World Explorer

Cambodia  Located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in southeast  Asia , the Kingdom of Cambodia can trace its history back to Neolithic times, when it was first inhabited around 2000 BC.  As one of the earliest known kingdoms to the region, the Funans rose to power in the 1st century AD, and flourished through the 6th century.  Under the guidance of Fan Shih-man in the early 3rd century, the Funan Kingdom extended its boundary lines as far south as  Malaysia  and then west towards  Burma , establishing a powerful organization of commercial monopolies, setting the way for future empires within the region.  Following the death of ruler Jayavarman I in 681, the kingdom was broken up into several principalities dominated by the Malayans and Javanese.  During the 12th century the Khmer Empire dominated the region, becoming Southeast  Asia's  largest empire. Conquests brought on by the Khmers were nearly unstoppable, and...

Cameroon Cameroon  First inhabited by the mysterious Pygmies, and then the Bantu and Sudanic peoples, Cameroon would eventually become an infamous source of slaves for Muslim and European  traders.  Missionaries arrived in the mid-19th century, and the land was subsequently colonized by  Germany  who set their sights on improving the colony's foundation - albeit with a harsh system of forced labor.  In the early 1900's (during World War I), it was invaded by both  Britain  and  France , and later divided between the two countries.  French  Cameroun, as it was called, integrated their culture with the present economy, and advanced the country's infrastructure in much of the same way as the  Germans  had done previously; however, Britain  governed their portion from  Nigeria , which caused natives to feel neglected.  Cameroon first flirted with independence in 1960, but then a long series of internal po...

Cape Verde The  Cape Verde  islands  consist of two small (volcanic in origin) archipelagos, about 400 miles off the western coast of  Africa . These once uninhabited  islands were first discovered by the ancient Phoenicians, then later colonized and exploited by the  Portuguese , beginning in the 15th century.  In the 16th century the islands became an infamous  trading center for  African  slaves, and eventually, an important stopping point for transatlantic sea traffic in the 19th century.  In an attempt to cripple the growing nationalism,  Portugal transformed Cape Verde from a colony to an overseas province in 1951.  The African Party for the Independence of  Guinea  and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was organized in 1956, sparking a movement for independence, and demanded improved economic, social and political conditions.  By 1961, rebellions against  Portugal  had mounted into a war of 10,000 ...

Cayman Islands On May 10, 1503, on his final voyage to the 'New World,' Christopher Columbus spotted the Cayman Islands. He named them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles that inhabited their waters.  In 1586, Sir France Drake, the first recorded English visitor to the islands, renamed them the Cayman Islands after caiman,  the Neo-Taino nations' term for alligator.  For the most part these islands remained uninhabited until the late 17th century. Then in a rush the word got out and it became a temporary home  to pirates, refugees, sailors, slaves (and reportedly) a few deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica.  Local records indicate that Isaac Booden, born on Grand Cayman, was the first permanent resident. Today, the majority of Caymanians are of African and English descent, with considerable interracial mixing.  The 1670 Treaty of Madrid, was an agreement between England  and  Spain . As a part of the overall settlem...

Central African Republic The Central  African Republic  is famed for its lowland gorilla population, Pygmy culture and for its fabulous national parks.  Ubangian peoples settled the region beginning in 1000 BC and, until the early 19th century, they remained beyond the reach of the expanding Islam movement.  In the 1800's, however, the Pygmy population was all but decimated by the slave trade. The  French  (to their  credit ) were anti-slavery, and began to take control of this land in 1905 by establishing the colony of Ubangi-Chair.  The rulers of Ubangi-Shari took advantage of the  French in an effort to gain  more  weapons, which were then used to apprehend additional slaves, and, in general, made life miserable for the citizens lacking power to resist.  Cotton, tea and coffee surfaced in the 1930s as a major cash crop, with several companies monopolizing on the products.  In the 1940's, amidst World War II, the reg...

Iceland Located in the  North Atlantic Ocean , directly east of  Greenland , Iceland is  Europe's  western most country, the second largest island in the North-Atlantic Ocean, and a little over 3 hours flight from London, Paris or Copenhagen.  It is suggested that the first permanent settler was Ingolfur Arnarson who arrived in 874 from Norway , and resided in present day Reykjavík.  He was quickly followed by more settlers from  Norway , as well as Ireland , and by the mid-900's most of Iceland's cultivable land had been snatched up.  The early settlers put together a council to moderate the area which lasted until 1262, at which point the legislation became incapable of being able to deal with the increasing power.  Around 1380 control of Iceland was passed along to Denmark , and the two were united along with  Norway  and Sweden  as the Kalmar Union for the next several hundred years.  Life was less than forgivi...

Domnican On November 3, 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it, a Sunday (Dominica in Latin).  In 1635 France claimed Dominica. Shortly thereafter, French missionaries became the first European inhabitants on the island.  Dominica was in fact the last Caribbean island to be colonized by the Europeans, due in part to its rugged topography, but mostly because of fierce resistance to outsiders from the native Carib Indians .  As part of the '1763 Treaty of Paris' that ended the Seven Years' War in Europe, the British took control of the island from the French in 1763.  Like all of the  British  colonies and possessions in the Caribbean, African slavery and civil rights were on-going hot button issues in Dominica.  The emancipation of  African  slaves occurred throughout the British Empire in 1834, and in 1838, Dominica became the first British Caribbean colony to have a legislatur...