* Northern Dimension

# the Council programme may enable member states to focus Council discussion on issues of particular national / regional interest ( e. g.: Finland and the Northern Dimension initiative )

* Northern Dimension Research Centre ( NORDI )

The Northern Dimension addresses the specific challenges and opportunities arising in those regions and aims to strengthen dialogue and co-operation between the EU and its member states, the northern countries associated with the EU under the European Economic Area ( Norway and Iceland ) and Russia.

The Northern Dimension is implemented within the framework of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia.

Several key priority themes for dialogue and co-operation under the Northern Dimension have been identified, including the followings.

The Northern Dimension is intended to promote security and stability in the region, as well as helping build a safe, clean and accessible environment for all people in the north.

The Northern Dimension is also intended to take advantage of the rich potential of the region, for example in terms of natural resources, economic dynamism, and a rich cultural heritage.

Besides, the Northern Dimension also has the objectives of addressing the challenges arising from uneven regional development, and helping avoid the emergence of new dividing lines in Europe following EU enlargement.

With the enlargement of the Union on 1 May 2004 to include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the importance of the Northern Dimension has increased considerably: eight EU Member States ( Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden ) surround the Baltic Sea, and the EU ’ s shared border with Russia has lengthened.

The Vienna European Council in December 1998 adopted a Commission Communication on a ‘ Northern Dimension for the policies of the Union '.

Six months later, in Cologne, the European Council adopted Guidelines for the implementation of the Northern Dimension.

In November 1999, the Finnish EU Presidency held a Ministerial Conference on the Northern Dimension, where an Inventory of current activities under the Northern Dimension was adopted.

The Helsinki European Council in December 1999 invited the Commission to prepare a Northern Dimension Action Plan, and the Feira European Council in June 2000 subsequently adopted this first ‘ Action Plan for the Northern Dimension in the external and cross-border policies of the European Union, 2001-2003.

In April 2001 the Swedish EU Presidency and the European Commission organised the 2nd Ministerial Conference on the Northern Dimension in Luxembourg.

In June 2001, the Gothenburg European Council endorsed a Full Report on Northern Dimension Policies that, while taking stock of the activities undertaken to implement the Feira Action Plan, also outlined ideas and proposals for the continuation of the Northern Dimension initiative.

Dürer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, has secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.

The most important exports of Northern Cyprus are citrus and dairy products.

The most important film-producing country in Northern Europe up until the First World War was Denmark.

In the Northern Hemisphere pines Pinus, spruces Picea, larches Larix, silver firs Abies, Douglas firs Pseudotsuga and hemlocks Tsuga, make up the canopy, but other taxa are also important.

Around the transition from the 15th to the 16th century, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremberg established his reputation across Europe as painter, printmaker, mathematician, engraver, and theorist when he was still in his twenties and secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.

Resigning when his home state of Virginia seceded, he served first under Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, but then in increasingly important cavalry commands of the Army of Northern Virginia, playing a role in all of that army's campaigns until his death.

It is important to remember Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing Dominion and the government could effectively command that the people be removed, similar to " compulsory purchase " in Britain, whereas Northern Rhodesia was a colony, and governed by consent after consultation with the tribal chiefs.

Crutzen and Birks showed that smoke injected into the atmosphere by fires in cities, forests and petroleum reserves could prevent up to 99 % of sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface, with major climatic consequences: " The normal dynamic and temperature structure of the atmosphere would therefore change considerably over a large fraction of the Northern Hemisphere, which will probably lead to important changes in land surface temperatures and wind systems.

During the Middle Ages, Parma became an important stage of the Via Francigena, the main road connecting Rome to Northern Europe ; several castles, hospitals and inns were built in the following centuries to host the increasing number of pilgrims who passed by Parma and Fidenza, following the Apennines via Collecchio, Berceto and the Corchia ranges before descending the Passo della Cisa into Tuscany, heading finally south toward Rome.

One important change was a significant increase in membership from Central and Northern Europe, instead of countries such as Spain or Italy.

It flourished during the 13th and 14th century and during the Yuan dynasty became the largest and most important Taoist school in Northern China.

As an important port for trade between Russia and Scandinavia, it became a target for the expansion of the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning of the 13th century when Christianity was forcibly imposed on the local population.

In 1928 important discoveries were made in the region from then on called Copperbelt-enormous copper deposits were found, transforming Northern Rhodesia from a prospective land of colonization for white farmers to a copper exporter.

During the Northern Wei, Buddhism flourished, and became an important tool for the emperors of the Northern Wei, since they were believed to be living incarnations of Buddha.

From the late 1980s onwards, Adams was an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, initially following contact by the then Social Democratic and Labour Party ( SDLP ) leader John Hume and subsequently with the Irish and British governments and then other parties.

Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list on November 30, 2000.

Since the Northern Crusades Estonia became a battleground for centuries where Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Poland fought their many wars over controlling the important geographical position of the country as a gateway between East and West.

Lombardy counts many protected areas: the most important are the Stelvio National Park ( the largest Italian natural park ), with typically alpine wildlife: red deer, roe-deer, ibex, chamois, foxes, ermine and also golden eagles ; and the Ticino Valley Natural Park, instituted in 1974 on the Lombard side of the Ticino River to protect and conserve one of the last major examples of fluvial forest in Northern Italy.

The location on the banks of the river Rhine allowed Utrecht to become an important trade centre in the Northern Netherlands.

In 1716 Townshend was removed from the important post of Northern Secretary and put in the lesser office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

During the Middle Ages Braunschweig was an important center of trade, one of the economic and political centers in Northern Europe and a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century.

The Brenner Pass, one of the most important transit routes between Northern and Southern Europe.

In any case, ethnic borders in the Cantabrian mountains were not so important after that time, as the clans divisions that permeated the pre-roman societies of all the peoples of Northern Iberia fell under similar political administrative culture impossed on them by the Romans.

The Battle of the Boyne remains a controversial topic today, especially in Northern Ireland, where some Protestants remember it as the great victory over Catholics that resulted in the sovereignty of Parliament and the Protestant monarchy.

The poem is presented and taught in many schools in the English-speaking world: these include the 7th grade of most schools of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education ( ICSE ), India ; the English Literature GCSE course in some examination boards in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland ; and in the current Higher School Certificate syllabus topic, Inner Journeys, New South Wales, Australia.

As a regular columnist for Nationalism Today, the ideological journal of the Official National Front, Kerr frequently wrote on the topic of Ulster nationalism which became the policy of the ONF in relation to Northern Ireland ( in contrast to previous NF policy, which was supportive of Ulster loyalism ).

Two non-Dardic languages which are spoken in Northern Pakistan are Balti, a Sino-Tibetan language and Burushaski a language isolate and still the topic of considerable interest for Pakistani and international linguists.