World on my postcards

  Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately 50 kilometres east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century.

Åland consists of 6,757 islands situated midway between Sweden and Finland. Although the people of Åland speak Swedish, this autonomous territory is part of Finland. Åland is part of the Republic of Finland but has its own devolved parliament. In devolved policy areas Åland acts as a nation in practice. Åland is a member of the EU and the currency is the euro, but its relationship to the EU is regulated in a special protocol: to maintain the important tax free sales on the ships which sail between Finland and Sweden, Åland remains outside the VAT area. Major sources of income on Åland are shipping and ferry services, tourism and the processing of agriculture and fisheries products.

  Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. One of the superlative natural phenomena present in this property is its stromatolites, which represent the oldest form of life on Earth and are comparable to living fossils. Shark Bay is also one of the few marine areas in the world dominated by carbonates not associated with reef-building corals. Source:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/578

 Cape Town is a port city on South Africa’s southwest coast, on a peninsula beneath the imposing Table Mountain. Some Facts: Table Mountain’s flat top was formed about 300 million years ago. The mountain was at sea level during an ice age and ice sheets flattened the layers of sandstone to form the famous landmark. Cape Town has its own unique mix of indigenous music called Ghoema, closely associated with the Cape Malay culture having its origins linked to the musical culture of the Malay slaves. Cape Town has the oldest wine industry outside Europe and the Mediterranean, dating back to 2 February 1659 when Jan van Riebeeck produced the first wine recorded in South Africa. Source: http://www.capetown.travel/visitors/see-do/arts-culture/heritage-history/facts-about-cape-town

South Africa is the only nation-state named after its geographic location; there was a general agreement not to change the name after the establishment of a constitutional nonracial democracy in 1994. South Africans are by custom polite and circumspect in their speech, although residents of the major urban centers may bemoan the decline of once-common courtesies. Each of the quite different culture groups—corresponding to home language speakers of English, Afrikaans, Tamil and Urdu, and the southern Bantu Languages, cross-cut by religion and country of original origin—has its own specific expressive forms of social propriety and respect. Source: http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#ixzz4HsyN0RdS

  The tropical island of Mauritius, once a haunt for pirates, is now best known for luxury hotels on white sand beaches with volcanic mountain backdrops. It is an island for exploring, with Indian temples, colonial houses, botanical gardens, and opportunities to spot rare birds among soaring ebony trees, walk with lions or swim with dolphins.