1B and 1C: AKROTIRI AND DHEKELIA

Bet you never heard of Akrotiri, which is one of the 70 non-nations, and, as evidenced by the flag, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, located just south of Limassol on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. When I visited this island, I thought it only had two political entities, the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turns out, there are four. The fourth jurisdiction is Dhekelia, also serving a similar purpose, for the island once belonged to Great Britain. This is getting tedious, and is one reason why I will from now stick to the 195 real nations, moving on to Albania next.

Anyway, since I'm this far into the analysis, let me continue. Akrotiri and Dhekelia have a population of 15,700 and are used by the UK as military bases. Dhekelia is found just east of Larnaca. The two protectorates are about the size of Washington, D.C. The chief of state is, of course, Queen Elizabeth II. The Euro is used and there is no television station. Their only claim to fame I can find is that Akrotiri has the only remaining colony of griffon vultures.
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The Dow Jones Industrials settled 18 to 8168, while world markets almost all went up. Gold dropped $9/toz to $887 and oil is just above $50 (see graph to right). Well, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the good news is that it does not have to liquidate, yet. Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps will continue to be produced, with a slight delay, perhaps with some government help. GM's decision is a month away. The market symbol F (for Ford), by the way, is now at $5.98/share, about three and a half times what it was at a low last month.

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Tomorrow: Albania

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