#gettoknowyourglobe

Nepal! 🇳🇵 🇳🇵 🇳🇵 Located in the Himalayas, Nepal is home to eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains. With a population of 26 million, Nepal is divided into seven provinces & is highly diverse. In fact, Nepalese do not equate nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship & allegiance. Nepal is primarily Hindu. Shiva is the guardian deity of the country. The Pashupatinath (Lord Shiva) Temple is a world famous Hindu pilgrimage site located on the Bagmati River north of Kathmandu. Although famous for being the highest point in the world at 29,035 feet, Mt. Everest has become an increasingly controversial tourist destination. Environmental concerns (crowds, disrespect, trash) & safety & fair treatment of sherpas are major issues. Tenzing Norgay was a Nepalese Sherpa who was one of the first two Everest summiteers in 1953. The national flag of Nepal is the world’s only non-quadrilateral national flag. • Ever been?! Know anyone from Nepal?! Comment your facts/experiences/knowledge and help us all... #gettoknowyourglobe #mattsmapattack #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults (at Kathmandu, Nepal)

Well...it’s been awhile, but Belarus is the next country on... #mattsmapattack #gettoknowyourglobe #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults 🇧🇾 🇧🇾 🇧🇾 Google Svetlana Alexievich, Ales Adamovitch, & the Letter of Forty-Two! (at Minsk, Belarus)

The Republic of Mozambique! 🇲🇿 Mozambique is a beautiful country in SE Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean. Its 29 million people are primarily Bantu (original inhabitants), although the ocean border led to seaports by Arabs, Persians, & Somalis, contributing to the spread of Mozambique’s Swahili culture & language. Capital city of Maputo (Named Lourenco Marques till independence in 1976) is at the Southern tip of Mozambique. It was colonized by the Portuguese in the 1500’s (along with the rest of the country) & Portuguese is their most common language; spoken as a second language by half the population. After gaining independence in 1975, Mozambique fell into civil war until 1992. With natural resources including aluminum, petroleum, & gas reserves discovered in 2012; Mozambique’s economy is based largely on agriculture. Despite having one of the world’s highest GDP growth rates the last 15 years, it is still one of the poorest & most underdeveloped countries in Africa. Mozambique’s culture is a colorful swirl of native Bantu, colonized Portuguese, & Swahili. Architecture, wood carving, food, music, & dance all reflect different, specific aspects of the culture & their vast, colorful natural resources. Graca Machel is a Mozambican politician & humanitarian. Widow to Nelson Mandela, Machel is an international advocate for women’s & children’s rights, speaks seven languages, & regularly wins awards for her policy work for Africa & especially refugee children. At 72 years old, she is one of 10 members of the Africa Progress Panel, a super high level advocacy group where she fights for sustainable development & long lasting policy change for Africa. #gettoknowyourglobe #mattsmapattack #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults (at Maputo, Mozambique)

Zambia! Country #3. Zambia is a beautiful, landlocked sovereign state in Southern Africa. Originally inhabited by the Khoisan people until AD 300, when it was settled by the Bantu. Became independent of the U.K. in 1964 & first president Kenneth Kaunda maintained power for 27 years. Victoria Falls (known locally as Mosi-o-Tunya “thundering smoke”) is the world’s largest waterfall, on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia & Zimbabwe. Homosexuality is illegal in Zambia. With the decline of the copper industry (Zambia’s main mining export in the Copperbelt Province) Zambia has struggled economically & 60% of Zambians live below the international poverty line. • #gettoknowyourglobe #mattsmapattack #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults (at Lusaka, Zambia)

If you missed it last week, I’m doing a 2018 personal project to learn a little bit about a different country every week in order to get to know our globe better. After starting with Haiti, we are moving on to it’s sister-country, island sharer, the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴!Pictures are from when I visited in college (winter 2008 I believe). • #gettoknowyourglobe #mattsmapattack #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults #hashtagstilltbd (at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)

Talking with friends & family about the world & traveling abroad and realizing that I (along with a lot of other Americans) am woefully inadequate when it comes to knowing about other countries, geography of the world, anything outside of our little bubble, etc... Soooo I came up with a 2018 project to learn the basics about one country every week in order to get to know my globe better. With everything going on, this seemed like an appropriate place to start. Follow along if you like... • #gettoknowyourglobe #mattsmapattack #highschoolgeographyforhighfunctioningadults #hashtagtbd (at Port-au-Prince, Haiti)