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143-624: The IOU has the objective of supporting, promoting, and advancing avian biology by disseminating ornithological knowledge to the scientific community and the public; interacting with other scientific organizations, foundations, and institutions that share similar interests and goals; stimulating and strengthening locally-based research that includes the participation of amateur ornithologists who contribute valuable data and insights; cultivating relationships among ornithologists internationally; and fostering knowledge transfer between basic research and applied sciences, such as conservation, that can benefit from

286-463: A humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ) classification. The city has warm, showery summers, with average high temperatures ranging between 25 to 27 °C (77 to 81 °F) and a record maximum exceeding 38 °C (100 °F). Winters are relatively dry and cold with average temperatures at about freezing point. Spring is variable and autumn cool, with a chance of snow in November. Precipitation

429-544: A complicated system to collect and publish migration data from Europe, but it collapsed in the 1890s due to too much information that was not analyzed. The 2nd Congress in Budapest in 1891 focused mainly on avian migration, but also included other areas of avian biology such as a major summary of avian classification by Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The 3rd Congress in Paris covered the whole range of ornithological research, and this

572-644: A decline in the Viennese population. After World War II, the Soviets used force to repatriate key workers of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian origins to return to their ethnic homelands to further the Soviet bloc economy. The population of Vienna generally stagnated or declined through the remainder of the 20th century, not demonstrating significant growth again until the census of 2000. In 2020, Vienna's population remained significantly below its reported peak in 1916. Under

715-776: A different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene speakers call the city Dunaj , which in other Central European Slavic languages means the river Danube , on which the city stands. Duchy of Austria 1156–1453 [REDACTED] Archduchy of Austria 1453–1485, 1490–1804 [REDACTED]   Principality of Hungary 1485–1490 [REDACTED]   Austrian Empire 1804–1867 [REDACTED]   Austria-Hungary 1867–1918 [REDACTED]   First Austrian Republic 1919–1934 [REDACTED]   Federal State of Austria 1934–1938 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1938–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Austria 1945–1955 [REDACTED]   Austria 1955–present In

858-705: A few more days until the Soviet Navy ’s Danube Flotilla naval force arrived with reinforcements. The remaining defending soldiers surrendered that same day. After the war, Vienna was part of Soviet-occupied Eastern Austria until September 1945. That month, Vienna was divided into sectors by the four powers: the US, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union and supervised by an Allied Commission . The four-power occupation of Vienna differed in one key respect from that of Berlin:

1001-475: A framework, the nationalist government classified all peoples into three races ( Whites , Blacks , Indians and Coloured people (people of mixed race) ) and developed rights and limitations for each. The white minority (less than 20%) controlled the vastly larger black majority. The legally institutionalised segregation became known as apartheid . While whites enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, comparable to First World Western nations,

1144-461: A generally temperate climate because it is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, because it is located in the climatically milder Southern Hemisphere , and because its average elevation rises steadily toward the north (toward the equator) and further inland. This varied topography and oceanic influence result in a great variety of climatic zones. The climatic zones range from

1287-699: A half after the discovery of the cape sea route, Jan van Riebeeck established a victualling station at the Cape of Good Hope, at what would become Cape Town , on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. In time, the cape became home to a large population of vrijlieden , also known as vrijburgers ( lit.   ' free citizens ' ), former company employees who stayed in Dutch territories overseas after serving their contracts. Dutch traders also brought thousands of enslaved people to

1430-409: A high point of 62 years in 1992 to a low of 53 in 2005, and the failure of the government to take steps to address the pandemic in its early years. In May 2008, riots left over 60 people dead. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimated that over 100,000 people were driven from their homes. The targets were mainly legal and illegal migrants , and refugees seeking asylum, but a third of

1573-482: A highlight of congresses: Heinroth on the ethology of ducks and Lucanus on avian physiology at the 5th Congress; Lambrecht on avian physiology and Dunker on avian genetics at the 7th; Nice on the life history of the Song Sparrow at the 8th; Mayr on avian speciation, Dorst on avian migration, Tinbergen on behavior and Lack on ecology at the 10th; Sibley and Ahlquist with The Tapestry – the first molecular phylogeny of

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1716-642: A major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I , Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria , and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria . From the late-19th century to 1938, the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism . A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Johannes Brahms , Anton Bruckner , Gustav Mahler , and Richard Strauss . The city's cultural contributions in

1859-642: A novel and published it. Occupied Vienna is also depicted in the 1991 Philip Kerr novel, A German Requiem . The four-power control of Vienna lasted until the Austrian State Treaty was signed in May 1955 and came into force on 27 July 1955. By October, all soldiers had left the country. That year, after years of reconstruction and restoration, the State Opera and the Burgtheater , both on

2002-522: A period of intense political and economic crisis since 2020 with growing numbers of international institutions, businesses and political figures warning that the country risks collapsing into a failed state due to high unemployment, low economic growth, low business investment, rising levels of violent crime, disorder, political corruption, and state capture . The country has been undergoing an energy crisis since 2007, resulting in routine rolling electricity blackouts due to loadshedding . According to

2145-476: A period of significant upheaval, led to the formation of various African kingdoms, including the Zulu Kingdom . The region was further colonised, and diamonds and gold were discovered , bringing a shift towards industrialisation and urbanisation. The Union of South Africa was created in 1910 out of the former Cape , Natal , Transvaal , and Orange River colonies, becoming a republic in 1961 . Though

2288-479: A pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. Vienna was home to the world's first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud . The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße , which is lined with grand buildings, monuments, and parks. In 2024, Vienna retained its position as most livable city per

2431-584: A population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the cultural , economic , and political center of the country, the fifth-largest city by population in the European Union , and the most-populous of the cities on the Danube river . The city lies on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods ( Wienerwald ), the northeasternmost foothills of

2574-528: A riot broke out in the city. The protestors, enraged by the decision, set the Palace of Justice ablaze. The police attempted to end the revolt with force and killed at least 84 protestors, with 5 policemen also dying. In 1933, right-wing Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolved the parliament , essentially letting him run the country as a dictatorship , banned the Communist Party and severely limited

2717-673: A second term in office by the National Assembly against the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters , Julius Malema . South Africa is in southernmost Africa, with a coastline that stretches more than 2,500 km (1,553 mi) and along two oceans (the South Atlantic and the Indian). At 1,219,912 km (471,011 sq mi), South Africa is the 24th-largest country in the world. Excluding

2860-480: A system of non-racial franchise had existed in the Cape, it was gradually eroded, and the vast majority of Black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation . After a largely non-violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists both inside and outside

3003-671: A third of its population. In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars , Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire . The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15. The city also saw major uprisings against Habsburg rule in 1848 , which were suppressed. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , Vienna remained

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3146-627: A transition of policies and government. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling discrimination when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. It released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of serving a sentence for sabotage. A negotiation process followed. With approval from the white electorate in a 1992 referendum , the government continued negotiations to end apartheid. South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994 , which

3289-659: A widespread prehistorical cult of Vindos , a Celtic deity who survives in Irish mythology as the warrior and seer Fionn mac Cumhaill. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech , Slovak , Polish and Ukrainian names of the city ( Vídeň , Viedeň , Wiedeń and Відень respectively) and in that of the city's district Wieden . The name of the city in Hungarian ( Bécs ), Serbo-Croatian ( Beč , Беч ) and Ottoman Turkish ( بچ , Beç ) has

3432-593: Is considered one of the most unequal countries in the world, if not the most unequal. The name "South Africa" is derived from the country's geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation, the country was named the Union of South Africa in English and Unie van Zuid-Afrika in Dutch , reflecting its origin from the unification of four British colonies. Since 1961, the long formal name in English has been

3575-467: Is generally moderate throughout the year, averaging around 600 mm (23.6 in) annually, with considerable local variations, the Vienna Woods region in the west being the wettest part (700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 in) annually) and the flat plains in the east being the driest part (500 to 550 mm (20 to 22 in) annually). Snow in winter is common, even if not so frequent compared to

3718-666: Is known as Namaqualand , which becomes more arid near the Orange River. The little rain that falls tends to fall in winter, which results in one of the world's most spectacular displays of flowers carpeting huge stretches of veld in spring (August–September). South Africa also has one offshore possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km or 110 sq mi) and Prince Edward Island (45 km or 17 sq mi) South Africa has

3861-586: Is often referred to as the " rainbow nation " to describe the country's multicultural diversity, especially in the wake of apartheid. Recognised as a middle power in international affairs, it maintains significant regional influence and is a member of BRICS , the African Union , SADC , SACU , the Commonwealth of Nations , and the G20 . A developing , newly industrialised country , South Africa has

4004-500: Is perhaps most well known for its Gemeindebauten , public housing buildings. Between 1925 and 1934, over 60,000 new apartments were built in the Gemeindebauten. Apartments were assigned on the basis of a point system favoring families and less affluent citizens. In July 1927 , after three nationalist far-right paramilitary members were acquitted of the killing of two social democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund members,

4147-612: Is plentiful. Remains of the military camp have been found under the city, as well as fragments of the canal system and figurines. Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán , derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in

4290-481: Is rare. The coldest place on mainland South Africa is Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape , where a temperature of −20.1 °C (−4.2 °F) was recorded in 2013. The Prince Edward Islands have colder average annual temperatures, but Buffelsfontein has colder extremes. The deep interior of mainland South Africa has the hottest temperatures: a temperature of 51.7 °C (125.06 °F) was recorded in 1948 in

4433-722: Is surrounded by the Great Escarpment whose eastern, and highest, stretch is known as the Drakensberg . Mafadi in the Drakensberg at 3,450 m (11,320 ft) is the highest peak. The KwaZulu-Natal–Lesotho international border is formed by the highest portion of the Great Escarpment which reaches an altitude of over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The south and south-western parts of the plateau (at approximately 1,100–1,800   m above sea level) and

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4576-860: Is the oldest and largest series of international meetings for bird scientists. The series started in 1884 and has been held every four years since 1926, except for two times when the Second World War disrupted the schedule. IOU members can enjoy access to the IOU webinars by ornithologists; discounts on books by selected publishers; members-only registration fees to the International Ornithological Congresses, and other IOU-sponsored events; participation in and/or establishment of working groups to address specific projects or issues; voting rights on particular IOU matters and more. The IOU offers different membership options based on

4719-600: Is the seat of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna , in which is also vested the exempt Ordinariate for Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Austria; its Archbishop is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn . Many Catholic Churches in central Vienna feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung to classical music and organ. Some of Vienna's most significant historical buildings are Catholic churches, including

4862-677: The Alps , that separate Vienna from the more western parts of Austria, at the transition to the Pannonian Basin . It sits on the Danube , and is traversed by the highly regulated Wienfluss ( Vienna River ). Vienna is completely surrounded by Lower Austria , and lies around 50 km (31 mi) west of Slovakia and its capital Bratislava , 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Hungary , and 60 km (37 mi) south of Moravia ( Czech Republic ). The once Celtic settlement of Vedunia

5005-961: The Austrian Armed Forces shelled the Karl-Marx-Hof , a civilian housing estate, and the Schutzbund surrendered. On 15 March 1938, three days after German troops had first entered Austria, Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna. 200,000 Austrians greeted him at the Heldenplatz , where he held a speech from a balcony in the Neue Burg, in which he announced that Austria would be absorbed into Nazi Germany . The persecution of Jews started almost immediately, Viennese Jews were harassed and hounded, their homes and businesses plundered. Some were forced to scrub pro-independence slogans off

5148-479: The Dutch East India Company were shipwrecked at the cape for several months. The sailors were able to survive by obtaining fresh water and meat from the natives. They also sowed vegetables in the fertile soil. Upon their return to Holland, they reported favourably on the cape's potential as a "warehouse and garden" for provisions to stock passing ships for long voyages. In 1652, a century and

5291-607: The Economist Intelligence Unit , and has spent every year since 2015 in the top 2 places, bar 2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns . The place is mentioned as Οϋι[νδ]όβονα (Oui[nd]obona) in the 2nd century AD (Ptolemy, Geography , II, 14, 3); Vindobona in the 3rd century ( Itinerarium Antonini Augusti 233, 8); Vindobona in the 4th century ( Tabula Peutingeriana , V, 1); Vindomana ab. 400 ( Notitia Dignitatum , 145, 16); Vindomina, Vendomina in

5434-613: The Highveld . This relatively well-watered area is home to a great proportion of the country's commercial farmlands and contains its largest conurbation (Gauteng). To the north of Highveld, from about the 25°   30'   S line of latitude, the plateau slopes downwards into the Bushveld , which ultimately gives way to the Limpopo River lowlands or Lowveld . The coastal belt, below the Great Escarpment, moving clockwise from

5577-704: The Indian Ocean trade . The events around Mapungubwe's collapse circa 1300 are unknown, however trade routes shifted north from the Limpopo to the Zambezi , precipitating the rise of Great Zimbabwe . The hill was abandoned and Mapungubwe's population scattered. In 1487, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European voyage to land in southern Africa. On 4 December, he landed at Walfisch Bay (now known as Walvis Bay in present-day Namibia). This

5720-869: The International Court of Justice regarding Israel 's conduct in the Gaza Strip as part of the Israel–Hamas war , alleging that Israel had committed and was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. South Africa has repeatedly hosted senior leaders of Hamas , the group responsible for the October 7th massacre in Israel. Following the 2024 general elections , the African National Congress saw its share of

5863-495: The International Monetary Fund , South Africa is suffering from "massive corruption" and state capture. The Zondo Commission , established in 2018 in order to investigate allegations of corruption and state capture released its findings in 2022. It found rampant corruption at every level of government, including Transnet , Eskom , and Denel , as well as law enforcement , intelligence agencies , and

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6006-745: The Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws . Eight years after the end of the Second Boer War and after four years of negotiation, the South Africa Act 1909 granted nominal independence while creating the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910. The union was a dominion that included the former territories of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal colonies, as well as the Orange Free State republic. The Natives' Land Act of 1913 severely restricted

6149-541: The OSCE . In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In July 2017, it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger . Vienna has been called the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven , Brahms , Bruckner , Haydn , Mahler , Mozart , Schoenberg , Schubert , Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II lived and worked there. It played

6292-760: The Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges to the south and the Swartberg range to the north is known as the Little Karoo , which consists of semi-desert shrubland similar to that of the Great Karoo, except that its northern strip along the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains has a somewhat higher rainfall and is, therefore, more cultivated than the Great Karoo. The Little Karoo is famous for its ostrich farming around Oudtshoorn . The lowland area to

6435-596: The Pedi people . King Sekhukhune managed to defeat the army on 1 August 1876. Another attack by the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps was also repulsed. On 16 February 1877, the two parties signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo . The Boers' inability to subdue the Pedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of Paul Kruger and the British annexation of the South African Republic. In 1878 and 1879 three British attacks were successfully repelled until Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis. The Anglo-Zulu War

6578-426: The Prince Edward Islands , the country lies between latitudes 22° and 35°S , and longitudes 16° and 33°E . The interior of South Africa consists of a large, in most places almost flat plateau with an altitude of between 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and 2,100 m (6,900 ft), highest in the east and sloping gently downwards towards the west and north, and slightly so to the south and south-west. This plateau

6721-485: The Republic of South Africa ( RSA ), is the southernmost country in Africa . Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean ; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia , Botswana , and Zimbabwe ; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini ; and it encloses Lesotho . Covering an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres (471,445 square miles),

6864-420: The Ringstraße , reopened to the public. In the Autumn of 1956, Vienna accepted many Hungarian refugees , who had fled Hungary after an attempted revolution . The city experienced another wave of refugees after the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991. In 1972 the construction of the Donauinsel and the excavation of the New Danube began. In

7007-405: The Second Boer War (1899–1902) and, although suffering heavy casualties due to Boer attrition warfare , they were ultimately successful due in part to scorched earth tactics such as concentration camps , in which 27,000 Boer civilians died due to a combination of disease and neglect. South Africa's urban population grew rapidly from the end of the 19th century onward. After the devastation of

7150-474: The South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party , seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites. In 1939, the party split over the entry of the union into World War II, as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which National Party followers opposed. In 1948, the National Party was elected to power. It strengthened the racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule. Taking Canada's Indian Act as

7293-405: The South African Republic , the Natalia Republic , and the Orange Free State . In the interior, the Cape Colony expanded at the expense of the Batswana and Griqua , and Boer expansion caused great instability in the Middle Orange River region. The Matabele kingdom came to dominate the eastern interior, and raided the Venda kingdom. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in

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7436-463: The Soviet air force . Only after the Allies had taken Italy did the next raids commence. From 17 March 1944, 51 air raids were carried out in Vienna. Targets of the bombings were primarily the city's oil refineries . However, around a third of the city center was destroyed, and culturally important buildings such as the State Opera and the Burgtheater were burned, and the Albertina was heavily damaged. These air raids lasted until March 1945, just before

7579-406: The St. Stephen's Cathedral ( Stephansdom ), Karlskirche , Peterskirche and the Votivkirche . On the banks of the Danube is a Buddhist Peace Pagoda , built in 1983 by the monks and nuns of Nipponzan Myohoji . Vienna is located in northeastern Austria, at the easternmost extension of the Alps in the Vienna Basin . The earliest settlement, at the location of today's inner city , was south of

7722-405: The Vaal River valley. Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples , who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen , were present south of the Limpopo River (now the northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe ) by the 4th or 5th century CE. The Bantu slowly moved south. The earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group

7865-406: The Western and Eastern blocs , which deeply distrusted each other. The city experienced an economic upturn due to the Marshall Plan . The atmosphere of four-power Vienna is the background for Graham Greene 's screenplay for the film The Third Man (1949). The film's theme music was composed and performed by Viennese musician Anton Karas using a zither . Later he adapted the screenplay as

8008-677: The Xhosa Wars , as both sides competed for the pastureland near the Great Fish River, which the colonists desired for grazing cattle. Vrijburgers who became independent farmers on the frontier were known as Boers , with some adopting semi-nomadic lifestyles being denoted as trekboers . The Boers formed loose militias , which they termed commandos , and forged alliances with Khoisan peoples to repel Xhosa raids. Both sides launched bloody but inconclusive offensives, and sporadic violence, often accompanied by livestock theft, remained common for several decades. Great Britain occupied Cape Town between 1795 and 1803 to prevent it from falling under

8151-472: The civil service . It documented evidence of systemic corruption , fraud , racketeering , bribery , money laundering , and state capture. It investigated the African National Congress party and Jacob Zuma, whom it concluded were complicit in state capture through their direct assistance to the Gupta family . "The Commission estimated the total amount of money spent by the state which was 'tainted' by state capture to be around R57 billion. More than 97% of

8294-441: The largest economy in Africa by nominal GDP. It is tied with Ethiopia for the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa, and is a biodiversity hotspot with unique biomes , plant, and animal life. Since the end of apartheid, government accountability and quality of life have substantially improved. However, crime , poverty , and inequality remain widespread. Having the highest Gini coefficient of 0.63, South Africa

8437-424: The "Republic of South Africa" and Republiek van Suid-Afrika in Afrikaans . The country has an official name in 12 official languages . Mzansi , derived from the Xhosa noun uMzantsi meaning "south", is a colloquial name for South Africa, while some Pan-Africanist political parties prefer the term " Azania ". South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human-fossil sites in

8580-456: The 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide, primarily from its heavy reliance on coal and oil for energy production . As part of its international commitments, South Africa has pledged to peak emissions between 2020 and 2025. South Africa signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 4 June 1994 and became a party to the convention on 2 November 1995. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan , which

8723-419: The 16th century of the Habsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire with an interruption between at the turn to the 17th century until 1806, becoming an important center in the empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna . The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly

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8866-399: The 1st century, the Romans set up the military camp of Vindobona in Pannonia on the site of today's Vienna city center near the Danube with an adjoining civilian town to secure the borders of the Roman Empire . Construction of the legionary camp began around 97 AD. At its peak, Vindobona had a population of around 15,000 people. It was a part of a trade and communications network across

9009-590: The 2021 census, 49.0% of Viennese were Christian. Among them, 31.8% were Catholic , 11.2% were Eastern Orthodox , and 3.7% were Protestant , mostly Lutheran , 34.1% had no religious affiliation, 14.8% were Muslim , and 2% were of other religions, including Jewish. One sources estimates that Vienna's Jewish community is of 8,000 members meanwhile another suggest 15,000. Based on information provided to city officials by various religious organizations about their membership, Vienna's Statistical Yearbook 2019 reports in 2018 an estimated 610,269 Roman Catholics, or 32.3% of

9152-778: The 6th century ( Jordanes , De origine actibusque Getarum , 50, 264). The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian name. The German name Wien comes from the name of the river Wien , mentioned ad UUeniam in 881 ( Wenia- in modern writing). The name of the Roman settlement on the same emplacement is of Celtic extraction Vindobona , probably meaning "white village, white settlement" from Celtic roots, vindo- , meaning "white" (Old Irish find "white", Welsh gwyn / gwenn , Old Breton guinn "white, bright" > Breton gwenn "white"), and -bona "foundation, settlement, village", related to Old Irish bun "base, foundation" and Welsh bon , same meaning. The Celtic word vindos may reflect

9295-514: The ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations and became a member of the Southern African Development Community . In post-apartheid South Africa, unemployment remained high. While many black people have risen to middle or upper classes, the overall unemployment rate of black people worsened between 1994 and 2003 by official metrics but declined significantly using expanded definitions. Poverty among white South Africans, which

9438-453: The Aves – at the 19th; Schodde and Christidis on the Gondwanan origin of the Australasian avifauna and global implications at the 20th; Walter Bock's Presidential debate between Martin and Sereno on the origin of birds from reptilian ancestors at the 23rd ; and Bairlein on migration, illustrating the huge advances since Dorst, at the 26th. Presidential addresses, moreover, sometimes reviewed important historical aspects in ornithology, such as

9581-463: The Congo , Rwanda , Eritrea , Ethiopia and Somalia . Competition over jobs, business opportunities, public services and housing has led to tension between refugees and host communities. While xenophobia in South Africa is still a problem, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2011 reported that recent violence had not been as widespread as initially feared. Nevertheless, as South Africa continues to grapple with racial issues, one of

9724-405: The Empire. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius may have died here in 180 AD during a campaign against the Marcomanni . After a Germanic invasion in the second century the city was rebuilt. It served as a seat of the Roman government until the fifth century, when the population fled due to the Huns invasion of Pannonia. The city was abandoned for several centuries. Evidence of the Romans in the city

9867-418: The IOU website and YouTube channel, where they can be accessed anytime. The IOU provides platforms for working groups that focus on specific topics and are led by experts in their field and specialists. The working groups aim to support, promote, and advance avian biology by reaching out to ornithologists, conservationists, policy makers, non-governmental organizations, educators, and other stakeholders. Some of

10010-451: The Lowveld covering 19,633 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi) The coastal belt below the south and south-western stretches of the Great Escarpment contains several ranges of Cape Fold Mountains which run parallel to the coast, separating the Great Escarpment from the ocean. (These parallel ranges of fold mountains are shown on the map, above left. Note the course of the Great Escarpment to the north of these mountain ranges.) The land between

10153-486: The Nazi regime, 65,000 Jews were deported and murdered in concentration camps by Nazi forces; approximately 130,000 fled. By 2001, 16% of people living in Austria had nationalities other than Austrian, nearly half of whom were from former Yugoslavia ; the next most numerous nationalities in Vienna were Turks (39,000; 2.5%), Poles (13,600; 0.9%) and Germans (12,700; 0.8%). As of 2012 , an official report from Statistics Austria showed that more than 660,000 (38.8%) of

10296-574: The Ndwandwe, however were repelled by Gaza. During the early 19th century, many Dutch settlers departed from the Cape Colony , where they had been subjected to British control, in a series of migrant groups who came to be known as Voortrekkers , meaning "pathfinders" or "pioneers". They migrated to the future Natal , Free State, and Transvaal regions. The Boers founded the Boer republics :

10439-645: The Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington , but this temperature is unofficial and was not recorded with standard equipment; the official highest temperature is 48.8 °C (119.84 °F) at Vioolsdrif in January 1993. Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Extreme weather events are becoming more prominent. This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect

10582-828: The Parliament, the French in Hotel Kummer on Mariahilferstraße, the Americans in the National Bank , and the British in Schönnbrunn Palace . The division of the city was not comparable to that of Berlin . Although the borders between the sectors were marked, travel between them was freely possible. During the ten years of the four-power occupation, Vienna was a hotbed for international espionage between

10725-565: The R57 billion came from Transnet and Eskom. Out of these funds, the Gupta enterprise received at least R15 billion. The total loss to the state is difficult to quantify, but would far exceed that R15 billion." South Africa has maintained a position of neutrality in regards to the Russia invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the ongoing war . On 29 December 2023, South Africa formally submitted its case to

10868-672: The Rouen Congress in 1938. It formalized the establishment and operation of the International Ornithological Committee. World events again prevented the staging of the 1942 Congress scheduled for the USA, and the next congress to be held was the 10th in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1950. Plenary lectures by world specialists giving summaries of advances in the various fields of ornithology at the time have been

11011-829: The South African National Biodiversity Institute, parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about 1 °C (1.8 °F) along the coast to more than 4 °C (7.2 °F) in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. The Cape Floral Region is predicted to be hit very hard by climate change. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire, and climbing temperatures are expected to push many rare species towards extinction. South Africa has published two national climate change reports in 2011 and 2016. South Africa contributes considerable carbon dioxide emissions , being

11154-616: The South African government because of its racial policies. The boycotts and restrictions were later extended to international sanctions and the divestment of holdings by foreign investors. The Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith , signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Harry Schwarz in 1974, enshrined the principles of peaceful transition of power and equality for all, the first of such agreements by black and white political leaders in South Africa. Ultimately, F.W. de Klerk opened bilateral discussions with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for

11297-451: The Soviet troops started the Vienna offensive . The Red Army , who had previously marched through Hungary , first entered Vienna on 6 April. They first attacked the eastern and southern suburbs, before moving on to the western suburbs. By the 8th they had the center of the city surrounded. The following day the Soviets started with the infiltration of the city center. Fighting continued for

11440-422: The Viennese population have full or partial migrant background, mostly from Ex-Yugoslavia, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary. From 2005 to 2015 the city's population grew by 10.1%. According to UN-Habitat , Vienna could be the fastest growing city out of 17 European metropolitan areas until 2025 with an increase of 4.65% of its population, compared to 2010. Religion in Vienna (2021) According to

11583-508: The Western and Southern regions of Austria. Vienna is composed of 23 districts ( Bezirke ). Administrative district offices in Vienna, called Magistratische Bezirksämter, serve functions similar to those in the other Austrian states (called Bezirkshauptmannschaften), the officers being subject to the mayor of Vienna; with the notable exception of the police, which is under federal supervision. South Africa South Africa , officially

11726-589: The World Bank economic income categorization. Members can also support the IOU's mission and programs through donations. The IOU webinars are a series of online lectures that showcase the latest research and developments in ornithology. The webinars feature speakers from different countries and institutions who share their insights and findings on various topics related to bird biology, ecology, behavior, conservation, and education. The webinars are free and open to members. The webinars are also recorded and uploaded on

11869-529: The adjoining plain below (at approximately 700–800   m above sea level – see map on the right) is known as the Great Karoo , which consists of sparsely populated shrubland . To the north, the Great Karoo fades into the more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari Desert in the north-west of the country. The mid-eastern and highest part of the plateau is known as

12012-611: The arrival of the 1820 Settlers . The new colonists were induced to settle for a variety of reasons, namely to increase the size of the European workforce and to bolster frontier regions against Xhosa incursions. In the early 1800s, the Mfecane (lit. 'crushing') saw a heightened period of conflict, migration, and state formation among native groups, caused by the complex interplay of international trade, environmental instability, and European colonisation. Chiefdoms grew wealthier and competed over trade routes and grazing land, leading to

12155-581: The black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. The Freedom Charter , adopted in 1955 by the Congress Alliance , demanded a non-racial society and an end to discrimination. On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum (only open to white voters) which narrowly passed; the British-dominated Natal province largely voted against

12298-455: The capital of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). In 1910, Vienna had more than two million inhabitants and was the third largest city in Europe after London and Paris. Around the start of the 20th century, Vienna was the city with the second-largest Czech population in the world (after Prague ). After World War I, many Czechs and Hungarians returned to their ancestral countries, resulting in

12441-473: The capital of it and all its successor states. Throughout the modern era Vienna has been among the largest German-speaking cities in the world, being the largest in the 18th and 19th century, peaking at two million inhabitants before it was overtaken by Berlin at the beginning of the 20th century. Vienna is host to many major international organizations , including the United Nations, OPEC and

12584-606: The capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire . The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied. During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße , a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and

12727-471: The central area of the city, known as the first district, constituted an international zone in which the four powers alternated control on a monthly basis. The city was policed by the four powers on a day-to-day basis using the "four soldiers in a jeep" method, which had one soldier from each nation sitting together. The four powers all had separate headquarters, the Soviets in Palais Epstein next to

12870-514: The city were arrested. Adolf Eichmann held office in the expropriated Palais Rothschild and organized the expropriation and persecution of the Jews. Of the almost 200,000 Jews in Vienna, around 120,000 were driven to emigrate and around 65,000 were killed. After the end of the war, the Jewish population of Vienna was only about 5,000. In 1942 the city suffered its first air raid , carried out by

13013-554: The coast, which is subtropical . The Free State is particularly flat because it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River , the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1,740 m (5,709 ft) above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow

13156-581: The contribution of amateurs in biology, the role of museum development, and, as at the 23rd Congress, the history of the international ornithological congresses themselves. The first congress outside Europe was held in Ithaca, New York , in 1962, and the first for the southern hemisphere was held in Canberra, Australia , in 1974. Congresses in their current format began in Berlin, 1978, where Donald Farner set up

13299-696: The control of the French First Republic , which had invaded the Low Countries . After briefly returning to Dutch rule under the Batavian Republic in 1803, the cape was occupied again by the British in 1806. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars , it was formally ceded to Great Britain and became an integral part of the British Empire . British emigration to South Africa began around 1818, subsequently culminating in

13442-520: The country has over 62 million people . Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town , as the seat of Parliament , is the legislative capital. Bloemfontein has traditionally been regarded as the judicial capital. The largest and most populous city is Johannesburg , followed by Cape Town and the busiest port city in sub-Saharan Africa, Durban . Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited

13585-404: The country, the repeal of discriminatory laws began in the mid-1980s. Universal elections took place in 1994 , following which all racial groups have held political representation in the country's liberal democracy , which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is a multi-ethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures , languages , and religions ; it

13728-412: The current working groups are: Vienna Vienna ( / v i ˈ ɛ n ə / vee- EN -ə ; German: Wien [viːn] ; Austro-Bavarian : Wean [veɐ̯n] ) is the capital, most populous city , and one of nine federal states of Austria . It is Austria's primate city , with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has

13871-550: The extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the border with Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Winters in South Africa occur between June and August. The extreme southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket . This area produces much of

14014-419: The findings and recommendations of ornithology. International congresses in science were rare until the late nineteenth century. One of the first ones was the 1st International Ornithological Congress in 1884, which was motivated by a borderless problem in avian biology: avian migration. This is one of the most remarkable aspects of avian biology, as many bird species travel north and south every year, but little

14157-467: The first International Scientific Program Committee, and formulated new organizational Statutes and bylaws to replace the Règlement. A pattern of plenary lectures, symposia, contributed papers, and round table discussions was established there too. By 1986, it became clear that the tasks of secretaries-general appointed to arrange congresses had become too extensive, and that more organizational continuity

14300-613: The first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, the Second Viennese School , the architecture of Adolf Loos , the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein , and the Vienna Circle . The city of Vienna became the center of socialist politics from 1919 to 1934, a period referred to as Red Vienna ( Das rote Wien ). After a new breed of socialist politicians won

14443-1339: The first hominin fossil discovered in Africa, the Taung Child (found near Taung ) in 1924. Other hominin remains have come from the sites of Makapansgat in Limpopo Province; Cornelia and Florisbad in Free State Province ; Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal Province; Klasies River Caves in Eastern Cape Province; and Pinnacle Point , Elandsfontein and Die Kelders Cave in Western Cape Province. These finds suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa from about three million years ago, starting with Australopithecus africanus , followed by Australopithecus sediba , Homo ergaster , Homo erectus , Homo rhodesiensis , Homo helmei , Homo naledi and modern humans ( Homo sapiens ). Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for at least 170,000 years. Various researchers have located pebble tools within

14586-535: The fledgling colony from Indonesia , Madagascar , and parts of eastern Africa. Some of the earliest mixed race communities in the country were formed between vrijburgers , enslaved people, and indigenous peoples. This led to the development of a new ethnic group, the Cape Coloureds , most of whom adopted the Dutch language and Christian faith. The Khoisan people, comprising the Khoikhoi and San, were

14729-470: The form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks. In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March , a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria . This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria . Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and

14872-475: The formation of the Ndwandwe and Mthethwa Paramountcies in the east. Ndwandwe defeated Mthethwa which split into different groups, one of which was led by Shaka of the amaZulu . The 1810s saw the fourth and fifth Xhosa Wars as British colonisation expanded. Ndwandwe splintered amid costly raids and Shaka's Zulu Kingdom rose to fill the power vacuum. The Gaza kingdom formed. The Zulu totally defeated

15015-445: The indigenous inhabitants of South Africa. Conflicts with Dutch settlers began in the 17th century and continued for centuries. Initial encounters between Dutch coloniers and Khoikhoi were peaceful, but tensions arose over land and resources. The Khoikhoi resisted Dutch expansion, leading to skirmishes and battles. The eastward expansion of Dutch colonists ushered in a series of wars with the southwesterly migrating Xhosa tribe, known as

15158-607: The influence of the Social Democratic Party . This led to a civil war between the right-wing government and socialist forces the following year, which started in Linz and quickly spread to Vienna. Socialist members of the Republikanischer Schutzbund barricaded themselves inside the housing estates and exchanged fire with the police and paramilitary groups. The fighting in Vienna ended after

15301-633: The interior started the Mineral Revolution and increased economic growth and immigration. This intensified British subjugation of the indigenous people. The struggle to control these important economic resources was a factor in relations between Europeans and the indigenous population and also between the Boers and the British. On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic declared war against

15444-664: The lands immediately east. In 1155, Henry II, Duke of Austria moved the Babenberg family residence with the founding of the Schottenstift from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490. Vienna became at the turn to the 16th century the seat of the Aulic Council and subsequently later in

15587-422: The local elections they engaged in a brief but ambitious municipal experiment. Social democrats had won an absolute majority in the May 1919 municipal election and commanded the city council with 100 of the 165 seats. Jakob Reumann was appointed by the city council as city mayor. The theoretical foundations of so-called Austromarxism were established by Otto Bauer , Karl Renner , and Max Adler . Red Vienna

15730-412: The meandering Danube while the city now spans both sides of the river. Elevation ranges from 151 to 542 m (495 to 1,778 ft). The city has a total area of 414.65 square kilometers (160.1 sq mi), making it the largest city in Austria by area. Vienna has a borderline oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb ) and humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb ), with some parts of the urban core being warm enough for

15873-610: The national vote fall below 50% for the first time since the end of Apartheid, though it remained the single largest party in the South African Parliament. President Ramaphosa announced a national unity government , the first since the Cabinet of Nelson Mandela , and entered a deal with the Democratic Alliance , the previous main opposition party, and other minor parties. Ramaphosa was reelected for

16016-664: The north of the Cape Peninsula is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the first row of north–south running Cape Fold Mountains to the east. The Cape Fold Mountains peter out at about the 32°   S line of latitude, after which the Great Escarpment bounds the coastal plain. The most southerly portion of this coastal belt is known as the Swartland and Malmesbury Plain, which is an important wheat growing region, relying on winter rains. The region further north

16159-703: The north of the Swartberg range up to the Great Escarpment is the lowland part of the Great Karoo, which is climatically and botanically almost indistinguishable from the Karoo above the Great Escarpment. The narrow coastal strip between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges and the ocean has a moderately high year-round rainfall, which is known as the Garden Route . It is famous for the most extensive areas of forests in South Africa (a generally forest-poor country). In

16302-677: The northeast, consists of the Limpopo Lowveld, which merges into the Mpumalanga Lowveld, below the Mpumalanga Drakensberg (the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment). This is hotter, drier and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld above the escarpment. The Kruger National Park , located in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in north-eastern South Africa, occupies a large portion of

16445-747: The obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the Boers, and the Zululand army. The Zulu nation defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana . Eventually Zululand lost the war, resulting in the termination of the Zulu nation's independence. The Boer republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, which were well-suited to local conditions. The British returned with greater numbers, more experience, and new strategy in

16588-838: The organisation in 1961 and rejoined it in 1994. Despite opposition to apartheid both within and outside the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. The security forces cracked down on internal dissent, and violence became widespread, with anti-apartheid organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Azanian People's Organisation , and the Pan-Africanist Congress carrying out guerrilla warfare and urban sabotage. The three rival resistance movements also engaged in occasional inter-factional clashes as they jockeyed for domestic influence. Apartheid became increasingly controversial, and several countries began to boycott business with

16731-404: The overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards to water resources . Speedy environmental changes are resulting in clear effects on the community and environmental level in different ways and aspects, starting with air quality, to temperature and weather patterns, reaching out to food security and disease burden. According to computer-generated climate modelling produced by

16874-682: The ownership of land by blacks; at that stage they controlled only 7% of the country. The amount of land reserved for indigenous peoples was later marginally increased. In 1931, the union became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster , which abolished the last powers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate in the country. Only three other African countries—Liberia, Ethiopia, and Egypt—had been independent prior to that point. In 1934,

17017-507: The population, and 200,000 (10.4%) Muslims, 70,298 (3.7%) Orthodox, 57,502 (3.0%) other Christians, and 9,504 (0.5%) other religions. A study conducted by the Vienna Institute of Demography estimated the 2018 proportions to be 34% Catholic, 30% unaffiliated, 15% Muslim, 10% Orthodox, 4% Protestant, and 6% other religions. As of the spring of 2014, Muslims made up 30% of the total proportion of schoolchildren in Vienna. Vienna

17160-524: The present-day Groot River , in May 1488. On his return he saw the cape, which he named Cabo das Tormentas ('Cape of Storms'). King John II renamed the point Cabo da Boa Esperança , or Cape of Good Hope , as it led to the riches of the East Indies . Dias' feat of navigation was immortalised in Luís de Camões ' 1572 epic poem Os Lusíadas . By the early 17th century, Portugal's maritime power

17303-635: The presidency, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced that Zuma would again face prosecution on 16 criminal charges – 12 charges of fraud, two of corruption, and one each of racketeering and money laundering, just as in the 2006 indictment. A warrant was issued for his arrest in February 2020 after he failed to appear in court. In 2021 he was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. In response, supporters of Zuma engaged in protests which led to riots, looting, vandalism and widespread violence, leaving 354 people dead. South Africa has been undergoing

17446-534: The proposal. Elizabeth II lost the title Queen of South Africa , and the last Governor-General , Charles Robberts Swart , became state president . As a concession to the Westminster system , the appointment of the president remained by parliament and was virtually powerless until P. W. Botha 's Constitution Act of 1983 , which eliminated the office of prime minister and instated a unique "strong presidency" responsible to parliament . Pressured by other Commonwealth of Nations countries, South Africa withdrew from

17589-404: The proposed solutions has been to pass legislation, such as the pending Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill , to uphold South Africa's ban on racism and commitment to equality. On 14 February 2018, Jacob Zuma resigned the presidency. Since 15 February, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has been President of South Africa. On 16 March 2018, just over a month after President Jacob Zuma resigned from

17732-430: The region over 100,000 years ago. The first known people were the indigenous Khoisan , and Bantu-speaking peoples who expanded from West and Central Africa later settled in the region 2,000 to 1,000 years ago. In the north, the Kingdom of Mapungubwe formed in the 13th century. In 1652, the Dutch established the first European settlement at Table Bay , and in 1795 and 1806 , the British occupied it. The Mfecane ,

17875-434: The ruins are thought to be created by the Bakone , a Northern Sotho people. Around 1220, in the Limpopo - Shashe Basin, the elite of K2 moved to settle the flat-topped summit of Mapungubwe Hill, with the population settling below. Rainmaking was crucial to the development of sacral kingship . By 1250, the capital had a population of 5000 and the state covered 30,000 km² (11,500 square miles), growing wealthy through

18018-440: The same decade, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky inaugurated the Vienna International Centre , a new area of the city created to host international institutions. Vienna has regained much of its former international stature by hosting international organisations, such as the United Nations. Because of the industrialization and migration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as

18161-417: The seat of the Babenbergs , who ruled Austria from 976 to 1246. In 1221, Vienna was granted city rights. During the 16th century, the Habsburgs , who had succeeded the Babenbergs, established Vienna as the seat of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire , a position it held until the empire's dissolution in 1806, with only a brief interruption. With the formation of the Austrian Empire in 1804, Vienna became

18304-423: The south-west corner of the country, the Cape Peninsula forms the southernmost tip of the coastal strip which borders the Atlantic Ocean and ultimately terminates at the country's border with Namibia at the Orange River . The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate , making it and its immediate surrounds the only portion of Sub-Saharan Africa which receives most of its rainfall in winter. The coastal belt to

18447-448: The streets. This culminated in the Kristallnacht , a nationwide pogrom against the Jews carried out by the Schutzstaffel and the Sturmabteilung , with support of the Hitler Youth and German civilians. All synagogues and prayer houses in the city were destroyed, bar the Stadttempel , due to its proximity to residential buildings. Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin , as Austria had ceased to exist. The few resistors in

18590-460: The victims were South African citizens. In a 2006 survey, the South African Migration Project concluded that South Africans are more opposed to immigration than any other national group. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2008 reported that over 200,000 refugees applied for asylum in South Africa, almost four times as many as the year before. These people were mainly from Zimbabwe , though many also come from Burundi , Democratic Republic of

18733-438: The wars, Dutch-descendant Boer farmers fled into cities from the devastated Transvaal and Orange Free State territories to become the class of the white urban poor. Anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of indigenous people, including

18876-413: The wine in South Africa and is known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. The annual rainfall increases south of the Lowveld, especially near

19019-410: The world. Archaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site , has been branded "the Cradle of Humankind ". The sites include Sterkfontein , one of the richest sites for hominin fossils in the world, as well as Swartkrans , Gondolin Cave , Kromdraai , Cooper's Cave and Malapa . Raymond Dart identified

19162-432: Was converted by the Romans into the castrum Vindobona (province of Pannonia ) in the 1st century, and was elevated to a municipium with Roman city rights in 212. This was followed by a time in the sphere of influence of the Lombards and later the Pannonian Avars , when Slavs formed the majority of the region's population. From the 8th century on, the region was settled by the Baiuvarii . In 1155, Vienna became

19305-400: Was followed in London, 1905 and Berlin , 1910 where the next congress, planned for Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1915 became a sign of the upcoming First World War. Ernst Hartert was largely responsible for reviving the congresses in Copenhagen, in 1926, where future meetings were set at every four years. The Règlement des Congrès Ornithologiques Internationaux, adopted in 1932, was only published at

19448-439: Was fought in 1879 between the British and the Zulu Kingdom . Following Lord Carnarvon 's successful introduction of federation in Canada , it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as the British High Commissioner to bring such plans into being. Among

19591-406: Was needed for managing the International Ornithological Committee. That led to the creation of the position of permanent secretary at the Ottawa Congress in Canada in 1986; Walter Bock was the foundation appointee, holding the position until 1998, when Dr. Dominique Homberger took over at the Durban Congress in South Africa . Organized by the IOU, the International Ornithological Congress series

19734-444: Was previously rare, increased. The government struggled to achieve the monetary and fiscal discipline to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. The United Nations Human Development Index rose steadily until the mid-1990s then fell from 1995 to 2005 before recovering its 1995 peak in 2013. The fall is in large part attributable to the South African HIV/AIDS pandemic which saw South African life expectancy fall from

19877-519: Was received by the convention on 7 June 2006. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries . Ecotourism in South Africa has become more prevalent in recent years, as a possible method of maintaining and improving biodiversity. Numerous mammals are found in the Bushveld including lions, African leopards , South African cheetahs , southern white rhinos , blue wildebeest , kudus , impalas , hyenas , hippopotamuses and South African giraffes . A significant extent of

20020-464: Was south of the furthest point reached in 1485 by his predecessor, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão ( Cape Cross , north of the bay). Dias continued down the western coast of southern Africa. After 8 January 1488, prevented by storms from proceeding along the coast, he sailed out of sight of land and passed the southernmost point of Africa without seeing it. He reached as far up the eastern coast of Africa as, what he called, Rio do Infante , probably

20163-415: Was starting to decline, and English and Dutch merchants competed to oust Portugal from its lucrative monopoly on the spice trade . Representatives of the British East India Company sporadically called at the cape in search of provisions as early as 1601 but later came to favour Ascension Island and Saint Helena as alternative ports of refuge. Dutch interest was aroused after 1647, when two employees of

20306-420: Was the Xhosa people , whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoisan people. The Xhosa reached the Great Fish River , in today's Eastern Cape Province. As they migrated, these larger Iron Age populations displaced or assimilated earlier peoples. In Mpumalanga Province, several stone circles have been found along with a stone arrangement that has been named Adam's Calendar , and

20449-469: Was understood about it at that time. In Europe, where many countries were involved, studying avian migration demanded an international effort. Rudolf Blasius and Gustav von Hayek devised a grand plan for a multi-nation program on avian migration in Europe, secured the support of Crown-Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary, and arranged the 1st International Congress of Ornithology in Vienna , April 1884, which concentrated mainly on migration studies. They established

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