EE-67856 (Tartu, Estonia)

Čuvar polja, Vojvodina (from helgamano)

Bucharest, Romania (from Violeta)

Vojnički grah (from LadyJelena89)

FC Barcelona (from Svetlana)

Valdes, FC Barcelona (from Svetlana)

Louny, Czech Republik (from Lucie)

Welcome to Croatia

FACTS
Establishment
-Principality 785
-Independent Principality 879
-Kingdom 925
-Union with Hungary 1102
-Joined Habsburg Empire 1 January 1527
-Independence from Austria–Hungary 29 October 1918
-Joined Yugoslavia 29 November 1943
-Decision on independence 25 June 1991
-Declaration of independence 8 October 1991

Area
-Total 56,594 km2 (21,851 sq mi)
-Water (%) 1.09

Population
-2009 estimate 4,489,409
-2001 census 4,437,460

GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
-Total $78.539 billion
-Per capita $17,703

Currency
-Kuna (HRK) - 1€ = 7,3 HRK


Zagreb - The city collage

Croatia is a country in central and southeastern Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital (and largest city) is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east. Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. The country is a candidate for European Union membership and is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is classified as an emerging and developing economy by the International Monetary Fund and a high income economy by the World Bank.


Zadar - The Roman forum remains

CULTURE - Croatian culture is the result of a fourteen century-long history which has seen the development of many cities and monuments. The country includes seven World Heritage sites and eight national parks. Croatia is also the birthplace of a number of historical figures. Included among the notable people are three Nobel prize winners and numerous inventors.


The Old city of Dubrovnik

Some of the world's first fountain pens came from Croatia. Croatia also has a place in the history of clothing as the origin of the necktie (kravata). The country has a long artistic, literary and musical tradition. Also of interest is the diverse nature of Croatian cuisine and the famous Croatian Traditional gift Licitar.

Croatians are protective of the their Croatian language from foreign influences, the language was under constant change and threats imposed by previous rulers (i.e. Austrian German, Hungarian, Italian and Turkish words were changed and altered to "Slavic" looking/sounding ones).


Plitvice Lakes National park

From year 1961 to year 1991, it was known as a dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language, while Croats use the Latin alphabet instead of Cyrillic of the Serbians. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Serbian and Yugoslav nationalist scholars began to impose policies to change or alter Croatian words into "Serbian" or "South Slavic" ones, which have infuriarated Croats over the purity and preservation of their native language. Assumably thousands of pre-modern Croatian words had Iranian/Persian, Illyrian, Greek/Hellenic and Teutonic/Frankish origins in Croatia's ancient history of ethnolinguistic influences



Horvátország, Adria - Ahogy mi mindig is szerettük
Viete, kde je slovenské more? Predsa v Chorvátsku!
Stará láska s mladým srdcem
Mały kraj na wielkie wakacje

Goddess Izida (from anagahan)

Isis (Izida) was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers. Isis is the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility.

The goddess Isis (the mother of Horus) was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky, and was born on the fourth intercalary day. At some time Isis and Hathor had the same headdress. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set. This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs.

Isis is also known as the goddess of simplicity, protector of the dead and goddess of children from whom all beginnings arose. In later myths, the Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. This occurrence of his death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Greco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era. Read more...

Ariccia, Italy (from Neelixa)

Ariccia (Latin Aricia) is a town and comune in the Province of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One of the Castelli Romani towns, Ariccia is located in the regional park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani". Read more...

Luxembourg (from Kisscut)

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn[1] (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, he was born into a notable Jewish family, although he himself was brought up initially without religion, and later as a Lutheran Christian. He was recognized early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his abilities. Indeed his father was disinclined to allow Felix to follow a musical career until it became clear that he intended seriously to dedicate himself to it. Read more...

Baranów Sandomierski

from Kazimierz!

FI-776089

NL-317204 (Amersfoort)

Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly and has a well-preserved medieval core. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the Netherlands' main east-west and north-south rail lines. The town celebrated its 750th birthday in 2009. Read more...

TH-32312

Easter postcards

from BraveJ



from Arnela and Zoran





from Doumik





from flora1





from krookus

Baranów Sandomierski, Poland (from Kazimierz)

Baranów Sandomierski [baˈranuf sandɔˈmjɛrski] is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,440 inhabitants (2009). The town is well-known for its picturesque Renaissance castle / palace built in 1591-1606. The town is well-known for its picturesque Renaissance castle / palace built in 1591-1606. Read more...



Poland participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With 6 medals won, this was the most successful winter Olympics for Poland in history.

*Gold - Justyna Kowalczyk (Cross-country skiing) Women's 30 km classical
*Silver - Adam Małysz (Ski jumping) Normal hill individual
*Silver - Adam Małysz (Ski jumping) Large hill individual
*Silver - Justyna Kowalczyk (Cross-country skiing) Women's sprint
*Bronze - Justyna Kowalczyk (Cross-country skiing) Women's 15 km pursuit
*Bronze - Katarzyna Bachleda-Curuś, Katarzyna Woźniak, Luiza Złotkowska (Speed skating) Women's team pursuit

A dog - What do you know about my country tag (from Kellie)

US-609681 Lighthouses (from Jennifer)

Left to right:
Marblehead Lighthouse in Marblehead, Ohio, United States, is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the United States side of the Great Lakes.[5] It has guided sailors safely along the rocky shores of Marblehead Peninsula since 1822, and is an active aid to navigation. Read more...

The White Shoal Light is a lighthouse located 20 miles (32 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation. Read more...

The Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse is an 1822 stone octogonal[2] lighthouse in Charlotte, New York near Rochester. The 40 ft tower is located on Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Genesee River. It originally had 10 whale oil Argand lamps, which were replaced with a Fresnel lens in 1853. Read more...

The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation. Read more...

The Cheboygan Crib Light is a light that marks the west pierhead of the mouth of the Cheboygan River into Lake Huron. The pierhead, in the center of the municipality of Cheboygan, is located at the north or lake end of Huron Street, and is one of the centerpieces of Cheboygan's Gordon Turner Park. Read more...

The Holland Harbor Light, known as Big Red, is located in Ottawa County, Michigan at the entrance of a channel connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Macatawa, and which gives access to the city of Holland, Michigan. The lighthouse is on the south side of the channel. There are two modern lights marking the ends of the breakwaters that extend out into the Lake Michigan beyond the lighthouse. Read more...

RU-126704 Omsk (from Svetlana)

Omsk is a Russian city located in southwestern Siberia and the administrative center of Omsk Oblast. It is Russia's second-largest city east of the Ural Mountains. The distance from Omsk to Moscow is 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi).

In imperial times, Omsk was the seat of the Governor General of Western Siberia, and later of the Governor General of the Steppes. For a brief period during the Russian Civil War in 1918–1920, it served as the capital of the anti-Bolshevik Russian State and held the imperial gold reserves.

Omsk is the administrative centre of Siberian Cossack Voisko, it also serves as the see of the bishop of Omsk and Tara, as well as the administrative seat of the Imam of Siberia. Read more...

JP-67434

FI-755536

Joensuu (lit. "mouth of the river") is a city and municipality in North Karelia in eastern Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of North Karelia region. It was founded in 1848. The population of Joensuu is 72,718 (December 31, 2009).

Joensuu is a lively student city with over 8,000 students enrolled at the University of Joensuu and a further 4,000 at the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences.

The largest employers are the municipal City of Joensuu, North Karelian Hospital District Federation of Municipalities, Abloy and Punamusta.

The European Forest Institute, the University and many other institutes and export enterprises such as Abloy and John Deere Forestry give Joensuu an international flavour. Read more...

JP-70284

Shinjiro Hiyama (born July 01, 1967) is a baseball player from Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. He plays for the Hanshin Tigers of the Central League as an outfielder. He made public that he is a Zainichi Korean (the ethnic Korean residents of Japan) in 2004. Read more...

AT-51877

Der Naturpark Mühlviertel (bis 2005: Naturpark Rechberg) ist der einzige Naturpark im Mühlviertel und einer von insgesamt zwei in Oberösterreich. Read more...

CN-170611

This is the most ugliest postcard i've ever received! I like many types of postcards, but the flowers i hate!! I've wrote that in my official profile, but one user from China has decided to surprise me, probably :(

FI-755535

FI-762039 (from mrsAA - Anita)

Aurora borealis (croatian: svjetlosna zora ili polarna svjetlost) are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar regions. They typically occur in the ionosphere. They are also referred to as polar auroras.

In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas, by Pierre Gassendi in 1621.[1] The aurora borealis is also called the northern polar lights, as it is only visible in the sky from the Northern Hemisphere, with the chance of visibility increasing with proximity to the North Magnetic Pole. (Earth's is currently in the arctic islands of northern Canada.) Auroras seen near the magnetic pole may be high overhead, but from further away, they illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun were rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis most often occurs near the equinoxes. The northern lights have had a number of names throughout history. The Cree call this phenomenon the "Dance of the Spirits." In the Middle Ages the auroras have been called a sign from God (see Wilfried Schröder, Das Phänomen des Polarlichts, Darmstadt 1984).

Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis or the southern polar lights, has similar properties, but is only visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, South America, or Australasia. Australis is the Latin word for "of the South."

Auroras can be spotted throughout the world and on other planets. It is most visible closer to the poles due to the longer periods of darkness and the magnetic field. Read more...

IE-8846 (from claudiainireland)

Ireland (Irish: Éire, Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland is the island of Great Britain, separated from it by the Irish Sea. The Republic of Ireland covers five-sixths of the island. Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island.

The population of Ireland is estimated to be 6.2 million. Slightly fewer than 4.5 million are estimated to live in the Republic of Ireland and slightly fewer than 1.8 million are estimated to live in Northern Ireland. This is a significant increase from a modern historical low of 4.2 million in the 1960s but still much lower than the peak population of over 8 million in the mid-19th century prior to the Great Famine. Read more...

IE-8847 (from chrissybaby)

Dublin is the largest city (being a primate city) and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 23rd (down from 10th in 2008) in the Global Financial Centres Index, has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city, and is listed by the GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha - which places Dublin amongst the top 25 cities in the world. Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry. Read more...

Kylemore, Ireland (from Fabio)

Kylemore is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is located in Newlands just off the M50 (Newlands Cross) and on the R110 road, It is served from 05:30 > 00:30 by the Luas Red Line which runs from Tallaght to Connolly.Dublin Bus serves Kylemore using the 18, 51X, 69X bus services.