and monetary union - including a common currency. This further
integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria,
Finland, and Sweden joined to the EU, raising the membership total
to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1
January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU
states except Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens
of the 12 euro-area countries began using euro banknotes and coins.
Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In
order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently
with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules
streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU
Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gives
member states two years to ratify the document before it is
scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006.

Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in
various countries have raised questions about the erosion of
national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from
the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by member states to ratify the
constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro
currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and
perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation. These "tiers"
might eventually range from an "inner" core of politically
integrated countries to a looser "outer" economic association of
members.

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Although first sighted by an
English navigator in 1592, the first landing (English) did not occur
until almost a century later in 1690, and the first settlement
(French) was not established until 1764. The colony was turned over
to Spain two years later and the islands have since been the subject
of a territorial dispute, first between Britain and Spain, then
between Britain and Argentina. The UK asserted its claim to the
islands by establishing a naval garrison there in 1833. Argentina
invaded the islands on 2 April 1982. The British responded with an
expeditionary force that landed seven weeks later and after fierce
fighting forced Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982.

Faroe Islands
The population of the Faroe