San Marino

We just learned about the country of Portugal.
Let's learn a little about the country of San Marino!

This is a very small country that is inside of the country of Italy.
It is only 24 square miles, and has over 30,000 people living there.


(from: wikipedia - san marino)

The flag for San Marino is a white stripe over a blue stripe, with the coat of arms of San Marino in the middle.
The coat of arms has a picture of the famous three towers of San Marino, a picture of an oak, a wreath, and the words LIBERTAS which means Liberty.


(from: wikipedia - flag of san marino)

To eat in San Marino, you might have bustrengo, which is a type of fruitcake.


(from: wikipedia - )

San Marino is famous for its three towers on the mountain, which are shown on its flag.
One of those towers is calle the Fortress of Guiaita.
It ws built in before the year 1100 AD.


(from: wikipedia - guaita)

Visiting San Marino you might go see the Basilica di San Marino, which is an old church built around the year 600 AD.


(from: wikipedia - )


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Portugal

We just learned about the country of Montenegro

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

This is a small country on the south west part of Europe, bordering Spain and the Atlantic ocean.
It is only about 35,000 square miles and has about 10 million people living there.
In Portugal they speak the Portuguese language.


(from: wikipedia - portugal)

The Portuguese flag is red and green, with the Portuguese coat of arms in the middle.
Green on the flag stands for hope, and red stands for the people who died to protect the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of portugal)

To eat in Portugal you might have bacalhau, which is the Portuguese word for the Cod fish.
Because Portual is right on the ocean, they eat fish a lot, and people say they have so many ways to cook bacalhau that they could have a different recipe for every day of the year.

(from: wikipedia - bacalhau)

Visiting Portugal, you might go to the beach called Praia da Marinha. It is on the Atlantic ocean, and is surrounded by orange limestone cliffs.

(from: wikipedia - praia da marinha)

Soccer is also very popular in Portugal, as one of the most famous players in the world Cristiano Ronaldo is from Portugal.


(from: wikipedia - cristiano ronaldo)


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Montenegro

We just learned about the country of Monaco

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

This is a small country in Europe, bordering Bosnita and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania.
It is only about 5,000 square miles, adn about 600,000 people live there.

People in Montenegro speak either Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, or Croatian.


(from: wikipedia - montenegro)

The flag of Montenegro is red with gold around the edge, and the coat of arms on the middle.


(from: wikipedia - flag of montenegro)

To eat in Montenegro you might have pasulj, which is a soup with beans, bacon, sausage and ham.

(from: wikipedia - pasulj)

Visiting Montenegro you might go to the Bay of Kotor, which is a bay of water on the Adriatic Sea.


(from: wikipedia - bay of kotor)


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Monaco

We just learned about the country of Moldova

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

This is the second smallest country in the world, just after Vatican City, and it is less than 1 square mile.
Only about 38,000 people live there, making it the 6th least populated country.
Even though it is small, with that many people there it is the most crowded country in the world.

People in Monaco speak either French, Italian, English or Monégasque.


(from: wikipedia - monaco)

The flag of Monaco is a red stripe above a white stripe.
These are the colors of the royal house of Grimaldi, the old royalty of Monaco.

(from: wikipedia - flag of monaco)

To eat in Monaco, you might have Anchoiade, which is a paste made from anchovies, olive oil and salt, usually spread on bread or other food.

(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Monaco you might go to the Monte Carlo casino, which has been a world famous casino for over 150 years.

(from: wikipedia - monte carlo)

The Monaco Grand Prix is a famous race that goes all the way from one end of the country to the other.
Because it is such a small country, it has some sharp turns and is a very hard race to win.

(from: wikipedia - monaco grand prix)


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Moldova

We just learned about the country of Malta

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

This is a small country in the south east part of Europe, bordering Romania and Ukraine.
It is about 13,000 square miles, and about 2.6 million people live there.
The people there speak Moldovan, which is the same as the Romanian language, they just call it Moldovan in this country.


(from: wikipedia - moldova)

The flag of Moldova is blue, red, yellow just like the flag of Romania, and the coat of arms of Moldova is in the middle yellow stripe.


(from: wikipedia - flag of moldova)

To eat in Moldova you might have sarmale, which is stuffed cabbage rolls, usually served with sauerkraut and a porridge called mămăligă.


(from: wikipedia - moldova cuisine)

Visiting Moldova you might go see Soroca Fort which is a castle made around the year 1530.

(from: wikipedia - soroca fort)

One of the things Moldova is famous for is making wine.
They have a famous wine cellar in mileștii mici, which is over 150 miles long and has over 2 million bottles of wine, and is the largest wine collection in the world.

(from: wikipedia - mileștii mici)


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Malta

We just learned about the country of North Macedonia

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

Malta is a small country made up of a group of islands, which is called an archipelago.
There are three main islands that people live on, Malta, Gozo and Comino.

There are about 500,000 people living in Malta, and the land area is about 122 square miles.
People in Malta speak either Maltese, Italian, English or Sicilian.


(from: wikipedia - malta)

The flag in Malta is red and white, with a cross on the white part known as the George Cross, from King George IV.


(from: wikipedia - flag of malta)

To eat in Malta you might have kwareżimal, which is a type of baked treat made with flour, sugar, orange rinds and almonds.
This was a type of bread made during Lent because it did not need any eggs or milk.


(from: wikipedia - kwareżimal)

Visiting Malta, you might go see Ġgantija, which is an ancient temple made of stone that was built over 5,500 years ago.
It is called a megalithic temple, which means it uses giant rocks.
This was before the wheel was even made in this area, so when they moved these giant rocks they put small round stones on the ground and rolled the stones over them to get them together.


(from: wikipedia - ggantija)

In the town of Comino, there is a bay with white sand and deep blue waters, called the Blue Lagoon.
There are a lot of ocean fish living there, so a lot of divers and swimmers go to visit and see the Lagoon and the nature living there.


(from: wikipedia - comino)


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North Macedonia

We just learned about the country of Luxembourg

Let's learn a little about the country of North Macedonia, also sometimes just called Macedonia!

This is a small country in Europe, about 10,000 square miles where about 2 million people live.
People in this country might speak Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Romani, Serbian, Bosnian, or Aromanian.


(from: wikipedia - north macedonia)

The flag of North Macedonia is red with a yellow sun on it with eight sun rays.
In the country's national anthem it talks about the New Sun of Liberty as they became independent from Yugoslavia.


(from: wikipedia - flag of north macedonia)

To eat in North Macedonia you might have Tavče gravče, which is beans, onions, peppers mixed into a kind of chili and cooked.


(from: wikipedia - tavče gravče)

Visiting North Macedonia you might go see the ancient Greek ruins at the city of Heraclea Lyncestis.

(from: wikipedia - heraclea lyncestis)

In North Macedonia there are musical bagpipes called gaida

(from: wikipedia - culture of north macedonia)


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Luxembourg

We just learned about the country of Lithuania

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

Luxembourg is a small country in Europe, bordering Belgium, Germany and France.
People in this country speak either French, German or Luxembourgish.
It is less than 1,000 square miles, and has less than 1 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - luxembourg)

The flag of Luxembourg is sideways stripes of red, white, and blue.
It's colors come from the royal family of Grand Duke Henry IV who was a rule back in the 1300s.


(from: wikipedia - flag of luxembourg)

To eat in Luxembourg you might have bouneschlupp, which is a soup with potatoes, bacon and onions.


(from: wikipedia - bouneschlupp)

Visiting Luxembourg you might go see the castle called Bourscheid Castle, built around the year 1000 AD.


(from: wikipedia - bourscheid castle)

The Court of Justice for the European Union is in Luxembourg City.


(from: wikipedia - court of justice of the european union)


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Lithuania

We just learned about the country of Liechtenstein

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

This is a small country in eastern Europe that borders Latvia, Belarus and Poland.
About 3 million people live there, and it's about 25,000 square miles. In this country they speak the language of Lithuanian.


(from: wikipedia - lithuania)

The flag of Lithuania is yellow, green and red stripes.
Yellow is for the sun and prosperity, green for nature and hope, red is for the blood of people who fought to protect the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of lithuania)

To eat in Lithuania you might have cepelinai, which is potato dumplings stuff with meat, and covered with sour cream or gravy and bacon.
The name cepelinai means "zeppellins" because they look like the large flying blimps called zeppelins.


(from: wikipedia - cepelinai)

Visiting Lithuania you might go see Trakai Island Castle, built in the early 1400s.


(from: wikipedia - trakai island castle)

One special place is called the Hill of Crosses, where people have visited and left over 100,000 crosses through the years.


(from: wikipedia - hill of crosses)


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Liechtenstein

We just learned about the country of Latvia

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

This is a small country that borders Switzerland and Austria.
It is only 62 square miles, and about 39,000 people live there, and they speak German.


(from: wikipedia - liechtenstein)

The flag of Liechtenstein is a red and blue stripe with a golden crown on it.
Blue is for the sky, red is for the fires in people's fireplaces at night, and the crown is for the royalty.


(from: wikipedia - flag of liechtenstein)

The Rhine river makes up the border of Switzerland and Lichtenstein

(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Liechtenstein you might go to the capital city of Vaduz and see Vaduz Castle, built before 1200 AD

(from: wikipedia - vaduz castle)


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Latvia

We just learned about the country of Kazakhstan

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

This is a small country that borders Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, and the Baltic Sea.
It is only about 25,000 square miles, and has about 2 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - latvia)

The flag of Latvia is red with a white stripe in the middle.
There is an old story from Latvia of a soldier who wrapped himself in a white blanket before he died, and the blood colored the rest of it white.
The other soldiers used that colored flag to help get everyone to fight and win their war.


(from: wikipedia - flag of latvia)

To eat in Latvia you might have sklandrausis, which is a sweet pie made of dough with potatoes and carrots.


(from: wikipedia - sklandrausis)

Visiting Latvia you might go to Turaida castle, an ancient castle built in 1214.


(from: wikipedia - turaida castle)

Another famous building in Latvia is the House of the Blackheads.
The Brotherhood of the Blackheads was a group of people who helped defend the city of Riga.


(from: wikipedia - house of the blackheads (riga))


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