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The term "region" originating from a Latin word: regio, has two meanings in itself in terms of etymology – first, it is a movement in a fixed direction, and the second one denotes space. Combination of both results in: “movement in a fixed direction, which defines space”. The meaning generally relating to the area, has over time dominated the vernacular understanding of the whole word. Currently, the concept is in principle used to exclusively describe a given territory. However, nowadays, the return to the primeval meaning of the word seems to be more and more justified as well as there should be more attention paid to changes in the specific direction which result from transformations taking place within regions. For a long time, regions were most of all and exclusively treated as the largest units of administrative division of individual countries. The most important subject within the pursued regional policy was a fast and efficient integration of areas indicating development inequalities. The particular attention was paid in this scope to equalize cultural distinctions and the level of their economic growth. Despite the multi-billion expenditure, the established goals have not been fully achieved. Progressing globalization have allowed local authorities to go beyond the narrow framework of inland structures. Currently, the regional authorities have become an essential factor and entity of policies in transnational dimension. In many cases, it has become the cause to radicalize social attitudes. In extreme cases, increase in importance of regions has resulted in local disputes of economic and political nature, and in some situations it has even led to military conflicts. It is to be assumed that we are witnesses to a broader phenomenon which may disturb the fragile balance created on international arena still in the second half of the 20th century. Attempts of specific regions emphasizing their autonomy to achieve greater or even total independence, are currently taking place in nearly every corner of the world. In turn, the lack of flexibility of national authorities in the face of demands placed by local communities creates a dangerous situation of an outbreak of new conflicts on a larger than local scale. With interest in inciting unrest and with active engagement of some world powers, it may lead to geopolitical changes on a great scale. Regions, as a simple tool remaining in specific hands, may in this manner become a factor of serious and dangerous transformations in an international dimension.

The question whether the administrative division of the Roman empire in 364 or 395 implied also a divided legislation, i.e. that each part could or did legislate only for itself, has been extensively debated. To all appearances the emperors issued laws jointly, and likewise the prefects issued edicts jointly. Yet it is possible to deduce from the few relevant texts that these manifestations of unity were merely ideological: in practice each part could only issue laws for itself, and laws of the other part had to be confirmed expressly in order to gain validity. This implies that inclusion in the Theodosian Code of laws of each part did not make them universally valid.

The judicial and administrative division of a sanjak (province) is an important source of careful consideration that needs to be given to the overall situation in it. Qadiluks (jurisdictional districts of qadis), as well as qadis (judges) as immediate executors of important legal disputes, were a major factor in the stabilization of the Ottoman rule, primarily because of their independence from local authorities. The history of the Zvornik Sanjak in the 17th century was generally a subject of scanty studies, and consequently the study of its qadiluks and identification of individual qadis. Therefore this paper contains synthesized data on the aforementioned subject, which could be found in written literature thus far, but also, based on the archival material, it discloses a significant number of details from the Zvornik Sanjak in the 17th century. As the available data on the 17th century became scarce, it was necessary to provide the data from the 16th century for a more complete reconstruction of the matter.

There is a lack of basic theory and method to examine the effect of administrative division (AD) adjustment on the regional development. Based on the theory and practice of Chinese AD adjustments, the paper defined the concept of administrative region potential (ARP) and developed the quantitative model to measure the ARP. Then, the model was validated taking Chongqing as an empirical case. The results show that: (1) the ARP consists of energy of position (i.e., geographic space factors) and gravitational potential energy (i.e., administrative levels and management system factors). Administrative division adjustment can change the ARP, thereby changing its path and driving force of regional development. (2) The ARP model of Chongqing city can reflect the effects of administrative division adjustment events on the Chongqing city objectively. Specifically, ARP includes variables of land jurisdiction, human capital level, fixed assets investment capacity, administrative hierarchy of fiscal decentralization and administrative decentralization. (3) The ARP promotion has significant positive influence on the performance of local economic development in Chongqing city. (4) Reasonable AD adjustments will help the region integrate production elements and resources, enhance the political power of the city, improve its ARP, and then promote local economic development. The ARP model is proved to be an efficient way to understand and explain the regional effect of AD adjustment. It provides a new analytical perspective for the planning of AD adjustment in various regions, and can also be used as a practical method for assessing the effects of AD adjustment.

Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’nin açılmasından kısa bir süre sonra TBMM Hükümeti kurulmuş ve Kurtuluş Savaşı’nın idaresini ele almıştır. Hükümet bu dönemde bir yandan işgallere karşı varlık mücadelesi verirken bir yandan da idari taksimat ve mülki teşkilatı düzenlemeye dönük çalışmalar yapmıştır. Bu kapsamda Hükümet’in kurulmasından kısa bir süre sonra sancaklar müstakil hale getirilmeye başlanmış, birçok kaza sancak yapılmış, bazı nahiyeler kazaya dönüştürülürken bazı kazalar ise lağv edilmiştir. Bu dönemde Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu’nun kabulü ile birlikte mülki yapılanmada da değişikliğe gidilmiş, mülki idare bölümleri dört kademeden üç kademeye indirilmiştir. Bu düzenlemeler ile Milli Mücadele döneminde idari taksimat ve mülki teşkilat büyük oranda değişikliğe uğramıştır. Bu çalışmada, TBMM Zabıt Cerideleri ve arşiv vesikaları esas alınarak, Milli Mücadele döneminde yapılan idari taksimatın hangi gerekçelere dayandığı, bu düzenlemeler yapılırken hangi hususlara dikkat edildiği, mebusların bu düzenlemelere hangi açılardan baktığı incelenmiş, bu veriler üzerinden hükümetin idari ve mülki yapılanma politikasını belirleyen ya da etkileyen unsurlar ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır., Shortly after the opening of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly and the government established the first Parliament has addressed the administration’s War of Independence. Five governments served during the National Struggle period. In this period, while governments struggled for independence, they also worked on regulating administrative division and civil service. In this context, shortly after the establishment of the first TBMM Government, the sanjaks started to become detached, many accidents were made, some districts were transformed into accidents while some accidents were abolished. In this period, with the adoption of the Organization Law, a change was made in the civil structure and the administrative units were reduced from four levels to three levels. With these arrangements, the administrative division and the civil service have been heavily altered during the National Struggle. In this study, the reasons of the administrative division made during the National Struggle period based on the Turkish Grand National Assembly and archive documents, which aspects were taken into consideration while making these arrangements, the aspects of the parliamentary views of these regulations, and the administrative and property of the Parliamentary Governments in the National Struggle period Elements that determine or affect the structuring policy have been tried to be revealed.Key words: Administrative Divisions, Civil Organization, Government of Parliament, National Struggle, Organization Law.

The scientific community has been studying for some time a measure capable of quantifying and monitoring the well-being of the population in the territories; this measure cannot be represented exclusively by economic components but also by dimensions that represent different domains of a mainly demographic-social nature. This paper aims to consider well-being from a multidimensional point of view and measure it for the 7983 Italian municipalities in order to highlight differences and similarities. To go down to such a fine territorial detail, it was necessary to use indicators implemented by administrative sources collected in a recently published portal. The application of composite indices allows a one-dimensional measurement that makes a complex phenomenon such as well-being more readable. From a territorial point of view, moreover, the work aims to overcome the administrative division already criticized in literature because it does not allow a reading corresponding to the real behaviors and lifestyles of citizens, embracing a classification more appropriate to the objective of the study. Since the elementary indicators taken into consideration are in some way influenced by reasons of proximity and/or territorial conformation, it was decided to use the classification in Ecoregions of Italy to assess whether the well-being, within the same municipality, “moves” in relation to the municipalities ecologically homogeneous. The results of the analyses present numerous aspects of originality in which the Ecoregions draw an interesting geography of the country.

The aim of this paper is to estimate, as well as analyse and assess spatial diversification in human capital resources in rural and urban areas of Poland. Studies have static nature and relate to the state of the situation in 2018 year. A synthetic index of human capital resources (IHCR) was applied, based on which a hierarchy was developed for rural and urban areas, depending on the administrative division into provinces determining the degree of their diversification in terms of their human capital resources. Human capital resources were analysed in four categories, i.e. in terms of employment, education, entrepreneurship and unemployment, using data from the Local Data Bank CSO database. Research results indicate considerable regional (spatial) diversification of rural and urban areas. We may distinguish two homogeneous classes, including urban areas with a high level of human capital development, as well as rural areas with their low level. Moreover, there is a heterogeneous group of the so-called medium level of human capital, composed of both urban and rural areas. Particularly, observed polarization in human capital resources may in the future reduce the absorption of development impulses within both national and EU development policies.

This article pursues an analysis seeking to explain how political borders and administrative boundaries took shape in the Polish state that came back into being at the end of the First World War. This was a continuing period of instability from a military point of view, given the ongoing war with Bolshevik Russia (which continued through to 1920). The further investigation of this subject matter is assisted by the presentation here of cartography in the form of 8 original maps coming into being at that historic time. The first map dates from early 1919 – as first elections to the Legislative Sejm were pending. It thus shows constituencies (electoral districts) which at that time coincided with the country’s (county-level) units of administration. The presentation of this little-known (in essence now-forgotten) cartographic configuration offers a starting point for the further consideration of the political borders and administrative division that took shape in the newly-reborn Poland. Further historical maps included in the text thus show the Polish state with borders as variously construed, in what were a mixture of both authors’ concepts as to how these ought to look and borders actually existing at the given time and adjusted to the political situation of the given moment. These were thus limits set by military action, in the context of the armed conflicts that broke out with the polities neighbouring with Poland. The map included last in the text came out in 1921. It presents Poland’s political and administrative layout in the wake of the entry into force of the Treaty of Versailles, as well as in line with the provisions of the Treaty of Riga definitively setting the course of Poland’s eastern border. Also marked out on it is the internal division of the country into units at voivodeship level, as had been decided upon by the authorities of the independent Polish state. In essence, it was the political and administrative borders and boundaries established at that time that would persist unchanged through to 1938.

The article examines the impact of taxes and fees on the formation of the financial base of territories at local, subregional and regional levels. The norms of the main tax revenues to the state and local budgets have been determined. The system of intergovernmental transfers (basic/reverse subsidies, medical, educational and infrastructure subsidies, additional subsidies) and impact on their formation of separate taxes are considered. The system of establishing the privileges for the payment of local taxes at the state level in a rate of 25% tax is analyzed, which lead to the imbalance of local budgets, namely the privileges for the lands of the railways within allotment of strips and mining enterprises for the development of fields and extraction of minerals. The disadvantages of the system of formation of own revenues of local budgets, which reduce the possibility of obtaining the full amount of local budget revenues and achieve real budgetary self-sufficiency are identified, they are: non-diversification of tax revenues; crediting the personal income tax to the local budgets by location of enterprises; lack of access from local governments to data on the actual payment of individual taxes by taxpayers who are engaged in business activities in the respective territories; incompleteness of data in the electronic register of ownership of real estate other than land; slowness of the process of land transfer outside the settlements to the disposal of local self-government bodies. Methods for enhancing the motivation of local communities for the effective use of local resources and their own abilities are proposed. Suggestions have been made to address the shortcomings of the current system of intergovernmental transfers, which violate the fairness of the financial equalization and do not play a stimulating role for development. It is concluded that the processes of budgetary decentralization started in 2014 provided new opportunities for local self-government, namely: independent formation of local budgets, direct intergovernmental relations, expansion of the tax base. It is necessary to complete administrative-financial decentralization at all levels of administrative division local, subregional, regional) for the effective completion of the reform.

Historical regions remain the most common basis for the formation or promotion of regional identities in Europe. However, regions and regional identities are in the process of constant formation and can change significantly in line with new conditions. In this paper we focused on the changes of the spatial spread of identities with historical regions in Ukraine in comparison to the initial boundaries of those. The results show that identities with historical regions are markedly adapting to modern administrative boundaries. At the same time, the symbolic value of historical regions constitutes an essential element of identity building in contemporary administrative regions.

The adjustment of administrative divisions introduces a series of uncertain impacts on the social and economic development in the administrative region. Previous studies focused more on the economic effects of the adjustment of administrative divisions, while, in this paper, we also take environmental effects into consideration. The administrative division adjustment for Chaohu Lake is used as a quasi-natural experiment to explore the influence of the adjustment on pollution control. The synthetic control method is used in this study to access the effect of administrative division adjustment on the water quality indicators of Chaohu Lake and its internal mechanism. Some conclusions are as follows. First, after the administrative division adjustment, some water quality indicators, such as ammonia nitrogen, have indeed been alleviated; however, other major pollution indicators, such as chemical oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen, have deteriorated to varying degrees. Second, the results also reveal that improper development ideas, industrial excessive expansion, and the swing of economic growth and environmental goals are problems after the adjustment. Returning to the original intention of adjustment, rationalizing the Chaohu Lake management system and designing a sound and feasible accountability mechanism are fundamental measures to reduce pollution.

Introduction/Main Objectives: This research raises human resources management within the crediting bank, where employees require reliable and competent leadership. Leadership is categorized as the concept of empowering when the leader shares direction, a support system, friendly, synergizing, and providing exemplary examples to his subordinates. Background Problems: Through scientific ways, this study attempted to respond to the research questions, which are: 1) how is the maturity of employees in the Anugerah rural bank located in Purwosari, 2) what are the applications of leadership styles, duty behavior, and relationship behaviors at there, and 3) in which quadrant of leadership styles of the chief of operational, general, administrations, and marketing department? Novelty: The current study engaged four situational leadership in a model. Research Methods: The survey design administered the questionnaire, interviews, and observation to the target samples. The data, then analyzed using descriptive analysis and the range scale. Finding/Results: The operational and general divisions reflect their leadership styles in quadrant II representing a consultation or low task and relationship behavior. Besides, quadrant III, which implies a participating leadership style with high task and relationship behavior, has been practiced by the marketing department. The administrative division tends to use the leadership style from quadrant IV or delegating with high task behavior relationship. Conclusion: Leaders can select any leadership style, but they must remain aware of task and relationship behavior. This recent study has many limitations; hence, the future researcher can apply other leadership styles under different conditions.

Based on the value concept of administrative division system reform, this paper analyzes the basic contents of administrative division system reform. The administrative division system is a local administrative system and an important part of a country's political system. The value of reforming the administrative division system is concentrated in maintaining socialist democracy and safeguarding citizens' rights. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of the guiding ideology of the scientific concept of development, the system reform and construction in Chinese administrative division should be reformed and innovated in terms of ideas, strategic priorities and contents. Value concept, as a power of ideas, defines the direction and space of action for the government in the reform of the administrative system. As an important policy tool for regulating the distribution of powers and responsibilities of governments at all levels, administrative divisions must be guided by correct values. In short, in the reform of administrative divisions, we must coordinate economic and social development, coordinate regional development, coordinate the harmonious development of man and nature, and coordinate urban and rural development, follow the spirit of the scientific development concept, embody public opinion, and promote democracy.

II Rzeczypospolita była państwem, które w sposób szczególny kładło nacisk na gwarancje dotyczące własnych granic politycznych oraz konsolidację społeczeństwa zamieszkującego terytorium odrodzonego państwa. Gwarancje dostosowania do granic politycznych państwa nowego podziału kanoniczno-administracyjnego Kościoła Katolickiego w Polsce – zawarte w art. IX konkordatu z 10 lutego 1925 r. – miały dla Rzeczpospolitej w początkach jej państwowości szczególne znaczenie. Wychodząc od idei rozdziału państwo‑Kościół, także na płaszczyźnie podziału administracyjnego, autor artykułu próbuje wskazać na wykorzystanie instrumentów prawno-kanonicznych do celu, jakim była integracja terytorialna i społeczna w II Rzeczpospolitej. Sygnatariusze konkordatu byli oczywiście świadomi, że instrumenty prawne, jakimi dysponuje Stolica Apostolska w powyższym zakresie, mają charakter prawno-kanoniczny. Nie są więc one właściwymi, aby uznawać czy gwarantować kształt granic politycznych państwa. Trudno jednak zaprzeczyć, że przy ich pomocy doszło do odwzorowania istniejących granic politycznych kraju na mapie kanonicznego podziału ówczesnego Kościoła Katolickiego w Europie. Jeśli zaś chodzi o konsolidację społeczeństwa polskiego, to trudno nie dostrzec, skoro dostrzegł to ustrojodawca w art. 114 Konstytucji RP z 1921 r., że wyznanie rzymskokatolickie w II Rzeczpospolitej było „religią przeważającej większości narodu”. Integracja struktur tego Kościoła miała więc fundamentalne znaczenie nie tylko dla sprawnego funkcjonowania tego Kościoła w ramach wyznaczonych granicami politycznymi. Miała też zasadnicze znaczenie dla integracji życia społecznego w kraju, w którym 75% społeczeństwa deklarowała się jako katolicy. The Second Polish Republic was a state that put a special emphasis on the safety of its political borders and on the integration of the people living on the territory of the reborn state. The guarantee to adjust the new canonical administrative division of the Catholic Church in Poland to the political borders of the new state, which was included in Article 9 of the Concordat of 10 February 1925, was of special importance to the Polish Republic at the beginning of its statehood. On the basis of the idea of the separation of church and state, the present article aims to show how the canon-law instruments were applied to achieve the goal of the territorial and social integration of the Second Polish Republic. The signatories of the Concordat were obviously aware of the fact that the legal instruments at the disposal of the Holy See were canon-law instruments. As such, they were not appropriate to confirm or guarantee the shape of the political borders of the state. However, the fact that they made it possible to map the existing political borders of the state onto the canonical chart of the contemporary Catholic Church in Europe is undeniable. When it comes to the integration of the Polish people, it was not possible to overlook the fact that the Roman Catholic Church was “the religion of the preponderant majority of the nation” in the Second Polish Republic, as stated in Article 114 of the Constitution of 1921. Thus, the integration of the structures of the Catholic Church was of fundamental importance not only to its own efficiency within the borders of the state, but also to the social integration of the country, where 75% of the people declared the Catholic faith.

Esta pesquisa objetivou identificar o perfil e as expectativas dos servidores públicos e civis da Divisão Administrativa do Hospital Militar de Santa Maria, a partir da Teoria da Expectativa. Essa abordagem justifica a necessidade de estabelecer uma relação entre a Teoria da Expectativa e a sua aplicabilidade, por meio de um estudo de caso da Organização Militar de Saúde, durante entrevistas com perguntas semiestruturadas. De maneira geral, evidenciou-se: a satisfação com a profissão; como modificações na carreira que impactaram como expectativas; uma percepção dos benefícios ofertados pela instituição; o alinhamento da missão institucional com o trabalho executado; o reconhecimento do trabalho pelas chefias, colegas e instituição;as recompensas e motivação para o trabalho estão diretamente relacionadas às expectativas, dificuldades, valências externas e da missão; de forma a gerenciar servidores em um resultado que leve em conta como recompensas direcionadas para suas metas pessoais.

International audience; Background - A regional hospital group located in northeastern Brittany (France) won a national call for improving the care provided to children at risk.Objective - Our work analyzed and compared the health paths of children at risk in this administrative territory of the French healthcare system. This work, thanks to its territorial approach, can help to better understand and identify mechanisms for improving the quality of care as well as the mechanisms that contribute to disruptions and inequalities in the access to a Child protection system.Methods - This qualitative study was based on a field analysis where 28 people were interviewed. The inclusion criteria were being: in one of the four domains of child protection (justice, health, social services and education), in one of the five target service areas (n = 21) and an expert in the field of children at risk (n = 7).Results - The results showed that the health pathway of abused children was unequal and followed a silo trajectory, with multiple breaks in the support provided. We found many barriers to multi-professional collaboration: institutional, professional, individual and regional.Conclusion - In terms of recommendations, we underline the relevance of models that promote greater integration. The article ends with a discussion of evidence to this effect.

The article examines the share of the Russian ethnos in the ethnodemographic structure of the south of Russia for a period of 300 years, and investigates changes in the relative proportion of Russians and representatives of the titular peoples in the respective administrative units over time. The geographical scope of the study covers the North Caucasus region as well as some adjacent territories, taking into consideration the changes that occurred in Russia’s administrative division. In particular, the article is based on the materials of audits and population censuses in the Russian Empire (1897) and the USSR (1926, 1939, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989) as well as in the Russian Federation (2002, 2010). Methodologically, the present study correlates civilizational approach theory with an empirical study of ethno-demographic processes. The authors advance the theory that civilizational ups and downs correlate with the dynamics of migration by the civilization-forming people, and with their settling in the ethnic periphery. The article argues that in the regional ethnic make-up, the share of Russians, as the civilization-forming people, reflects the region’s degree of integration in the Russian civilizational system. In particular, a clear correlation is visible between the descending phase of the Soviet project and the decrease of representatives of the Russian ethnos in the national and administrative entities of the region. Given that over centuries Russia developed as a multinational state - as a state-civilization kept together by the Russian people at its center - the authors emphasize the need to strengthen Russia’s statehood.

The historical changes in animal distribution in the European territory of Russia have always attracted the interest of specialists. Therefore, the data contained in the Economic Notes to the General Land Survey of the Russian Empire at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries is of great importance. This article presents the results of the analysis of data on the mammalian fauna of the southern provinces of European Russia sampled from the Economic Notes. The sample covers 15 governorates (guberniya), 102 uezds (a secondary level administrative division), and 1150 land holdings (dachas). There were 2395 references made to mammals, including 22 presumptive name references comprising 25 species, 11 families, and 5 orders. Based on the available data on historical changes in the ecological condition within this territory, a comparison with the current situation was made for those species that are the most significant and common in the study area.

This research reveals the strategy of the people in Palu City in realizing the integration and harmonization among those with diverse cultural backgrounds. This research has an important position considering the conflict that had taken place in Palu City. Therefore, qualitative research was conducted via in-depth interviews in Palu City community, selecting the main informants from the two major ethnic groups, namely Kaili ethnic as indigenous ethnic and Buginese ethnic as ethnic migrants. The informants asked several questions about the social interaction between the local ethnic and the ethnic migrants and their socio economic and political lives. This interview technique was supported by observation and literature studies related to this research problem. The data was then analyzed descriptively qualitative. The result of the research shows: (1) Palu City community is open to multiculturalism, (2) integration strategy is done in the form of joint activities at Rukun Tetangga (RT, neighbourhood, is the lowest administrative division of Indonesia under Rukun Warga/RW)/Rukun Warga (RW, hamlet) level such as Cleaning Saturday, Sport and Art Contest in RT/RW level, RT/RW gathering, (3) the government cooperates with society to realize social harmony in Palu City.

The aim of this article is to evaluate selected tourism development strategies in Poland, in the context of strategic planning, stakeholders’ participation, and sustainable development principles. A questionnaire evaluation of strategy (44 questions) was established and based on measurement scales developed and validated by other authors in earlier studies. The five authors of the study rated 37 tourism development strategies in 13 provinces, 11 cities, 5 counties, 6 municipalities, and 2 other areas. Analysis revealed that they implement paradigms of sustainable development of tourism to only a small extent. Definitely higher quality is documented for higher levels of administrative division. The highest rated domains of the tourism development strategy in the examined documents are Strategic Planning Indicators and Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation.

Summary Clackamas County, an administrative division in the State of Oregon on the west coast of the United States, has provided training in ethics and a decision-making framework to members of its public health advisory committee in an attempt to develop an ethical deliberation mechanism in public health. The goal of this mechanism is to ensure that a process exists for the Public Health Division to review value-laden issues relating to policies impacting the community. By providing guidance to county public health leadership upon request through an open and transparent review process, the intended outcome is a culture of ethical awareness and high ethical standards. The first deliberation of this body addressed the ethical concerns relating to the implementation of mapped “public health zones”: a project intended to more effectively communicate public health data of communities within the county in smaller geographic units and using geographic information system (GIS) technology.

This article presents the historical and geographical analysis of evolution of administrative division of Germany at the levels of lands, provinces of Prussia and administrative districts for 1871–2017. Spatial patterns of changing administrative division are revealed, the assessment of stability of administrative units of the country is carried out. The article answers to the question whether the pulsation occurred: alternately increasing and decreasing the number of units. Three indicators were taken into account to quantify the change in the administrative grid: number of units, their median area and an index of shape. The lands remained stable during the period of the federative state and were reformed constantly during the centralization of the country and during its occupation after the Second World War. There are three waves of consolidation of lands, the wave of breaking up into smaller units is not revealed. Borders of lands remained the most stable in the center of Germany, they are the least stable in the West and the East of the country. There is a small pulsation in changing of the number of provinces of Prussia and districts. The consolidation of units was evoked by economic crises, under the influence of which the authorities created administrative units with great economic and demographic potential. Breaking up into smaller units took place during the rapid economic development of the country. Despite the pulsation, many districts and provinces remained stable. It is explained by the established structure of administrative and economic relations and the settlement system.

Deteriorating quality of public transport is a major concern in Sri Lanka. This study focuses on how to improve public transport in Battaramulla, which is the administrative capital of Sri Lanka, located in its Western Province. This administrative division has 11,000 government workers, of whom 56 percent use buses. It has, over 250,000 residents, 37 percent of whose trips also are made by buses. This study was conducted to identify the demand and supply characteristics of the area, to analyse bus routes for service improvements and to comparatively evaluate among several sites available to locate a multimodal transport terminal. Using the results of an Origin-Destination study, it was concluded that four new bus service routes, if introduced, would improve passenger connectivity. It also inferred, through a Multi-Criteria Analysis, and considering accessibility, connectivity and costs, that the best site to locate a multimodal transport centre would be that proposed by the Urban Development Authority. Since, this study was confined only to bus passengers and bus transport facility improvement, further research may be necessary, including other parameters and transport modes, to validate its outcomes and recommendations.

BackgroundPrior studies on spatial inequalities in mortality in Russia were restricted to the highest level of administrative division, ignoring variations within the regions. Using mortality data for 2239 districts, this study is the first analysis to capture the scale of the mortality divide at a more detailed level.MethodsAge-standardised death rates are calculated using aggregated deaths for 2008–2012 and population exposures from the 2010 census. Inequality indices and decomposition are applied to quantify both the total mortality disparities across the districts and the contributions of the variations between and within regions.ResultsRegional variations in mortality mask one-third (males) and one-half (females) of the inequalities observed at the district level. A comparison of the 5% of individuals residing in the districts with the highest and the lowest mortality shows a gap of 15.5 years for males and 10.3 years for females. The lowest life expectancy levels are in the shrinking areas of the Far East and Northwest of Russia. The highest life expectancy clusters are in the intercity districts of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and in several science cities. Life expectancy in these best-practice districts is close to the national averages of Poland and Estonia, but is still substantially below the averages in Western countries.ConclusionThe large between-regional and within-regional disparities suggest that national-level mortality could be lowered if these disparities are reduced by improving health in the laggard areas. This can be achieved by introducing policies that promote health convergence both within and between the Russian regions.

The agriculture sector is the backbone of Indian economy, which contributes a major share of GDP of the country. Last few decades agriculture losses have grown due to irregularity in monsoon and change in climatic conditions over Indian sub-continent. Maharashtra state is developed and industrialized state in the country contributing highest GDP in the Indian economy. The present study assesses the effects of droughts on environmental, agricultural and socio-economic status during the year of 2011-2016 in Maharashtra state. The state occupies 50% of the drought prone area. The state is experiencing deficit rainfall once in a 5 to 6 year, and severe drought conditions once in 8 to 9 years. In Maharashtra state, the % to normal rainfall is gradually decreasing from the year 2011-2015. It shows large spatial variability in rainfall all over the Maharashtra state throughout the year confirms that Marathwada, Nashik, Amravati and Nagpur divisions received less rainfall in the year 2014 and 2015. Aurangabad division has marked as the lowest water availability in the reservoir of Maharashtra from the year 2012 - 2015. The overall agricultural yield in Kharif and Rabi season is decreased to a considerable extent in the 2014- 15, which is near about 50% deficit in pulses, oilseeds and cotton as compared to the year 2013-14. Individuals and communities of Aurangabad, Amravati and Nagpur divisions (Cotton belt) are under pressure to cope with drought and its consequences. The farmer suicide cases were reported in the year 2015 (2016 cases) as compared to the year 2011 to 2014.

This study empirically analyzes the effect factors of each land use characteristic-density, diversity and accessibility-on inflow travel which is classified by two properties of trip, trip purpose and travel mode, in Seoul Metropolitan area. For the analysis, precedent studies related to land use and trip are reviewed, and a research hypothesis is set from the review. Land use characteristics are divided into three properties which is density, diversity and accessibility and twelve independent variables are included in them. Trips are classified as five different trip patterns by properties of trip which are trip purpose and travel mode, and models for analyzing are built for each pattern. The sample size is 283,093 trips which inflow into Seoul. Analysis of effects of land use characteristics on each trip pattern is performed by using regression analysis. According to the analysis results, it is necessary to plan and carry out public policy projects by considering land-use characteristics of regions, and it is able to enhance walkability and trips on transit by increasing in global integration of Seoul.

The Kingdom of Hungary instituted the civil registry of births, marriages, and deaths in 1894. While the new institution was both eulogized and criticized as a major step in the separation of church and state and toward the creation of a modern, secular Hungary, it also opened up a new path for nation building. In this exceedingly multilingual and multinational country, churches often acted as proxies of cultural and political institutions for the national minorities. In the present article, I examine the specifically nation-building aspects embodied in the new regulation for the official use of first names that accompanied Act XXXIII of 1894 on the civil registry, and focus particularly on Romanian first names. Due to their considerable mismatch with Hungarian first names, Romanian names posed a special challenge to policy makers, and for this reason they demonstrate some less obvious dimensions of the changes instituted in 1894. The geographic parameters of this investigation have been imposed by the spatial framework of a wider research project on the interconnections among language, nationalism, and social change in the eastern part of Dualist Hungary, a territory encompassing Transylvania, the easternmost counties of contemporary Hungary proper (according to the administrative division created in 1876), and the eastern two-thirds of the Banat. This framework enables me to make comparisons with other ethnolinguistic groups, notably Transylvanian Saxons and the Catholic Germans of the Banat.

Bohemia and Moravia are historical lands, which constitute Czechia (together with a small part of Silesia) since the 10th century. Two entirely diff erent sett lement systems can be identifi ed in Czechia: the centralistic Bohemian sett lement system surrounded by a ring of mountains, and the transitional and polycentric Moravian sett lement system. The two lands were physically divided by a border forest. Although they have belonged always to the same state, their autonomy was relatively high until the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. In 1948, a new administrative division was introduced, which did not respect the border between the two lands. Bohemia and Moravia kept their importance as diff erent cultural units only. The main research question addressed in this paper is how the Bohemian and Moravian identities are perceived by the people today and whether it makes any sense to consider the historical lands seriously when rethinking the idea of the Europe of regions.

In this work, we elaborate on the changes and transformations in the Israeli education system (including higher education) from Israel’s independence in 1948 to 2019. Specifically, the study places special emphasis on developments commencing in 1976 in response to the establishment of a separate administrative division for Druze and Circassian Education in the Ministry of Education, and division’s impact on the rate of youngsters who earn matriculation certificates and the number of Druze students attending higher education institutions. of the study analyzes the administrative separation of Druze education in the education system and its effect on the integration of Druze youngsters in higher education in Israel. The current study contributes to our understanding of the development of the Druze education system as a distinct unit in the Israeli Ministry of Education. The findings of this study and its conclusions will contribute to policymakers in the Ministry of Education in general, and policymakers concerning Druze education specifically, seeking to improve educational achievements and apply the insights of the current study to other minority groups to which higher education has become increasingly accessible in recent years.

This research investigates three types of land disputes using a survey of 1050 household from 14 districts spanning across all 7 administrative division of Bangladesh. Moreover, not only we undertake a descriptive evaluation of the survey to understand the severity of land disputes within our sample, we empirically explore the role of land and household factors to understand what makes some land parcels more prone to disputes than others. Furthermore, four interesting findings emerge from our estimations. First, the base line results indicate that approximately 17.7% households had or have disputes in one of their land parcels. This means approximately one in five households in our sample is or was suffering from land dispute(s). Second, approximately half of all land parcels are maintained through un-registered documents, especially for inherited land parcels. This is remarkably low if we compare the state of land registrations to other countries. Third, households with ‘registered’ land parcels on average experience both lower pending disputes and fear of future disputes. On the whole, while we do not attribute causation to our estimates, these correlations motivate further empirical assessments, so that we can improve our understanding of the state of land disputes in Bangladesh.

The competence and performance of school administration personnel is very important in achieving school success, especially the performance of individual administration, because of the high individual performance that can affect group performance which will ultimately affect the overall performance of the school organization. The purposes of this research finding is to improve the performance of the less optimal administrative division thus affecting the quality of administrative services provided. This study produced several conclusions and implications, namely there is still a lack of training in developing the infrastructure in administration, planning the development program of administrative staff by preparing training and coaching programs, and including administration in training or seminar. In general, principals must provide services professionally in the field of educational administration in the context of the implementation of the education process effectively and efficiently.

In this paper we present a study on areas of habitation in St. Petersburg, Russia, which are actively used and perceived by city dwellers as coherent units. The motivation behind the study is to define generic urban areas formed by actual user experience and different from administrative division to improve urban management of the city territory. We employ mixed methods approach to account both for users’ practices in urban space, based on analysis of check-in data, and users’ perception of urban space, based on analysis of mental maps. The clustering algorithm is based on spatial and social proximity indexes and has been validated through the results of the mental mapping survey. The dataset of check-ins is retrieved from VKontakte social network, the most popular one for St. Petersburg and for Russia, and comprises 6128 venues with 763079 check-ins collected for December 2017–February 2018 time period. The mental mapping has been conducted within 39 users of different age and gender, representing different areas of the city under study. We compare the borders of the areas of habitation with the map of administrative division, consider functional load of the areas in different areas of the city, define environmental factors which form the borders, give suggestions on how knowledge on areas of habitation could inform and improve urban management practice.

The reflection of geographical factors in the formation and functioning of federal system, territorial representation, party and electoral systems of theUnited Statesare observed. Evidences indicating the important role of geographic features in the country’s political system are found. Particular attention of American establishment to geographical regularities of organizing political life is traced. The value of the federal system as a key element of the spatial organization of a democratic form of government in theUnited Statesis explored. Reflection of geographic differences in functioning of the electoral system is found. The importance of the Electoral College as an institution aimed at achieving greater territorial cohesion of the state is investigated. The role of majority voting in single-mandate constituencies as an element of territorial representation is analyzed. Special attention is paid to geographical principles in formation of administrative division of the country. The interrelation of the organization of territorial representation in theUnited Statesand the formation of a two-party political system is investigated. The territorial features of parties functioning and regional factors of intraparty differentiation of political views are characterized. It is concluded that there is a deep integration of elements of geographical knowledge and approaches of geographical science into political and electoral systems of theUnited States. The importance of these elements as factors of the territorial stability of theU.S.political model is stated.

Sakiai and Jurbarkas sub-dialects belong to the northern part Western Highlanders of Kaunas region. There is described location of this area in the Lithuanian dialect classification, specific features, dialectal speech self–evaluation and vitality in the beginning of the twenty-first century. According research results Sakiai and Jurbarkas sub-dialects constitute an integral area. there are many common features, this area is transitional to Lowlanders dialect. Dialectal speech self–evaluation is different between two dialects. The Sakiai dialect speakers fully aware of its dialectal dependence, they are able to define its own dialect. However, dialect users note little dialectal features in their own speech, dialectal identity more based on geographical Location and administrative division. The Jurbarkas dialect speakers more fail to identify themselves can not to define its own dialect. The dialect names mostly are made by places of residence names. However, users of this dialect more note dialectal features. Dialectal speech prestige and vitality is high in both sub-dialects. The code switching is uncharacteristic to this area. The least noticeable features are stable, the most noticeable features most disappearing. There are not observed distinct features of the new dialect. High vitality of the dialectal speech is based on small difference from the standard language, not on dialectal prestige or linguistic provisions of dialect speakers. Keywords: sub-dialect; Highlanders; dialect classification; Sakiai; Jurbarkas; dialectal features; dialectal identity

This article was originally published in Polish as: Witold Kieżun, Czterej jeźdźcy apokalipsy polskiej biurokracji, Kultura, No. 3/630, Paris 2000. The Literary Institute (publisher of the “Kultura” monthly) expressed its interest in and consent to the publication of an English-language version of this article. Professor Witold Kieżun also gave his consent to the translation of his text and its posting in the pages of the journal Foundations of Management. The text was written in 1999 and introduced subsequent to January 1 of that year, regarding the reform of the administrative division of Poland, which involved, among other things, three-stage structure of territorial division and the introduction of counties as administrative units (editorial note).

The current state of terrestrial broadcasting networks in the Republic of Angola is described. It is shown that the existing broadcasting network is an analog network, which uses mainly MF, HF and VHF ranges, does not allow to receive public broadcasting programs throughout its territory. Transmitter service areas in each frequency range are presented, along with their territorial distribution features in the Republic of Angola. The ways of transition to digital broadcasting are defined, taking into account the documents adopted by the Government of the Republic of Angola, the administrative division, the existing topology of the broadcasting network, natural and climatic conditions, and the peculiarities of population distribution across the territory of the Republic of Angola.

This study examines the participation of stakeholders, including disabled people, in disability and community issues in rural areas in Sri Lanka. As a conceptual framework, four dimensions of participation in community-based rehabilitation (CBR) are summarised from previous research. This research was mainly conducted in the model administrative division of the national CBR programme in Anuradhapura district. An action research approach was applied in March 2013, which consisted of eight steps. The study used data from the hearing survey on disabled children under 18 years old (n=103), semi-structured interviews with disabled people (n=20), focus group discussions with participants of community workshops (n=34) and social services officers (n=5) separately, and the authors¡¯ field notes, amongst others. Data were analysed with a qualitative procedure, except for quantitative data. Showing the four dimensions of participation in each step, we found promoting participation of various stakeholders improved disabled people¡¯s living conditions and enhanced their empowerment. The study also revealed elements that were significant in promoting participation through the action research process: key persons, information and network, utilising existing local resources, dialogue in meetings, and multisectional practice. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of this research.

The article offers a critical review of the government document “National Urban Policy” (2014) from the viewpoint of political science. The author points out the fundamental f laws in the document related to the omission of important government actions inf luencing the development of cities, including changes in the administrative division of Poland, the establishment and closure of public institutions financed from the central budget, or restructuring of the economy. The article underlines a lack of consistency between the definition of cities as areas of concentration of economic activity and scientific institutions, and the proposed hierarchy of urban centres closely related to their administrative status (as regional capitals). The text also describes government attempts to impose certain policies in the area studied on local authorities where the latter should enjoy due autonomy (public participation, urban sprawl processes, transportation systems).

The process of agricultural collectivization and formation of collective farm villages[1] started in 1948. There was started an intensive expropriation of land, the intensification of mechanization as well as concentration of the production of agricultural commodities; there was initiated the development of the villages for the newly organized collective farms. During the Soviet period, all villages were classified according to the number of the population in the villages, spheres of control, social and production potential. (Bielinskis F. Stanevicius St.,). Within the development of new large farming centres, the other classification of new villages was introduced according to the functions and administrative division. (The Administrative Territorial...of the Republic of the Soviet Lithuania ..., 1972). The central and secondary villages developed as the derivative structures of the collective farming system or as the principal urban formations. The process of collectivization itself in rural areas together with the industrialization in towns had to serve the increase of economy in the Soviet Union. Afterwards, all the processes related to collectivization significantly slowed down and finally in the nineties of the previous century, were doomed to fail together with the collapse of the Soviet Union. A huge number of the former existed collective farm villages as well as rather dense location of them throughout the whole territory of the country indicate the impact of those villages on the urban and land management framework of the country. Heretofore, every collective farm village turned to be a guarantee of employment for the population residing in the village because in each collective farm village there were economic-industrial buildings and goods were manufactured by an abundant work force. At present, when a great number of the buildings have been abandoned, the villages have confronted with the urgent problem of unemployment which has caused social problems. The mentioned above problems have derived from one aspect, i.e., the loss of the function of the former collective farm villages. In case, a newly derived function could be provided for those villages, there might be solved the issues of unemployment, neglected buildings, impoverishment of the landscape, demographic decline of the population in those rural areas as well as certain social economic problems could be solved.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.19.2.18426

This paper looked at the barriers to ICT integration in teaching practices from the perspective of Chinese early childhood teachers in Mainland China. A total of 46 Chinese early childhood teachers in Mainland China participated in this study. They were from three early childhood settings located in three different cities in terms of the administrative division. A self-designed questionnaire was adopted as the research instrument. It was found that a range of first-order barriers, which included lack of hardware (laptops, notebooks, and computers), lack of teaching content and material, as well as lack of pedagogical models were perceived as main barriers by the teachers. However, several second-order barriers, such as lack of teachers' interest, and lack of teachers' support were perceived as the least main barriers. Furthermore, the variable "ICT use in daily life" was found play an important role in determining the teachers' perceptions of barriers both on the overall level and on the specific level. Several recommendations for future practices and research were also provided.

Social service support for beneficiaries of the French RSA (minimum income scheme) is based on reducing their problems to a series of situations blocking their “plans to return to employment”. These situations are defined in practice by the specific “programs” toward which professional may orient beneficiaries. This notion is quite close to that of “situation of disability”, as it is used in social conceptions of disability. It is the support for a specific handicapology, rooted in a representation of social service work in rupture with the traditional notion of support for disabled persons, those unfit for work. It is characterized particularly by a refusal to sort beneficiaries into overarching categories, and a change in the meaning given to people's material and cultural destitution, which is not treated as a consequence of unemployment or as a disability, but as a disabling situation responsible for their withdrawal from the employment market. These professional norms are manifest in a strong resistance when beneficiaries express the desire to seek AAH (disabled adult allowance). This reticence is explained by the simultaneous transformations of both the administrative division of social support work and the social trajectories of the social workers charged with this work. AAH requests place professionals in a paradoxical situation: their general role to support people in their administrative procedures comes into contradiction with their mission to “support toward employment”, which they find radically incompatible with the posture of assistance implied by the recognition of even a partial unfitness for work.

This case study examines local resources of disabled people at the individual and social levels in a rural area. The research was conducted in the model administrative division of the national community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programme in Sri Lanka. In this division, the programme began in 1998, and international volunteers started support activities in 2007. The author applied action research after commencing work as a social worker in the local government office in February 2013. Data were based on social work practice in the field level: assessment, planning, implementing and monitoring. This study used data from semi-structured interviews with disabled people, interviews with a social services officer, documents relevant to CBR, and the author's field notes. Data were analyzed with qualitative procedure. The findings suggest that living conditions of disabled people have improved through the development of community workshops and other local resources since 2009. Using interview data, the study reveals individual level elements at each stage: infancy, school age, after school age, turning points and after participation. The significant elements are meeting with a key person and being linked to local resources, developing social support network, and increasing income. The analysis also indicates that the division's CBR programme encounters the challenges: the right to receive education, information sharing and networking, the variety of local resources, sustainable activities, empowerment and leadership, and capacity building. Finally, we discuss implications of these findings and show a new action plan based on the results.

The concept of Green campus has recently become an issue with the fact that universities are classified as energy gluttons. This study clearly defines the meaning of domestic green campus, and explores the operating system of green campus and related associations. Then, it draws implications from the case of Harvard University. For the research, reports and research papers of the University are examined thoroughly, and detailed information were confirmed through visiting to the official home page and emails with authorities. The green campus support institutions of the United States are making efforts to integrate overlapping functions and create a synergy effect through internal interchange and information exchange, and substantive collaboration. Also, it is drawing active participation from students and faculties of American universities by publicizing and raising various methods of funding to manage them. The primary factors of Harvard University`s success are: voluntary participation from all members, the coordinated operation of the administrative division to be the center of the green campus initiative and the cooperation of each department. Other critical factors of Harvard`s success are their fundraising capability, and specialized management institution. The study has significance in that it draws applicable implications on domestic Green campus through in-depth analysis, which surpasses introduction of preceding studies.

While microfinance institutions (MFIs) are increasingly important as employers in the eveloping world, there is little micro-level evidence on gender differences among MFI employees nd MFIs’ relation to economic development. We use a unique panel dataset of employees from atin America’s largest MFI to show that gender gaps favouring men for promotion exist primarily n the sales division, while there is a significant gender wage gap in the administrative division. mong loan officers in the sales division, the gender gap in promotion and wages reverses. Finally, emale employees tend to work with clients with better loan terms and a history of loans with the nstitution.

This chapter provides: (1) an overview of the statistical systems and methods of maintaining population statistics in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation: (2) population statistics in territorial units comparable to the Russian Federation based on primary materials; and (3) a general view of long-term population dynamics from the late imperial era to the new Russian Federation. There is a large gap between research dealing with population during the imperial period and that which examines the period after the October Revolution, since few studies utilized primary data in investigating population figures of the imperial era.

It is generally accepted that the first European regional state was Italy (since 1948), and the second was Spain (since 1978). This article, however, proves that the first European regional state was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1921 - 1939). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia as a regional state was formed in imitation of the Union of South Africa (since 1909). The main proponents of the concept of Yugoslav regionalism were Bogumil Vosnjak, a Slovene, and Josip Smodlaka, a Croat from Dalmatia, both of them considered moderate nationalists. Regional jurisdiction in the Vidovdan Constitution was modeled according to Smodlaka’s and Vosnjak’s ideas. Law on the name and the administrative division of the Kingdom from 1929 established administrative areas (banovinas), whose jurisdiction mostly coincided with regional jurisdiction. Banovinas were also carried to the Constitution of 1931, provided that, with respect to self governing bodies, they were somewhat shaped by the ideas of Stojan Protic, „a moderate Serb“. The territories of banovinas were shaped according to Smodlaka’s draft, so they were much larger and economically stronger than previous (oblasti). When we compare the standard regional jurisdiction (designed according to the Spanish Constitution of 1978) with the jurisdiction of Yugoslav counties or banovinas, we can conclude that they are almost identical. So, considering the time priority, the Yugoslav Kingdom was the first regional state. However, it was an inadequate form of a state due to the presence of strong nationalisms, primarily Croatian.

Place identity is a fluid construction that is in a constant dynamics of re-imagination. Changes in economic, social, cultural and political conditions lead individual and groups to re-imagine and rebuild their place-based identity. One major force that causes people's interruption in place identity is the rationalizing spatial process that reduces place into abstract space that is open to reorganization. In this paper, we investigate the interruption, reconfirmation and renegotiation of the place-based identity of local residents of the former municipal district of Dongshan, Guangzhou, China, after the official administrative establishment of Dongshan was cancelled by the Guangzhou municipal authority in 2005. Thirty-six in-depth interviews were conducted, and it is found that local Dongshan residents' place identity had generally been enhanced, rather than vitiated, after the 2005 change of administrative division, while discourses about interruptions in their place identity fill up their narratives. Al...

Background: Hygienic sanitation facilities are crucial for public health. Investment on sanitation brings the single greatest return for any development intervention. Poor sanitation, open defecation and lack of awareness about hygiene have detrimental effect on the health of women and children living in slums. Objective: The objective of this study was to perceive/assess the barriers to access of hygienic sanitary facilities for adolescent girls in an urban slum. Methodology: This study included 98 adolescent females (10-19years) living in urban slums Ward no 19 Raipur. Simple random sampling by ‘note method’ was used to select one administrative division of this area. Result: Mean age of adolescent girls in the present study was 15.44 ±2.2years (Range: 12 to 19 years) and a majority of them were in High School 60 (60.2%). About half (42%) of the study subjects were living in Semi pucca house and only 38% had access to an independent toilet facility, 9% were practicing open defecation and remaining (51%) were using public toilets. Conclusion: The availability of sanitation facility and latrine utilization rate of the households were satisfactory. Privacy is a concern in public toilet, uses of sanitary pad was also less and changing of absorbent material in toilets was also a matter of concern for the girls.

The pre-colonial, western Himalayan principality of Kulu presented a traditional balance between migratory pastoralism, settled agriculture and market dealings. The state encouraged and thrived upon this combination of diverse activities. This situation was profoundly transformed by the establishment of the colonial rule. New notions of property and rights of land use were imposed. The traditional claims to pastures and forest resources by the village communities were questioned. Colonial land revenue and forest regulations marginalized the pastoralists and shifted the balance towards agriculture. In independent India, too, local communities have been ignored and the state continues to exercise virtually exclusive control over forest resources. Keywords: Kulu, Himalaya, pastoralism, colonial, forest Himachal Himalaya: Striking a Balance Almost by definition, pastoralism involves some degree of movement (Salzman 2002: 245) and a certain amount of interaction with the larger politico-economic systems of which it is part (Singh 1988:319-40). The study of pastoralism would therefore entail an exploration of its interconnections with agriculture, trade, legal systems, the polity and a host of other forms of social organization (Glatzer and Casimir 1983: 308; Fortier 2001: 207). In fact, pastoralism is usually 'a particular activity within regions where more diverse economic activities ate pursued' and it uses such areas in a region that ate unsuitable for agriculture (Galaty and Johnson 1990: 20; Salzman 2002: 260). But pastoralism is not simply a social response to ecological circumstances. It encompasses several intricate economic considerations and equally diverse social sensitivities (Galaty and Johnson 1990: 3). Pastoral people have constantly engaged with other sections of society and lived in a multifaceted world. Even so, pastoralists are often perceived as people who have always been in a state of disconnect with larger contemporary developments. But is this perception well founded? 'Modernizing' programmes of nation-states in South Asia, designed to draw pastoral people into the 'mainstream', have made this question even more significant. These measures are not unprecedented. Colonial governments instituted similar measures to make pastoral people conform to 'enlightened' norms of governance and to inculcate 'modern' economic values. An attempt is made below to describe one such encounter between 'modernity' and 'tradition' that brought about fundamental social change in a relatively secluded part of the western Himalaya. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] Kulu, our area of study, is today a district (5,503 sq km) of the western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India. In pre-colonial times, Kulu was an ancient principality that grew into a strong and unified monarchy in the seventeenth century. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century saw Kulu becoming increasingly subject to Sikh control until British dominance was established in 1846. Under British rule, it became a subdivision of the much larger district of Kangra and consisted of three distinct parts. The first was the area of Kulu, Saraj and Rupi, which was separated from the two other parts, namely Lahaul and Spiti, by the towering Pir Panjal range and its offshoots. Lahaul and Spiti together cover an area of 13,835 sq km. The Kulu, Saraj and Rupi area consisted of six waziris (a precolonial administrative division). The waziris of Kulu Proper, situated along the main Beas valley, were Parol, Lag Sari and Lag Maharaja. Rupi, drained primarily by Parbati, a large tributary of the Beas, was a waziri by itself. The two waziris of Saraj were Inner Saraj and Outer Saraj. The pre-colonial state was a product of the socioeconomic conditions of the region. For both the Sikhs and the British, with their emphasis on land revenue, precise assessment in Kulu proved a tricky task because of its predominantly agro-pastoral character. …

Where is Limburg? The Paradoxes of a Strong Regional Identity Limburg is a good example of the tensions that exist in the Dutch provincesLimburg is a good example of the tension that exist in the Dutch provinces between administrative territoriality, regional identity and spatial functionality. Right up to the present day, strong regional sentiments have hampered territorial restructuring based on more rational or functional criteria. Limburg was formed in 1815, much later than the other Dutch provinces, from different territories on both sides of the river Meuse. After the Belgian Revolt (1830- 1839) it was divided into a western (Belgian) part and an eastern (Dutch) part. This is how the Dutch part of Limburg acquired its odd elongated shape. In spite of its recent formation, the inhabitants of the Dutch part developed a strong provincial identity. The identification with the province of Limburg as a territorial unity can, however, not be based on any objective characteristics, but is in itself a result of its progressive integration into the Dutch state, which made the inhabitants aware of their divergent dialect, religion, culture, and, last but not least, interests. The paper argues that this provincial regionalism will become more and more obsolete as state borders gradually become ‘denationalised’ through the process of European integration. As Limburg participates in two Euregios, Meuse-Rhine in the south and Rhine-Meuse North in the north, a growing administrative division within the province into a northern and southern part seems inevitable. This article is part of the forum 'De taaiheid van de provincie'.