Vietnam Ranking: https://soundcloud.com/josef-schweinzer/sets/ramixjoeworldcontest2025?si=8772ffb0264f4695abcdc0b4214718da&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Originaltitle: Việt Nam - Ta Cùng Đi

Vietnam is an elongated coastal state in Southeast Asia. It borders China, Laos, Cambodia, the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi, the largest city by population is Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon); other important metropolises in the country are Hải Phòng, Cần Thơ and Đà Nẵng. The majority of the population are Vietnamese.

The first historically documented kingdom in what is now Vietnam emerged in the 1st millennium BC. Afterwards, peaceful coexistence developed between the Yue and the Han during the Triệu dynasty. 111 B.C. The dynasty came under the control of the Han Chinese as a province of the Han dynasty in 200 BC and remained so - interrupted by brief periods of independence - until 939 AD, when it was defeated after the Battle of the Bạch-Đằng River (Autumn 938 AD) gained independence. In the following centuries, Vietnam expanded southward with successive dynasties and a period of Chinese occupation from 1407 to 1428.

In the 19th century, the area gradually came under French colonial rule as part of French Indochina. Japan occupied the region during World War II. From 1946 to 1954, France tried unsuccessfully to restore its colonial rule in the First Indochina War. As a result of the French defeat in 1954, Tonkin and the northern part of Annam became the socialist North Vietnam with the capital Hanoi, and Cochinchina and the southern part of Annam became the Western-supported South Vietnam with the capital Saigon. From 1964 to 1973, the United States failed in the Vietnam War to defeat North Vietnam and its allied National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. Instead, the two Vietnamese states were reunited under communist leadership in 1976.

Vietnam remains a one-party dictatorship to this day. The authoritarian government regularly commits serious violations of human rights.

Vietnam - Ta Cùng Di

日本 (Nihon) - この道 (Kono Michi)

Winner of the week: 🥇11

Japan is an East Asian state in the Pacific comprising 14,125 islands, indirectly bordering Russia to the north and northwest, North and South Korea to the west, and Taiwan and China to the southwest. It is the fourth largest island state in terms of area and the second largest in terms of population. The de facto capital and largest urban settlement is Tokyo, which was abolished as a political entity in World War II; de jure there is a “capital area” made up of eight prefectures including Tokyo.

The formation of the Japanese state began in the 5th century under the cultural influence of the Chinese Empire. Japan had been in contact with the West since the 16th century and rose to become a great power in the 19th century, acquiring colonies such as Korea and Taiwan, taking part in both world wars and briefly ruling large parts of Southeast and East Asia. Until 1947, the Japanese Empire was a constitutional monarchy based on the monarchical principle, partly based on the Prussian model, with the Japanese emperor as head of state.
His aggressive expansion policy in the Republic of China in the run-up to and during the Second World War (Pacific War) ultimately led to defeat on the side of the Axis powers in August 1945. In the Japanese state formed under Douglas MacArthur's occupation government since 1947, the sovereign is the people, the highest organ of state power the parliament, whose chambers have since then both been directly elected by the people. The empire was not abolished, but the emperor, as a “symbol of the state,” was reduced to ceremonial tasks without independent authority in state affairs. Apart from Japan, there is no longer any country in the world whose head of state is an emperor.

Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in Asia and, with almost 126 million inhabitants, is the eleventh most populous country in the world. Most residents are followers of Shintoism and Buddhism.

As the historically first industrial nation in Asia, Japan has a very highly developed economy and was, for many decades, the world's second largest economic power behind the United States, with which it has been a military ally since 1952, until the economic upswing of the People's Republic of China in the early 2000s. As a member of the Group of Seven, Japan is one of the largest industrial nations and part of the OECD. The United Nations Development Program lists Japan as one of the countries with very high levels of human development. It is the country with the highest life expectancy and the third largest national wealth.

Japanese Studies deals with the research and teaching of the language and culture of Japan in its historical development.

Japan - Kono Michi

Japan 🥇 - Kono Michi

Россия (Rossiya) - Мы на пути (My Na Puti)

Winner of the week: 🥇13

Russia is a federal state in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, with the exclave of Kaliningrad in Central Europe. In terms of area, Russia is the largest country in the world at around 17 million square kilometers and covers around a ninth of the earth's land mass. With 144.5 million inhabitants (2019), it is the ninth most populous country and is also one of the least populated.

The European part of the national territory is significantly more densely populated than the Asian part, which is over three times as large: around 77% of the population (110 million inhabitants) lives west of the Urals. The capital Moscow is one of the largest cities and metropolitan regions in the world. The second most important center is Saint Petersburg, which was the capital from 1712 to 1918 and is now primarily an important cultural center. The next largest cities with millions of inhabitants are Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. In total, there are 15 megacities and almost 70 agglomerations with over 500,000 inhabitants in Russia.

The federal structure of Russia consists of eight federal districts and 83 federal subjects. Russia is a multi-ethnic country with over 100 ethnic groups, with ethnic Russians making up almost 80% of the population. Russia is now an emerging country in the upper middle income sector. After recovering from the post-communist transformation crisis of the 1990s, the country became what is now the eleventh largest economy in the world and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity, just ahead of Germany. Its raw material reserves are probably the largest in the world at around 20 to 30%, with significant deposits of primary energy sources - especially natural gas. Russia has been subject to a steady decline in economic, demographic and military performance since the mid-1980s, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. According to the SIPRI Institute, it has the largest number of nuclear warheads of any country at 4,489, of which only 1,674 are ready for use while the rest are in storage.

Russia has been a permanent member of the UN Security Council since 1946 and is also a member of the WTO, OSCE, APEC and the SCO, as well as a leading member of the regional organizations CIS, CSTO and EAEU.

The Russian Federation is the “continuor state” of the Soviet Union in international organizations. The Soviet federal state was preceded by the Russian Empire, the Tsardom of Russia and originally the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a sub-principality of the former East Slavic Empire of Kievan Rus. The Cold War ended around 1990, and Russia became a little more democratic and moved slightly closer to the West. The constitution at the time envisaged a semi-presidential democracy for Russia, but according to democracy indices, the constitutional reality today corresponds to that of an autocracy, or a “super-presidential rule” or post-democracy. Corruption and human rights violations are widespread.

Russia's share of global gross domestic product has fallen from 4 to 2.85% (2022) since the sanctions began in 2014 as a result of the annexation of Crimea and intensified with the attack on Ukraine in 2022. Especially since the attack on the neighboring country, economic and political relations with the West have been very strained.

Russia is predominantly viewed as an autocracy. In political science and Eastern European studies there is a debate as to whether it is now an increasingly totalitarian dictatorship or whether it is already a fascist regime due to domestic political tightening and the attack on Ukraine (fascism discussion).

Russia - My Na Puti

Russia 🥇 - My Na Puti

Untergrund (Joe Bin Hood Version)

የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ (yä-Ityop̣p̣əya Federalawi Dimokrasiyawi Ripäblik) - እንኩራ (Enhid)

Ethiopia is a landlocked country in eastern Africa. At the time of the Abyssinian Empire, the country was also known as Abyssinia (less frequently as Abyssinia). The country on the Horn of Africa borders Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti.

With over 90 ethnic groups and just as many languages, Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state and at the same time the most populous landlocked country in the world.[6] A major obstacle to development is the very rapid population growth in a traditionally rural environment that often lacks basic infrastructure. The capital Addis Ababa, on the other hand, is one of the largest metropolises in Africa. Other cities such as Gonder, Mek'ele, Adama, Awassa, Bahir Dar and Dire Dawa are also growing due to urbanization.

Ethiopia is considered one of the countries of origin of modern humans and the country of origin of coffee. It looks back on around 3,000 years of uninterrupted history. This long period of almost undisturbed development of culture and civilization from outside also makes the country, which has nine UNESCO World Heritage sites, a popular tourist destination. After the Battle of Adua in 1896, in which the Ethiopian imperial army defeated an Italian colonial army, Ethiopia remained the only independent state in Africa alongside Liberia. From 1935 to 1941, the Abyssinian War followed, a brutal attempt at conquest by fascist Italy, in which between 330,000 and 760,000 Ethiopians were killed.

After World War II, Emperor Haile Selassie partially modernized the country. In 1974, the approximately 700-year rule of the Solomonic dynasty ended with a coup, followed by a socialist one-party dictatorship. In 1991, the rebel alliance EPRDF came to power after a civil war. The EPRDF has since established itself as a governing coalition and rules largely authoritatively in a federal system. In December 2019, three of the four constituent EPRDF parties merged to form a new party, the Prosperity Party, which has led the government since then. From around 2005, Ethiopia's economy began to grow at a rapid pace (see list of countries by economic growth).

The 2020 BTI report noted initial successes of political and economic transformation.

In August 2020, the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed postponed parliamentary elections indefinitely, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to internal political conflicts. From November 2020, the conflict between the central government and the Tigray regional government developed into a civil war in Tigray.

Ethiopia - Enhid

Rzeczpospolita Polska - W Jedności Naprzód

Poland is a parliamentary republic in Central Europe. The capital of the country is Warsaw (Polish Warszawa), the largest conurbation in the metropolitan region (GZM) around Katowice. Other cities with over 400,000 inhabitants are Kraków (Krakow), Lodz (Łódź), Wrocław (Wrocław), Poznań (Poznań) and Gdansk (Gdańsk). Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 voivodeships. With an area of ​​312,696 square kilometers, Poland is the sixth largest country in the European Union and the fifth most populous with 38.18 million inhabitants. The climate is predominantly oceanic in the north and west and continental in the south and east of the country.

In the early Middle Ages, during the migration period, tribes of the western Polans settled in parts of today's state territory. The first documented mention of Poland dates back to 966 under the first historically documented Polish Duke, Mieszko I, who opened the country to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, until it united with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569 through the Union of Lublin to form the Royal Republic of Poland-Lithuania, becoming one of the largest and most influential states in Europe. During this period, Europe's first modern constitution was created in 1791.

Robbed of its sovereignty by its neighbouring states in the three partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, Poland regained its independence in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles. The invasion of the German Reich and the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Second World War and their occupation cost the lives of millions of Polish citizens, especially Jews. As a result of the war, Poland shifted westwards in 1945 and was henceforth under Soviet influence as the People's Republic of Poland. In 1989, thanks in particular to the Solidarity movement, the country experienced a political and economic change with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of the Third Polish Republic. Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004.

Poland's economy developed remarkably from 2004 to 2023. After joining the EU in 2004, the country experienced strong economic growth, driven by investments, exports and EU funding. GDP per capita rose significantly and unemployment fell. Poland weathered the 2008 global financial crisis relatively well and was the only EU country without a recession. The economy diversified, with growing services and technology sectors. Strong economic growth and falling unemployment led to a general rise in living standards and an expansion of the middle class. Many Poles benefited from higher wages and better job opportunities, especially in the growing services and technology sectors.

In 2023, the liberal-conservative civic coalition led by Donald Tusk won the majority in the parliamentary elections. The new Tusk government initiated reforms to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and campaigned for the restoration of the rule of law. This led to an improvement in relations with the EU and the release of 137 billion euros in EU funds. Poland is thus turning away from the authoritarian policies of the previous PiS government and is striving for greater integration into the EU under Tusk.

Measured by gross domestic product, Poland is in 22nd or 19th place among the largest economies in the world, depending on the method of calculation. The United Nations Development Program ranks Poland among the countries with very high human development. Located between Western and Eastern European cultural areas and characterized by an eventful history, the country has developed a rich cultural heritage. Poland is a member of the United Nations, the OSCE, NATO, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Poland - W Jednosci Naprzód

Kameruun - E Ngel Laawol

Cameroon is a country in Central Africa. It borders Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. The country has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. The largest cities are the capital, Yaoundé, and the port city of Douala.

Cameroon is governed by an authoritarian regime, and freedom of expression is severely restricted. Corruption and human rights violations are widespread, with torture and arbitrary arrests occurring regularly.

On January 1, 1960, French Cameroon gained independence following a referendum and the expiration of the UN mandate and renamed itself the Republic of Cameroon. In December 1960, the 15th United Nations General Assembly decided that the trust territories should also be granted independence. This could be achieved through full independence, free association with an already independent state, or integration into an independent state. The British trustees denied their trust territories the first option—full independence. The north of the British Mandate trust territory therefore voted in a referendum to join Nigeria, while the southern part opted for federation with the Republic of Cameroon. Independence and simultaneous annexation took place on October 1, 1961. The state thus formed was called the Federative Republic of Cameroon. This is the reason why two official languages, French and English, are now recognized in Cameroon.

Cameroon - E Ngel Laawol

Република Србија (Republika Srbija) - Хајдемо заједно (Zajedno Idemo)

Serbia is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe. Serbia is located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula and borders Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, North Macedonia and Albania and Kosovo to the south, Montenegro to the southwest, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to the west.

With a population of just over 6.7 million, Serbia ranks 22nd among European countries. The country's capital and metropolis is Belgrade; other major cities are Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, and Subotica. Over 80 percent of the population are Serbs, with larger groups of Magyars, Roma, and Bosniaks also living there.

Serbia's recent history is shaped by its role as the largest constituent state of Yugoslavia. Since the final breakup of Yugoslavia in 2006, it has also been the "sole legal successor" to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, founded in 1992 (2003–2006 as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro).

Serbia is a member of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), and maintains other free trade agreements. The country's economic performance declined sharply as a result of the Yugoslav Wars; it recovered somewhat between 2003 and 2008.[9] After achieving important short-term successes in the EU accession process (including the entry into force of an interim agreement for trade facilitation with the EU and the abolition of visa requirements for Serbian citizens), Serbia submitted its candidacy for membership of the European Union on December 22, 2009, and was granted candidate country status on March 1, 2012.

Serbia - Zajedno Idemo

Wir San Am Weg

Estamos

On The Way

Even as a small child I wanted to learn a musical instrument...

...since there was a music school in our small town where I grew up, but it was limited to the activities of the local musicians' band, the choice was rather limited... because piano, guitar or saxophone were not offered and that's why I decided me for the trumpet, which was not used for cast-technical reasons, so the FLÜGELHORN became my instrument...
In my youth I turned my back on music and was active in sports towards the end of my teenage years.

Russia 🥇 - My Na Puti

Ramixjoe ♈︎