Loca Lingo Multicultural

Yes, some recognized countries in our beloved world do not possess any army (even if sometimes limited armed forces).
Some countries in our deep loved world do not massively buy weapons… Politically “weak”, dependent of a foreign armed force, sometimes rogue bank island heavens no-one dares tickling, trade-offs are plenty though, and weapons are sometimes less lethal than a few billion USD from a dodgy origin…

Europe
Andorra : 81 200 nationals, under protection of France and Spain
Iceland : 309 699, under protection of NATO & the US, some armed forces though, but limited
Liechtenstein : 35 000, under protection of Switzerland
Vatican City : 800, under protection of Italy
Monaco : 33 000, under protection of France
San Marino : 31 000, under protection of Italy

America
Costa Rica : 4 468 000, under protection of the US
Dominica : 67 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Grenada : 106 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Haiti : 9 598 000, some military units
Marshall Islands : 59 000, under protection of the US
Panama : 3 343 000, under protection of the US
Saint Kitts and Nevis : 50 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Saint Lucia : 165 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines : 120 000, under protection of a “Regional Security System”

Pacific
Kiribati : 95 000, under protection of Australia & New Zealand
Micronesia : 111 000, under protection of the US
Nauru : 10 000, under protection of Australia
Palau : 20 000, under protection of the US
Samoa : 187 000, under protection of New Zealand
Solomon Islands : 496 000, no standing army (besides the internal conflicts)
Tuvalu : 11 000, no army
Vanuatu : 226 000, small mobile military force

Indian Ocean
Mauritius : 1 262 000, unofficially under protection of India

It does not mean, as you might have noticed, these listed countries have never experienced war and violence. Haiti, Solomon Islands for instance had many heavy internal conflicts… Army, a necessary evil ?

source : wikipedia.
Article’s idea while going through the blog of war.

An historical bridge between East and West, West and East, a constant exchange throughout History. “A concept that illustrates the way that commodities, empires, religions, and even music, have traveled throughout Eurasia for thousands of years”.

This time map (pop-ups to be allowed) shows how many ways / routes existed when going from one side to the other ; an evolution from the Roman Empire, Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Sir Aurel Stein (?), Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, Anthony Jenkinson, Benedict Goës,… Only European explorers were mentioned - what about Asians ? There must have certainly been some (Genghis Khan ?).. Arabs used as well to extensively travel the world. (A pity the only information taught in (Belgian) school is mainly about “national progress for humanity”, forgetting the foreign ones. When history is about politics…)

From a cultural point of view, the same organization (ECAI Berkeley) made up a similar map concerning music instruments… very interesting

When you give a closer look to the map, you can notice the importance of Persia (currently Iran) in this global transportation network : a compulsory gate controlling two seas,… I can just imagine the cultural heritage 2500 years+ of caravans must have left to this country.

Human Development Index
Top thirty countries (HDI range from 0.965 down to 0.885 - for more information about HDI)
Out of 30 countries, 21 are in Europe (6 in the top 10).

1. Norway 0.965
2. Iceland 0.960
3. Australia 0.957
4. Ireland 0.956
5. Sweden 0.951
6. Canada 0.950
7. Japan 0.949
8. United States 0.948
9. Switzerland 0.947
10. Netherlands 0.947
11. Finland 0.947
12. Luxembourg 0.945
13. Belgium 0.945
14. Austria 0.944
15. Denmark 0.943
16. France 0.942
17. Italy 0.940
18. United Kingdom 0.940
19. Spain 0.938
20. New Zealand 0.936
21. Germany 0.932
22. Hong Kong 0.927
23. Israel 0.927
24. Greece 0.921
25. Singapore 0.916
26. South Korea 0.912
27. Slovenia 0.910
28. Portugal 0.904
29. Cyprus 0.903
30. Czech Republic 0.885

Interesting page about skyscrapers in the world. Nice analysis following some artist’s work. World population will be more and more urbanised. Cities growing at a faster rate than the average world population - there is definitely a rural exodus going on… 15 best Skylines to enjoy your next one.