Yearbook 2008 USA. Shortly after the New Year, the primary elections for the autumn presidential elections began. Among Republicans, Arizona senator John McCain soon became the leading candidate, and in March, his nomination was formally secured. In the Democratic Party, a bitter battle was going on between the first-favorite Hillary Clinton, New York senator from…
Category: North America
Manhattan (New York) – Global City
New York City, the largest city in the United States, has become something of an icon for modernity, multiculturalism and, more generally, for big city life in the course of the 20th century. In the metropolis at the mouth of the Hudson River, which is rich in bays, all conceivable nationalities, ethnicities and religions are represented by a stream of immigrants that has lasted for centuries. In addition to the descendants of European settlers, millions of Afro-Americans, Hispancs and Asians live here, many of them in their own neighborhoods. The city, which is divided into five districts, has several universities and other educational institutions, internationally renowned museums and important theaters such as the Metropolitan Opera. Despite severe financial crises, for example in 2008/2009, To this day, New York is the undisputed economic center of the United States and the world. A general difference between New York and many major European cities is the chessboard-like floor plan of the streets, which shows the city as not having grown historically, but as planned.
THE CENTER OF NEW YORK
Manhattan is the central part of New York. It is only three kilometers from the United Nations building on the East River across the island to the banks of the Hudson River; Broadway, on the other hand, is a good 25 kilometers long. There is hardly any other place in the world where so many people live and work in such a small space. Every day, commuters from the suburbs and the surrounding districts, the “boroughs”, more than double the number of people in Manhattan – from around 1.6 million to more than 3 million – which corresponds to a population density of around 27,000 and corresponds to a daily population density of almost 51,000 people per square kilometer. This makes Manhattan the most densely populated place in the United States. Its subway network is over 350 kilometers long, has more than 450 stations and transports 1.7 billion passengers a year; this puts it in seventh place worldwide. In addition, 20 railroad lines run from the main railway stations at Grand Central Station and Pennsylvania Station to the suburbs of the three states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, to which they transport several 100,000 passengers every day.
CITY ARCHITECTURE AND SKYSCRAPERS
The construction of skyscrapers and the sometimes gigantic bridge structures were favored by the rocky, glacial subsoil on which New York stands. From a structural point of view, steel girder structures and elevators were the decisive inventions that made the construction of high-rise buildings possible in the late 19th century. The Woolworth Building, built on Broadway in 1913, was the tallest building in the world with its 241 meters until 1930. Also on Broadway, the Equitable Building followed in 1915, which for the first time took up an entire vertical block and thus provoked a storm of protest. As a result, the “Zoning Laws” were created, according to which – except in the riverside regions – high-rise buildings could only be built upwards so that more light could get into the streets. For more information about the continent of North America, please check physicscat.com.
Trinidad and Tobago 2008
Yearbook 2008 Trinidad and Tobago. The country’s president George Maxwell Richards was re-elected in February for a second five-year term. He was installed on March 17 at a ceremony at the stadium on the outskirts of the capital Port of Spain. In addition to specially invited guests, the public also got to attend the festivities…
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In July, lawyer Jomo Thomas launched a new social policy movement called the People’s Movement for Change. In his inaugural speech in the capital Kingstown, Thomas said that the movement would not primarily focus on electoral movements, but instead “unite the people” and “raise people’s consciousness” by participating…
Saint Lucia 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Lucia. The Cotonou Agreement was replaced in the autumn with a new economic partnership, the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement), between the EU and Saint Lucia. EPA meant that tariffs and import duties on the EU market were almost completely eliminated for goods from the Caribbean. At the same time, the agreement meant…
Saint Kitts and Nevis 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Christopher and Nevis. In August, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas reformed his government to concentrate work on the most important issues: national security, state finances, the labor market, social development, information and technology. Douglas took over responsibility for national security, immigration, foreign policy, sustainable development, tourism, sports and culture. The Cotonou Agreement was…
Panama 2008
Yearbook 2008 Panama. In October, the Prosecutor’s Office decided to launch an investigation into allegations that, during his time as lieutenant in the National Guard, Interior Minister Daniel Delgado murdered another guard officer in 1970. Delgado himself acknowledged the incident but claimed it was a legitimate police action that was being investigated and closed down…
Nicaragua 2008
Yearbook 2008 Nicaragua. The FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional) party won big in the municipal elections on November 9. The party won in 91 out of 146 municipalities, including the capital Managua where 30 percent of the electorate lives, while the largest opposition party PLC (Partido Liberal Constitucionalista) won in 50 municipalities. However, a…
Mexico 2008
Yearbook 2008 Mexico. An increasingly dominant problem in Mexico is the dramatically increased crime rate, especially the drug trafficking and the murder wave that followed in its wake. On November 18, the government sent marines and federal police to patrol the streets of the crime-stricken city of Tijuana on the border with the United States….
Jamaica 2008
Yearbook 2008 Jamaica. In March, Amnesty International strongly criticized the Jamaican authorities for neglecting the country’s poor inner-city population. According to the human rights organization, the government had deliberately abandoned the slum dwellers of the cities, which made them into criminal gang violence. Amnesty described the situation of the poor as a kind of hostage…
Honduras 2008
Yearbook 2008 Honduras. In early October, Honduras’s congress approved the government’s proposal to allow the country to join Alternative Bolivarian para las Américas (ALBA), the Latin American cooperation organization created and led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The opposition chose to cast its votes in the congressional vote. The high crime rate in Honduras continues…