I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world.
This week's country is...
Mozambique
Mozambique is one of the most exciting countries in Africa due to its coastal location, easy access, and interesting history. It is bordered by Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the north, Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest, Zimbabwe to the west with its coastline running with Indian Ocean to the east.Mozambique is a poor country and one of the world’s least developed. In 2020, it was ranked ninth-lowest in the Human Development Index (HDI).
Mozambique is also among the world’s hungriest countries. In 2020, Mozambique was ranked as the fifth hungriest nation and classified as suffering from “serious” levels of hunger.
Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, but there are more than 40 languages spoken in the country and the majority of Mozambicans speak more than one language.
The flag of Mozambique stands out. It shows an AK-47 rifle. The rifle symbolizes defence and vigilance. It is one of only two national flags that features a firearm, the other being Guatemala.
Maputo (the capital city) is also known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues.The country’s population is incredibly young. An estimated 45 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.
Mozambique grows cashew nuts, cotton, tea, sugarcane, corn, coconuts, fruits and potatoes; they also rear cattle and poultry and catch fish.
Mozambique is home to over 200 species of mammal, nearly 600 bird species and almost 6,000 plant species, of which 250 are believed to be endemic.
Mozambique is home to a wide range of wildlife, including elephants, manatees, lions, aardvarks, rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, giraffes, snakes, buffalos, crocodiles, leopards, bushbabies, monkeys, cheetahs, panthers and hyenas!
In 2013, the last rhinos in Mozambique were killed by poachers making them extinct in the country. Wildlife in Mozambique has long suffered from poachers with low-paid rangers open to corruption. Additionally, Mozambican poachers regularly cross into Kruger National Park in South Africa to kill rhinos.
Twenty-five percent of Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, lies within Mozambique. Lake Malawi is the fourth-largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, the ninth-largest lake in the world by area and the third-largest and second-deepest lake in Africa.
Lake Malawi is sometimes referred to as “the calendar lake” dues to its dimensions: 365 miles long and 52 miles wide.
The lake is home to hundreds of fish species, nearly all endemic. Its importance for the study of evolution has been compared to that of the Galapagos Islands.
The Bazaruto Archipelago is home to the five islands of the Bazaruto National Park where dolphins along with over 2000 types of fish are protected. There are also loggerhead, leatherback and green turtles and even dugongs.The 31 islands of the Quirimbas Archipelago are home to coral reefs and white sand beaches and are a popular honeymoon destination. In 2017, Lonely Planet named them among their “top 10 honeymoon islands”.
The country is home to some of the world’s best coral reefs. There are over 1,200 species of fish that have been identified in the coastal waters of Mozambique.
Mozambique has 1,535 miles of coastline.
Mozambique’s coastline is home to five of seven endangered species of sea turtles.
The main exports include aluminium, prawns, cotton, sugar, timber, citrus fruits and electricity.
Mozambique has 147 airports/airstrips. However…only 22 of them have tarred runways!
The CFM railway station in Mozambique is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. If Scrabble allowed place names (proper nouns are not permitted), Mozambique would be worth 34 points – the highest score of any other one-word country. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan share second place on 30.
Mozambique is also the only one-word country that includes all five vowels in its name.
Greetings in Mozambique are lengthy and involve inquiring into the health of each other’s family.
My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Mozambique... Mozambique's coast is particularly notable for its large marine animals such as whales, whale sharks, and dolphins.
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Stamp Set: Avery Elle Sea-Prize stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic MarkersPaper: Cougar 110# White, Fun Stampers Journey Summer Days, and Recollections Black CS
Dies: Frantic Stamper Stitched Waves and Rubbernecker Nested Rectangle Stitch
Embellishments: Recollections Rhinestones
