Saint Lucia

We just learned about the country of Dominica

Let's learn a little about the country of Saint Lucia!

This country is in the Caribbean, just north of South America.
It is about 617 square kilometers, and about 184,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - saint lucia)

The flag of Saint Lucia is blue, with white, black and yellow triangles in the middle.
Blue is for the sky and the sea, white and black are for the people of Saint Lucia, and yellow is for the sunshine.
The triangles are for the two volcanoes called the Pitons on the island.


(from: wikipedia - flag of saint lucia)

To eat in this country you might have bouyon, which is soup made of thick red beans, meat, tubers and vegetables.


(from: wikipedia - saint lucian cuisine)

Visiting this country you might go see the two volcanoes called the Gros Piton and Petit Piton.
In French, Gros means big and Petit means little, so these are the big and little Pitons.


(from: wikipedia - pitons)

There is a place called the Sulphur Springs where you can drive into the base of one of the volcanoes, and it lets out hot sulfur.
The smell of sulfur is like rotten eggs, so it doesn't smell very good but some people think the sulphur air is good for you.
Nearby there are some hot springs where you can take a mud bath and people think it helps them be healthier!

(from: wikipedia - sulpur springs, saint lucia)


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Dominica

We just learned about the country of Trinidad and Tobago

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

This country is a small island in the Caribbean Sea, just south east of the Domnican Republic.
It is about 750 square kilometers, and about 71,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak mostly English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - dominica)

The flag of Dominica is green, with a bird in a red circle in the middle, and a cross with yellow black and white stripes.
Green is for the land, the cross is for Christianity, and the stripoes are for the people, the land and the water.
The red circle is for justice, and the 10 stars on the circle are for the 10 areas on the island.
The bird is a sisserou parrot, which is the national bird.


(from: wikipedia - flag of dominica)

To eat in this country you might have callaloo soup, which is a green leafy stew soup.


(from: wikipedia - callaloo)

Visiting this country you might go see Cabrits National Park, where there is a tropical forest, coral reefs, and an old military base called Fort Shirley.
There is a hiking trail that ends up in this park called Waitukubuli Trail, which is the longest trail in the Caribbean at 115 miles.


(from: wikipedia - cabrits national park)

Dominica has many waterfalls and rainforests all over the island, like Trafalgar Falls in Saint George Parish

(from: wikipedia - saint george parish, dominica)


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Trinidad and Tobago

We just learned about the country of Jamaica

Let's learn a little about the country of Trinidad and Tobago!

This country is in the Caribbean, just north of the South American country of Venezuela.
The main big island is Trinidad, and the smaller main island is Tobago.
There are about 30 total islands in this country, with the others all smaller than Tobago.
The total land of all the islands is about 5,000 square kilometers, and about 1.3 million people live there.
The people in this country mostly speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - Trinidad and Tobago)

The flag of Trinidad and Tobago is red, with a black diagonal line, and two white diagonal lines on it.
The red is for courage and the fire of the sun, the black is for dedication and the earth, and the white is for purity and water.


(from: wikipedia - flag of trinidad and tobago)

To eat in this country you might have food called doubles, which is flat fried dough filled with chickpeas and curry.


(from: wikipedia - doubles (food))

Visiting this country you might go to Pigeon Point, to see one of the best beaches in the country.

(from: wikipedia - pigeon point, tobago)

Trinidad has a place called Pitch Lake, which is the largest deposit of asphalt in the world, with around 10 million tons.

(from: wikipedia - pitch lake)


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Jamaica

We just learned about the country of The Bahamas

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

This country is in the Caribbean, south of the island of Cuba.
It is about 4,000 square miles, and about 2.7 million people live there.
The people in this country speak English or Jamaican Patois.


(from: wikipedia - jamaica)

The flag of Jamaica has a green triangle on top and bottom, black triangles on left and right, and a yellow X in the middle.
Black is for strength of the people, gold is for the wealth and sunshine, and green is for the plants.


(from: wikipedia - flag of jamaica)

To eat in this country you might have Ackee and Saltfish. Ackee is a type of fruit that is almost like a cream cheese, and it is boiled with the fish and then usually eaten with rice or bread.


(from: wikipedia - ackee and saltfish)

Visiting this country you might go to the Doctor's Cave Beach Club.
This is a nice beach that was owned by a doctor who had a hospital there, and believed that the water was so great it was almost like it had healing powers.
He let his friends swim there, and then later gave the land to be free for everyone to use.


(from: wikipedia - doctor's cave beach club)

There is a small beach in a town called Oracabessa where called James Bond Beach, because the person who wrote the James Bond books lived there in Jamaica.
Some parts of the James Bond movies were also filmed at this beach.


(from: wikipedia - orcabessa)


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The Bahamas

We just learned about the country of El Salvador

Let's learn a little about the country of The Bahamas!

This country is in the Caribbean Sea, south east of the state of Florida.
It is made up of about 700 islands, and about 3,800 square miles of land.
About 385,000 people live there, and the people speak English.


(from: wikipedia - the bahamas)

The flag of The Bahamas has a black triangle on the left, and then three sideways stripes of blue, yellow and blue.
Blue is for the water around the country, yellow is for the sunshine, and black is for strength.


(from: wikipedia - flag of the bahamas)

To eat in this country you might have conch chowder which is soup made from the animal called a conch that lives in a shell.


(from: wikipedia - conch soup)

Visiting this country you might go see Blue Lagoon Island
This is a small island that was used for many different things through the years like a zoo, or a place for pirates to stop and rest, or a place for soldiers during world war 2 to practice swimming.

(from: wikipedia - blue lagoon island)

In the Bahamas there is a lighthouse called Great Isaac Lighthouse built in 1859, that is about 151 feet tall.
In 1969 the people who were supposed to be working at the lighthouse disappeared, and some people believe it was part of the Bermuda Triangle where people disappear for no reason.

(from: wikipedia - great isaac lighthouse)


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Belize

We just learned about the country of Haiti

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

This country is in Central America, and borders Mexico, the Caribbean Se, and Guatemala.
It is about 23,000 square miles, and about 419,000 people live there.
The people in this country mostly speak English, Creole or Spanish.
Belize is the only country in Central America that has English as one of it's official languages.


(from: wikipedia - belize)

The flag of Belize has sideways stripes of red, blue and red for the two different groups of people there that run the country.
In the middle is the Belize coat of arms, which shows the history of logging by the British in the country long ago.


(from: wikipedia - flag of belize)

To eat in this country you might have a fry jack, which is fried dough kind of like a donut.


(from: wikipedia - fry jack)

Visiting this country you might go see El Castillo, which means "the castle", a 130 foot tall castle built by the Mayans long ago.

(from: wikipedia - xunantunich)

Near the coast of Belize is a giant sinkhole called The Great Blue Hole.
It is about 400 feet deep, and 1,000 feet wide, and is a famous place for scuba diving.
The famous diver Jacque Cousteau said it was one of the top 5 best scuba diving places in the world.


(from: wikipedia - great blue hole)


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Haiti

We just learned about the country of Dominican Republic

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

This country is in the Caribbean Sea in the Pacific Ocean, and shares the other half of an island with the Dominican Republic.
It is about 10,000 square miles, and about 11 million people live there.
The people in this country speak French or Haitian Creole.


(from: wikipedia - haiti)

The flag of Haiti is two sideways stripes of blue and red, with a white rectangle in the middle with the coat of arms of Haiti.
The blue and red are for the different people of the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of haiti)

To eat in this country you might have griot, which is pork cooked with orange or lime juice, and usually eaten with beans and rice.


(from: wikipedia - griot)

Visiting this country you might go see the Citadelle Laferrièrem, which is an old castle built around the year 1820.

(from: wikipedia - citadelle laferrièrem)

There is a castle called Sans-Souci Palace built in 1813 where the King of Haiti lived for a long time until an earthquake came along and destroyed it.

(from: wikipedia - sans-souci palace)


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Dominican Republic

We just learned about the country of Costa Rica

Let's learn a little about the country of Dominican Republic!

This country is in Central America, and it is on the eastern part of an island in the Caribbean Sea, bordering Haiti.
It is about 18,000 square miles, and about 10 million people live there.
The people in this country speak Spanish


(from: wikipedia - dominican republic)

The flag of Dominican Republic is 4 squares of blue and red, with a white cross in the middle, and the coat of arms in the center.
The blue stands for liberty, the white for salvation, and the red for the blood of heroes.


(from: wikipedia - flag of the dominican republic)

To eat in this country you might have Chimichurri burger, which is ground pork or beef with bread and cabbage and salsa.


(from: wikipedia - chimichurri burger)

Visiting this country you might go see the Pomier Caves, made up of 55 caves created over 2,000 years ago.


(from: wikipedia - pomier caves)

In 1992 in Dominican Republic they built a giant tomb for Christopher Columbus called the Columbus Lighthouse.


(from: wikipedia - columbus lighthouse)


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Costa Rica

We just learned about the country of Panama

Let's learn a little about the country of Costa Rica!

This is a small country in Central America that borders Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea.
It is about 19,000 square miles, and has about 5 million people living there.
In Costa Rica they speak Spanish.


(from: wikipedia - costa rica)

The flag of Coast Rica is 5 sideways strips of blue, white and red, with the coat of arms in the red stripe.
Blue is for the sky and opportunities, white is for peace and happiness, red is for blood of the people who fought for freedom.


(from: wikipedia - flag of costa rica)

To eat in Costa Rica you might have casado, which is a meal served with rice, black beans, plantains, salad, a tortilla and meat.
The word casado means "married man", and some people think the name of the meal came from people who went to restaurants and wanted a meal like they would get if they were a married man eating a home cooked meal.


(from: wikipedia - casado)

Visiting Costa Rica you might go see the Poás Volcano National Park.
This park has old volcanoes that are usually not active, and you can walk into the craters and see geysers and lava.


(from: wikipedia - poas volcano national park)

In Costa Rica there was an old ancient group of people called the Diquis, and they made some stone spheres that are still around today that people visit to study the old history.


(from: wikipedia - stone spheres of costa rica)


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Panama

We just learned about the country of Guatemala

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

This is a small country in North America that connects North America to South America.
It borders Costa Rica, Columbia, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

It is about 29,000 square miles, and about 4.3 million people live there.


(from: wikipedia - panama)

The flag of Panama is four rectangles.
The top left is white with a blue star, the top right is red, the bottom left is blue, and the bottom right is white with a red star.
Blue and red are for the different groups in Panama that run the government.
The white is for peace and purity.
The blue star is for purity and honesty, and the red star is for the law.


(from: wikipedia - flag of panema)

To eat in Panama you might have bollo, which is corn, potatoes, or yuca which is kind of like a potato.
The ground up corn, pototato or yuca is then all mushed up together and served like a bun.


(from: wikipedia - bollo)

The most famous thing about Panama is the Panama Canal.
Long ago if someone was in a boat on the Pacific Ocean and they wanted to go to the Atlantic Ocean, they either had to go all the way north above North America, around Alaska and Canada close to the north pole, or all the way south below South America, close to the south pole.
Both of these ways were very dangerous and took a long time to travel.
Since the country of Panama is not very wide and it is right in between North and South America, people had the idea to dig a trench in the land, so that boats could cut through like a shortcut.
The US helped dig the canal, and it took about 10 years, and cost about 12 billion dollars.


(from: wikipedia - panama canal)

There is a type of folk dance called the cumbia in Panama where people wear fancy dresses and outfits.

(from: wikipedia - cumbia (panama))


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