The post How Ukraine is divided appeared first on MBC Times.
]]>The chaos that is taking over Ukraine in recent time spreads the fear that the ethnic, political, economic and linguistic division of the country will lead to a real split of its territory.Eastern Ukraine, which includes the regions of Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Lugansk and Zaporizhie, is the most industrialized and economically developed area as well as the most urbanized part of the country. Here are the main industrial centers of coal, as well as companies in the aviation industry, automotive, military and energy. Here lives the most significant part of the Russian- speaking population of Ukraine, in some provinces where the percentage exceeds 80% .
The region covers the provinces western Ukraine predominantly Ukrainian -speaking Lvov , Ivano- Frankovsk, Ternopil, Volyn and Rovnensk, no large industrial entities and a significant part of local budgets thrives on federal grants.
Kiev, the capital, belongs geographically to central Ukraine, which is also composed of the provinces of Poltava, Cherkasi, Chernigov, Sumi, Vinnitsa.
Differences between East and West became more palpable after the disintegration of the USSR and Ukrainian independence in 1991. The presidential and parliamentary elections voting intention divided the country into almost two equal parts, reflect this trend. Thus, in the previous presidential elections in 2010, Viktor Yanukovych ‘s candidacy was voted mostly in the eastern regions, while his main opponent, the Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, got their full support in the west.
Historically Ukraine has always been a country with many different nationalities. According to the 2001 census, the Ukrainian population is 77.8% more than the 45 million citizens of Ukraine. Russians are the largest ethnic minority in the country, with a percentage of 17.3%. Most of the ethnic Russian population resides in the city of Sevastopol ( 71.7%), the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Simferopol capital (58 % ) and in the industrial centers of Donetsk ( 38.2%), Kharkiv ( 25.6%) and Dnepropetrovsk ( 23.5%).
In addition to Ukrainians and Russians, Belarusians residing in the country ( 0.6%), Moldavians ( 0.5%) and Crimean Tatars (0.5 % ), among others.
Given the ethnic, cultural and historical structure of Ukraine, Russian is the most important minority language and the second most common in Ukraine. The Russian and Ukrainian, two languages of Slavic origin closely linked, are spoken in almost equal proportions, although prevalent in the western Ukrainian regions, such as Lvov, Ivano- Frankovsk and Cherkasy, among others. The extensive use of Russian language aroused controversy over its status as a second official language. In May 2012 the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada after a nasty fight on the floor, passed a law granting the Russian and other minority languages the status of regional languages in areas where 10% or more of the population speaks those languages. This law was repealed on February 23 after the change of power.
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]]> https://mbctimes.com/ukraine-divided/feed/ 0The post The 10 largest cities in the world appeared first on MBC Times.
]]> This is a list of the world’s largest cities in population, ordered by several ranking methods. Determining the world’s largest cities depends on which definitions of “city” and “size” are used, and how those definitions are applied.The “size” of a city can refer its land area, but it is more typically the population. How one defines the land area of a city, however, is key to determining its population.
Metropolitan area: 34 million people
Population: 12.5 million
Tokyo is by far the largest urban area in the world. Despite its size and complexity, it has a network of highly efficient public transport accounting for nearly 80% of all megalopolis daily trips.
Metropolitan area: 22 million people
Population: 8.7 million
Mexico is ten times larger than what it was in 1940. Now, with nearly 22 million people in the metropolitan area, the Mexican capital contributes about a quarter to the country’s wealth. However, with a low population growth of 0.99%, it is expected that the number of retirees will grow rapidly in the coming decades.
Metropolitan Area: 21.9 million people
Population: 8.2 million
New York City, especially Manhattan, is a role model for balancing dense development with good public transport and access to open spaces. Different in many ways, New York is the American city where most households do not have a car.
Metropolitan Area: 19.6 million people
City: 11 million people
Sao Paulo, the sixth largest metropolis in the world, is also the richest city in Brazil and the most important financial center in Latin America. Poverty and crime, however, remain a big problem. An average of 6,000 people is killed each year.
Metropolitan Area: 17.8 million people
Population: 9.8 million people
With the increase of interior gross production and the economic capacity of China, Shanghai has become the financial and commercial center of the country with one of the world’s busiest ports largest bus system, with about a thousand lines.
Metropolitan area: 15 million people
Population: 9.3 million
Jakarta had to suffer major setbacks during the last decade due to the 1998 economic crisis and natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Since 2005, Jakarta has experienced a significant economic recovery, boosting the economy of Indonesia to a growth rate of 6%.
Metropolitan Area: 13.4 million people
Population: 11.3 million people
For the second consecutive time, Moscow was named the most expensive city for expatriates in 2007. With a subway passenger whose amount exceeds that of New York and London combined, it is considered the public transport network the most widely used, circulating more than 9 million people a day.
Metropolitan Area: 23.9 million people
Population: 10.3 million
Seoul has grown rapidly since the war between the two Koreas (1950-1953). Today, almost half of the population lives in Seoul and its suburbs. In recent years, Seoul has modernized the transport system of the city and created a lot of public green spaces.
9) Mumbai, India
Metropolitan area: 21 million people
City: 13 million people
Mumbai -also known as Bombay until the name was officially changed in 1995- is the most populous city in the world. With high birth rates and the constant influx of immigrants, it is expected that the population of this city will experience a tremendous growth over the next ten years.
Metropolitan Area: 17.9 million people
Population: 3.9 million
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States for its size in square kilometers. It has an extensive network of roads, streets, avenues and small neighbourhoods in the center of the city.
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]]> https://mbctimes.com/10-largest-cities-world/feed/ 0The post 20 Best Education Systems In The World appeared first on MBC Times.
]]> Education is one of those things that is considered pretty important throughout the world, but it still remains that not every country does it the same and indeed some countries are better at it than others.In the west we often assume that our own education systems are the best, but that may not actually be true. An education group called Pearson periodically test such assumptions by comparing measurable things like grades and attempt to rank different countries according to the success of their education system.
Needless to say, results vary, but the results are still interesting, particularly when you learn that the USA has recently been ranked in 17th Position, a long way below many European countries.
Well interestingly the top is very close between two very different countries:
Finland & South Korea
These two countries have similarities in their education systems, but many differences too. South Korea it could be argued is one of the most dedicated countries in the world. Children often attend school 7 days a week and do homework from a very young age.
In both Korea and Finland though, education is held in high regards and teachers are treated with great respect (equal to how we revere doctors or lawyers in the west).
Interestingly, South Korea also score ‘moderately proficient’ in English speaking ability, which is a good result for an Asian country. They actually speak English better than the French do, which is probably due in part to their strong emphasis of English learning and a high number of native TEFL teachers working over there.
The report has compared the best and worst educational systems and has found what seem to be the strongest factors in determining the success of the education system and interestingly money spent is not all that important!
All of the best educated countries have education of one of the most culturally important parts of life. In other words, education is prized and parents, teachers and even students care about the results.
Teaching is held in high regard as a career and brings elevated social status, even if not necessarily being a well-paid career choice.
A good education is also prized socially and even children want to do well so that they can be considered to be well educated.
But before you move to Asia seeking a better education for your family, you may be interested to hear how Finland do things. Oh and if you were wondering, Finland scored 4th position in terms of English speaking ability in 2012, so if you want to teach English abroad, there may be some valuable career options there too.
About Robert Poakden: Hi there, my name is Robert, I am a TEFL teacher and I work for ICALTEFL.com who provide these accredited TEFL courses for anyone who wants to teach overseas. Thanks for reading!
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]]> https://mbctimes.com/20-best-education-systems-world/feed/ 0The post The US and EU, toward a free trade zone to stop China and Russia? appeared first on MBC Times.
]]> The situation has changed and the U.S is losing it economic powers in favour of Russia and China, These two massive countries seems to have done great economical advances these last years. The US and EU seem to be worries about this situation and are determined to find a solution before it’s too late. The plan is to create a free trade zone of transatlantic level, a solution which many see as an attempt to stop the advance of China, Russia and other developing countries such as Turkey, Brazil, and India…According to Russian experts in Finmarket site a new commercial monster could soon challenge the world according to RT. In July 2013 the U.S. and the European Union have already begun to develop priorities for this future project called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment.
In theory, a free trade area would benefit the countries on both sides of the Atlantic. The U.S. economy annually would receive an additional 90,000 million (EUR), and the EU budget would be complemented by an additional 100,000 million (EUR). According to European Commission estimations, if the area would be launched in 2015, Europe could create 400,000 new jobs, and every European household would get an increase in its income of about 545 euros.
European officials contend that the rest of the world would benefit from this project due to the free trade area. The world’s economy should increase by 100,000 million (EUR). However, developing countries should not be misleading as this solution could probably not be so beneficial after all, warns World Bank economist Aaditya Mattoo, who oversees trade integration in the World Bank is concerned about several aspects of the impending deal.
It is assumed that the new free trade zone will reduce taxes. Since the current level of U.S. commercial rates and Europe has already been lowered (less than 3% on average), the members can import goods virtually for free except specific items with tariffs, like shoes.
However, it will not be possible to import everything to the developed countries. Probably the U.S. and EU will establish high quality standards. It is possible that the importer has to obtain a certificate of compliance in each EU country. There are already examples of such agreements.
Although Brazilian oranges can be sold in Portugal, they would not get through to other European countries without additional control. To advance in Europe, the Brazilian companies have to literally beg dozens of European officials.
This means that, first, developing countries will suffer following the launch of the new free trade zone, predicts Mattoo. “If you were to create a transatlantic alliance, the most vulnerable are the products from China, India and Russia,” said the economist.
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