Postage stamps and postal history of Kazakhstan

5.6 Postage stamps and postal history of Kazakhstan.

Under the Soviet Union, the Kazakh SSR postal service was an integral part of the Soviet system. The republic was periodically recognized in sets of stamps honoring the different parts of the USSR. Kazakhstan became independent in December 1991, and wasted no time in organizing its own post. Its first stamp, depicting a warrior's suit found at the Issyk mound in 1969, was issued 23 March 1992. Overprinted stamps of the USSR are also known from this early period, but the Philatelic Club of Almaty has concluded that their official status is uncertain; although some saw postal usage, they were not generally available in post offices, nor do their values reflect actual postal rates in effect. (Although they may be fabrications intended to deceive collectors, this has apparently not been proven or disproven.)The first definitive stamps were a set of five issued in 24 January 1993, four of which were a stylized design consisting of a yurt and spaceship (alluding to the country's Baikonur Cosmodrome), along with a high value of 50 rubles depicting the flag of Kazakhstan. The currency changed to tijn and tenge around the end of 1993. Existing stamps, all denominated in rubles and kopecks, were then sold as if they were in the new currencies. New stamps issued in the first half of 1994 were initially sold as denominated in tijn, then later in tenge. The yurt-and-spaceship design was re-issued in the new currency beginning in July 1994. Kazakhstan has since followed a moderate pattern of issues, averaging 30 to 40 types per year. The space theme is frequent.

Many foreigners say “England” and “English” when they mean “Britain”, or the “UK”, and “British”. This is very annoying for 5 million people who live in Scotland, the 2.8 million in Wales and 1.5 million in Northern Ireland who are certainly not English. (46 million people live in England). However, the people from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England are all British.

The United Kingdom is an abbreviation of “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. It is the political name of the country which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (sometimes known as Ulster). Several islands off the British coast are also part of the United Kingdom (for example, the Isle of Wight, the Orkneys, Hebrides and Shetlands, and the Isles of Scilly), although the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not. However, all these islands do recognize the Queen.

Great Britain is the name of the island which is made up of England, Scotland, and Wales and so, strictly speaking, it does not include Northern Ireland. In everyday speech “Britain” is used to mean the United Kingdom.

The British Isles is the geographical name that refers to all the islands off the north-west coast of the European continent: Great Britain, the whole of Ireland (Northern and Southern), the Channel Islands and the Isle of man. But it is important to remember that Southern Ireland – that is the Republic of Ireland (also called “Eire”)- is completely independent.

Britain is one of the world’s smaller countries with an area of some 244,100 square kilometers (94,250 sq.miles); with some 56 million people, it ranks about 14^th in terms of population. About half the people live in a large belt stretching north-westwards from London across England. Other large concentrations of population are in the central lowlands of Scotland, south-east Wales and the Bristol area, parts of north-east England and along much of the English Channel coast.

The climate is generally mild and temperate. The average of temperature between winter and summer is greatest inland, in the eastern part of the country. During a normal summer the temperature occasionally rises above 30°C (86°F) in the south; winter temperatures below- 10°C (14°F) are rare. January and February are usually the coldest months, July and August- the warmest.

The landscape is rich and varied, sometimes showing marked contrasts within short distances. Most of the land is agricultural, of which over one third is arable, growing various crops and the rest pasture and grazing. Woodlands cover about 8 per cent of the country.

Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a Constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as the head of State. The country is governed in the Queen’s name by the Government although she performs certain important acts of government on the advice of her ministers. The Queen is also the head of the Commonwealth, and is the head of State in 14 of its 41 member countries. She is a temporal head of the Church of England.

Legislative measures are introduced into Parliament as Bills, usually by ministers but also by other MPs. Bills are considered both by the House of Commons and by the House of Lords. The debating procedures of the two Houses are broadly similar, and Bills approved at all stages receive the Royal Assent and become Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords may delay certain Bills but cannot finally Veto them.

The work of Government is carried out through the various government departments, each directly or indirectly responsible to a minister and staffed by members of a politically neutral Civil Service – a change of Government does not involve a change in the civil servants staffing a department.
5. 9 Science and Technology in Britain

Since the first artificial splitting of the atom at Cambridge, in 1932, by Sir John Cockcroft and Dr. E.T.S. Walton, Britain’s nuclear scientists have made continuous progress in harnessing atomic energy. Today eight commercial nuclear power stations are supplying electricity for factories and homes and others are being built. Some of Britain’s top scientists are engaged in space research on projects such as upper atmosphere probes with British- built rockets at Woomera, Australia, and in work on satellite communications. Others are making vital discoveries in the laboratory into the very nature of life itself.

Britain is pre-eminent in radio astronomy and in many fields of electronics including miniaturisation, one of the most important factors in the electronics revolution, and in radar for marine and aviation purposes. Much basic work was done in Britain on electronic computers. British advances in medicine include penicillin and other antibiotics, such as cephalosporins, heart-lung machines, and a new anti- viral agent, interferon, of great potential value and many other important developments in the treatment of disease.

British contributions to science include many great discoveries linked with famous names – Sir Isaac Newton (theory of gravitation), Robert Boyle (“the farther of modern chemistry”), Michael Faraday (whose discoveries gave rise to the electrical industry), and Henry Cavendish (properties of hydrogen). In the present century- J.J. Thomson, Lord Rutherford and Sir James Chadwick (basic work on nuclear science), Gowland Hopkins (the existence of vitamins), Sir William Bragg (X-ray analysis), and many others. Medicine owes much to such pioneers as William Harvey (circulation of blood), Edward Jenner (vaccination), Joseph Lister (antiseptics), Sir Ronald Ross (who proved the relation between malaria and mosquitoes).

Since 1945 there have been 27 British scientists who have received international recognition for their work by gaining Nobel awards. There are over 200 learned scientific societies in Britain. In ten years Britain has doubled her total number of qualified scientists.
5.10 English Characteristics

In a nation of many million of people, there are many different kinds: good and bad, honest and dishonest, happy and unhappy.

The best- known quality of the English, for example, is reserve. A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion. He never tells you anything about himself. If English people are making a journey by train, they will try to find an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does not start, personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What’s your name?” are not easily asked. Questions like “Where did you buy your watch?” or “What’s your salary?” are impossible.

But the people of the North and West of Britain, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.

Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. If a person is, let us say, very good in golf, and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will probably give an answer like “I’m not bad”, or “I think I’m quite good”, or “Well, I’m very keen on golf”.

The famous English sense of humour is similar. Its ideal is the ability to laugh at oneself- at one’s own faults. “He is a man of humour” or “He has no sense of humour” is often heard in Britain, where humour is so highly prized.

Visitors from many parts of the world are among the thousands of people who gather on the Common at Hayes, near Bromley, Kent, to witness the crowning of London’s May Queen. It is the largest May Queen Festival in Britain and over a thousand children take part. The date is the second Saturday in May. The procession forms up in the village church. The actual crowning takes place about 1.30 p.m. and makes its way to the Common by way of the village church. The actual crowning takes place about 3 p.m. As many as forty May Queens from different parts of the country are present and with their attendants present a colourful spectacle. Their dresses are beautifully made, with a distinctive colour scheme for almost all the different “Realms”. The Festival has been held since 1880.

Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter pastime which still flourishes in northern England, Scotland, Ulster, the Isle of Man, and Switzerland. It takes place on Easter Sunday or Monday, and consists of rolling coloured, hard-boiled eggs down a slope until they are cracked and broken after which they are eaten by their owners. In some districts, this is a competitive game, the winner being the player whose egg remains longest undamaged, but more usually, the fun consists simply of the rolling and eating. This is evidently the older form of the custom, since egg-rolling does not appear to have been originally a game to be lost or won. In the Hebrides, formerly, it provided an opportunity for divination. Each player marked his or her egg with an identifying sign, and then watched to see how it fared as it sped down the slope. If it reached the bottom unscathed, the owner could expect good lick in the future, but if it was broken, misfortune would follow before the year was out. Similarly, at Connel Ferry in Argyllshire, where it was customary for young men to roll their eggs in one place, and for young women to roll theirs in another, the man or girl whose egg went farthest and most smoothly would be the first person to marry in that particular group.

“Hooligan”

Do you know the word “hooligan”? Yes, you know the word and you don’t like hooligans, of course.

But do you know that Hooligan was an English surname and not a word? In 1890 there lived in London a man whose surname was Hooligan. He was a very bad man and he behaved so badly, that soon everybody in London knew him and talked about him. When somebody began to behave badly, people said, “Oh, he behaves like Hooligan”, and a new word was born. You can find this word not only in English but in some other languages too.

“Mackintosh”

Do you know what a mackintosh is? Of course, you do. But do you know that the word “Mackintosh” is a surname?

In 1823, in Scotland lived a man whose name was Charles Mackintosh. It often rained in Great Britain, and Charles Mackintosh got wet quite often. One day he rubberized his coat ant it became waterproof. Many of his friends liked his coat and asked him to rubberize their coats too. Soon many people began to rubberize their coats and they called those coats “mackintoshes”.

“Primula”

Primula is the name of one of the genius of the Primulaceae family, sometimes known as the primrose family. There are three wild species which are quite common in Great Britain and these are the primrose, the cowslip and the oxlip.

The primrose is supposed to have been the favourite flower of Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconfield, who was Britain’s Prime minister in the 19^th century, and it is said that Queen Victoria often gave him bunches of these pretty yellow flowers. When he died, in April 1881, the Queen sent a wreath of primroses to his funeral. Later, Primrose Day was inaugurated. This was celebrated on April 19^th, the day of his death, and Disraei’s supporters wore primrose buttonholes in his memory. Primroses were also laid on his statue in Parliament Square.

The generic word “primula” is a corruption of the French “primeverole” and the Italian “ primeverolla”. Both these words came from the Latin “prima vera” and mean “first flower of spring”.
5.14 The USA

The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada and China). It occupies the southern part of North America and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. It also includes Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is about nine and a half million square kilometers. The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has a sea-boarder with Russia.

The USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia, a special federal area where the capital of the country, Washington, is situated. The population of the country is about 250 million.

If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains. The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada. The highest peak is Mount McKinley which is located in Alaska.

America's largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio Grande and the Columbia. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the largest and deepest in the USA.

The climate of the country varies greatly. The coldest regions are in the north. The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is continental. The south has a subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The climate along the Pacific coast is much warmer than that of the Atlantic coast.

The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It is the world's leading producer of copper and oil and the world's second producer of iron ore and coal. Among the most important manufacturing industries are aircraft, cars, textiles, radio and television sets, armaments, furniture and paper.

Though mainly European and African in origin, Americans are made up from nearly all races and-nations, including Chinese and native Americans.

The largest cities are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, San-Francisco, Washington and others.

The United States is a federal union of 50 states, each of which has its own government. The seat of the central (federal) government is Washington, DC. According to the US Constitution the powers of the government are divided into 3 branches: the executive, headed by the President, the legislative, exercised by the Congress, and the judicial. The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

There are two main political parties in the USA: the Republican and the Democratic.

5.15 Washington DC

Washington is the capital of the United States of America. It is situated in the District of Columbia and is like no other city of the USA. It's the world's largest one-industry city. And that industry is government. The White House, where the US President lives and works, the Capitol, the home of the US Congress and the Supreme Court are all in Washington.

Washington was first settled in 1790 and since 1800 it has been the Federal capital.

Washington is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in the United States. In the very centre of it rises the huge dome of the Capitol — a big white dome standing on a circle of pillars. The 535 members of the Congress meet here to discuss the nation's affairs. It's easy to get lost in this huge building, full of paintings and statues.

Not far from the Capitol is the Library of Congress, the largest library in the States. It contains more than 13 million books, more than 19 million manuscripts, including the personal papers of the US presidents.

The White House is the official residence of the US President. He works in the Oval Office.

One can hardly find a park, a square or an open area in Washington without a monument or a memorial. The most impressive and the best-known ones are the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

There are some important museums in Washington where you can see ail kinds of things: famous paintings and sculptures, the dresses of President's wives, the original of the Declaration of Independence, the largest blue diamond in the world, etc.

There are 5 universities in Washington.

There are no skyscrapers in Washington, because they would hide the city's many monuments from view. No building in the city may be more than 40 meters tall.

Thousands of tourists visit Washington every day. People from all parts of the United States come to see their capital.

A few general cultural patterns cut across regional and political boundaries and, in many cases, ignore major differences in the physical environment. These themes characterize the ways Americans have organized their country.

Urbanization: Millions of Americans, most of them urbanites, prefer to consider their country as a basically rural place, and they seem to believe that this rurality provides the country with a basic national vigor.

There is no longer much justifica­tion for this view of rural domi­nance. About 70 percent of Americans live in urban areas, and more than 40 percent are in areas of 1 million people or more. In 1990, the U.S. farm population numbered about 5 million (2 percent of the population), a figure that has declined steadily since the first national census in 1790, when over 90 percent of all Americans were farmers.

Several elements of urbanization are emphasized in our discussion. Cities have a particular form, a par­ticular layout. Most American cities have a rectangular-grid pattern, partly a result of cultural attitudes, partly a result of a desire for effi­cient transport before the automo­bile, and partly because that pattern is in easy way to survey the land. Within cities, there is a collection of industrial and commercial centers, residential areas, warehouses, and so on.

Cities exist for many different reasons. They mane have an important transportation role. Or they may provide an important administrative function. Perhaps they are a centre of recreation or manufacturing.

Most cities, certainly all large ones, contain many different urban functions. Nevertheless, many are characterized by certain dominant functions that were the reason for their development and much of their early growth, and that today continue to give them their special character.

The pattern of continuing and often rapid urban growth in the United States during the last 100 years, coupled with the increasing mobility of the urban population, has stimulated a great sprawling pattern of urbanization. In some areas, the result of urban spread is urbancoalescence, with the edges of different urban areas meeting and blending.

A substantial part of U.S. employment is related to manufacturing, either directly or indirectly. Most cities were founded and experienced their major periods of growth when manufacturing was I he primary factor in urban growth.

Today, there is substantial regional specialization in manufacturing, partly as the result of variations in the availability of industrial raw materials and partly as the result of industrial linkages; manufacturing concerns that produce component parts of some final product are located near each other as well as near the final assembly site to mini­mize total movement costs.

Other important sources of varia­tion include differences in labor availability or labor skills, in the quality of transportation facilities, and in local political attitudes. Regions tend to specialize in the production of whatever it is that they can best produce. And with this regional specialization has come regional interdependence; few sections of America are truly self-sufficient in manufacturing, in spite of what local pride might lead us to believe.

Nearly 20 percent of all Americans change their residence in any one year. Although much of this residential migration is local in nature, it does result in substantial inter­regional population movement. Until the last decade of the 19^th century, there was a strong westward population shift toward frontier agricultural lands. The focus of opportunity then changed and migration shifted to urban areas.