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In the UK, we don't really have the concept of registering your place of residence when you move to a new town/city. In theory, you can rent accommodation somewhere and not tell anybody you are there. Of course, if you require services like water/gas/electricity/internet you will need to create accounts so you can pay the providers for those services and eventually a letter will arrive about paying the council tax, unless the landlord includes these as part of your rent. However, I have become aware that in some other countries, new residents in a community are expected to register with the local authorities. For example, in the Netherlands you take your id down to the town/city hall and fill out a lengthy form which includes questions about your birth place, details about your parents, and so on. Do many other countries run a system of community registration, and for what reasons? Astronaut (talk) 12:28, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
China's Hukou system comes to mind. Japan also have a similar system. Unlike other countries where the registration serves a means of community building, the Hukou system is just the tip of the iceberg of the overall government database (Dangan) for population control. 99.245.35.136 (talk) 14:42, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to vote in the UK, you need to register when you move house. You are also supposed to keep the address on your driver's license up-to-date. --Tango (talk) 16:37, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In NZ enrolling to vote is compulsory although never enforced [2]. I presume you're legally required to keep your details up to date as well although I'm not sure. (If you move you may be in a different electorate or local government area and voting if you're not eligble would I presume be an offence but voting isn't compulsory and of course in some cases you may still be in the same area. It may be if you fail to keep the details up to date your enrolment becomes invalid even if the electoral commission isn't aware of it so you have failed to enroll.) Participating in the census is also compulsory and sometimes enforced although I can't remember if they ask for your place of normal residence (I think they do) if you happen to be somewhere else on census day. Of course you can also just go overseas on census day, and access to personalised census details is heavily restricted. Nil Einne (talk) 13:03, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In the US state of Michigan, you register with the state for either a driver's license or other ID. You're supposed to let them know of a change of address within 30 days, but I doubt if many people bother with that. Similar rules apply for registering to vote. "Sex offenders" are required to register their address, with much tougher penalties for failure to do so. Some of these laws vary by state. StuRat (talk) 06:54, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
We have an article, Resident registration, which is pretty detailed on the mechanics but light on the reasons. From personal experience I would also note that in Austria, employees of international organizations are not required to register with the local authority. They are registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead. --Viennese Waltz08:42, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Germany does the same. The precise details vary from state to state but generally you have to register in person at the Bürgeramt (a local government office a bit like a town hall) within two weeks. As well as being required for tax and voting reasons, banks and utility companies will demand to see your registration papers as definitive proof of address before giving you a contract. Smurrayinchester09:33, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Consider the things that require registration: Voting, driving, working, and the like. If you want to do any of those things, you have to register with somebody someplace. It's possible to live totally unnoticed, but it's not easy. ←Baseball BugsWhat's up, Doc?carrots→ 03:23, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Canada had a $1 million gold coin, they used to have one on display at their mint in Winnipeg, but I believe they sold it. Getting beyond that, "coin" can be a debatable term, for example the Yap Island stone rings, and also such things as Swedish plate money.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:16, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I'm looking for a quote that I read about a decade ago in which someone said that he did not drive in Italy for fear he would not be able to resist running over a priest on the side of the road. I think it was said by an English ex-pat. LShecut2nd (talk) 16:24, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
American (US) ambassadors of Chinese descent/heritage? -- the most recent being Governor Gary Locke, now US Ambassador to China.
Can you help confirm the names of the first American (US) ambassadors of Chinese descent? Per this recent article, it lists the first five as:
Julia Chang Bloch, US Ambassador to Nepal (under President Reagan)
Marge Fong Eu, US Ambassador to Micronesia (under President Clinton)
Linda Tsao Yang, US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (under President Clinton)
Curtis S. Chin, US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (under Presidents George W Bush and President Obama)
Gary Locke, US Ambassador to China (under President Obama)
Note that the best selling authors are not likely to be the most widely read authors. Because of population increases, written works which have not yet fallen into the public domain are likely to have the most sales, while very old works, like Shakespeare, are likely to have been more widely read. StuRat (talk) 21:40, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
