China

china

[tʃajnə]

35.861660

104.195397

km from you

2

China is one of the most powerful and populated countries of the globe, with a rich cultural history that spans millennia. However it struggles with a unique set of environmental, economic and social issues that have left an indelible mark on Chinese society.

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35.861660

104.195397

KM FROM YOU

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39°54'15"N 116°24'57"E

Beijing

Looking on at the myriad of temples in Beijing.

Beijing

KM FROM YOU

Despite being home to the world's largest population, China has only 8% of the planet’s arable land, and 7% of its water resources to supply 22% of its population.

Desertification and pollution are two of the major problems affecting the country, with 350 million people who lack direct access to drinking water. These figures contrast with those of the Tibet region, a country barely one quarter the size of China yet with 20 rivers and 1500 lakes.

China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. Some studies estimate that in certain areas of the country, breathing polluted air for a day is equivalent to smoking up to 40 cigarettes per day.

One of its biggest challenges is fighting a huge economic inequality in a country which already has more billionaires than the United States and where 1% of the population owns a third of the wealth of the nation. Despite being the second world power, it is ranked 77 among 196 countries in terms of per capita GDP, which is good indicator of living standards.

china

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China rates second in world economic power. Several indicators point to it exceeding the United States by 2018. As Napoleon once said: "When China awakes, the world will tremble."

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35.861660

104.195397

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39°51'7"N 116°23'16"E

Forbidden City

Beijing opera singer.

Forbidden City

KM FROM YOU

With almost 1.4 billion inhabitants, China is the most populous country in the world and third largest in area. China borders fourteen countries including Afghanistan, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan and Vietnam. In comparison, the United States, only shares borders with two countries. Its foreign policy and geostrategic relations are to a great extent determined by China’s enormous 22,147 kilometers long frontier border and its proximity to unstable territories which continues to fuel internal tensions.

China is also home to one of the world's most ancient and rich cultures. As part of China’s heritage and cultural wealth, the Chinese opera, a name given to traditional theater in the country, represents one of the most ancient dramatic arts in the world.

The theater synthesizes acting, acrobatics, martial arts, fine arts, music and poetry. The structure is based on rhyming schemes and archetypal characters. Among these, Sheng is the male character, Chou is the clown, and Dan is the female character, which for centuries was played exclusively by men since women were denied any participation in the opera even as spectators.

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Next Up: West Africa - where we witness the real impact of exploitation and injustice.

africa

africa

[æfrɪkə]

7.942206

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Africa

africa

[æfrɪkə]

7.942206

-1.011600

km from you

3

West Africa is the westernmost subregion of Africa, spanning across 18 countries, including Ghana, Niger and Burkina-Faso. It is widely considered the cradle of civilization, since all human ancestry can be traced back to it.

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7.942206

-1.011600

KM FROM YOU

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5°6'19"N 1°20'31"W

Niger

Elmina's coastline. Ghana.

Niger

KM FROM YOU

Africa is a continent of huge paradoxes and Niger is an excellent example. Despite being one of the largest uranium producers in the world, less than 10% of households have electricity. In the 2015 elections, votes were counted in many districts by candlelight.

Like in other African countries, its former colonial power, France, still has great economic and geostrategic interests. In fact, Niger’s top three uranium mines are being exploited by France through the state nuclear giant, Areva. The Nigerien government itself has, more than once questioned agreements with Areva, "from which Niger only receives 5% of its national budget."

Poverty, lack of investment in education, poor public health and the interference of ex-colonial powers have contributed to triggering violence around the area - Niger has not escaped it.

In 2010, in the Islamic Maghreb, Al Qaeda kidnapped seven Areva workers from the Arlit mine and moved them to neighboring Mali. In 2013, France launched its military intervention in Mali, ostensibly to "fight terrorism”. As part of this operation, French special forces were sent to protect its uranium mines in Niger. The conflict forced tens of thousands of people to move from Mali to Nigerian territory.

africa

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The most populous West African country we visited was Ghana – home to twenty-five million citizens. Unbelievably, one-third of the population survives on less than a dollar per day. Poverty and lack of hygienic conditions make diseases like malaria, dysentery and schistosomiasis common throughout the territory.

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7.942206

-1.011600

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6°22'13"N 2°23'28"E

The Upright Man

'Kaleta'. Cotonou, Benin.

The Upright Man

KM FROM YOU

There is a name that many people in Burkina Faso still remember: Thomas Sankara, known as the African Che Guevara for his defense of the union of African peoples as a tool to break free from the interference of the ex-colonial powers.

Sankara became president of the country in 1984 through a military uprising. While he was in power, he fought against the control that France continued to impose even though Burkina had achieved its formal independence from Paris in 1960.

He was a defender of women’s rights, something evidenced by his phrase "revolution and women’s liberation are one." Sankara banned polygamy and female genital mutilation. He fought against the debt that colonizing countries imposed on Africa and in his famous speech on foreign debt at the Organization of African Unity summit in Addis Ababa, he proclaimed a unified front against the debt.

Two months after that speech, on October 15, 1987, he was deposed by Blaise Compaoré, who was supported by France, and killed along with 12 other fellow participants. Campaoré bowed to French interests and ruled for 27 years until 2014 when, after the resignation of prominent figures of his party and a popular uprising, he was forced out of office and expelled from the country.

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Next Up: Puerto Rico - home at last.

puerto-rico

latinamerica

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17.254761

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Caucasus

caucasus

[kɒkəsəs]

43.585181

45.000000

km from you

1

The Caucasus region lies at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas. It spans across several countries, including Russia, Armenia and Georgia, which have seen heated conflicts in modern times.

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43.585181

45.000000

KM FROM YOU

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43°1'30"N 44°39'57"E

Ossetia

Drummer boys play war songs near Vladikavkaz

Ossetia

KM FROM YOU

The relationship between South Ossetia and Georgia is marked by two wars, ongoing tension and many skirmishes in the last twenty-five years. The first battle, unleashed in 1988, left 1,800 dead and caused an exodus of 4,000 people.



In 1992, the majority of the population of this region voted in favor of the annexation to Russia. Fourteen years later, in 2006, another referendum supported separation from Georgia and its union with North Ossetia and Russia.



In 2008, Georgia launched a massive attack on South Ossetia in order to reclaim this territory, causing hundreds of deaths, wounding civilians, and resulting in widespread destruction in the capital. Russia reacted through military the occupation of South Ossetia and parts of Georgia. They would later withdraw within days of expelling Georgian troops. 

The war led to the flight of around 30,000 Georgians to South Ossetia and about 37,000 South Ossetians were forced to move into Russian territory.

caucasus

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Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are as interconnected by geography as they are by culture, traditions, history and a war-torn past. They are leading figures in the tinderbox of the Southern Caucasus where Nagorno-Karabakh - a landlocked region and a disputed territory - plays a key role.

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43.585181

45.000000

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43°11'1"N 44°32'26"E

A History of Conflict

A nun prays at Beslan school gymnasium memorial

A History of Conflict

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The Nagorno-Karabakh region was given to Azerbaijan by the Soviet Union in the early 20th century. Since 1988 it is a matter of dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 In 1991 Nagorno Karabakh with the support of Armenia, declared its independence, and shortly after - war broke out.

Azerbaijan, Azeri and Shiite Muslim majority, received indirect support from its neighbors, Turkey and Iran, while Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh separatists were supported by Russia. The conflict resulted in 30,000 deaths and more than one million displaced. 

In 2016, conflict in the enclave resurfaced.



In 1915, during World War I, Ottoman authorities promoted a plan of persecution and deportation of the Armenian population. Only in the first months, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were shot or deported to Mesopotamia, now Syria. Among these, intellectuals and leaders of the Armenian community. Most of them died from starvation and thirst in the desert.

 Others were deported to Baghdad by train, while forced to buy their tickets, a practice repeated by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

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Our next destination is China, where the challenges of progress meet the deep roots of culture.

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Puerto Rico

latinamerica

[pwɛrto riko]

17.254761

-63.748169

km from you

none

4

The island of Puerto Rico is located in the northwestern part of the Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic, and west of the Virgin Islands.

17.254761

-63.748169

KM FROM YOU

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18°26'55"N 66°3'9"W

El Vejigante

A 'Vejigante' takes a break in Loíza, San Juan.

El Vejigante

KM FROM YOU

The vejigante is a folkloric figure who's origins trace back to medieval Spain. The legend goes that the vejigante represented the infidel Moors who were defeated in a battle led by Saint James. To honor the saint, the people dressed as demons took to the street in an annual procession. Over time, the vejigante became a kind of folkloric demon, but in Puerto Rico, it took on a new dimension with the introduction of African and native Taíno cultural influence. The Africans supplied the drum-heavy music of bomba y plena, while the Taíno contributed native elements to the most important part of the vejigante costume: the mask.

The mask of the vejigante is known as the Careta. Made from either papier-mâché or coconut husks (although I've also seen plenty of masks made with gourd), it typically sports a fearsome assortment of horns, fangs and beaks, and are often polka-dotted. Masks are hand-painted and assembled by local artisans.

Vejigante is an amalgamation of two Spanish words: vejiga, or cow bladder, and gigante, or giant. The name refers to the vejigas that the characters carry with them. The bladder, which is dried, inflated, filled with seeds and painted, is the trusty weapon of the vejigante. During the Ponce Carnival, the largest cultural event in Puerto Rico and an annual stage for the vejigante to strut his stuff, the characters will happily walk among the crowds, chanting, singing, and whacking random passersby with their vejigas. The banter between vejigantes and the crowds is all part of the fun.

latinamerica

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The smallest of the Greater Antilles island chain, the archipelago of Puerto Rico includes Puerto Rico, referred to as the “The Big Island” and several minor islands; Vieques, also known as “La Isla Nena” (Little Girl Island), Culebra, (Snake Island) and Mona (Monkey Island).

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17.254761

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KM FROM YOU

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18°17'40"N 66°52'37"W

Industry, Commerce and Labor

Two ‘Jibaros’ working the coffee field in Lares.

Industry, Commerce and Labor

KM FROM YOU

Today, Puerto Rico is facing a serious financial crisis with an accumulated debt of $73 billion, its particular status prevents it from enjoying the same rights as other US regional governments, and the Island has no independence to declare bankruptcy and obtain legal protection from its creditors, as was done by the state of Detroit. The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, had already announced that the debt is "unpayable". On June 30, 2016, President Barack Obama made into a Law the "Promise" project, imposing the Federal Fiscal Control Board.

Unemployment rate has risen to almost 12%. In recent years nearly 300,000 Puerto Ricans have emigrated because of the high cost of living and the lack of stable work places; the vast majority to the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS, for its acronym in English), 2014 registered the departure of 83,010 people, reaching levels of emigration never before seen. This same source stated that in the first six months of 2015, 71,297 Puerto Ricans left the country.

The population of Puerto Rico has been reduced to 3.4 million yet 4.5 million Puerto Ricans live in the United States; in other words, there are more Puerto Ricans outside the Island than living in it.

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Our next destination is Siberia, the coldest inhabited area in the world.

siberia

siberia

[sajbɪriə]

51.887267

95.626017

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Siberia

siberia

[sajbɪriə]

51.887267

95.626017

km from you

0

Located in Siberia, the Tuva Republic is a small state of the Russian federation. It is bordered at the south by Mongolia, surrounded by the Western Sayan mountains to the north, the Tannu Ola range to the south, and the Altai range to the west. Its eastern territory is forested and elevated.

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0xDDDDDD

51.887267

95.626017

KM FROM YOU

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51°42'54"N 94°27'26"E

Siberia

Siberian landscape, near Kyzyl, Tuva.

Siberia

MILES FROM YOU

This remote Siberian region harbors a fascinating cultural tradition: Throat singing. Tuva's Throat Singers can emit several harmonious pitches simultaneously and notes that sound like whistles. Their songs mimic the sounds of nature. The style has been likened to human bagpipes able to produce multiple low and high tones, based on one tone. In 2009, this art was recognized by Unesco as Intangible Cultural Heritage.


Despite being a remote and almost inaccessible area, Tuva was conquered by different empires: It was first in the hands of the Xiongnu, a nomadic cattle-herding tribe; who were established in what is now Mongolia. It was later occupied by the Mongol Empire and subsequently by China’s Qing Dynasty. In 1914 it joined the Russian Empire of Nicholas II and during the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the taking of Tuva by Communist troops in 1920, Tuvan revolutionaries proclaimed their independence.

Thus, in 1924 the People's Republic of Tuva was created, and recognized by the USSR. 

After the fall of the USSR, in 1993, it adopted its current name, Republic of Tuva, and was incorporated into to the Russian region of Siberia.

siberia

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The vast expanse of Siberia contrasts with its low population density: it spans across more than 75% of Russia's land mass but is home to only 28% of Russia's population.

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51.887267

95.626017

KM FROM YOU

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51°42'54"N 94°27'26"E

A Rich History

'Bökh' Mongolian wrestling near Kyzyl, Siberia.

A Rich History

KM FROM YOU

Its remote location and isolation were determining factors for Stalin's USSR choosing it as the location of the Gulag prison camps, in which abuse and forced labor were the order of the day.



The Bering Strait, located in the Siberian far east, is a stretch of 82 kilometers of sea linking Asia with the United States (Alaska). Several studies maintain that humans migrated from Asia to America through this narrow passage by the end of the last ice age, when ice sheets began to melt, opening an ice-free corridor. Therefore, the first Americans came from Siberia. This is shown by comparisons between ancestral genomes from bones found in the Siberian steppes and America.



Another theses point out that the early Americans came from Siberia or from Southeastern Asia, arriving along the Pacific coast. The most recent research has revealed that indigenous tribes from the Amazon and other South American regions not only have Siberian genomes, but also bear strong similarities with the Oceania native. It is still a mystery how the latter reached Siberia, intermingled with its people and migrated with them to South America.

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Next Up: Caucasus - where we witnessed war and listened to the melodic prayers of widows who have little left to pray for.

caucasus

caucasus

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43.585181

45.000000

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