Zimbabwe – From Colony to Independent Country

Zimbabwe is an African country. For many years it was called Southern Rhodesia. English is the official language, because the region spent many years under British colonial rule. In 1980 Zimbabwe officially gained independence. Zimbabwe is a Bantu word meaning “stone houses.”
Zimbabwe’s area is 390,580 square kilometers. It shares borders with Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana. The official name is Republic of Zimbabwe.
Victoria Falls, one of the world’s mightiest waterfalls, was formed by the Zambezi River. Lake Kariba, one of the world’s largest artificial lakes, was created when the huge Kariba Dam was built over the Zambezi River.
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Afghanistan – Mountain Country

Afghanistan is a country in southern Central Asia. Mountains cover a large part of the country. Afghanistan borders Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Wakhan Corridor connects Afghanistan with China. Its official name is Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The country’s area is 647,500 square kilometers.
Kabul is Afghanistan’s capital city.
Pashto and Dari are the two official languages. Almost all Afghans are Muslims.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. People grow crops and raise animals. Some farmers grow opium poppies, which are used to make illegal drugs.
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Madagascar – Island Sanctuary

The Republic of Madagascar lies 250 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The Mozambique Channel separates the island from the African coast. It is the fourth largest island in the world after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo. Its area is 587,040 square kilometers.
Madagascar is known as the Great Red Island for its rich, red soil.
Madagascar is famous for its unique wildlife and vegetation. Three-quarters of its plant and animal species are found nowhere else on earth.
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Vietnam – North and South

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and is made up of North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam). The two countries were reunited in 1976.
Vietnam shares borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia. Mountains cover about two thirds of the land. Its area is 329,560 square kilometers.
During the late 1960s and the early 1970s there was Vietnam War and both the Vietnamese and the Americans suffered great losses.
Most of Vietnam’s people are farmers who grow rice, coffee, tea, rubber, sugarcane, soybeans, and coconuts. They raise ducks, pigs, cattle, and buffalo.
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Libya – Oil Country of Africa

Libya is a country in North Africa. It borders Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Egypt. Its area is 1,759,540 square kilometers. Its official name is Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
The oil was discovered in the desert in 1959 and Libya became one of the richest countries in North Africa. Some of the largest petroleum deposits in the world are in Libya.
Libya has three main regions: the Sahara, Tripolitania, and Cyrenaica. The desert land of the Sahara is one of the driest places on Earth. There are some oases in the desert. Most Libyans live in Tripolitania, in the northwest. In Cyrenaica the Akhdar Mountains and some oases are the main features.
There is Great Man-Made River in the country. People mine some underground water in the desert and pipe it to the coastal cities.
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Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang

In March 1974, the peasants who lived near the city of Xian, decided to dig a well. They worked tirelessly for 12 days in a row, five-meter deep pit was dug, but the water was never found. On the 13th day the shovel of a peasant stumbled on something hard. So the famous Terracotta Army was discovered…
Soon archaeological work began near Xian. The peasants found the first and apparently the main Terracotta Army battle unit which consisted of 6,000 figures. In 1980, scientists found the second unit – about 2,000 statues. In 1994, the General Staff was found underground – a collection of senior military commanders. A total more than 8,000 statues of soldiers and horses and 90 war chariots were discovered.
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Mont Saint Michel – island abbey

You can reach “sea” abbey by car only during low tide. The six-kilometer causeway was built in 1879. The Benedictine monks decided to build their sanctuary on an impregnable rock in 966. However, according to legend, the idea of the construction of the abbey belonged to Michael the Archangel.
The island is small – only 900 m and its sharp top rose above the sea level by nearly 90m. The island is surrounded by water.
In the VII century persecuted followers of the Christian religion settled in coastal caves. But they were afraid to build something on the amazing rock, because of high tides.
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