vIcToRiA
Victoria is a state located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most densely populated and urbanised. Prior to European settlement, some 30,000 Indigenous Australians are estimated to have lived in the area now occupied by the state. By contrast, over five million people now inhabit the region. European settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s as a farming community. The discovery of gold in 1851 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre. Victoria is the second most populous Australian state, after New South Wales, with an estimated population of 5,205,200 as of June 2007^[4]. Melbourne is Victoria's capital and largest city, with more than 70% of all Victorians living there.

cOmMoNwEaLtH oF vIrGiNiA

The Commonwealth of Virginia ( /vɚˈdʒɪnjə/ ) is an American state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The state is geographically shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, home to much of the state's flora and fauna. The capital of the commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The state population is over seven million.^[2]

The roots of Virginia trace back to the founding of the Virginia Colony in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London as the first permanent New World English colony. Slavery played a significant role in Virginia's early economy and politics. Virginia became one of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and subsequently joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which the state of West Virginia separated. Although traditionally conservative and historically part of the South, modern Virginia is a politically competitive state for both major national parties.^[5]

Virginia has an economy with several sectors, including agricultural production, such as the Shenandoah Valley, federal agencies in Northern Virginia, such as The Pentagon, and military bases in Hampton Roads, home to the region's main seaport. The growth of the media and technology sectors have made computer chips the state's leading export, with the industry based on the strength of Virginia's public schools and universities.^[6] College sports are followed by many across the state. Areas where the state has lagged behind include obesity prevention and environmental protection.^[7]

wEssAgUsEnT COLONY

Approximate location of the Wessagusset Colony in Massachusetts
Location of Massachusetts in the United States

Wessagusset Colony (sometimes called the Weston Colony or Weymouth Colony) was a short-lived English trading colony in New England located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. After settling without adequate provisions^[1] and harming relations with local Native Americans,^[2] the colony was dissolved in late March 1623 with surviving colonists joining Plymouth Colony or returning to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony by six years.

Called by historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. "ill-conceived, "ill-executed, [and] ill-fated",^[3] the short-lived colony is best remembered for the battle (some say massacre)^[4] there between Plymouth troops led by Miles Standish and an Indian force led by Pecksuot. This battle scarred relations between the Plymouth colonists and the natives and was fictionalized, two centuries later, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish.

In September 1623, a second colony led by Governor-General Robert Gorges was created in the abandoned site at Wessagusset. This colony, rechristened as Weymouth, was also unsuccessful and Governor Gorges returned to England the following year. Despite that, some settlers remained in the village and it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony

WeSt InDiEs FeDeRatIoN
The West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958 to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation, Australian Federation or Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts.

ZuLuLaNd
Zululand, the Zulu-dominated area of northern KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, extends along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north. Historical Zululand stretches over the modern-day districts of Zululand, Amajuba, Umzinyathi, uThungulu, Umkhanyakude, Uthukela, Umgungundlovu and iLembe.

aNtIgUa aNd BaRbUDa

Antigua and Barbuda (Spanish for "Ancient" and "Bearded") is an island nation located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. As its name suggests, it consists of two major islands – Antigua (IPA: /ænˈtiːɡə/) and Barbuda (/bɑrˈbjuːdə/) – as well as a number of smaller islets. All are close neighbours within the middle of the Leeward Islands and roughly 17 degrees north of the equator.

Antigua has a population of 82,000, comprising chiefly a mixture of people of West African, British and Portuguese descent. The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago. To the south of Antigua and Barbuda lie the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. Montserrat lies to the southwest; Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Eustatius are to the west, and Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Anguilla are to the northwest.

GeOgRaPhY Of MaLtA

Satellite image of Malta

Main article: Geography of Malta

Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean Sea (in its eastern basin), some 93 km south of the Italian island of Sicily across the Malta Channel. Only the three largest islands Malta Island (Malta), Gozo (Għawdex), and Comino (Kemmuna) are inhabited. The smaller islands, such as Filfla, Cominotto and the Islands of St. Paul are uninhabited. Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The islands of the archipelago were formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa which became isolated as sea levels rose after the last Ice Age ^[43]. The archipelago lies on the edge of the African tectonic plate, as it borders with the Eurasian plate^[44].

The modern-day landscape is characterised by low hills with terraced fields. The highest point is at Ta' Dmejrek on Malta Island at 253 metres (830 ft) near Dingli. Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Malta. However, some watercourses are found around the island that have fresh water running all year round. Such places are Baħrija, l-Intaħleb and San Martin. Running water in Gozo is found at Lunzjata Valley.

Malta implemented the Schengen Agreement on December 21, 2007.^[45] Customs and border controls remained at airports until March 2008.

The south of Malta is not Europe's most southern point; that distinction belongs to the Greek island of Gavdos.

Phytogeographically, Malta belongs to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian province of the Mediterranean Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Malta belongs to the ecoregion of "Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub".^[46]

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