck among the moderate political parties taking part in the drafting of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The aim was to appease separatist forces and so disarm the extreme right. A highly decentralized state was established, compared both with the previous Francoist regime and with most modern territorial arrangements in Western European nations. The autonomous communities have wide legislative and executive autonomy, with their own parliaments and regional governments. The distribution of competences is different for every community, collected in the "autonomy statute" (estatuto de autonomía). There is a de facto distinction between "historic" communities (Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, and Andalusia) and the rest. The historic ones initially received more functions, including the ability of the regional presidents to choose the timing of the regional elections (as long as they happen at most 4 years apart). As another example, the Basque Country and Catalonia have full-range police forces of their own: Ertzaintza in the Basque Country and Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia. Other communities have a limited-bailiwick one or none at all. The Constitution recognizes the historical rights of regions in general terms. This is a reference to the special status of certain regions with respect to the whole as a result of past agreements between the central government and the region, some times centuries ago. It is understood that those rights need to be actualized through the estatuto de autonomía. This explains why the Basque Country and Navarre collect taxes and negotiate with the Spanish government on how much they must contribute to the state's treasury while the rest receive allocations according to the "transferred" government functions. The initial intent was not that every part of Spain should become part of an autonomous community, but that only the "historic" communities would be created. However, shortly after the Constitution was approved, a wave of creation of autonomous communities ensued. This was dubbed café para todos ("coffee for everybody") by critics of the decentralization. There has been a tendency for "slow-track" communities to aspire to the function range of their elders. Even in communities without a separatist tradition, the local branches of parties fight for more power and budgets. Current points of disagreement are tax collection and representation at institutions of the European Union. The Spanish Constitution of 1931 gave autonomy to Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, but the Spanish civil war crushed this experiment.

List

Here is a list of the communities and provinces.
See also:
- List of Spanish autonomous communities by area
- List of Spanish autonomous communities by population
- List of ISO 3166 codes for Spanish autonomous communities and provinces The map is stable, though some minorities claim separate communities for León, Orihuela and Álava. Also, there is an enclave of Burgos (Castilla y León) inside Álava (País Vasco), called Condado de Treviño where some inhabitants would like to leave Burgos and join Álava.

Plazas de soberanía

There are five "places of sovereignty" (plazas de soberanía) near Morocco, under direct Spanish administration:
- Ceuta and Melilla have a status between plain cities (they can produce regulations to execute Acts, with higher regulation competencies than normal city councils) and autonomous communities (these cities cannot produce autonomous Acts).
- Islas Chafarinas,
- Peñón de Alhucemas,
- and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

External link

- [http://www.rulers.org/spanautc.html Spanish autonomous communities] (Rulers.org)
- [http://www.spanish-airport-guide.com Airports In Spain] Spain, Autonomous communities of Category:Geography of Spain
- Category:Subdivisions of Spain ko:에스파냐의 자치 지방 ja:スペインの地方行政区画 simple:Autonomous communities of Spain

Monarchy

:For related meanings see also Monarch (disambiguation) A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, "one," and archein, "to rule") is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. The distinguishing characteristic of monarchies is that the Head of State holds their office for life, unlike in a republic, where a president is normally elected for a certain amount of time. The term monarchy is also used to refer to the people and institutions that make up the royal establishment, or to the realm in which the monarchy functions. Elective monarchies, distinguished by the monarchs being appointed for life, have in most cases been succeeded by hereditary monarchies. In the hereditary system, the position of monarch involves inheritance according to an order of succession, usually within one royal family tracing its origin back to a historical dynasty or bloodline. In some cases the royal family may claim to hold authority by virtue of God's choosing, or other religious-based authority. In most countries with monarchies, the monarch serves as a symbol of continuity and statehood. Many states have a strong convention against the monarch becoming involved in partisan politics (the Central African Empire was an exception). In some cases, the symbolism of monarchy alongside the symbolism of democracy can lead to division over the apparently contradictory principles.

History

Monarchies are one of the oldest forms of government, with echoes in the leadership of tribal chiefs. Many monarchies began with the monarch as the local representative and temporary embodiment of the deity: (King of Babylon). The monarch often ruled at the pleasure of the deity and was overthrown or sacrificed when it became apparent that supernatural sanction had been withdrawn: emperors of China, Mayan kings, Achaemenid kings of Persia. Other monarchs derived their power by acclamation of the ruling or of the warrior caste of a clan or group of clans: kings of the Franks, Roman emperors. Even where law is simply the monarch's will, the king must rule by custom. Since 1800, many of the world's monarchies have ceased to have a monarch and become republics, or become parliamentary democracies. Democratic countries which retain monarchy have by definition limited the monarch's power, with most having become constitutional monarchies. In England, this process began with the Magna Carta of 1215, although it did not reach democratic proportions until after the Glorious Revolution in 1689. Among the few states that have absolute monarchies are Swaziland, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. In Jordan and Morocco, the monarch retains considerable power. There are also recent (2003) developments in Liechtenstein, wherein the regnant prince was given the Constitutional power to dismiss the government at will.

Types of monarchy

In an absolute monarchy, the monarch has power over every aspect of the state, and a constitution may be granted or withdrawn. Modern versions tend to survive only in societies with sufficient technology to allow the concentration and organization of power, but not to allow education and rapid communication to flourish. The economic structure of such monarchies is that of concentrated wealth, with the majority of the population living as agricultural serfs. In some cases, a hereditary monarchy exists, but actual power resides in the military. This has often historically been the case in Thailand and Japan. In Fascist Italy a monarchy coexisted with a fascist party for longer than such co-existences occurred in Romania, Hungary or Greece. Spain under Francisco Franco was officially a monarchy even though there was no monarch on the throne; upon his death, Franco was succeeded as head of state by King Juan Carlos. There have also been situations in which a dictator or a group has proclaimed himself monarch in a republican state, thus starting a self-proclaimed monarchy with no historical ties to a previous dynasty. The most famous example of this was Napoleon Bonaparte who made himself Emperor of France after assuming control of the French Republic. On several occasions throughout history, the same person has served as monarch of separate independent states, in a situation known as a personal union. An empire was traditionally ruled by a monarchy whose leader may have been known by different titles in his different realms. Several former colonies of the British Empire, such as Australia, Canada, Jamaica, and New Zealand, continue to recognize the British Monarch as their own, under a separate title for each country. In other cases, such as England and Scotland, a personal union was the precursor to a merger of the states.

Succession

The rules for selection of monarchs varies from country to country. In constitutional monarchies the rule of succession is generally embodied in a law passed by a representative body, such as a parliament. The order of succession in most European monarchical states of the 21st century is by primogeniture, meaning the eldest son of the monarch is first in line, followed by his male, then female siblings in order of age. In earlier times, the succession was often unclear and this led to a number of wars. Currently, there is some controversy over the succession laws of some monarchies in the European Union (EU), such as that of the United Kingdom (UK) or the Scandinavian monarchies, which require their monarch to be of a certain faith (in the UK under the Act of Settlement 1701). This has been challenged as violating EU rules that prohibit religious disqualification for positions of state authority. Some autocratic states can appear to have introduced inheritance for the head of state without declaring themselves to be monarchies, such as Syria and North Korea. See family dictatorship.

Destruction of monarchies

Monarchies can come to an end in several ways. There may be a revolution in which the monarchy is overthrown; or, as in Italy, there may be a referendum in which the electorate decides to form a republic. In some cases, as with England and Spain, the monarchy has been overthrown and then restored. Countries may regard themselves as monarchies without a named monarch, as Spain did from 1947 to 1975, and Hungary from 1920 to 1944. A person who claims to be the legitimate heir to a deposed monarchy is called a pretender. See also abolished monarchies for a list of recently abolished monarchies.

Unusual examples

Sometimes, component members of federal states are monarchies, even though the federal state as a whole is not; for example each of the emirates that form the United Arab Emirates has its own monarch (an emir). Another unique situation is Malaysia, in which the national king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or Paramount Ruler, is elected for a five year term from and by the nine sultans who are the hereditary rulers of the States of the Malay peninsula. In addition to his spiritual role, the Pope is the monarch of the Vatican City. He is elected by (and customarily from among) the College of Cardinals. (Since the Catholic episcopate is celibate, naturally there can be no official hereditary succession to the papal throne.) Notwithstanding this the papacy has often been under the control of powerful Italian families. Several popes have been succeeded by near relatives, in some cases by their own sons (officially described as nephews). Andorra has two co-princes, of which one is the Bishop of Urgell in Spain, and the other is the President of France—a unique case where an independent country's monarch is democratically elected by the citizens of another country. Samoa is often erroneaously described as a monarchy. The president-for-life, or "o le Ao o le Malo" is Malietoa Tanumafili II, is a member of one of the three princely families. The Constitution designates him Head of State for life, but he will be succeeded by an elected president.

Current monarchies

(see also List of countries by system of government) In many countries that are legally republics, there is an heir to the throne who is recognized by part of the nation. A list of such countries is available in the pretender article.

External links

- [http://www.monarchy.net The Monarchist League]
- [http://www.royaltymonarchy.com Theodore's Royalty and Monarchy Page] Category:Forms of government Category:Political systems
- ja:君主制 ko:군주제

Aragón

:This article is about the geographical region. For the poet, see Louis Aragon. For the Olympic medallist, see Aragon (horse). For the commune in the Aude département of France, see Aragon, Aude. Aragon (Spanish and Aragonese: Aragón; Catalan: Aragó) is an autonomous community of north-eastern Spain. It has an area of 47,719 km² with a population of 1,217,514 (2003). Aragon is bounded on the north by France, on the east by Catalonia, on the south by Valencia, and on the west by Castile-La Mancha, Castile-Leon, La Rioja, and Navarre. It comprises the provinces of Zaragoza (English: Saragossa or Caesaraugusta), Huesca, and Teruel. It is traversed by the Ebro, mountainous in the north; with beautiful fertile valleys, rather barren, in the south. Its capital is Zaragoza. In addition to its three provinces, Aragon is subdivided into 33 comarcas (counties).

Language

In addition to Spanish, there is an original Aragonese language, still spoken in some valleys of the Pyrenees. Catalan is spoken as well in some comarques (counties) adjacent to Catalonia known, as a whole, as La Franja; in particular: the Ribagorzan dialect in Ribagorza and La Litera, and a dialect similar to that of Terra Alta in Matarraña and Bajo Cinca.

History

Aragón was a Frankish feudal county (Jaca) before becoming a self-proclaimed kingdom, which was united with the kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre) in 925. The kingdom of Pamplona included the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza, and the duchy of Castilla. After King Sancho´s death, the kingdom was divided between his sons. Ramiro I was initially named king of Aragon; later, after his brother Gionzalo´s death, also of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. The new kingdom grew quickly, and incorporated Navarra. This kingdom conquered the city of Zaragoza in 1118. Split from the kingdom of Navarre, the kingdom of Aragón was re-established in 1035 and lasted until 1707. Aragón was also the name of the crown, because of the dynastic union of a Count of Barcelona (Ramon Berenguer IV) with a Queen of Aragón (Petronila of Aragon), their son inheriting all their respective territories. This Crown was effectively disbanded after the dynastic union with Castile (see below). The Kings of Aragón (called by some present-day historians "Kings of Aragón and Counts of Barcelona") ruled territories that consisted of not only the present administrative region of Aragón but also Catalonia, and later the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia (see Aragonese Empire). The King of Aragón was the direct King of the Aragonese region, and held also the title of King of Valencia, King of Mallorca (for a time), Count of Barcelona, Lord of Montpellier, and, only temporarily, Duke of Athens and Neopatria. Each of these titles gave him sovereignty over a certain region, and these titles changed as he lost and won territories. The real centre of this kingdom was Barcelona, since it had a seaport and was near the geographical centre of the Crown of Aragon, while Valencia was the most important seaport for trade until approximately the 18th century. Present-day historians usually call the Crown the Crown of Aragón, the "Catalan-Aragonese Confederation" or simply "Catalonia-Aragón", typically depending upon whether that historian lives in Aragón or in Catalonia. The Kingdom of Aragón is called simply Kingdom of Aragón. Saying just "Aragón" is ambiguous and should be avoided. Barcelona was the center of what was in many ways a Mediterranean Empire, ruling the Mediterranean Sea and setting rules for the entire sea (for instance, in the Llibre del Consolat del Mar, in Catalan).

List of Chancellors

- Alfons de la Cavalleria 1494-1508
- Tomás de Malferit 1508
- Antoni Agustí de Sicart 1508-1523
- Frederic Honorat de Gualbes de Vallseca (for the Principality of Catalonia) 1523-1529
- Jeronimo de Rage (for Aragón Kingdom) 1523-1529
- Eiximèn Perez de Figuerola (for Valencia Kingdom) 1523-1529
- Joan Sunyer 1529-1533
- Miquel Mai 1533-1546
- Jeroni Descoll de Oliva 1546-1554
- Pere de Clariana de Seva 1554-1562
- Bernardo de Bolea y Portugal 1562-1585
- Simó Friigola 1585-1598
- Dídac Civarrubias Sanç 1598-1607
- Diego Clavera 1608-1612
- Andreu Roig 1612-1622
- President Garci Peréz de Araciel 1623-1624
- President Juan Manuel de Mendoza Luna Manrique, marquis of Montesclaros 1628
- President Enrique Pimentel, bishop of Cuenca 1628-1632
- President Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, duke of Alburquerque 1632-1637
- President Gaspar de Borja y de Velasco 1637-1645
- Maties Bayetola Cabanilles 1646-1652
- Cristòfor Crespí de Vallclaura Brizuela 1652-1671
- Melcior de Navarra Rocafull 1671-1677
- President Pasqual d'Aragó Folc de Cardona 1677
- President Pere Antoni d'Aragó Folc de Cardona i Córdoba 1677-1690
- Melcior de Navarra Rocafull 1690-1691 (second time)
- President Gaspar Téllez Girón y Sandoval, duke of Osuna 1692-1694
- President Ferran de Montcada-Aragó i de Montcada 1695-1698
- President Rodrigo Manuel Manrique de Lara y de Tabora 1698-1702
- President Iñigo de la Cruz Manrique de Lara y Ramiréz de Arellano, count of Aguilar and Frigiliana 1702-1707 See list of Kings of Aragón. See list of Lieutenants of the Kingdom of Aragón The dynastic union of Castile and Aragon in 1479, when Ferdinand II of Aragon wed Isabella I of Castile, led to the formal creation of Spain as a single entity in 1516. See List of Spanish monarchs and Kings of Spain family tree.

External links

- [http://www.aragob.es Government of Aragon] (in Spanish)
- [http://www.aragonguide.com Aragon Guide]Information for hikers, mountain bikers, skiers and visitors. Details of accommodation, routes and travel tips.
- [http://portal.aragob.es/servlet/page?_pageid=2885,591&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&cuerpo.est=ITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_0%2CITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_1%2CITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_2&menu.est=ITM_EHE_IAEST_inicio_menu Basic statistical data on Aragon] (in Spanish)
- http://www.charrando.com/ Page about the Aragonese Language Category:Aragon Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe Category:Former countries in Europe ja:アラゴン州 gangsta.

Spain

The Kingdom of Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne d'Espanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma). To west (and, in Galicia, south), it borders Portugal. To south, it borders Gibraltar and Morocco. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the cities of Ceuta and