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Land

Jarnac (French pronunciation: [ʒaʁnak]; Occitan: [d͡ʒaɾˈnak]; Saintongese: Jharnat) is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France. It is situated on the right (north) bank of the river Charente 20 km west of Angoulême, and about 10 km east of Cognac. It was the site of the Battle of Jarnac in 1569. The region has long been associated with the production of cognac. The town is host to numerous smaller cognac producers as well as larger internationally known brands such as Courvoisier, Delamain and Thomas Hine & Co. The commune is listed as a Village étape. It is the birthplace and resting place of François Mitterrand, who served as president of France from 1981 to 1995 and is the last president born outside a metropolitan area to date.

Land

Thessaloniki (; Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici] ; also known by various spellings and names) is the capital and largest city of the administrative region of Central Macedonia, and the second-largest city in Greece. It is the largest city of Northern Greece, with over 300,000 in the city proper and slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia, and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. It is also known in Greek as i Symprotévousa (η Συμπρωτεύουσα), literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the "co-reigning" city (Symvasilévousa/Συμβασιλεύουσα) of the Byzantine Empire alongside Constantinople. Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf, at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. It is bounded on the west by the delta of the Axios. The municipality of Thessaloniki, the historical centre, had a population of 319,045 in 2021, while the Thessaloniki metropolitan area had 1,006,112 inhabitants and the greater region had 1,092,919. It is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, notably through the Port of Thessaloniki. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually. Thessaloniki was the 2014 European Youth Capital. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans. The city was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, who named it after his wife Thessalonike, daughter of Philip II of Macedon and sister of Alexander the Great. It was built 40 km southeast of Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430 and remained an important seaport and multi-ethnic metropolis during the nearly five centuries of Turkish rule, with churches, mosques, and synagogues co-existing side by side. From the 16th to the 20th centuries, it was the only Jewish-majority city in Europe. It passed from the Ottoman Empire to the Kingdom of Greece on 8 November 1912. Thessaloniki exhibits Byzantine architecture, including numerous Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments, a World Heritage Site, and several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. In 2013, National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide, while in 2014 Financial Times FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle.

Land

Kent is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Greater London to the north-west. The county has an area of 3,544 square kilometres (1,368 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 1,931,684 in 2024. The north-west of Kent is densely populated, with Dartford and Gravesend belonging to the Greater London conurbation and Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester forming a second conurbation around the River Medway; the town of Maidstone is to their south. The remainder of the county is more rural, and its principal settlements include the city of Canterbury in the north-east, the seaside resort of Margate on the north-east coast, and the ports of Dover and Folkestone on the east coast. For local government purposes Kent consists of a non-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and the unitary authority area of Medway. The county historically included south-east Greater London, and is one of the home counties. The north of Kent is a plain bordering the Thames Estuary. South of this is the North Downs, a chalk downland ridge which crosses the county from north-west to south-east and which forms dramatic chalk cliffs, including the White Cliffs of Dover, where it meets the English Channel. The south-west of the county contains part of the Greensand Ridge and the Weald, the area between the North and South Downs. The south-east of the county contains the low-lying Romney Marsh. The North Downs and High Weald have been designated national landscapes. The geography of the county lends itself to the cultivation of fruit orchards, and it has been nicknamed "the Garden of England". In north-west Kent, industries include aggregate building material extraction, printing, and scientific research. Coal mining has also played its part in the county's industrial heritage. Kent's location between London and the Strait of Dover, the narrowest crossing point between England and mainland Europe, has led to the county being the point of entry for many prominent figures and groups in British history. It was one of the first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably the Jutes, following the withdrawal of the Romans. In the 6th century, Saint Augustine landed in the county to begin the conversion of England to Christianity and became the first archbishop of Canterbury; Canterbury Cathedral is now a World Heritage Site. England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; the Cinque Ports in the 10th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance. Dover Castle has been described as the "key of England" due to its strategic significance.

Land

Lazio (UK: LAT-see-oh, US: LAHT-; Italian: [ˈlattsjo]) or Latium ( LAY-shee-əm, US also -⁠shəm; from the original Latin name, pronounced [ˈɫati.ũː]) is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,709,444 inhabitants and a GDP of more than €212 billion per year, making it the country's second most populated region and second largest regional economy after Lombardy. The capital of Lazio is Rome, which is also the capital city of Italy. Lazio was the home of the Etruscan civilization, then stood at the center of the Roman Republic, of the Roman Empire, of the Papal States, of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Italian Republic. Lazio boasts a rich cultural heritage. Great artists and historical figures lived and worked in Rome, particularly during the Italian Renaissance period. In remote antiquity, Lazio (Latium) included only a limited part of the current region, between the lower course of the Tiber, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Monti Sabini and the Pontine Marshes. After the end of World War II in Europe and the fall of the Fascist regime Lazio and Italy saw rapid economic growth, especially in Rome. Today, Lazio is a large center of services and international trade, industry, public services, and tourism, supported by an extensive network of transport infrastructures thanks to its geographical position in the center of Italian Peninsula and the presence of Rome within it.

Concept

Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan, and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, some regions of China such as Northeast China, Gansu, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia. It was also formerly practiced in the Baltistan region of Pakistan. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Mahayana Buddhism stemming from the latest stages of Buddhism (which included many Vajrayana elements). It thus preserves many Indian Buddhist tantric practices of the post-Gupta early medieval period (500–1200 CE), along with numerous native Tibetan developments. In the pre-modern era, Tibetan Buddhism spread outside of Tibet primarily due to the influence of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan, who ruled China, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia. In the Modern era, Tibetan Buddhism has spread outside of Asia because of the efforts of the Tibetan diaspora (1959 onwards). As the Dalai Lama escaped to India, the Indian subcontinent is also known for its renaissance of Tibetan Buddhism monasteries, including the rebuilding of the three major monasteries of the Gelug tradition. Apart from classical Mahāyāna Buddhist practices like the ten perfections, Tibetan Buddhism includes tantric practices, such as deity yoga and the Six Dharmas of Naropa, as well as methods that are seen as transcending tantra, like Dzogchen. Its main goal is Buddhahood. The primary language of scriptural study in this tradition is classical Tibetan. Tibetan Buddhism has four major schools, namely Nyingma (8th century), Kagyu (11th century), Sakya (1073), and Gelug (1409). The Jonang is a smaller school that exists, and the Rimé movement (19th century), meaning "no sides", is a more recent non-sectarian movement that attempts to preserve and understand all the different traditions. The predominant spiritual tradition in Tibet before the introduction of Buddhism was Bon, which has been strongly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism (particularly the Nyingma school). While each of the four major schools is independent and has its own monastic institutions and leaders, they are closely related and intersect with common contact and dialogue.