Parks, gardens and cemeteries Arnold Arboretum Anyone who comes here will see the oldest public arboretum in North America. It is also one of the world’s leading centers for botany. Let yourself go and lean back in a wonderful landscape with countless species from all over the world. Boston Common Founded in 1634, Boston Common…
Category: Central and North America
Providence Rhode Island Travel Guide
The lively university city of Providence is a particularly good starting point to get to know America’s smallest state, Rhode Island, and its glamorous history. The metropolis of Boston is within easy reach of less than an hour’s drive, and the famous lighthouses, white sandy beaches and other area attractions are also within easy reach….
United States Geography
The United States of America is geographically located in North America and, socioeconomically, in Anglo-Saxon America . It presents the fourth territory in the world in non-continuous lands with 9.3 million km², surpassed by Russia, Canada and China. The immense territory that is limited to the north, with Canada , in the south, with Mexico,…
Costa Rica History
History Costa Rica was discovered and probably named by Christopher Columbus, on his fourth trip to America, in 1502. There were about thirty thousand indigenous people in the region, divided into three groups: ghettos, chorotegas and borucos. Found the first evidence of gold, used in indigenous ornaments, the Spaniards planned a colonization nucleus under the…
Costa Rica Country Facts
Physical geography The relative economic prosperity and political stability, as well as the strong rootedness of the Hispanic cultural tradition, characterize the small Central American republic of Costa Rica. Located in the southern portion of the Central American isthmus, Costa Rica is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the…
Cuba Society and Culture
Society One of the first social measures undertaken by the revolutionary government was the eradication of illiteracy. Throughout 1961, declared the year of education, more than 700,000 Cubans learned to read and write. In the following years, illiteracy was eradicated and the number of university students ceaselessly increased, which was three times higher than in…
Cuba Population and Economy
Population Racial types and language For more than four centuries, Cuba has been the base of ethnic groups of different origins. The descendants of Spaniards and black Africans are the predominant racial groups, but there are also Chinese, European and Lebanese Jews, among others. Pre-Columbian inhabitants came from the South American continent, with cybels being…
Cuba Country Facts
Cuba conquered its identity and matured, guided by patriots such as the poet José Martí and, in 1959, it became the first socialist country in the Americas: by virtue of this option, in the last decade of the 20th century, when the Soviet Union fell apart, gave support, lived in a unique position of continental…
Before the trip to Cuba
Vaccinations and health At present, no compulsory vaccinations are needed to visit Cuba. Feel free to consult a doctor or local health center for advice well in advance of your trip to Cuba. Current information is also available at www.1177.se. There are international hospitals in Havana. Feel free to check with the Swedish Social Insurance…
United States Political System
Political system Short for US by Abbreviationfinder, United States is a federal state with 50 states. The Constitution, which came into force in 1789, prescribes a state of law based on the principle of division of power. According to this principle, executive, legislative and judicial power must balance each other: the president governs the United…
Trinidad and Tobago Political System
Political system Short for TNT by Abbreviationfinder, Trinidad and Tobago is a parliamentary republic. The president is head of state but has a mainly ceremonial role while the government has the executive power. The smaller island of Tobago has been self-governing since 1987. Party politics is largely divided by ethnic divides, with one party representing…
St. Vincent Political System
Political system Short for VC by Abbreviationfinder, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a British model parliamentary democracy. The prime minister and his government rule the country, which is often called just Saint Vincent. The government is responsible to Parliament, which consists of a chamber. Saint Vincent is an independent state within the Commonwealth consisting…
St. Lucia Political System
Political system In Saint Lucia, the British monarch is head of state and is represented on the island by a Governor General. However, the executive power is very much in the hands of the country’s government, which is responsible to the legislative parliament. Two political parties, the Conservative United Workers ‘Party (UWP) and the Left…
St. Kitts Political System
Political system Short for KN by Abbreviationfinder, Saint Kitts and Nevis have been part of the Commonwealth since independence in 1983, consisting of Britain and the former British colonies. The country is a monarchy with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The queen is represented on the islands by a general governor, who…
Panama Political System
Political system Short for PM by Abbreviationfinder, Panama is a republic whose president has great powers. The constitution that guarantees civil and political freedoms and rights is from 1976, but was written on pervasive in 1983. The political parties are built around people rather than around political ideologies. The president is both head of state…
Nicaragua Political System
Political system Short for NI by Abbreviationfinder, Nicaragua is a republic where the president is the head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief. Since Daniel Ortega and the Sandlinist Party FSLN returned to power in 2007, the state administration has become more centralized and the government more authoritarian, and parts of the constitution have…
Mexico Political System
Political system Short for MX by Abbreviationfinder, Mexico is a republic with strong presidential power. It is also a federal state, and on paper, the states have far-reaching self-government under their elected governors and state governments. In practice, however, power is highly centralized. Nowadays there are several parties with influence over politics. The Constitution dates…
Jamaica Political System
Political system Short for JA by Abbreviationfinder, Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy. The British monarch is formally the head of state but the political power is exercised by the prime minister and the government. Jamaica is a member of the Commonwealth, which includes Britain and former British colonies. The constitution is from independence in 1962….
Honduras Political System
Political system On paper, short for HN by Abbreviationfinder, Honduras is a democracy traditionally dominated by two Conservative parties. Despite the transition to civilian rule in 1982, the military has continued to have influence, which not least showed the coup d’état in 2009. Paradoxically, the coup meant that more parties were formed and got seats…
Haiti Political System
Political system Short for HT by Abbreviationfinder, Haiti has semi-presidential rule, which is a mixture of presidential rule and parliamentaryism. The president is the head of state and shares the executive power with the prime minister, to be taken from the largest party in parliament. The political parties are weak and usually short-lived and serve…
Guatemala Political System
Political system Short for GT by Abbreviationfinder, Guatemala is a republic with strong presidential power. The constitution guarantees civil liberties, but amendments that were intended to consolidate large parts of the 1996 peace agreement have not yet been adopted. Thus, the indigenous peoples still lack special constitutional protection for, among other things, culture and language,…
Grenada Political System
Political system Short for GD by Abbreviationfinder, Grenada has been an independent republic within the Commonwealth since 1974 with a two-chamber parliament and a general governor representing the head of state, the British monarch. Party politics are characterized by personal contradictions, which has led to a number of outbursts and new party formation. The legal…
El Salvador Political System
Political system Short for SV by Abbreviationfinder, El Salvador is a republic with strong presidential power. Since the end of the civil war in 1992, politics has been dominated by the right-wing Arena and the former left-wing guerrilla FMLN. The country is characterized by violence, mainly criminal youth gangs, but the police are also behind….
Dominican Republic Political System
Political system Short for DR by Abbreviationfinder, the Dominican Republic is a democracy with strong presidential power and division of power according to the American model with an executive, a legislative and a judicial body. The constitution is basically from 1966, but with each change a new constitution is formally adopted. The judiciary is weak…
Dominica Political System
Political system Short for DM by Abbreviationfinder, Dominica is a republic. According to the 1978 Constitution, the President has the executive power but it is exercised in practice by the government. Since the 2005 election, Dominica can in fact be said to have a two-party system. The president is the head of state and is…
Cuba Political System
Political system Short for CU by Abbreviationfinder, Cuba is one of the last one-party states in the world. The constitution, which is designed according to a Soviet model, states that Cuba’s Communist Party should play the leading role in society and the state. No other parties are allowed. Anyone who opposes the system risks harassment…
Costa Rica Political System
Political system The Republic of Costa Rica is a democracy with strong presidential power. The 1949 Constitution states that the country should have no army. The Costa Ricans have since lived in peace and relative prosperity, despite violent upheavals in neighboring countries. The president, who is both head of state and government, is elected together…
Canada Political System
Political system Short for CA by Abbreviationfinder, Canada is a federal state where power is shared between the federal government and the ten provincial governments. The three northern territories – Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut – do not have the same independent status as the provinces but have their own governments with significant powers. The…
Belize Political System
Political system Short for BZ by Abbreviationfinder, Belize first became independent in 1981 and the British queen is still head of state. The liberation is still progressing slowly, especially with the neighboring community in the Caribbean. The Supreme Court is no longer British, but Caribbean. Politics is dominated by two ideologically relatively equal parties. The…
Barbados Political System
Political system Short for BB by Abbreviationfinder, Barbados is a stable parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth (Britain and its former colonies). The British monarch is the head of state and is represented on the island by a Governor General. The government has real political power and both the dominant political parties have said they want…