Chile – Long and Narrow Land

The Republic of Chile stretches for nearly 4,350 kilometers along the west coast of South America, but its average width is only 180 kilometers. Its total area is 756,950 square kilometers. Chile claims a piece of Antarctica. It also controls several islands in the South Pacific, including Easter Island. Easter Island is situated more than 3,218 kilometers west of the mainland. It is volcanic land mass with an area of 117 kilometers.
Chile borders the South Pacific Ocean, and the curved southernmost portion of its coast reaches to the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Magellan.
Santiago is the capital of the country.
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Alhambra – Red Castle

From VIII to XVI century during the Arab rule in Spain there was a mixture of styles, ways of life of the Spaniards, the Visigoths and the Moors. The Arab influence is strongly reflected in the exterior of the city of Granada. It was the most typical representative of Arab life in Spain, but the most typical expression of the Arab architecture was the Alhambra, which translates as “Red Castle”.
The Moors who conquered the city in the VIII century named it Granada. They freed it from the Visigoth and established an Islamic domination. A large number of pomegranate trees – one of the main fruit in that hot area, determined the name of the city. The Moors brought not only the African language, but also a new culture. However, they did not destroy the Christian churches and synagogues, and built their houses and castles.
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Angola – Land of Oil and Diamonds

Angola is a large African country. Its area is 1,246,700 square km. Its official name is Republic of Angola. It is bordered by Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Namibia. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the west.
Luanda is the capital of the country and its largest city. Luanda is located near the Atlantic Ocean and is a busy seaport. Before the Portuguese founded it more than 400 years ago, the local people called the area Loanda (flat land).
Angola has a warm, tropical climate, with a rainy season that lasts from October to mid-May.
Most of Angola is a high plateau covered by savannas. This country has many national parks and nature reserves. There are a lot of animals here: leopards, lions, hyenas, elephants, hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, and monkeys. African elephants, black rhinoceroses, giant sable antelopes, Angolan giraffes, gorillas and chimpanzees are in danger of disappearing.
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Babylon – ancient city

According to the legend, the people who lived more than four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, after the Flood spoke the same language. They were complacent and proud. And they decided to build a tower up to the sky. God learned about this, became angry and gave them different languages. And people didn’t understand each other, quarreled, abandoned the building and went to the different ends of the earth. The tower remained unfinished, but the city where it was erected, gained popularity. It was named Babel.
Until the end of the XIX century the Tower of Babel was considered a biblical legend. There was no physical evidence of construction of the tower.
The Bible says that the builders made the tower of mud bricks, as there were not enough stones. These giant bricks (6 m long) were burned and resin was used as a binder between them. The descendants of Noah, as the Bible said, spent three years searching for materials and about twenty-two years to build the tower.
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France – Country of Castles, Wine, and History

France is known for its proud history and rich culture. Its area is 545,630 square km. Its official name is French Republic. The capital of the country is Paris. France shares borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Andorra. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean lies to the west. The French Alps are in the southeast. Mont Blanc, which rises 4,807 meters, is the highest point. The Pyrenees Mountains lie in the southwest. France is separated from England by the English Channel.
France is one of the major economic powers of the world. French cooking has long been internationally appreciated. France is known for its wines. There are miles of green vineyards.
The French river valleys are full of historic and beautiful old castles, called chateaux.
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Algeria – Desert Land on the Sea

Algeria is the second largest country in Africa. Its area is 2,381,741 sq km. Algeria is bordered by Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the north. The official name is Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria.
The Atlas Mountains separate the northern part of the country known as the Tell from the Sahara Desert. Sahara takes up about four fifths of the country. It can be very hot or quite cold, depending on the season and time of day. The name Sahara comes from the Arabic word ‘sahra’, which means “desert.” The Sahara is the world’s largest desert and covers a vast area of around 8,547,000 square kilometers.
The highest peak is Mount Tahat (2,918 meters). Chelif is the longest river (230 km).
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Isaakievskiy Sobor – Saint Isaac’s Cathedral

Peter I – the founder of the new capital of the Russian Empire on the Neva River, decided to immortalize his birthday May 30 with the construction of the cathedral. On this day, May 30, Saint Isaac of Dalmatia was born. Christians revere him as a prophet, as he predicted the death of a ruthless persecutor of Christians the Roman emperor Valens. So the future cathedral was named Saint Isaac’s Cathedral.
Initially, the wooden altar was built opposite the Admiralty in 1710. There was a dome with a cross and a bell. Peter came to the simple wooden church to pray and even married Catherine I in it. But a fire destroyed it in 1717, and then another one was built on the site of the present Senate building.
The project of a stone church was made by German architect G. Mattarnovi, who later created a Kunstkammer project. The clock imported from Amsterdam decorated the bell tower. But in 1735 lightning hit the cross and fire began. The church was burned.
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