Andorra

We just learned about the country of Albania.
Let's learn a little about the country of Andorra!

This is a very small country right in between France and Spain.
It is only 180 square miles, and only about 77,000 people live there.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

The flag of Andorra has vertical blue, yellow, red stripes, with the coat of arms of Andorra in the middle.
The coat of arms has four parts, made up from the banners of old royal families who first founded the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of andorra)

There is a spa in Andorra called "Caldea" that is the largest spa in Europe, that is 18 floors and 6,000 square meters

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

A lot of the country of Andorra is mountains, so there is a big ski resort called Soldeu that has over a hundred miles of ski slopes.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caltrop

Albania

We just learned about Thurston Island and a whole lot of other things about the continent of of Antarctica!

We've learned before about some countries in the continent of Europe.

Let's learn a little about the country of Albania!

Albania is just north of the country of Greece, and east of Italy across the Mediterranean Sea.
It is 11,000 square miles and has about 2.8 million people living there.
Tirana is the capital city and biggest city in the country.

Because of where it is on the map, it has some very cold weather up in the mountains, and very warm weather in the southern parts on the sea.

(from: wikipedia - albania)

The flag of Albania is red with a black double headed eagle on it.
The red is for bravery and strength, and the eagle was the symbol of some of the early royal rulers of the land.


(from: wikipedia - flag of albania)

To eat in Albania you might have Speca të ferguara, which is a layered pie with roasted peppers, usually served with pita bread.

(from: wikipedia - albanian cuisine)

The ancient Greek city of Apollonia is now part of Albania, and there are some ancient Greek ruins there.

(from: wikipedia - apollonia (illyria))

The famous nun Mother Teresa was from Albania.

(from: wikipedia - mother teresa)


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Liberia

The country of Liberia is in Africa on the west side of the continent.
Liberia has a very interesting history, because it was founded in 1820 by some Americans who wanted to end slavery. They sent freed slaves from America to Liberia to help have freedom in Africa.

The Liberian government was made to be just like America with a President, Congress and Judges.


(from: wikipedia - liberia)

Liberia's flag looks a lot like America's flag, because of their history of colonizing by America.


(from: wikipedia - flag of liberia)

To eat in Liberia you might have rice, fish or hot peppers.
Some of the food and recipes in Liberia come from the South in the USA.


(from: wikipedia - liberian cuisine)

Liberia has rainforests with wild animals, and also a long coastline with beaches on the ocean.

(from: wikipedia - liberia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Turkey

Tunisia

We just learned about the country of Chad.

Tunisia is a country on the North East part of Africa.
It is on the Mediterranean Sea, and is very close to Italy.


(from: wikipedia - tunisia)

The flag of Tunisia is a red rectangle, with a white crescent and star in the middle.
The red is for the blood of the people in their fight for freedom.
The white is for peace, and the crescent and star are for the beliefs of the people of Tunisia.

(from: wikipedia - flag of tunisia)

To eat in Tunisia you might have lablabi, which is a soup made with chick peas, garlic and cumin spice served with bread.

(from: wikipedia - lablabi)

In the city of El Djem there are some very large old buildings, like a giant ampitheater where people used to watch performances.

(from: wikipedia - tunisia)

The flower Jasmine is very popular in Tunisia.

If a man is wearing white jasmine on his left ear, it means he is not married.
If someone gives another person white jasmine it means they are in love.
And if someone gives another person jasmine that is does not have any nice smell it means they are not being nice.


(from: wikipedia - culture of tunisia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Russia

Chad

We just learned about the country of Senegal.

Chad is one of the larger countries in Africa, it is in the middle of the Northern part of the continent.

(from: wikipedia - chad)

The flag of Chad is three stripes, blue yellow and red.
The blue is for the sky, hope and water.
The yellow is for the sun and the desert.
The red is for the progress, unit and sacrifice.

(from: wikipedia - flag of chad)

To eat in Chad you might have smoked cooked alestes, which is a type of fish.

(from: wikipedia - alestes)

Clean water is not easy to get in Chad, so many people have to walk miles to get buckets of water to bring back to their town.

(from: wikipedia - chad)

The balafon is a type of musical instrument in Chad. It is a kind of wooden xylophone.

(from: wikipedia - balafon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Iceland

Senegal

We just learned about the country of Senegal

Senegal is a country on the north west part of Africa, right on the Atlantic Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - senegal)

The flag of senegal is a green stripe, a yellow stripe with a green star in the middle, and a red stripe.
The green, yellow and red are the Pan-African colors that are shared by many other African countries to help join the countries together as one continent.
The green stripe and star are for hope, the yellow is for arts, learning and money and the red is for the blood of the people fighting for the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of senegal)

To eat in Senegal you might have thiéboudienne, which is fish flavored with parsley, lemon, garlic and onions, then cookied with tomato paste and vegetables and served with rice.

(from: wikipedia - senegalese cuisine)

In Senegal the people use salt wells to help get valuable salt from the ground.

(from: wikipedia - sine-saloum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Belgium

Malawi

We just learned about the country of Zimbabwe.

Malawi is a country in Africa, in the south east part of the continent.

(from: wikipedia - malawi)

The flag of Malawi is a black stripe with a red rising sun in the middle, a red stripe and a green stripe.
The black stripe is for the African people, the red rising sun is for hope and freedom, the red stripe is for the people fighting for their country, and the green is for nature.


(from: wikipedia - flag of malawi)

To eat in Malawi you might have kachumbari, which is a salad made with tomatoes, onions and chili peppers.

(from: wikipedia - kachumbari)

Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world.

(from: wikipedia - lake malawi)

Not every place in Malawi has electricity, so a man named William Kamkwamba found a way to make a windmill using old bicycle parts and some scraps from old things people had thrown away.
He used the windmill to give electricity to some things in his house, and people are trying to do the same thing in other parts of the country because they can't afford electricity where they live.

(from: wikipedia - william kamkwamba)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Austria

Zimbabwe

We just learned about the African country of Burkina Faso

Zimbabwe is a country in the southeast part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

The flag of Zimbabwe has seven stripes of green, gold, red, black, red, gold, green.
It has a white triangle on the left side, and in the triangle is a red star with a yellow bird.

The yellow, black, green and red are part of the shared pan-African colors of other African countries.
The green is for the plants and land, the gold is for the minerals like gold or iron that come from the ground, the black is for independence and the red is for the fight for freedom.
The star is for the fight for freedom, and the bird is for the history of Zimbabwe.

(from: wikipedia - flag of zimbabwe)

To eat in Zimbabwe you might have some meat sausage called Boerewors.

(from: wikipedia - boerewors)

There is an ancient city in Zimbabwe called Great Zimbabwe, where people can go to see the ruins of a very old place.

(from: wikipedia - great zimbabwe)

Some of the people of Zimbabwe use the horns of the kudu as a musical instrument.

(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

The two people who first created the boy scouts met in Zimbabwe. They both agreed that there should be a group to teach boys things about scouting, and they came up with many great ideas of how to do it. They later returned to their homes in England and America and started the boy scouts.

(from: wikipedia - zimbabwe)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Romania

Burkina Faso

We just learned about the country of Mali

Burkina Faso is a country on the north west part of the African continent.
The name of their country means honest people.

(from: wikipedia - burkina faso)

The flag of Burkina Faso has a red stripe above a green stripe, with a yellow star in the middle.
The red, green and yellow colors represent the continent of Africa all working together. They are called the Pan-African colors, and are found in some other African countries' flags.
The red is for the fight for freedom, the green for the riches from plants and land, and the yellow is the light of the fight for freedom.

(from: wikipedia - flag of burkina faso)

To drink in Burkina Faso you might have Bissap, which is like a tea made from flowers called Rosell.

(from: wikipedia - roselle (plant))

Ouagadougou (pronounced wah-gah-doo-goo) is the capital city in Burkina Faso.

(from: wikipedia - ouagadougou)

The dogon people are a group of people that have traditions where they dress up in masks and dance around.

(from: wikipedia - dogon people)


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Mali

We just learned about the country of Niger.

Mali is a country in the north west part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - mali)

The flag of Mali is green, gold and red.
The green is for the plants growing in the country.
The gold is for purity and the precious metals in the ground like gold.
The red is for the blood of the Mali people who fought for freedom.


(from: wikipedia - flag of mali)

To eat in Mali you might have millet, which is a type of grain.

(from: wikipedia - millet)

The city of Timbuktu is in the country of Mali.
Since it has a silly sounding name, and was part of many stories written by a famous person named Leo Africanus, many people thought it was just a made up name and not a real place!

(from: wikipedia - timbuktu)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Netherlands

Niger

We just learned about the country of Zambia.

Niger (sounds like "nah-ee-jer") is a country in Southern part of Africa.


(from: wikipedia - niger)

The flag of Niger has an orange stripe at the top, then a white strip with an orange circle in the middle, and a green stripe at the bottom.

The orange stripe is for the desert, the white stripe is for purity, the green stripe is for hope and the plants and trees, and the orange circle is for the sun and freedom.

(from: wikipedia - flag of niger)

To eat in Niger, you might have jollof rice which is rice, tomatoes, onion, salt and red pepper, with some meat added.

(from: wikipedia - jollof rice)

The Erg of Bilma is a large desert in Niger.

(from: wikipedia - erg of bilma)

There is a festival in Niger called Guérewol, where men dress up in outfits, get their faces painted, dance and sing to try to get young women to marry them.

(from: wikipedia - guérewol)


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