’

Historical view

Maritime history did not start with oil tankers, nor with
sailboats; even the Neanderthals hunted marine
mammals! With only canoes, their range was limited,
but change was soon to come. The science of
navigation, in use already 5000 years ago on the
Indus River, combined with the construction of ships
with sails, marks the start of trade routes. Since then,
the routes have expanded, and today the
seafarer’s playground has no limitations.
Vikings
Historically, we know that the Vikings expanded their horizon by sea both to the East
to Miklagard (today’s Istanbul) as early as 839, and to the west to Vinland (today’s
America) in 1002. The Viking ships were built for either war, trade, or transport; each
purpose demanding its own kind of ship. Vikings used the Knarr for voyages in the
open sea while graceful longships were mostly used for transporting their troops
during invasions and raids.

The Scandinavian countries still have a place amongst the top seafaring nations
today, with Norway as the greatest. When the IMO Assembly elects members for the
Council, Norway is often chosen in the category of states with the largest interest in
providing international shipping services.

“Rule, Britannia!, Britannia Rule The Waves”

If you have ever watched the Last Night of the

Proms, aired from the Royal Albert Hall once a
year, you are bound to remember the audience
singing “Rule Britannia”! If you haven’t, look it up
on YouTube to get the gist.

“The first public performance of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ was in London in 1745, and it
instantly became very popular for a nation trying to expand and “rule the waves”.
Indeed, from as early as the 15th and 16th centuries, other countries’ dominant
exploratory advances encouraged Britain to follow. This was the Age of Discovery, in
which Spain and Portugal were the European pioneers, beginning to establish
empires. This spurred England, France and the Netherlands to do the same. They
colonized and set up trade routes in the Americas and Asia.”
Colonization - The British Empire

As you can see from the map, the Britons extended far beneath the borders of Jolly
Old England! The saying “The empire on which the sun never sets” was definitely true
when the British Empire was at its largest. “By 1913, the British Empire held sway over
412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered
35,500,000 km2 (13,700,000 sq mi), 24% of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its
political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread.”

After seeing the widespread area in which English was the language of the rulers and
lawmakers, one can surely understand how English became the lingua franca.
According to Cambridge dictionary, lingua franca means “a language used for
communication between groups of people who speak different languages”. The
term originates from the period when the Mediterranean countries were the ones
ruling the waves and the world.

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”

As you most likely know, this song is not really about a
seafarer, but it could be! With a deck officer’s certificate, you
are free to roam the seven seas; the whole world lies before
you. With the world as your office, you are responsible for
learning more beyond the haven where you have spent most of your life.

“The Seven Seas”

We have all heard stories of sailors “sailing the

Seven Seas”, but where and what are these
seas? In modern times, we list the following
oceanic bodies of water to be the infamous
Seven Seas: the Arctic Ocean, the North
Atlantic Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean,
the Indian Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean,
the South Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic
(Southern) Ocean. As you can see from the
map, there are actually only five oceans; the old way of naming the oceans split the
Atlantic and the Pacific into North and South, thus making it to a total count of seven.
Continents, Regions, And Countries

Today, close to 200 countries are acknowledged by

international experts and authorities. It is widely accepted to
divide the world into seven regions, commonly regarded as
continents. Ordered from largest in size to smallest, they are:
Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica,
Europe, and Australia. The U.N. Statistics Division groups
countries into regions and sub-regions rather than into
continents.

The word continent originates from the Latin terra continens

which can be translated into “connected land”. Originally, the term was used for
areas of land not separated by water. Today, we think of continents as large areas
of land, not necessarily separated by wide areas of water. If that was the case,
Europe and Asia would be regarded as one continent.

In terms of area, the biggest country of the world is Russia, with almost twice the area
of number two, Canada. The smallest is the Vatican State with its 0.44 square
kilometres and Monaco, 1.9 square km. The most populated countries are China,
India and the U.S. You can check a number of interesting facts about all the world’s
nations on the World Factbook, a site from the US Central Intelligence Agency.