I Great Britain
1. London
London is the capital of Great Britain, SE England, on both sides of the
Thames River. Greater London (1991 pop. 6,378,600), c.620 sq mi (1,610 sq km), consists of the Corporation of the City of London and the following 32 boroughs: Westminster, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets,
Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and
Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea (the inner boroughs); Waltham Forest,
Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Bexley, Bromley,
Croydon, Sutton, Merton, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames,
Hounslow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Brent, Harrow, Barnet, Haringey, and Enfield
(the outer boroughs). Greater London includes the area of the former county of London, most of the former county of Middlesex, and areas that were formerly in Surrey, Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire. Each of the boroughs of
Greater London elects a council. The Corporation of the City (1991 pop.
4,000), 1 sq mi (2.6 sq km), the core of London historically and commercially, elects a lord mayor, aldermen, and councilmen.
Economy
London is one of the world's foremost financial, commercial, industrial, and cultural centers. The Bank of England, Lloyd's, and numerous banks and investment companies have their headquarters there, primarily in the City.
It is a center for international finance, especially for large investment houses looking for a strong foothold in the European Community. London is one of the world's greatest ports. It exports manufactured goods and imports petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar, timber, butter, metals, and meat.
London is also a great manufacturing city. Many London area workers are employed in manufacturing. Clothing, furniture, precision instruments, jewelry, cement, chemicals, and stationery are produced. Engineering and scientific research are also important. London is rich in artistic and cultural activity with numerous theaters, cinemas, museums, galleries, and opera and concert halls. London also has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, with large groups of immigrants from Commonwealth nations.
Points of Interest
The best-known streets of London are Fleet Street, the Strand, Piccadilly,
Whitehall, Pall Mall, Downing Street, Lombard Street, and Bond and Regent streets (noted for their shops). Municipal parks include Hyde Park,
Kensington Gardens, and Regent's Park. Besides the British Museum, the art galleries and museums of London include the Victoria and Albert Museum, the
National Gallery, and the Tate Gallery. The Univ. of London is the largest in Great Britain. The new Lloyd's building was opened in 1986. Among the more recent developments is the Canary Wharf office complex, which is only partially completed.
History
Little is known of London prior to A.D. 61, when, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the followers of Queen Boadicea rebelled and slaughtered the inhabitants of the Roman fort Londinium. Roman authority was soon restored, and the first city walls were built, remnants of which still exist. After the final withdrawal of the Roman legions in the 5th cent.,
London was lost in obscurity. Celts, Saxons, and Danes contested the general area, and it was not until 886 that London again emerged as an important town under the firm control of King Alfred, who rebuilt the defenses against the Danes and gave the city a government.
London put up some resistance to William I in 1066, but he subsequently treated the city well. During his reign the White Tower, the nucleus of the
Tower of London, was built just east of the city wall. Under the Normans and Plantagenets (see Great Britain), the city grew commercially and politically and during the reign of Richard I (1189–99) obtained a form of municipal government from which the modern City Corporation developed. In
1215, King John granted the city the right to elect a mayor annually.
The guilds of the Middle Ages gained control of civic affairs and grew sufficiently strong to restrict trade to freemen of the city. The guilds survive today in 80 livery companies, of which members were once the voters in London's municipal elections. Medieval London saw the foundation of the
Inns of Court and the construction of Westminster Abbey. By the 14th cent.
London had become the political capital of England. It played no active role in the Wars of the Roses (15th cent.).
In the 16th cent. many monastical buildings were destroyed or converted to other uses by Henry VIII, who founded several grammar schools for the poor.
The reign of Elizabeth I brought London to a level of great wealth, power, and influence as the undisputed center of England's Renaissance culture.
This was the time of Shakespeare and the beginnings of overseas trading companies such as the Muscovy Company. With the advent (1603) of the
Stuarts to the throne, the city became involved in struggles with the crown on behalf of its democratic privileges, culminating in the English Civil
War.
In 1665 the great plague took some 75,000 lives. A great fire in Sept.,
1666, lasted five days and virtually destroyed the city. Sir Christopher
Wren played a large role in rebuilding the city. He designed more than 51 churches, notably the rebuilt Saint Paul's Cathedral. Much of the business as well as literary and political discussion was transacted in coffeehouses, forerunners of the modern club. Until 1750, when Westminster
Bridge was opened, London Bridge, first built in the 10th cent., was the only bridge to span the Thames. Since the 18th cent. several other bridges have been constructed.
In the 19th cent. London began a period of extraordinary growth. The area of present-day Greater London had about 1.1 million people in 1801; by 1851 the population had increased to 2.7 million, and by 1901 to 6.6 million.
During the Victorian era London acquired tremendous prestige as the capital of the British Empire and as a cultural and intellectual center. Britain's free political institutions and intellectual atmosphere continued to make
London a haven for persons unsafe in their own countries. The Italian
Giuseppe Mazzini, the Russian Alexander Herzen, and the German Karl Marx were among many politically controversial figures who lived for long periods in London.
Many buildings of central London were completely destroyed or partially damaged in air raids during World War II. These include the Guildhall
(scene of the lord mayor's banquets and other public functions); No. 10
Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence; the Inns of Court;
Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament; St. George's Cathedral; and many of the great halls of the ancient livery companies. Today there are numerous blocks of new office buildings and districts of apartment dwellings constructed by the government authorities. The growth of London in the 20th cent. has been extensively planned. One notable feature has been the concept of a “Green Belt” to save certain areas from intensive urban development.

2. Birmingham

Birmingham is the city and county district (1991 pop. 934,900), West
Midlands, central England. The city is equidistant from Bristol, Liverpool,
Manchester, and London, England's main ports, and near the Black Country iron and coal deposits; it is connected to the Staffordshire mines by the
Birmingham Canal, built in the 18th cent. Birmingham is Britain's second- largest city (in both area and population) and is the center of water, road, and rail transportation in the Midlands. The chief industries are the manufacture of automobiles and bicycles and their components and accessories. Other products include electrical equipment, paint, guns, and a wide variety of metal products. By the 15th cent., Birmingham was a market town with a large leather and wool trade; by the 16th cent. it was also known for its many metalworks. In the English Civil War the town was captured by the royalists. Birmingham's industrial development and population growth accelerated in the 17th and 18th cent. In 1762, Matthew
Boulton and James Watt founded the Soho metalworks, where they designed and built steam engines. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, lived for a time in Birmingham. In 1791 a mob, incensed at his radical religious and political views, burned his home. The town was enfranchised by the Reform
Bill of 1832 and was incorporated in 1838. John Bright represented it in
Parliament from 1857 to 1889. During the 1870s, while Joseph Chamberlain was mayor, Birmingham underwent a large program of municipal improvements, including slum clearance and the development of gas and water works.
Birmingham was among the first English localities to have a municipal bank, a comprehensive water-supply system, and development planning. The area of the city was enlarged in 1891 and again in 1911 under the Greater
Birmingham scheme. Birmingham was severely damaged in World War II.
Subsequent rebuilding has resulted in modernization, especially of the city center. Notable buildings include the town hall, built in 1834, modeled after the temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome; the 18th-century baroque- style Cathedral of St. Philip; and the 19th-century Cathedral of St. Chad, the first Roman Catholic cathedral to be built in England after the
Reformation. Bull Ring, in the center of Birmingham, is the site of the city's oldest market. The city library includes an excellent Shakespeare collection. There is a museum and art gallery (noted for its pre-Raphaelite collection) and a museum of science and industry. Annual music festivals date from 1768. In the suburb of Edgbaston are the Univ. of Birmingham and the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a Roman Catholic shrine that was formerly the parish house of John Henry Cardinal Newman. In the center of the city is the Univ. of Aston.

3. Liverpool
Liverpool is the county district (1991 pop. 448,300), Merseyside, NW
England, on the Mersey River near its mouth. It is one of Britain's largest cities. A large center for food processing (especially flour and sugar),
Liverpool has a variety of industries, including the manufacture of electrical equipment, chemicals, and rubber. Its first wet dock was completed by 1715; today, Liverpool's docks are more than 7 mi (11.3 km) long. Once Britain's greatest port, Liverpool suffered extreme setbacks with the advent of container ships, which it could not handle, and the shift in Great Britain's trade focus from the United States to the European
Community. The city is connected by tunnel with Birkenhead across the
Mersey. Liverpool was once famous for its pottery, and its textile industry was also prosperous; however, since World War II its cotton market has declined considerably. In the mid-1980s, unemployment rose to 21% in the metropolitan area, 28% in the city, and close to 60% among people under the age of 27. In 1207, King John granted Liverpool its first charter. In 1644, during the English Civil War, Liverpool surrendered to the royalists under
Prince Rupert after several sieges. Air raids during World War II caused heavy damage and casualties. Liverpool Cathedral, designed by Sir George
Gilbert Scott, was begun in 1904 and completed in 1978. A Roman Catholic cathedral was consecrated in 1967. St. George's Hall is an imposing building in a group that includes libraries and art galleries. The Walker
Gallery has a fine collection of Italian and Flemish paintings, as well as more modern works. The Univ. of Liverpool was incorporated in 1903. There is a separate school of tropical medicine. The statesman William Gladstone, the artist George Stubbs, and the members of the musical group the Beatles were born in Liverpool.

4. Manchester
Its saw mills and paper mills date from before the Revolutionary War. The city was also known for its production of grandfather clocks. Among its more contemporary manufactures are automobile parts, soap, tools, and dairy and paper products. Hartford's Bradley International Airport is located nearby. 2 City (1990 pop. 99,567), Hillsboro co., S N.H., on both sides of the Merrimack River; settled 1722, inc. as a city 1846. It is the largest city in New Hampshire. Among its various manufactures are textiles, shoes, and electrical and electronic products. The Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack provided power for the first textile mills. In 1838 textile interests founded the city and established a huge textile-manufacturing company.
Until the depression of the 1930s and the moving of much of the textile industry to the south, Manchester was heavily dependent on this industry.
The city is the seat of St. Anselm's College and the Currier Gallery of
Art. John Stark lived and is buried in Manchester. A state park and a number of ski areas are in the vicinity.

II Sight of London
1. Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament
Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament is in Westminster, London. The present enormous structure, of Neo-Gothic design, was built (1840–60) by
Sir Charles Barry to replace an aggregation of ancient buildings almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834. The complex served as a royal abode until the 16th cent., when it was adopted as the assembly place for the
House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Great Hall was built by
William II at the end of the 11th cent. The superbly constructed hammer- beam roof spanning its width of 68 ft. (20.7 m), part of a subsequent rebuilding of the hall by Richard II, was the finest extant example of medieval open-timber work; it was burned by incendiary bombs in 1941.
Westminster Hall was the only portion of the palace to survive intact from the fire of 1834 and now serves as the entrance of the building. In it the
House of Lords, sitting as the highest English court of law, met for centuries. Among the numerous events of historic renown enacted there were the deposition of Richard II, the sentencing of Charles I, and the trials of Sir Thomas More and Warren Hastings. Damage inflicted during air raids during World War II has since been completely repaired.

2. Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is th e residence of British sovereigns from 1837,
Westminster metropolitan borough, London, England, adjacent to St. James's
Park. Built (1703) by the duke of Buckingham, it was purchased (1761) by
George III and was remodeled (1825) by John Nash; the eastern facade was added in 1847. The great ballroom was added in 1856, and in 1913 Sir Aston
Webb designed a new front. The palace has nearly 600 rooms and contains a collection of paintings, including many royal portraits, by noted artists.

3. Saint James's Palace
Saint James's Palace is in Westminster, London, England, on St. James's
Street and fronting on Pall Mall. Henry VIII built the palace and established the park around it. It was the London royal residence after the burning of Whitehall in 1697 until the time of Queen Victoria. Although the palace is now seldom used except for certain ceremonials, the British court is still designated as the Court of St. James.

4. National Gallery
London, one of the permanent national art collections of Great Britain. Its building, in Greek style, stands in Trafalgar Square. It was designed and erected (1832–38) by William Wilkins and was shared for 30 years with the
Royal Academy of Arts. In 1876 a new wing was added, designed by E. M.
Barry. The nucleus of the collection was formed in 1824 with 38 pictures from J. J. Angerstein's collection. The gallery is rich in Italian paintings of the 15th and 16th cent. and has fine collections of French,
Flemish, and Dutch masters. The National Portrait Gallery, whose collection dates from 1858, has adjoined the National Gallery since 1896. Originally controlled by the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery attained complete independence in 1955 by an act of Parliament. An extension designed by
Robert Venturi was completed in the early 1990s.

5. Hyde Park
This is 615 acres (249 hectares) in Westminster borough, London, England.
Once the manor of Hyde, a part of the old Westminster Abbey property, it became a deer park under Henry VIII. Races were held there in the 17th cent. In 1730, Queen Caroline had the artificial lake, the Serpentine, constructed. It curves diagonally through Hyde Park; in Kensington Gardens the lake is called the Long Water. Distinctive features of the park are
Hyde Park Corner (near the Marble Arch), the meeting place of soapbox orators, and Rotten Row, a famous bridle path.

III Kazakhstan
1. Astana - The new capital
Other names for Astana include Akmola, Aqmola, Tselinograd and Akmolinsk.
This city was originally founded as a fortress in 1824 and named Akmolinsk.
It was renamed Tselinograd (Russian for Virgin City) during the rule of
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The main reason for this name change was to promote more permanent agriculture in Northern Kazakstan during the
Virgin Lands Program. The cities name was again changed in 1991 to Aqmola, when Kazakstan gained it's freedom. Because the name Aqmola sounded too much like "White Grave", Nazerbayev changed the name to Astana (literally
"Capital") in 1998. Astana has been an important rail junction in Northern
Kazakstan. It is located along the Ishim River and they produce agricultural machinery, chemicals and has meat-packing plants. Due to it's location in Northern Kazakstan, there is speculation, that has been officially denied, that the reason for the move of the capital to the north is to exert a more Kazak influence on the more russified Northern
Kazakstan.

2. Almaty - The ”City of apples”
The “City of Apples,” Kazakhstan’s capital of Almaty -- a.k.a. Alma-Ata, from 1922-1991 -- is a thoroughly Russian city, from its foundation back in
1854, as an imperial frontier outpost, to its decidedly orderly Soviet- style architecture and street plan.
Situated near the Kyrgyzstan border at the foot of the Tian Shan ("the mountains of heaven"), a magnificent range connected with the Himalayas,
Almaty is a popular destination for skiers, climbers and other mountain sports enthusiasts.
Almaty is also renowned for its orchards, and it is indeed a city of trees, with wide boulevards lined with leafy guardians. It’s a big city, sprawling out over some 12.5 miles. Populated by about 1.5 million residents
(Kazakhstan’s total population is around 16 million), most of whom speak
Russian, Almaty’s growth has been exponential in this century, especially after the Turk-Sib Railway was completed in 1930. That event catapulted the population from 46,000 in 1926 to more than 220,000 in 1939.
Unlike many cities in Central Asia, Almaty itself does not have a long history. It has the look of a new city, at least in part thanks to a pair of earthquakes which twice leveled it -- first in 1887 and again in 1911, leaving little standing. The city was originally known as Verny, though its name was changed to Alma-Ata in 1921, then shortened to Almaty after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
But the city’s site has a smoother history -- an early Silk Road oasis,
Almatu, destroyed by the Mongols, once stood in the area where Almaty was founded. Today’s Almaty reflects some of its trading roots. As a modern city seen as a crossroads between East and West, it bustles with trading consortiums and businesses seeking to bridge the continental gap. The city also boasts several important museums, including the State Museum of the
Arts, which showcases Kazak artworks, and the Museum of Kazak Musical
Instruments, featuring harmoniously exhibited displays of traditional music- makers such as bagpipes, the three-stringed "kobiz," and wooden harps.

3. Semy - Nuclear zone
Another name for Semy has been Semipalatinsk. Semey was originally established as a fortress in 1718 in a location close by it's current location. In 1778 it was moved to it's current location along the Irtysh
River. Semey is perhaps best known for the nuclear testing that was done nearby. This was the major nuclear testing sight for the Soviet Union. Much of the testing was done above ground, causing the spread of radiation throughout the area. Reservoirs were even made using a nuclear explosion to provide water for the residents. Over 470 nuclear bombs were exploded here between 1949 and 1989. Semey is only 93 miles (150 km) from where most of the testing occurred. Because of the lack of environmental concerns, many of the citizens of Semey suffer some form of radiation poisoning.

4. Baykonur - Space center
Other ways Baykonur is known is Baikonur, Leninsk, or Tyuratam. Baykonur has long been known as a place upon where the Soviets' heroes left this earth and became the first in space. It is from this launching point in central Kazakstan that Sputnik was launched in October 4, 1957. It is also from here that the first person to orbit the earth, Yuri Gagarin, started the "Space Race" with the United States.Baykonur has been the foundation of the Soviet space program. While there were two other launching pads,
Plesetsk (Northern Russia) and Kasputin (Central Russia) , this was the primary launching point for manned missions. Currently, Russia has agreed to lease Baykonur from the independent country of Kazakstan for 20 years at
$115 million in annual rent.

5. Atyrai - Caviar capital
Other names for Atyrai include Atyraь and Guryev. This city was founded as a Russian military base on the east bank of the Ural River in 1645. It has grown to expand on both sides of the river, leaving half of the city in
Europe and the other half in Russia. Today, it is known for its oil refineries (from the rich oil deposits in the Caspian Sea) and for providing much of the caviar for the former Soviet Union.

6. Aqtau - Jewel of the Caspian Sea
Another name for Aqtau was Shevkenko. Aqtau did not begin it's existence until 1963. I was originally built as a "Soviet Model" of how cities should be built. It has wide, straight streets and sandy beaches. It was called
Shevkenko for awhile because of a poet who was exiled there as a political prisoner. Aqtau means "white mountain" in Kazak, so named after the vast, flat steppes surrounding the city! It has become somewhat of a tourist location because of it's location along the Caspian Sea. Just don't plan on taking a bath while you are there as the water comes out of the tap brown.
Currently, there is very little industry still in Aqtau. The main industry is oil. A few foreign oil companies have established offices in Aqtau as they extract oil from the steppe of Mangistau Oblast. It is far from any other cities with few ways to travel to them. Most of the cities supplies are freighted in by air.

7. Kyzl Orda - The heart of Kazakhstan
Other names for Kyzl Orda include Qyzylorda, Ak-Mechet and Perovsk. Kyzl
Orda is a truly Kazakstan city. It was originally founded as the far western fortress Ak-Mechet for the Kokand khanate (state). In 1853, Russian forces took it over and renamed it Perovsk. From 1925 until 1929, Kyzl Orda was the capital of the Kazak Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).
Today, Kyzl Orda is the capital of the Kyzl Orda Oblast (or state). Located along the Syrdariya River, it is a fertile rice growing area. Unlike many of the other areas along the Syrdariya, they are unable to grow cotton because of their northern latitude. The climate of Kyzl Orda has also under gone a change since the Soviets took power. Talking to Kazaks who have lived there for many years, they have noticed that the winters are colder and the summers hotter. Much of this may be attributable to the shrinking of the Aral Sea.
Of the cities in Kazakstan, Kyzl Orda is one of the most Kazak cities. Over
90% of the population speaks Kazak as the mother tongue and it is one of the few large cities in Kazakstan that one can get around in using only
Kazak.