Life – a user's manual Part II - Boksidan

1= "total",
7= non.
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Before
1000
Political rights
1000-1800 1801-1900 1901-1950 1951-2000
Independence year
Chart 1. The average level of democracy in countries that were free before 1000 (9 nations), Years 1000-1800 (11
nations), 1801-1900 (27), 1901-1950 (27) And 1951-2000 ( 111). The figure of the level of political rights is
taken from the UN assessment of how many freedoms that the inhabitants of each country had around the
turn of the millennium, in relation to the Declaration of Human Rights (see www.globalis.se). The scale
ranges from 1 (= full political freedom) to 7 (= less political freedom).
The previous occupying/colonizing 1 cultures has also characterized the occupied/colonized areas. The more
recent the most recent long occupation occurred, the clearer is the link to the occupying powers language.
Sweden and Denmark, for example, have been free a long time and our language differs quite a lot from
each other and from the language kthe colonizers spoke. While those in 20 of the 21 former Spanish colonies
still speak a Spanish that sounds about like the one in Spain (see table 1 +2). In the 21st of these (the
Philippines), they have developed their own language (Tagalog) which, however, have many Spanish
influences. The same applies to the former French, English and Portuguese colonies, many of which were
free much later. In the former Russian/Soviet areas, however, Russian are usually not an official language. In
9 of the 17 countries that for a long time was part of the Ottoman Empire they speak Arabic, but in the
kingdom "heir" Turkey they do not.
The names of the occupied countries' currencies follows in many cases the same pattern, apart from the
Portuguese colonies. The former English regions have more variable names on their currencies, but in 31
cases out of 56 it appears to be related to the colonial history as the currency in 26 cases is called Dollar, 3
cases Shilling and 2 cases Pounds. Additionally the currency is called pound in Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
Countries that after a much longer Ottoman occupation were British protectorates. In the German-dominated
states and their colonies (Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Finland,
Indonesia, Surinam and others.), There were, especially before the Euro, a certain fondness for names like
Mark and Crown, though these names are often chosen long after they became independent organized
nations.
What religion that dominates depends much less on the dominant culture's ditto, apart from in the former
Spanish colonies where Catholicism still dominates.
1.
Almost all countries have been occupied or been colonized by any ethnic group or state that may, to some extent
characterized the area. In several cases, different colonizers succeeded each other and in these cases, I usually have
chosen the culture that been occupying for the longest time. The Dutch, Danish, and Swedish occupation are sorted
in the category German/Teutonic occupation.
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