2014 RID Region IV Conference

Make Your Vision a Reality

Countries from around the World in ASL

July 19, 2014

Dr. Adan R. Penilla, II NAD IV, CI/CT, NIC,SC:L, ASLTA

Colorado State Univ.- Adjunct ProfessorAslworldmatters.com

Republic of Albania• In Albanian, Shqipira

means Albania. In translation, it means Land of the Eagle.

• The eagle watches over the king, Son of the Eagle.

• The eagle is part of Albanian national folklore. The Golden Eagle is the national symbol.

• Albania is in Eastern Europe. The population of Albania is 70% Muslim and 30% Christian.

The Commonwealth of Australia

• Australia means Terra Incognita, means unknown southern land. With time and exploration, it came to be known as Australia.

• It is part of the British Commonwealth.

• A Commonwealth means for the common good. It shares the values of the protectorate nation.

• The flag heralds the Southern Cross. It is to the Australians what the Big Dipper is to Americans.

Opera and the Bridge

The Kingdom of Cambodia

• Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy.

• Theravada Buddhism is practiced by 95% of the population.

• The Khmer Empire was centered around the city of Angkor. The city was centered around the temple Angkor Wat.

• From 1975-1979, Cambodia was lead by the Khmer Rouge– Red Khmer. This was the communist party. Over 2 million people died at the hands of the communists.

Angkor Wat means Temple City or City of Temples. It was a city with many temples.

Republic of Chile• Chile’s cost line is approximately

2,700 miles long. Its width is approximately 110 miles.

• David Selkirk—the real Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on an island for several years off the Chilean coast.

• Chile’s flag (1817) is similar to the Texas flag (1839)and is known as The Lone Star.

• Augusto Pinochet was a military leader of Chile from 1973-1990 but Commander-in–Chief from 1973-1998

Robinson Crusoe Island

People’s Republic of China

• Red is considered a lucky color in China.

• China has a standard time. There are no time zones although if there were, China would span five time zones.

• The time is 8 hours from Greenwich Mean Time. Time in China is called, Beijing Time.

• The largest star on the flag represent represents the Communist Party. The four small stars represents the four classes of people. Red is symbolic of communism and yellow for the people.

Federal Republic of Germany

• The German flag colors are that of the Holy Roman Empire; the German flag has never changed colors.

• In a last name, Von is an indication of German lineage and Van is that of the Dutch. They both mean, son of.

• After WWII, the West German and East German flags were identical until 1959 when the East Germans augmented their flag.

Hellenic Republic: Greece• Hellenic refers to

ancient Greece.• Greece and Turkey have

had conflict based on religion and territory.

• Greece won Ottoman territory in WWI but it had to be returned as Turkey was established, Greece returned to its original size.

• The Greek flag is called the Galanolefki, the Blue and White.

Republic of Guatemala• There are many languages spoken

in Guatemala, 21 are Mayan in origin. Guatemala means “land of Trees” in one of these languages.

• The two blue stripes on the flag represent the two bodies of ocean that are on either side of the country.

• The bird on the flag is the Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala

• During the Mayan Empire, chocolate was invented.

Republic of Iceland• Iceland is known as the land

of Fire and Ice.• Iceland is the only member

of NATO that does not maintain a standing army.

• In WWII, Germany wanting to use Iceland as a stepping stone to the West. The Allies wanted to use Iceland as a steppingstone to Germany. The Allies won.

• Iceland’s flag is modeled after Norway’s flag. TheTjugufani depicts its membership in the family of Scandinavian nations by showing a Christian cross.

Money and the National Bird

Italian Republic

• The name Italy may have come from the Northern people, Vitali or from a ruler named Italus.

• Under Mussolini, the fascist controlled Italy maintained an alliance with Japan and Germany. This alliance was called the Axis Power.

• The Italian flag was designed after the French flag; its name is as simplistic as theirs, Il Tricolore.

Fasces and Fascism

Fasces Means Bundle There is Strength in Unity

Republic of Indonesia

• Indonesia is a combination of two words: Indus (river)—Latin for India and Nesos, which is Greek for island. His compound word means islands in the Indian Ocean.

• Indonesia has over 580 languages and dialects

• The flag should never have any marks or designs of any kind put upon it.

Japan

• There is no official language in Japan.

• The two official religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shinto.

• There is controversy as to which nation has the first sunrise of the Earth, New Zealand or Japan.

• The flag of Japan is officially called Nisshoki. Unofficially it is called the Hinomaru, Circle of the Sun.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

• North Korea has the world’s only communist dynasty.

• North Korea is the last true Stalinist state.

• Korea was divided on the 38th parallel line but later the boundary was made on a demarcation line and a demilitarized zone--DMZ.

• Korea means land of the morning calm.

• The North Korean flag is called Ramhongsaek Konghwagukki. In the West, it is simply called the North Korean flag.

The Republic of Korea

• South Koreans refer to North Korea as the North.

• It has the fourth largest economy in Asia.

• South Korea maintains foreign relations with 188 nations from 194 approximately.

• Although there is a friendship treaty with Japan, there is still a strong anti-Japanese sentiment left from WWII.

• The South Korean flag, is called the Tae kuk ke. The symbol in the middle is the Yin and the Yang.

Kingdom of Norway• There are three official

languages in Norway: Bokmal and Nynorsk (Book Norwegian and New Norwegian), and Sami.

• The Sami people are better known as Lapp.

• The Laerdal Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world; it is 15 miles long.

• If the flag is dishonored, it must be cut up by its colors and burned in pieces.

Autonomous Region of Mongolia: Inner Mongolia

• Inner Mongolia is a region in China.

• The name Mongol has its origins with the root word, Mongu/mengu; this means brave, unconquered.

• The majority of people in this area are Han Chinese; Mongols are a minority consisting of 17% of the population.

(Outer) Mongolia• Mongolia has its alliance

with Russia.• The Cyrillic alphabet is used.

There is a movement to restore the Mongolian script but it is met with resistance from the younger generation as they are used to Cyrillic.

• The old Mongolian script is now called classic Mongol script.

Genghis Khan: Mongolia’s George Washington

Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

• Buddha was born in Nepal.• Hindu comprises 80% of

the population while Buddhism comprises of 11% of the population. Islam is 4%.

• It is not an uncommon practice to combine both religions. Some shrines and temples are shared by both Hindus and Buddhists.

Nepal’s flag represents the Himalaya Mountains it also represents the two main religions: Buddhism and Hinduism.

Republic of Poland• During the American

Revolution, Poles came to America to help fight against the British.

• Poles moved to the Americas and lived in the Virginia Colony. They were brought to America by the British as they are skilled artisans.

• The name Pole, is derived from the indigenous people. It means field or plain as they are plain dwellers. Poland is a low land country.

Sawa: The Mermaid of Warsaw

Romania• Romania means, Romanus,

Citizen of Rome.• Romania was conquered by

the Romans due to its large ore and gold deposits. Roman citizens moved into the area and brought their language, Vulgate Latin. Current Romanian is a linguistic descent of the Vulgate Latin.

The colors of the flag signify,blue- liberty, yellow- justice,red-fertility. The national colors date back to the 16th

century.

Russian Federation• In the ninth century, the

Varangians traveled to Russia and entered the country from the North.

• The name Varangian is old Finnish meaning Rus. This man account for the name of the country.

• The royal title, Czar is derived from the Latin term Caesar. Also, the title Kaiser has its origins with Julius Caesar.

• It has been reported that the colors of the Russian flag have no symbolic significance other than being Pan Slavic colors.

Federal Republic of Somalia

• Somalia is the size of Texas.

• It is 100% Muslim.• There are no churches

or other places of worship other than Islamic.

• In Somalia, 405 of adults can read.

Kingdom of Sweden• In the summer, the sun

rises at 3:30AM and in the winter, it sets at 3:30 PM.

• In land area, Sweden is the third largest in Western Europe after France and Spain.

• The Swedish Viking Age lasted from the 8th-11th century, 300 years.

• Legend had it that Eric the Holy saw a cross in the sky while on a Crusade; the Swedish flag has been adorned with a cross ever since.

The Kingdom of Thailand

• This country was named Siam until 1939 when the name was changed to Thailand.

• Thailand is the only country in the region that avoided colonization from Europe.

• At one time, Thailand had Britain on one side and France on the other—Thailand was a buffer zone.

• Thailand is the only nation in Asia that ends with—land.

Vatican City State• The capital is Vatican City.• St. Peter’s Basilica was

designed by Michelangelo. • St. Peter’s Basilica is

known as the Mecca of Christians.

• The Holy See means Sancta Sedes, Holy Seat—Central government of the Catholic Church.

• The Holy See is not the same thing as the Vatican. The Vatican has no diplomatic service, all international relations, go through the Holy See.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

• In Vietnam, new years is called Tet.

• Everyone celebrates their birthday on Tet.

• The Vietnamese have strived to maintain their independence. They have fought with China, The US, Japan and France.

• The five points of the star represent the workers, peasants, intellectuals, soldiers building Socialism and youth. The red symbolizes communism.

Nagasaki, Japan• Naga- long and Saki- headland, the

name comes from the location of the

area.

• The former name sign reflects the shape

of the area.

• It was targeted for bombing for

shipping industry and its manufacturing

industrial district which was invaluable

to the Japanese military war effort. The

second atomic bomb was dropped on

Nagasaki and 75,000 people were killed

or wounded.

Hiroshima, Japan• Hiro-broad and Shima- island.• The first atomic bomb was

dropped on Hiroshima in Aug. 6, 1945 at 8:15 AM

• Between 90,000-166,000 people were killed by the atomic bomb.

• The name sign for Hiroshima related to the Gokoku Jinja Shrine

• The plane that carried the atomic bomb was called the Enola Gay. It was named after the pilot’s mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.

Little Boy was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Auschwitz, Poland• Auschwitz was a network of

camps based in Poland. There were over 45 camps in the network.

• The Soviet Union liberated Auschwitz from the Germans—Jan. 1945. The camps were dismantled and what was left was used as prisons by the Soviet secret police for anti communists.

• Prior to the liberation of Auschwitz, prisoners where sent on a death march. There were 7,500 prisoners when the Soviets arrived.