GOVERNMENT

Cambodia is ruled by a multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy established in September 1993. The chief of state is King Norodom Sihanouk, and the head of government is Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodia gained its independence from France on November 9th, 1953. The Constitution was promulgated on September 21st, 1993. Its legal system is primarily a civil law mixture of French-influenced codes from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, royal decrees, and acts of the legislature, with influences of customary law and remnants of communist legal theory; increasing influence of common law in recent years. The Cabinet is a Council of Ministers appointed by the Monarch.

HISTORY

Around 2000 B.C, Cambodia had domesticated cattle, pigs, and water buffalo and had learned how to cultivate rice. They probably learned how to grow rice from the Chinese, who had already discovered how to do it. Around 600 B.C, Cambodians learned how to work with iron. Before, they had only been using bronze. India influenced Cambodia in many different ways. India brought their jewelry, their names, and their language, Sanskrit, to Cambodia. Sanskrit influenced Cambodia’s modern language of Khmer in many different ways. Funan, the Chinese name for Cambodia, was derived from the Khmer word Phnom, meaning hill. Between around 350 A.D .and 550 A.D., Cambodia was a rich trading center between India and China. It also extended its boundaries north and east. But around the year 550 A.D., disastrous floods began to weaken the government.

CLIMATE

Cambodia is located between 10 and 15 degrees north of the equator, with a result that it is always warm. The temperature hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 60 degrees at night. Cambodia has monsoons, like most of South and Southeast Asia. A monsoon is a kind of wind that changes direction twice a year, which governs the weather. The monsoon season takes place form May to October. In the monsoon season it rains almost everyday, usually about an hour in the afternoon. Towards the end of the monsoon season the rains get very heavy. By the end of the rainy season, most of the country is one foot beneath the water. Because of this, most of the country is on stilts.

ATTRACTIONS

Two major attractions in Cambodia are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Angkor Wat is a temple mountain, like Bayon. A temple mountain is a monument whose purpose was to associate the king with his personal deity. Angkor Thom is a large walled area in which Bayon is located. Bayon has many different statues and towers, all which stand for a different person or god. For example, Jayavarman the seventh created Bayon’s giant faces to stand for bodhisattva.

The most noticeable thing about Italian cooking is the amount of variation that exists between regions within the country.

Italy’s climate varies between the north and south. In northern Italy, temperatures can reach below the freezing during the winters, with snow in the northern most areas. Southern Italy has a warmer, more moderate climate.

Italy is a peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea in Europe. Its most prominent feature is its boot-like shape kicking the island of Sicily. Mountains cover much of Italy. Most of the country’s population lives in northern Italy, particularly on the west coast around Rome and Naples, and in the Po Valley. Southern Italy is more rural, even though the hot, dry climate is not very productive for farming.

Northern Italy’s Po Valley provides good farmland for rice, wheat and other grains. Southern Italy grows fruits, olives and tomatoes, where irrigation is possible. Many areas of Italy also grow grapes. Italy is one of the largest wine producers in the world. Northern Italy has a wide range of industries. It is best known for its fashionable designs in clothes, shoes and furniture. Other manufacturing includes automobiles, computers and electronic equipment.

Italy is a fairly young country, only a few hundred years old. Before, Italy was divided into kingdoms, dukedoms, republics, princedoms, and the area belonging to the Pope. They didn’t have much contact with each other, except for fighting in wars, and they certainly didn’t go and see what their neighbours were eating. As a result, each region of Italy has it’s own local specialties.

The reliance upon what the country can produce has shaped a diet popular for centuries, particularly with the poorer Italian people, and is called la cucina povera. This “poor people’s food” is being touted as the model around to which we all should restructure our eating habits.

The staple foods of an Italian diet are pasta, cheese, olive oil and wine but generally, Italian cuisine is a combination of vegetables, grains, fruits, fish, cheeses and a scattering of meats, fowl and game. These are usually seasoned or cooked with olive oil served with pasta, risottos or flat breads such as foccacia. Herbs such as parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme are almost always used in Italian cuisine.

Italians generally use conventional European cooking implements to prepare their food. Dishes such as roast meats and lasagne are cooked in ovens, traditionally wood fires. Pasta is boiled in salty water and sauces are cooked in frying pans both on a stovetop. Italian dishes are served on plates and in bowls along with a knife, fork and spoon. Water is served with each meal and wine is commonplace at the table.

Italians eat only two main meals a day. They generally skip breakfast replacing it with a cup of coffee. Eating is done with great pleasure and gusto as Italians take great pleasure in serving people the food they have lovingly prepared. Italians usually eat their dinner fairly late in the evening, usually between 7:30 and 9:30pm and the meal may last for hours as it is slowly savoured over a bottle or two of wine and good conversation.

Overall, the Italian diet is fairly well balanced. Pasta is low in fat but high in dietary fibre and provides an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. Olive oil is also rich in vitamins A, B-1, B-2, C, D, E and K and in iron and is a good source of antioxidants. Olive oil does not have the same cholesterol-raising effect of other cooking oils, as it is a monounsaturated fat. Eating fish a few times per week as coastal Italians do, is a great benefit to their health by increasing the amount of “Omega-3 fatty acids” consumed – something that the rest of the developed societies including Australians don’t get enough of. The Italian diet would appear to contain less fat than the Australian diet that bases itself around meats. The Australian breakfast usually consists of fruit, toast, cereal, eggs and meat whereas Italians choose to skip this meal. Also, Italians do not eat much fruit. The Italian diet is similar to the ‘Mediterranean diet’, which is becoming a popular weight loss and healthy-eating diet in many developed societies.

Bibliography

1.’Italy’, Sally’s Place, 2003, URL: http://www.sallys-place.com/food/ethnic_cusine/italy.htm, (12/06/03)

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The cultural history of the Philippines can be divided into for periods: Pre-Spanish, Spanish, American and Post Independence. The Pre-Spanish rule period started when the first inhabitants of the Philippines are believed to be the Negritos . They are believed to have first stepped onto the island about 30,000 years ago. They lived in scattered communities and traded and fished. The Spanish period started when Ferdinand Magellan claimed the chain of islands for Spain . Following the arrival of Spanish forces, Christianity was established. The influence of the Spanish was strongest in the central area of the country. There were many uprisings against the Spanish. In 1896, a final revolt succeeded and the Philippines gained their independence from the Spanish on June 12, 1898 .

After gaining independence, a period of time known as the American Period emerged. The United States received the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris in 1898 .The Philippine-American war was started to resist US rule. Capturing of one of the war biggest revolutionaries and the Peace Proclamation of 1902 helped to end resistance. Under the Tydings-McDuffie Act, the Philippines became a self-governing country. During WWII, US forces in the Philippines surrendered to Japan, which put the country under Japanese rule. Filipinos and Americans united together working to defeat Japan; they succeeded when Japan surrendered in 1945 . In July of 1946, the Philippines became the independent Republic of the Philippines. The Post-Independence Period consisted of many presidents; some did a lot of good and some were corrupted. The legalization of communism was used to rule the country for a period of time under the rule of Fidel Ramos . In some presidencies, democracy was used to rule the land.

The religions that are practiced in the Philippines are very widespread, the biggest being Roman Catholicism. They are the only Christian nation in Asia. According to a census done in 2000, 80 % of the population is Roman Catholic, 5% is Muslim, 2.8% is Evangelical, 2.3% is Iglesia ni Kristo, 2% is Aglipayan, 4.5% is other Christian,1.8% is other,and 0,6 % were of an unspecified religion . Though the population of the Chinese is a minority, they still play a dramatic role in shaping Filipino Catholicism in the regard of numerous with beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

The Philippines have many ethnic groups in addition to having one of the highest literacy rates in the world. According to a census done in 2000, 28.1% of the total population are Tagalog, 13.1% are Cebuano, 9% are Ilocano,7.6% are Bisaya/Binisaya, 7.5% are Hiligaynon Ilonggo, 6% are Bikol, 3.4% are Waray, 25.3% are other . Of those people, about 61.3% of them are between the ages of 15 and 64 years of age. The average life expectancy of it’s inhabitants is 70.51 years . The country also has one of the highest literacy rates in the world; an amazing 92.6 %, according to a 2000 census.

There are many activities of daily living that are associated the Philippines. Filipinos believe that maintaining a youthful look and look well, then you are healthy. They believe that good health is associated with modest dress and prim behavior. Girls that are from wealthier families should be seen in public with a chaperone . Even though much of the western culture has been adopted in the Philippines, they still wear their national costumes on out of the ordinary occasions. The women wear a terno, which is a long dress that had a flared skirt and butterfly sleeves . Although Filipinos have adopted Western dress, they still wear their national costumes on special occasions. Women wear a terno¸ a long dress with a flared skirt and butterfly sleeves . Men wear slacks and the barong tagalog, a fine shirt made out of pineapple pulp with either long or short sleeves.

Hygiene is a problem that the country is still trying to work on. Some schools in there hygiene practices in schools are different. In 2005- 2006, three lucky schools got working modern toilets put in their school . Their old toilets were remodeled so that the teachers could use them. Separate toilets were to be built and installed for boys and girls.

As with any country, food is always a big part of culture. They adopted the Spanish custom of merienda, which is a late afternoon snack . It usually includes some light and tasty snacks and dishes. Since it doesn’t have any rice, it is not seen as a meal; the meal is a proper meal only if rice is present . Meals late at night are usually followed by a walk in the city. However, the influence of Western culture is pushing dinner hours earlier, so late night strolls are becoming less common. Filipino cuisine is also heavily influenced by both China and Spain. The dish pancit, which is a dish that contains rice and noodles, is influenced by China . In Spanish cuisine, it is not uncommon to mix a variety of ingredients together to make on dish. Filipino cuisine took this concept and make cocidas, which is a stew with legumes and meat . Bitter chocolate also finds its way into Filipino cuisine. The poorer people of the Philippines eat a lot of rice, with a lot of corn in between. They usually eat their rice with a little patis or bagoong sauce for flavor . Every grain of rice is thought to be precious and is treasured. Fluffy and glutinous rice are usually made into a variety of things from puddings to breads.

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<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2794.htm#history>.

“The World Factbook.” CIA-the World Fact Book. 13 Dec. 2007. 01 Jan. 13 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html#Intro>Mcbride, Melen. “HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE OF FILIPINO AMERICAN ELDERS.” Stanford Geriatric Education Center. Stanford University School of Medicine. 14 Jan. 2008 <http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnoger/filipino.html>.

Lieurance, Suzanne. The Phillippines. United States: Enslow Inc, 2004. 21-31.

“Schools in Philippines.” WASTE. 28 Aug. 2006. WASTE. 17 Jan. 2008 <http://www.ecosan.nl/page/947>.