Ghana was once called the Gold Coast of Africa because of much gold in it. It still has the largest gold reserves in the world. Ghana is bordered by Côte d’Ivoire on the west, Burkina Faso on the northwest and north, and Togo on the east. Its official name is Republic of Ghana. Its area is 238,500 square kilometers.
Many people work in fishing, farming, logging, or gold mining. Cacao, timber, and gold are sold to other countries. Ghana also mines diamonds, manganese, and bauxite, which is used to make aluminum.
English is the official language. More than half of the people are Christian.
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The most magnificent building of the XIX century was built in London’s Hyde Park on an area of 7.7 hectares for the first World Exhibition in 1851. It was made of glass and iron. The admired inhabitants of London called it the Crystal Palace. The length of the palace was 563 m, width – 125 m, height – about 40 m. It was built in a record short time – 7 months.
The idea of organizing the first World Exhibition for the purpose of unifying humanity belonged to Queen Victoria’s husband, the ambitious Prince Albert, President of the Royal Society of Arts. According to Prince Albert, such exhibitions in the future should demonstrate the achievements of each country and promote rapprochement and understanding of peoples.
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Pakistan is a Muslim country in southern Asia. Its area is 803,940 square kilometers. Its official name is Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan shares borders with Iran, Afghanistan, China, and India.
For many years Pakistan and India were a single country known as British India. In 1947 it became an independent country. There were East Pakistan and West Pakistan. In 1971, East Pakistan became a separate country called Bangladesh. Pakistan was the site of the ancient Indus civilization, which lasted until 1700 BC. It is also home to many historic mosques, tombs, and shrines.
The mountains of the Karakoram Range and the Himalayas are in the north.
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For hundreds of years warriors called samurai controlled Japan. The Japanese emperor took away the power of the samurai in 1871.
The first samurai protected vast lands owned by members of Japan’s upper class. Gradually the samurai spread out across the country and got their own pieces of land. They became more and more powerful. In 1185 one of the samurai gained military control of all Japan and in 1192 he took the title of shogun. The emperors had less power than the shoguns.
The originally Chinese term samurai means “a person who serves in close attendance to nobility.” They served with a loyalty, bravery, and honor that have made the samurai one of the best-known icons of Japanese history. The samurai are symbols of Japan’s feudal past before the rapid modernization.
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Until the 30s of the XX century, Mount Corcovado attracted the attention of architects and sculptors who dreamed to install on it some national symbol.
In 1921, the popular weekly magazine announced the best monument contest. The project of the little-known engineer Ector da Silva Costa was the winner. He offered to erect a statue of Christ on Corcovada with arms outstretched, embracing the whole Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is a Catholic country and very religious. Everyone liked the idea: the fathers of the city, the public and the church. Jesus Christ hugging the city was the great idea.
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Nepal is a mountainous country between India and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, stands on the border between China and Nepal. Everest belongs to the mountain range the Himalayas and the people of Nepal call it Sagarmatha.
Nepal’s area is 140,800 square kilometers. It’s official name is Kingdom of Nepal.
The Himalayas are famous for the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman. But most scientists say that the Yeti is only a legend.
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Everyone knows the famous Latin phrase “Carthage must be destroyed”. But few people know that it is attributed to the Roman commander and statesman Cato the Elder. Carthage was the city that once existed on the northern coast of Africa. In general, the mysteries of ancient city have long been a source of interest not only for scientists and travelers, but also for history lovers. Romance of antiquity, Punic wars, wealth and luxury of antiquity … All this makes us again and again return to the history of Carthage, one of the greatest cities of the Ancient world with almost a million people that nearly crushed the Roman Empire.
The ruins of ancient Carthage lie in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. In the second millennium BC the ancestors of the Carthaginians, the Phoenicians, occupied only a narrow strip of the coast of the eastern Mediterranean. It was 60 years before the appearance of its main rival – Rome.
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