40 weeks, 40 cultures: Africa, Asia, Eurasia & Europe.

Hey Everybody,
I’m going to tell you a little bit about four cultural regions of the world. The First cultural region I’m going to talk about is Africa. Africa is near and dear to my heart.

Africa
Africa is the largest and most populated continent in the world.

There are approx, 1,032,532,974 people in Africa. There are 57 countries in Africa some of my favorites are, Liberia, Zambia, and Uganda. I have been teaching a little boy who’s from Liberia. He is absolutely precious and my heart goes out to his country and him. I hope that someday I will visit Liberia and love those children.


Children in Liberia.


Liberia

Zambia will always have a special place in my heart. I went to Zambia in 2011 for a month. I left many pieces of my heart in Zambia with 20+ orphans. I went to work with some missionaries we know in Kazembe a small rural village. (check out their website here, www.missionaryfamily.com). Zambia as an entire country really tugs at my heart. I’m planning on returning back to Zambia in 2013 to work at the same orphanage.


Zambian People

Zambian Hut

Uganda interests me quite a bit. I recently read a book called, “Kisses from Katie”. The book was about a girl, Katie Davis who moved to Uganda just out of highschool. She’s adopted 14 girls and is “mommy” to many Ugandan children. I’d love to visit Uganda and see the ministry she’s doing there. Check out her blog here, http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/.

According to the world book encyclopedia Islam is the largest religion in Africa. Next is Christianity making up 45% and 40% are Muslims. 15% believe in traditional African religions such as voodoo etc.

Africa is the hottest continent on the earth, dry lands and deserts cover 60% of the entire land surface. When I was in Zambia it wasn’t that bad. We were there in the winter though, so it was sunny and 75 degrees every day. Some parts of Africa can get unbearably hot and water is scarce is many parts. There are approx 2,000 languages spoken in Africa. Many of them are, French, Spanish, English and hundreds of African dialects.

Europe
Europe is the world’s second smallest continent. I’ve always liked Europe’s beautiful landscape. Whenever I think of international vacation, Europe comes to my mind. There are 739,165,030 people in Europe. There are 50 countries in Europe some of my favorites are, Belgium, Italy and The United Kingdom. Belgium interests me because I have a friend who lives there.


Belgium


Belgium Chocolate

I know for a fact that the BEST chocolate in the world comes from Belgium,I wouldn't mind visiting Belgium and seeing the beauty of it and of course eating some chocolate.

Italy is the home country of my Aunt Stefania. A few years ago I some of her extended family. They were so sweet and invited me to visit Italy someday. I think I might do that. Italian is very similar to Spanish which I've been learning. Knowing Spanish will make my time in Italy easier.


Italian Canoeing

Italian Pasta

The United Kingdom has always interested me. On the way back from Africa in 2011 we stopped in London for a few hours. While in London I saw the outside of Buckingham Palace (yes, I saw the changing of the guards), The London eye, and West Minster Abbey. I really enjoyed the few hours I spent in London.


Buckingham Palace

Religion in Europe has a major influence on European art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity, 76.2%. The rest of Europeans consider themselves Islamic or non religious

There are many different languages spoken in Europe, they’re divided up into several different categories Most of the languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. This family is divided into a number of branches, including Romance, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Albanian and Greek. The Uralic languages, which include Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian, are also spoken in Europe.

Asia
Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent. There are 3,879,000,000 people in Asia. Asia makes up 60% of the world’s human population that’s more than half. During the 20th century Asia’s population nearly quadrupled. There are 48 countries in Asia, my favorites are, Nepal and China.


Nepal

I like Nepal because my sister and her family live there as missionaries. In December my mom and I are going to Nepal to help my sister with my new nephew! I’m so excited to visit Nepal and see another part of the world! I also can’t wait to meet my new nephew and see my two nieces again. I'm also hoping to visit an orphanage in Nepal because I have a heart for orphans all around the world.


Nepali children

I have always wanted to visit China and see the great wall. I remember when I was younger and I learned about the Great Wall of China and ever since then I’ve always wanted to visit China and see it.


The Great Wall of China


Chinese Children

Most Asian countries have more than one language that is spoken. China has many different dialects and languages are spoken in different provinces.
here are many religions in Asia. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India and South Asia. In East Asia, mainly in China and Japan, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism were formed.

Central Eurasia
Central Eurasia is made up of the five Central Asian Republics as well as the lower Volga Region in Russia, southern Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, parts of China and Northern Pakistan, Kashmir and sometimes Mongolia and Tibet. Eurasia is made up of Europe and Asia. It covers 36.2% of the Earth’s total land area and 72.5% of the human population (4.6millioin people). There are 4,620,000,000 people in Central Eurasia. This part of the world is best known for its art, literature and empires. Some of the countries in Eurasia are, Bangladesh, Austria, Nepal, France and Germany. Some of the countries in Eurasia are more European like, for example – Austria, France, and Germany are all more European in a cultural sense. Whereas Bangladesh, and Nepal are more Asian culturally speaking.