Joel Schumacher

Articles by this Author

Toronto: The largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario

By Joel Schumacher
Published 04/22/2007
Canada
Rating: Unrated

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is one of the most populated cities in North America. It houses the headquarters of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's sixth largest, along with a majority of Canada's corporations. However, none of these matter to people who come here to see one of the greatest natural wonders of the world – the Niagara Falls, which is just a stone’s throw away from the city.

Montreal is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris

By Joel Schumacher
Published 09/22/2007
Canada
Rating: Unrated

Montreal is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris and it has also been ranked as the 10th cleanest city in the world.

The second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec was originally called Ville-Marie (Mary's City) and came to be known as Montreal only by the end of the 17th century. The name is derived from Mount Royal, the three-head hill at the heart of the city.

Vancouver: One of the most beautiful cities in the world

By Joel Schumacher
Published 09/27/2007
Canada
Rating: Unrated

Vancouver is located between the Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains and was first settled in the 1860s because of the Gold Rush. Since then the city grew from a small lumber mill town to the bustling metropolitan it is now. The city itself forms part of the Burrard Peninsula, lying between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south. Its port, the Port of Vancouver is the busiest seaport in Canada and is internationally significant because of the Panama Canal.

Canada’s capital city: Ottawa has the highest per capita concentration of residents with PhDs in Canada

By Joel Schumacher
Published 09/27/2007
Canada
Rating: Unrated

When you enter the city, it is hard to believe that it wasn’t a likely candidate for capital city. It was chosen in 1858 as the capital only because of the rising hostility between the then major cities Ontario and Québec. But the residents take pride in their city, and the government made efforts to change the small village into a national capital, by rescuing historic sites and creating public and recreation parks among others.

Port-au-Prince - the Largest city of Haiti

By Joel Schumacher
Published 09/28/2007
Haiti
Rating: Unrated

Port-au-Prince, meaning Port with Prince (Potoprens in Creole, the local language) is the capital and largest city of Haiti, and literally signifies the landing of a captain in his boat called Le Prince. Located on a bay off the Gulf of La Gonave, the city’s layout resembles that of an amphitheatre; commercial districts are near the water, while residential neighborhoods are located on the hills above.

Port-au-Prince exudes a small town feel even though it has more than one million inhabitants and it's by far the largest city of the country. However, the city is notorious for its high crime rate with kidnappings, and frequent exchanges of fire between police and United Nations troops or criminal gangs. But with some caution and understanding of the situation, it is a beautiful region to be explored and its people, you will wind, are some of the friendliest and liveliest of all, not to mention the most colorful.

The country's chief exports are mainly coffee and sugar. It was founded in 1749 by French sugar planters. The region has tropical climate with high humidity. There is intermittent rain throughout the year but through the months of June to October, it can get quite wet and hurricanes can also be expected. Hill resorts are a good option to stay at since they are much cooler.

Quebec City: The oldest fortified city in North America

By Joel Schumacher
Published 09/28/2007
Canada
Rating: Unrated

Quebec City is the oldest fortified city in North America. It is a pleasant mix of the old and the new, with the Old Town full of historic ramparts, churches, narrow lanes and former battlefields, and new districts with museums, cafes and other modern structures.

H.H. The Nizam VI - Nawab Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, 1869-1911

By Joel Schumacher
Published 12/22/2007
India
Rating: Unrated

A few photographs of the Nizam of Hyderabad and his family.

Nizam was a title given to the rulers of the state of Hyderabad in India. These rulers belonged to the Asaf Jah dynasty. Asaf Jah was a title assumed by Mir Qamar-ud-Din, a viceroy of the Deccan, under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who split from the crumbling Mughal Empire and in 1720 declared himself an independent state. His successors, henceforth were known by the title of Nizam.

In 1948 the independent state of Hyderabad was annexed by the newly independent India. A total of 7 nizams ruled Hyderabad and evidence of their rule can still be seen today in Hyderabad city.

Blogs by this Author

Fancy Flying an Su-27 or MiG-29? Now you can.

By Joel Schumacher
Published 02/22/2008

At MigFlug.com you can make a real vacation of flying some of the finest in Soviet fighter aircraft. At MigFlug.com you can book one of several flight packages that includes boarding ...

The lack of facial expression in ancient Egyptian art.

By Joel Schumacher
Published 02/18/2008

If you observe any sample of ancient Egyptian art, you'll notice the lack of facial expression. This fact is overly obvious in this reproduction of a set of hieroglyphs depicting the process of circum...

Whaling, Hunting Sharks, ESPN & Disney

By Joel Schumacher
Published 11/17/2007

The Japanese whaling fleet is about to resume hunting Humpback Whales with orders to kill upto 50. The logic behind hunting whales is not clear to me. For a nation like Japan where the catch of t...

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