2020 Travel the World - Week 32

I started a Travel the World Series last year. (It should be noted that I did a similar thing in 2018, only it was the 50 states.) For 50 weeks in 2019, I visited a different country (virtually) and shared facts about that country. I then selected one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. Fifty weeks; fifty countries... BUT there are 195 countries in the world so that was just a little over 25% of them. Of course I couldn't stop, so this year I'm continuing with fifty more countries, one per week.

This week's country is...

Liberia

Liberia is found in Western Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.

 

This country was founded by freed American slaves, hoping for a better life. Liberia is the only country in Africa with native Africans that was founded by the people of the United States.

 

Liberia has a mostly hilly terrain, from rolling plains along the coast to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast.

The country is home to a lush rainforest containing a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

 

Liberia has 360 miles of coastline.

 

The beaches of Liberia are spectacular but difficult to reach. Generally, only the strongest swimmers venture into the sea because the surf is high and the currents strong. 

The soil of much of Nimba County is the red, iron-rich weathered product of millions of years of high temperatures and high rainfall experienced in tropical areas.

Liberians love spicy food. Hot peppers are a common ingredient in Liberian food. The citizens love the taste that the spice adds to dishes and many of them even have their own family recipe for hot pepper sauce.

 

Liberian cuisine heavily incorporates rice, the country’s staple food. Other ingredients include cassava, fish, bananas, citrus fruit, plantains, coconut, okra and sweet potatoes.

 

The official language of Liberia is English, but 29 different African languages are also spoken there.

 

Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world.

 

Liberia’s main exports are timber and rubber.

 

Liberia’s Firestone Rubber Plantation is the world’s largest rubber plantation, which is leased from the government on a controversial 99-year plan. 

 

Liberia serves as one of the largest exporters of iron ore in Africa.

 

More than half of the people of Liberia cannot read.

 

The average resident is under 18 years of age.

 

The life expectancy in Liberia is 45 years.

This country of 4.5 million people has less than 300 doctors.

 

One-third of married Liberian women between the ages of 15–49 are in polygamous marriages. Customary law allows men to have up to four wives.

 

Liberia’s textiles and quilting have a long history and the country is noted for its hospitality, cultural skills, arts, and academic institutions. The former U.S. slaves arrived with quilting skills.

Houses in Liberia are usually built from sun-dried local clay bricks coated with plaster, with a galvanized corrugated iron roof.

 

Liberia has 700 bird species which include a bird that is slightly larger than a honey bee. It’s called a Bee Warbler.

Sapo National Park is the country’s largest protected reserve and home to 125 types of mammal and 590 types of bird. Among them are a number of threatened species, such as the pygmy hippopotamus and the African golden cat. You’ll also find African forest elephants, crocodiles, leopards, seven species of monkey and three species of pangolin, one of the weirdest looking animals you’re likely to see. 

 

Oprah Winfrey had traced her ancestors back to Liberia. 

 

Liberia is among the 20 countries on Earth that smoke the fewest cigarettes per capita – just 104 per adult per year. 

Most countries have special forms of greeting through physical touch. Cheek kissing, hugs, and high-fives are some common ones, but Liberia has an interesting kind of handshake unique to its citizens known as the Liberian finger snap. To do a Liberian finger snap, two people touch hands as if doing a regular handshake, then mutually snap their fingers when they release to make a snapping sound. 

 

Liberia is renowned for its detailed decorative and ornate masks, large and miniature wood carvings of realistic human faces, famous people, scenes of everyday life and accessories, particularly combs, spoons and forks, which are often enlarged sculptures.

 

The network of protected areas in Liberia covers about 4% of the national territory. It’s made up of 10 national parks, and 2 nature reserves and other types of protected areas.

 

Pygmy hippos are among the species illegally hunted for food in Liberia. It's estimated that there are fewer than 3,000 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild.

 

The world’s biggest cruise ships are all registered in Liberia, mostly because the employment laws are less stringent there.

 

All airlines from Liberia are banned from Europe due to not meeting safety or regulatory standards.

 

While Liberian music is part of the wider West African music heritage, it is also distinct from its neighbors.

 

There are several different types of drums used in traditional music.

Liberian president, George Weah, was originally famous for being a professional striker who helped the Chelsea Football Club win the Football Association Challenge Cup in the year 2000. He has also played as a striker for other famous teams such as Manchester City and AC Milan. He won the title of FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995 and is the first and only African to have achieved this title so far.

I decided to let this Liberia fact be the inspiration for this week's card... Monrovia in Liberia is one of the world's rainiest capital cities. For comparison, the city of London receives 23 inches of rain per year while the city of Monrovia experiences 182 inches of rain per year.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp: Whipper Snapper Mulligan stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Accent Opaque 120# White, Recollections Black and SU Pretty Peacock CS and DP from my scrap file

Embellishments: Brads from unknown vendors