Isan is the northeast region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat
Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, and by
Cambodia to the south; to the west it is separated from Northern and
Central Thailand by the Phetchabun mountain range. Agriculture is the
main economic activity, but due to the poor conditions output trails
that of other parts of the country, and this is Thailand's poorest
region. The main language of the region is Isan (which is similar to
Lao), but Thai is also widespread and Khmer is spoken in the south.
Most of the population is of Lao origin, but the region's
incorporation into the modern Thai state has been largely successful.
Prominent aspects of Isan culture include mor lam music, muay Thai
boxing and the food, in which sticky rice and chillies are prominent.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1885:
King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State as his
personal possession in Africa.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium)
1859:
Prince Alexander John Cuza of Wallachia and Moldavia merged his two
principalities to form Romania.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Romania)
1924:
Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory
were first broadcast by the BBC.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal)
1988:
The first Red Nose Day raised £15 million in the United Kingdom for
charity.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Relief)
2004:
Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the
city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haiti_rebellion)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"I profoundly believe that there is on this horizon, as yet only dimly
perceived, a new dawn of conscience. In that purer light, people will
come to see themselves in each other, which is to say they will make
themselves known to one another by their similarities rather than by
their differences. Man's knowledge of things will begin to be matched
by man's knowledge of self. The significance of a smaller world will
be measured not in terms of military advantage, but in terms of
advantage for the human community. It will be the triumph of the
heartbeat over the drumbeat." -- Adlai Stevenson
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson)