Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two Wor ......more...

Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive gov ......more...

Unless you approach Belfast from the sea you cannot help but come upon the city suddenly because of its fine setting: a 'Hibernian Rio' as one writer has called it, ringed by high hills, sea lough and river valley. A village in the 17th century, this robust northern metropolis of nearly half a million people - a third of Northern Ireland's popu ......more...

TFaro is the capital of the district, with a medieval wall and a large number of monuments: Cathedral (Roman-Gothic origin), Nossa Senhora da Assuncão Convent (Renaissance), São Francisco Church (16-18th centuries) and many more. Situated on the extreme South of Portugal, this part of the territory was the last to be conquered from the Moors b ......more...