VirtualGlobetrotting: Government - National - Foreign

VirtualGlobetrotting Live View

Headquarters of the Mossad
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.
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The Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection and covert operations which are suspected to include targeted killings and paramilitary activities beyond Israel's borders, bringing Jews to Israel from countries where official Aliyah agencies are forbidden, and protecting Jewish communities worldwide.

Buckingham Palace
stuartwr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: stuartwr.
Read more...
Buckingham Palace and the statue of Queen V. at the end of the Mall.

Forbidden City
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.
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The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It's surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the 54-ac Zhongshan Park, the sacrificial Imperial Ancestral Temple, the 171-ac Beihai Park, and the 57-ac Jingshan Park. It's officially administered by the Palace Museum.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, with a 2004 boundary modification.

Malacanang Palace
mstoess (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mstoess.
The official residence of the President of the Philippines.

Lozitha Palace
kaiken (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kaiken.
King's palace

State House
deverettreed (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: deverettreed.
Residence of the President of Zimbabwe

Russia's secret nuclear facility at Mt. Yamantau
LancelotLink (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: LancelotLink.
The Yamantau Mountain complex is located close to one of Russia's remaining nuclear weapons labs, Chelyabinsk-70. Two entire cities have been constructed over the site, known as Beloretsk 15 & 16 which are closed to the public, each with 30,000 workers. No foreigner has ever set foot near the site. Thumbnail is of the entrance to the mountain complex.

Camp Victory North
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.
Camp Victory North, formerly known as Abu Ghurayb Palace. Site where Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party members were arraigned in 2004.

State House of Kenya
kaiken (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kaiken.
The official residence of the President of Kenya

Thames House - MI5 Headquarters
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.
Thames House is an office development in Millbank, London on the bank of the River Thames adjacent to Lambeth Bridge. It has served as the headquarters of the UK Security Service, commonly known as MI5, since December 1994.

No. 10 Downing Street
stuartwr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: stuartwr.
Official residence of the British Prime Minister. Although the current PM actually lives at number 11; the Chancellor of the Exchequer lives at No. 10. Well he does for the time being anyway.

Pakistani Prime Minister's House
kaiken (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kaiken.

National Assembly of Malawi (New State House)
The New State House, which was built as a presidential residence by Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the founding President of Malawi, has served as the seat of parliament since 1994.

Black Dolphin Prison
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.
This is one of the oldest prisons in Russia and one of the first prison for life in the Orenburg region. Originally it was a jail (Ostrog) for a lifetime of hard labor. The first mention of this relates to 1745. After the suppression of the Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773, the prison was built for the deportation of robbers. The prison got its unofficial name from a fountain with a sculpture depicting a black dolphin, which is set before the main entrance. The sculpture was made by the prisoners themselves.

R.G. Casey Building
muzi (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: muzi.
R.G. Casey Building is house of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra

Prime Ministry Building (tallest building in Cameroon)
kkeps (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kkeps.
89 m (292 ft) tall

Presidential Palace - Egypt
KRL (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: KRL.
Site of Mubarak's Presidential (Heliopolis) Palace; and possible destination of Anti-Government protestors.
Link below to more info on history of building.

Hanslope Park Intelligence Station
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
SIS (MI6) Technical Security Department
Hanslope Park was originally acquired by the Foreign Office at a time when Britain's Secret Service was in its infancy and GCHQ-type work was done at nearby Bletchley Park, in the days of Alan Turing.
Hanslope has been massively expanded in more recent decades. Under the title "Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre" (HMGCC), it now houses annexes full of the latest supercomputers.
The Hanslope Park estate (below) is also home to MI6 operatives who process and analyse data sent from Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham and Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire, especially data intercepted from the foreign embassies in London.
[www.secret-bases.co.uk]

Russian Foreign Intelligence (SVR) Headquarters
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
From [agentura.ru]: SVR is a forces composition of RF securityprovision and it’s assigned to protect the personality, society and state security from the external danger with use of methods and means specified by present federal law.
Intelligence activity is carried out by means of:
information collecting and processingabout real and potential possibilities, actions, plans and intentions of foreign states, organizations and persons affecting the vital interests of Russian Federation (hereinafter - intelligence information);
assistance provision in realization of measures fulfilled by the state in behalf of Russian Federation security provision.
A necessity of intelligence activity carrying out is determined within the framework of their full powers by both the President of Russian Federation and the Federal Meetingon the strength of impossibility or inexpediency of Russian Federation security provision by other means.

Royal Palace of Lesotho

New Capital of Egypt
KRL (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: KRL.
New Capital Building under construction. Attached link with info about the relocation of the Capital.

John Gorton Building
muzi (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: muzi.
John Gorton Building is house of Department of Finance and Administration of Australia, Canberra

Peduase Presidential Lodge
hhgygy (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hhgygy.

Casa Presidencial de El Salvador

Berlaymont building - EU Headquarters
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.
The Berlaymont building is an important governmental building in Brussels, Belgium. It houses the European Commission headquarters. The structure is located at Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat in what is known as the "European district", where it is one of the most prominent of the buildings housing EU and international institutions.

Emiri Diwan (Presidential Palace Qatar)
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.

Charlemagne building
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.
The Charlemagne building (Bâtiment Charlemagne) is a skyscraper in Brussels (Belgium) which houses offices of the European Commission relating to enlargement, interpreting and trade in addition to a number of advisers.
Inside CharlemagneIt has 17 floors and was constructed in 1967. It has been recently renovated by Helmut Jahn, replacing the largely concrete exterior with a glass one. After the restoration it was occupied by the Commission, previously playing host to the Council of the European Union from 1971 to 1995.
The building's address: Charlemagne Building, 170 Rue de la Loi (Wetstraat), BE-1049 Brussels, Belgium

Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidential Palace of Pakistan)

Miraflores presidential palace
Miraflores presidential palace is the Venezuelan presidential residence in Caracas.
The Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 took place here. This was a failed military coup d'état on April 11, 2002. It saw the brief overthrow and arrest of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the installation of a businessman, Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras) president Pedro Carmona, as interim President for 47 hours. In Caracas, the coup led to riots and a pro-Chávez uprising that the Metropolitan Police attempted to suppress. Key sectors of the military and parts of the anti-Chávez movement refused to back Carmona. The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard eventually retook the Miraflores presidential palace without firing a shot, leading to the collapse of the Carmona government.

Paleis Huis Ten Bosch
One of the four official residences of the Dutch Royal Family

Justus Lipsius building - EU Council
The Justus Lipsius building has been the headquarters of the Council of the European Union since 1995. Located in Brussels (B) on the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat it is in the heart of the EU district, opposite the Berlaymont, the headquaters of the European Commission. Further south within the district are the European Parliament Buildings at Leopold Park. Unlike it's fellow partner in legislature, the European Parliament, visiting is restricted though meetings are now broadcast on the internet.
Like most buildings in the EU district its architecture is very modern, with all the European political insitutions located in this district it has been described as the de facto capital of the European Union.
The building is named after Justus Lipsius, a Flemish philologist and humanist, after the new building demolished the street that was named after him. The previous Council Building was named Charlemagne, as a major figure in European history.

Moammar Gadhafi's house (former)
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.

La Lanterne (Residence of the French President)
jdubble07 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jdubble07.
Located next to the Palace of Versailles, La Lanterne, built in 1787, is an official retreat of the President of France.

Reichstag
hkfczrqj (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hkfczrqj.
Offered by Neotrix:
The Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed to house the Reichstag, the original parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933. It again became the seat of the German parliament in 1999 after a reconstruction led by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster.
Today's parliament of Germany is called the Bundestag. The Reichstag as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of Nazi Germany (1933-1945). In today's usage, the German term Reichstag refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution.

Presidential Palace Nicosia
The Presidential Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Republic of Cyprus. It is located in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Before Cypriot Independence in 1960, the Palace was the House of the British Colonial Administration. Perhaps the finest examples of architecture from the British period is the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus. Built in the 1930s, the Palace replaced an earlier wooden building burnt during a Greek Cypriot demonstration. It was partially destroyed during the Greek Junta and EOKA B fomented military coup of 15 July 1974, but has since been painstakingly restored. Among the Palace's most prominent features are four gargoyles with human heads depicting the British General Foreman in charge of construction, the head mason, head carpenter and an unknown labourer. Along with the British coat-of-arms, the gargoyles survived the destruction of the 1974 coup.

Kremlin, The
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
The red building in the upper right is Lenin's Tomb.

Camp No
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.
Camp No (also known as Camp Seven) is an alleged secret detention and interrogation facility in the United States detainment camps located in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. On January 18, 2010, an article by Scott Horton in Harper's magazine asserted that the Guantanamo Bay detention camps included an additional camp, Camp No. The camp was nicknamed "Camp No" by a couple of Guantanamo's guards because if any one asked about it, they were told "No, it doesn't exist". Horton speculates that the camp was used for secret interrogations, including the use of illegal interrogation techniques, like asphyxiation. Horton asserts that according to interviews he conducted with former camp guards the three detainees the military reported committed suicide by hanging themselves in their cells, actually died while at Camp No for secret interrogations.
VERY INTERESTING:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368

Edmund Barton Building
muzi (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: muzi.
Edmund Barton Building is house of Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia

UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation. A Civil Service Department, we report to the Foreign Secretary and work closely with the UK's other intelligence agencies (commonly known as MI5 and MI6). Our primary customers are the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and law enforcement authorities, but we also serve a wide range of other Government Departments.

Sentralanlegget, Norways government bunker
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
Sentralanlegget (English translation: The Central Facility) is the war headquarter of the Norwegian government. The facility is located in Hole municipality in Buskerud County, and designed as an underground shelter in the west side of the mountain Kongens utsikt. The purpose of this is to avoid a direct hit from a nuclear missile from the east.

Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban
Hinkkanen (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Hinkkanen.
Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban is the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh, located in the capital Dhaka. It is an architectural masterpiece created by Louis I. Kahn and one of the largest legislative complexes in the world. It houses all parliamentary activities of Bangladesh. Construction of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban was begun in 1961 by the then Government of Pakistan as a permanent building for the federal legislature of both West and East Pakistan. However, it was the eighth (and last) session of the second parliament of Bangladesh that first used it on 15th February, 1982 after its construction was completed on 28th January of the same year.

Palacio de la Moncloa
The Palacio de la Moncloa, settled in Madrid, is the official residence for the Prime Minister of Spain since 1977, when Adolfo Suarez moved the residence from a palace situated in the centre of Madrid, at Paseo de la Castellana. The residence is surrounded by several other buildings which altogether form the Moncloa complex. The ministry of the president is situated in this complex, as well as the vice presidencies (when they exist) and the press office.
The palace used to belong to the Duke of Monclova, of whose name derives the actual name of the palace, which was completely destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. It was later reconstructed and serves since the Spanish transition to democracy as the official residence to the Prime Minister of Spain.

MI6 Headquarters - Former
The building, which was completed around 1924, the main operating base of MI^ - British Intelligence - until they moved to Century House in 1964. MI6 is the foreign intelligence service of the British government, as apposed to MI5 who handle domestic intelligence spying. It is said that when MI6 initially moved in under cover of the Minimax Fire Extinguisher Company, local taxi drivers soon figured it out, and that knowledge soon passed to foreign spies. The Streetview is pixilated, however this is a user submitted Photo Sphere image.

Official Residence of the Prime Minister (Canada)
charlene (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: charlene.
24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa

Palais de l'Elysée
egenard (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: egenard.
Official residence of the President of France where is offices are located and the council of Minister meets.
Address is 55 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré.

Kirribilli House
Kirribilli House is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia when he is staying in Sydney.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Le Palais de Koulouba
The presidential palace in the Malian capital,Bamako

RCMP Training Academy
RCMP Academy, "Depot" Division (commonly known as "Depot"; pronounced not ) has been providing police training to Royal Canadian Mounted Police "cadets" since its establishment in 1885. The facility is located in the northwest part of Regina, Saskatchewan, near the airport, and consists of several buildings.
In the RCMP's early days, "Depot" had a full horse stable and employed veterinarians. Horsemanship is no longer part of the cadets' training, and the few horses still at the Academy are for ceremonial purposes only.

Parliament of India
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.

Istana (President's Residence)
The Istana (or “palace” in Malay) is the official residence of the President of Singapore and just five times a year, its gates are open to members of the public.
Built on an old nutmeg plantation, the Istana was the former official residence of the representative of the British Crown. Classical in style, the Istana is a magnificent building with multiple design influences, from the ornate Victorian Renaissance to the Roman Classical, with Gothic, Chinese and Malay touches. The sprawling grounds and manicured gardens contain rare plants lovingly cared for by superintendents of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Liberian Executive Mansion
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.

Presidential Palace of Burkina Faso

Supreme Court Of India
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.

International Baath Party Headquarters
trecherus (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: trecherus.

Palais de la Renaissance
Presidential Palace of the Central African Republic

12 Downing Street (Former Chief Whip's Office)
jdubble07 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jdubble07.
12 Downing Street was originally the Chief Whip's Office, but now houses the residential apartment for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in it's upper floors, with the rest of the building being the Prime Minister's Press Office and Strategic Communications Unit.

Canadian Parliament Centre Block
nic (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: nic.

Parliament of Uganda

Liberia National Police Headquarters

Cheongwadae(The Blue House)
The presidential residence of South Korea

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court
jdubble07 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jdubble07.
The Court of The Crown Prince (also known as: CPC) is an independent entity created to support His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi) in carrying out his public and private duties.

Bangabhaban
The Official Residence of the President of Bangladesh in Dhaka

Presidential Palace (Kinshasa, Congo)
neotrix (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: neotrix.

Alvorada Palace
Mallmann (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mallmann.
Brazil Republic President's Official Residence

Rashtrapati Bhavan
Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India.

Helicoide
I think this is a the HQ of the political police in Venezuela.

Singha Durbar
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
The Singhha Durbar is the official seat of the Nepalese government and one of the largest palaces in Asia.

Aras an Uachtaran (President's House)
rossxan (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: rossxan.
The house of current Irish President (Uachtarain) Mary McAleese. It is in Phoenix Park.

Policía Federal
skyeye (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: skyeye.
The Federal Police (Spanish: Policía Federal, PF) are the uniformed federal police force of Mexico. They are sometimes referred to by the slang term "Federales". SSP stands for the Public Security Secretariat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Police_%28Mexico%29

Nicolau Lobato Palace (Presidential Palace of Timor-Leste)
President Jose Ramos Horta has officially inaugurated the new palace of the president on 27 August 2009 and names the palace as “Nicolau Lobato Palace”. (Timor News Line)

State House of the Gambia

Rideau Hall
rexlong (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: rexlong.
Official residence of the Governor General of Canada

Unit 61398 - Chinese Cyber Spies
PLA Unit 61398 is the reported Military Unit Cover Designation (MUCD) of a People's Liberation Army unit that has been alleged to be the source of Chinese computer hacking attacks. The unit is reported to be in a 12-story building in Shanghai. The story was first broken by the New York Times, based on information from a report by the computer security firm Mandiant, who were retained by the New York Times after a compromise of their own computer systems.
Mandiant's report states that PLA Unit 61398 is believed to be under the 2nd Bureau of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department (GSD) 3rd Department. and that there is evidence that it contains an entity Mandiant calls APT1, part of the Advanced Persistent Threat attacking American corporations and government entities.
Chinese government sources denied Mandiant's allegations without citing evidence.
Picture of the building here:
I wonder if the general quality of the sat image is because of SMOG?

Acklington Prison & Castington Youth Offender Institute
HMP Acklington & HMYOI Castington. Not sure which is which.

French Consulate Residence
gordonhigh (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: gordonhigh.
This house is owned by the government of France and used as the residence of their current Consul General to Los Angeles.

Presidential Palace of Niger

Seri Satria
Seri Satria is the official residence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia in Putrajaya.

Parliament of Kenya

Deerfield Residence (American Ambassador to Ireland Residence)
his beautiful home surrounded by sixty two acres of ground was completed in 1776. Built by Col. John Blaquiere, Chief Secretary of the British government and Bailiff of the Phoenix Park.
The Phoenix Park, embracing 1,760 acres, is reputed to be the largest municipal park in the world within a city's limits. While it is popularly assumed that it was named after the mythical bird, most Irish experts believe the name may be derived from "Fion Uisce which means "clear water".
The house of Col. Blaquiere, purchased by the British Government in 1782,was made the official residence of the Chief Secretary, and remained so until 1922 when Sir Homer Greenwood, the last holder left office. Among the prominent Chief Secretaries who had occupied this residence were Sir Arthur Wellesley, later to become the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Castlereagh. Lord Bryce, later British Ambassador to the United States, W.FI. Smith. When the Duke of Marlborough was appointed Viceroy in 1878, Lord Randolph Churchill joined him as private secretary. Young Winston as a small boy, roamed the gardens and woods and took great delight in riding up and down the paths in his donkey and cart. Sixty nine Chief Secretaries lived here from 1776 until 1922 when Ireland gained its independence.
The United States of America was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the new Irish Free State. The first Envoy Extraordinary & Minister Plenipotentiary, the Honourable Frederick A. Sterling arrived in Dublin in 1927. After taking a lease on the property from the Board of Works, (with the rent set at a penny per year), he took up residence here in the Phoenix Park. It was appropriately coincidental that the United States, which declared its own Independence in 1776, should establish the President's representative in the residence completed in the same year. Until 1949, the offices of the Legation as well as the residence of the Minister were located within the house.
When Ireland became a Republic, the status of the Legation was upgraded to a full Embassy, and the first United States Ambassador, George Garret, was appointed to Ireland. The offices of the Embassy moved out of the house, and this became the home of the Ambassador. Ambassador James C. Kenny is the twentieth Ambassador to live here.
Extensive renovations to the house and property were made by the U.S. Government in 1952. The property now consists of 62 acres of lawn, orchards and gardens on which are located the Ambassador's residence, three cottages and a gate lodge. The lower ground floor of the residence comprises a ballroom, reception and dining room, library, office, kitchens pantry, staff room and laundry. Six suites, bedroom, bathroom and dressing room), plus a sitting room are located on the upper floor. The Residence is furnished with furniture and equipment obtained in Ireland, the United States and many other countries.
This fine old house, overlooking Dublin from the quiet seclusion of Phoenix Park, harbours memories that span over two hundred years of Irish history.
More info

Kijong-dong
Fake North Korean city with big flag pole. See:

Residence of the Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S. (Thomas T. Gaff House)
AlbinoFlea (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AlbinoFlea.
From www.colombiaemb.org:
Gaff, a wealthy midwestern businessman, had the house built as the primary residence for he and his wife, Zaidee. He had made his fortune in the distillery and heavy machinery businesses in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jules Henri de Sibour was a prominent architect for the famous and wealthy in Washington at the time, and would design homes that would eventually become residences of the ambassadors of France, Luxembourg, and Portugal.
Gaff had the architects design novel conveniences into the mansion's traditional aesthetic including a hot- air system for drying clothes, a trapdoor on his icehouse for direct delivery from the street, cork insulation for the wine cellar, and a movable wooden wall that close off the domed and sky lit Edwardian ballroom. The dining room was designed with Elizabethan wainscoting and a sideboard originating from an Italian monastery.
Following the short occupation of the house by the Gaff family, they leased it to several prominent Washingtonians, including President Calvin Coolidge's Secretary of War, Dwight F. Davis, and to the governments of Greece and Colombia. The Colombian government purchased the house in 1944 from Thomas Gaff's daughter, Mrs. Carey D. Langhorne, who lived next door on Q Street at the time. Since then, it has served as the official residence for the Colombian Ambassador to the United States.

Parliament of Eswatini

Casa Rosada
psycho_roy (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: psycho_roy.
Argentina's Government House, Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires Cathedral

Luxembourg Palace
The Palais du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Palace) in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden, is where the French Senate meets.
The palace was originally built for Marie de' Medici, mother of king Louis XIII of France on the site of an old townhouse owned by the Duc de Piney-Luxembourg. Her architect was Salomon de Brosse. Louis commissioned the artists Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne to decorate the Palace. However, by the time the palace had been finished, Marie De' Medici had been banished.
It was inherited by Marie's granddaughter, Anne, Duchess of Montpensier. The palace was not used until it was owned by Louis XVI's brother, the Comte de Provence. During the French Revolution, it was the center of the French Directory and later the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte when he was First Consul of France
In the 19th century the palace was extensively remodeled, with a new garden façade by Alphonse de Gisors (1836–41), and a cycle of paintings (1845–47) by Eugène Delacroix that was added to the library. The building was used for the peace conference of 1946.
The formal Jardin du Luxembourg presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model boats. In the southwest corner, there is an orchard of apple and pear trees and the théâtre des marionettes (puppet theater).
During the German occupation of Paris (1940-44), Hermann Goering took over the Palais as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France, taking for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms for his visits to the French capital. His subordinate, Luftwaffe Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle, also took an apartment and spent most of the war enjoying the luxurious surroundings. "The Field Marshal's craving for luxury and public display ran a close second to that of his superior, Goering; he was also his match in corpulence," wrote armaments minister Albert Speer after a visit to Sperrle in Paris.
The Palais was a designated "strong point" for German forces defending the city in August 1944, but thanks to the decision of commanding Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz to surrender the city rather than fight, the Palais was only minimally damaged.

Presidential Palace Gabon
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
Gabon's former president, Omar Bongo, ruled Gabon for almost 42 years, longer than any other country in the world without a monarchy. Famous for his lavish lifestyle and alleged corruption, Bongo built the $800 million Presidential Palace, Palais Presidentiel, in Libreville during the 1970s.

Allahabad High Court
Allahabad high court is the highest court of appeal in state of Uttar Pradesh

Residence of the Prime Minister, Jamaica
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
The place is called Vale Royal; built as Prospect Pen in 1694. In 1928 the British Colonial Office bought the estate as the home of the Colonial Minister. After Independence in 1962 the mansion became the Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Jamaica.

Admiralty House
Admiralty House is the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia.

Consul General of Spain's Miami Residence
This is the official residence of the Consul General of Spain located in Coral Gables.

Magistrate's Court
deverettreed (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: deverettreed.

Hotel Matignon
egenard (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: egenard.
The Hôtel Matignon is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the VIIe arrondissement of Paris, at 57 rue de Varenne.
The park of the hotel is concidered as the largest non-public garden of Paris.

New Zealand Parliament
The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. However most people incorrectly refer to the House of Representatives as 'Parliament'. The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of Parliament (currently 121 due to an overhang). MPs are directly elected by universal suffrage. New Zealand essentially follows the Westminster system of government, and is governed by a cabinet and Prime Minister chosen by the House of Representatives.
The Parliament was established by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 which established a bicameral legislature, but the upper house, the Legislative Council, was abolished in 1951 so Parliament is now unicameral. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act.
Parliament is physically located in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.

Jubilee Palace
The official residence of the President of Ethiopia, built in 1955 to mark Emperor Haile Silassie's Silver Jubilee.

Residence of the president of Russia

The Waldsiedlung
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
The Waldsiedlung (forest settlement) in Wandlitz (Barnim) north of Berlin was a secured housing area in which highest functionaries of the SED lived, from 1960 to 1989.
It was about two square kilometers in size and off-limits up to the German reunification. Because of geographical proximity to Wandlitz the area was colloquially called Wandlitz among general populace as a synonym for the Waldsiedlung, or sometimes Volvograd after the Swedish cars used by East Germany's political elite.
The area actually has always belonged to the city of Bernau. Waldsiedlung was built between 1958 to 1960 according to resolution of the SED Politbüro and was subordinated to the head department of protection of individuals of the Ministry for public security (Stasi). The members of the Politburo could be secured in Waldsiedlung better than in the mansions at Berlin-Pankow's Majakowskiring. A major cause of the settlement plans was fear generated by the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
The area perimeter wasn't immediately recognizable from the outside. The outer ring consisted of a wire mesh fence, on which there were signs signifying a 'game research area'. The inner ring, which was however enclosed by the outer ring only partially, was surrounded with a two meter high green safeguard wall and could be entered only with special identification document. Three of the four gates were guarded by soldiers of the MfS and fourth by the Felix Dzerzhinsky Watch Regiment. 31 posts of the watch regiment secured from the inside the approx. 5 km long wall.
Waldsiedlung consisted in the inner ring of 23 single family houses with in each case 180 square meters surface area. There was among other things a swimming pool, a club house with cinema and restaurant, a sales office, in which beside high-quality products from GDR also western goods could be bought in a limited fashion in exchange for GDR currency, a market garden, a health center, a pistol shooting range, a sports field with tennis facilities as well as social building for employees and guard staff. From 1970s on there was a four lane motorway connection to Berlin.
In the era of Erich Honecker the cooks were required to produce Gourmet-level offerings. In addition to GDR food of highest quality also some products were imported such as Beaujolais and Seltzer water from West Berlin. An assortment of staff took care of all aspects of daily living.
In late 1989 the inhabitants had to leave the settlement according to the resolution of the GDR government under Prime Minister Hans Modrow. Since 1990 a rehabilitation clinic has occupied the area.

Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is Canada's national Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization. SIGINT, as defined by the Canadian government, is "all processes involved in, and information and technical material derived from, the interception and study of foreign communications and non-communications electromagnetic emissions."[1] Subcategories include intelligence derived from communications, also known as Communications Intelligence (COMINT), intelligence derived from non-communications emissions such as radar, also known as Electronics Intelligence (ELINT), and intelligence derived from the telemetry transmissions of missiles or other equipment undergoing testing, also known as Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT). Note that SIGINT is restricted to foreign emissions under the Canadian government definition.
Strictly speaking, CSE is only part of Canada's SIGINT effort. A civilian agency of the Department of National Defence, CSE processes SIGINT, produces analyses, and disseminates reports to Canadian and allied consumer agencies. The actual collection of the SIGINT, however, is conducted by the Canadian Forces Supplementary Radio System (SRS), a component of the Canadian Armed Forces that operates under the direction of CSE.
CSE and the SRS in turn work in close co-operation with the giant American and British SIGINT agencies, the National Security Agency (NSA) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Australia's Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), and a number of other SIGINT agencies in a global intelligence alliance known informally as the UKUSA community. CSE maintains permanent liaison officers at NSA HQ at Fort Meade, Maryland (CANSLO/W) and GCHQ in Cheltenham, UK (CANSLO/L). There are also NSA and GCHQ liaison officers at CSE HQ (SUSLO/O and BRLO, respectively).

Official Residence of the President of Finland
Accagas (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Accagas.
Mäntyniemi is one of the three official residences of the President of Finland besides the Presidential Palace and Kultaranta. Mäntyniemi was finished in 1993. After that the three Finnish presidents, Mauno Koivisto, Martti Ahtisaari and the incumbent Tarja Halonen have lived there.

The Lodge
The Lodge is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia in the national capital, Canberra.

Eduskuntatalo, Finnish Parliament House
Hinkkanen (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Hinkkanen.
The house was built in 1926-31, enlarged in 1978 and new wing was added in 2004. Satellite pictures are oldish since they show only the empty site of the new wing (triangular area south of the main building). More picture here (text only in Finnish):
http://www.eduskunta.fi/fakta/esite/esitt_06.htm