Pls help DS pick a country to study--he wants one that is obscure and unknown

[JennyD]

I was going to say Bhutan as well. I recently read a memoir by an American woman who went to Bhutan and wound up marrying a Bhutanese and staying there permanently. It seems like such an interesting place.

[Stacia]

My ds chose it because while looking at a poster of world flags he decided that their flag was the most interesting one of all

 

I agree w/ your ds -- awesome flag!

 

And, strider, you will let us know which country your ds chooses for the project, right??? :D (I'm so curious now & I wish I could see his end report!)

[Alessandra]

Kyrgyzstan! Or any of the other Muslim former Soviet republics (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, or Turkmenistan). Believe me, no one ever talks about those countries. I think Uzbekistan is probably the most interesting out of the group (and likely has the most resources), although all are fascinating. If you go with one of those, I could point you toward some different resources that you wouldn't find in your local library.

 

I agree that these would be fascinating to study. Aren't some of these on the old Silk Road? And part of the old Scythian Kingdom. I've read that a lot of Greek culture may have derived from Scythian. If your ds likes history, there is certainly a lot in this region.

 

I might also suggest Mali -- some of the greatest African empires were in this area, but now it is one of the world's poorest nations. What a trajectory.

 

Another historical suggestion -- Venice. There is a marvelous Wordsworth poem about the Republic -- a lovely line is, "Venice, the eldest child of liberty."

 

Or, on the theme of countries that are no longer countries, Sikkim. Or, even more sadly, Tibet. Zanzibar? I remember an aunt of mine who said that, when traveling by ship, you could smell the spices long before you saw the land. That always intrigued me.

[Roadrunner]

..

[Brigitte]

Belgium.

Reasons to study it:

1)It is a country that hasn't had a government in about 3 years.

2) It is bilingual.

3) The Flemish and the Walloons can't stand each other and talk endlessly about dividing the country in two.

4) Caesar said the Belgians were the most fierce.

5) The beer and chocolate are delightful.

And, finally:

6) A remarkable number of people in the US have no clue it exists.

[ElizaG]

St. Vincent and the Grenadines? It's a country in the Caribbean that seems to be pretty much unknown. I've even managed to forget the tiny amount I once knew about it.

 

Wait, I remembered something! It's where arrowroot comes from! :lol: This is important to our family, as we use a lot of arrowroot in gluten-free cooking. And that stuff is expensive.

 

But I guess that's not famous enough to remove it from consideration, as it made the top 20 "obscure countries" list in the PP's link. :D

Edited September 14, 2012 by Eleanor

[eternalknot]

Albania.

 

We have a local bistro owned by Albanians, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard:

 

Customer, "Where are you from?"

Owner, "Albania."

Customer, "Never heard of it."

 

Maybe Montenegro or Macedonia. Nobody has heard of the former and everything thinks the latter is ancient history (literally).

 

My husband is from that area, though, so maybe I wouldn't know either if I hadn't married him :confused: LOL.

 

(Okay, it's not as cool as Djibouti but it's obscure enough whilst still finding a decent amount of information about it for research purposes!)

[Harriet Vane]

I agree w/ your ds -- awesome flag!

 

And, strider, you will let us know which country your ds chooses for the project, right??? :D (I'm so curious now & I wish I could see his end report!)

 

Yes, I will let you guys know. He is going to take a while to browse the options though. I'll have to give him a few days to mull this over.

 

You folks have been incredible. Thanks for the suggestions!! :thumbup1:

[CyndiLJ]

Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan...we have kids from both AND they'd be willing to give interviews and share photos of traditional items we have from there :-)

 

Cindy

[Kathryn]

Albania.

 

We have a local bistro owned by Albanians, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard:

 

Customer, "Where are you from?"

Owner, "Albania."

Customer, "Never heard of it."

 

Maybe Montenegro or Macedonia. Nobody has heard of the former and everything thinks the latter is ancient history (literally).

 

My husband is from that area, though, so maybe I wouldn't know either if I hadn't married him :confused: LOL.

 

(Okay, it's not as cool as Djibouti but it's obscure enough whilst still finding a decent amount of information about it for research purposes!)

 

I met a woman from Albania today! When I asked where she was from (it was relevant as she was telling me homeschooling was illegal in her home country) she first said "southern Europe," then "near Greece," and finally specified country. She said she doesn't bother telling people the country because they've never heard of it. I was shocked.

[Liz CA]

Burkina Faso - very small and very poor country on the African continent.

[newlifemom]

Burkina Faso - very small and very poor country on the African continent.

 

I was going to say that, but not b/c of its size or median income. I just love saying the name of the capital. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Oh and to the pp who had the "shake, shake, shake . . ." :lol:

[kiwik]

New Zealand. Most people from the northern hemisphere seem to think we are part of Australia. Or Fiji our answer to a south American dictatorship.

[Deb in NZ]

Republic of the Marshall Islands

 

• nuclear testing in the 1950s
  
• site of some WWII battles
  
• part of the Star Wars program
  
• under threat from Global Warming
  
• great history of seafarers, using stick maps
  
• atoll nation just north of the equator
  

 

 

Dh & I were married in the Marshalls. It's a little known country with a very interesting history.

 

JMHO,

[stripe]

I am really freaked out, I swear last night I posted a Belizean flag after seeing the cool Bhutanese flag. I don't think many people have heard of Belize. They are a Central American country that doesn't speak Spanish!

 

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I was going to say that, but not b/c of its size or median income. I just love saying the name of the capital. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Oh and to the pp who had the "shake, shake, shake . . ." :lol:

 

My sister visited Burkina, and stayed with a family in Ouagadougou for two weeks. She has some great stories (some good, some kind of sad) from there.

 

It is fun to say.

 

She brought me a skirt that her hostess sewed for me from this gorgeous purple batik. Unfortunately, I'm too fat to wear it anymore. Loved that skirt.

[Cinder]

Albania.

 

We have a local bistro owned by Albanians, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard:

 

Customer, "Where are you from?"

Owner, "Albania."

Customer, "Never heard of it."

 

Sadly, everything I know about Albania I learned from watching Cheers. Remember the

where Coach is helping Sam study geography and he sings, "Albania. Albania. You border on the Adriatic!"

 

Years ago I met a young woman from Albania. I remember her talking about how it was illegal to have a Bible but her aunt had one and they were allowed to borrow it for a week. It was such a significant event for her.

[eternalknot]

I met a woman from Albania today! When I asked where she was from (it was relevant as she was telling me homeschooling was illegal in her home country) she first said "southern Europe," then "near Greece," and finally specified country. She said she doesn't bother telling people the country because they've never heard of it. I was shocked.

 

Small world! My husband does the same LOL.

 

Sadly, everything I know about Albania I learned from watching Cheers. Remember the

where Coach is helping Sam study geography and he sings, "Albania. Albania. You border on the Adriatic!"

 

Years ago I met a young woman from Albania. I remember her talking about how it was illegal to have a Bible but her aunt had one and they were allowed to borrow it for a week. It was such a significant event for her.

 

:lol: Re-runs of that show is one way my family learned English. I hadn't remembered that episode, but that's funny!

 

My husband's family grew up (Catholic) in a nearby country, also Communist. Their faith through it all has always impressed me.

[TravelingChris]

I know a lot about Djiboutie. My high school debate case was on how we should become friends of Djiboutie by building water wells (although they are a desert country, they are on top of a huge underground lake), and in return, help secure the Red Sea. zIt was considered a squirrel case then (early 1980s) but eventually turned into US policy in the early 2000s.

[KungFuPanda]

Madagascar? It has kid appeal and people don't know much about it past the lemurs and the movie.

[Impish]

So, what did he pick?

[Word Nerd]

I haven't read any replies, but South Sudan might be an interesting one.

[Harriet Vane]

So, what did he pick?

 

Still processing. We had co-op today, so haven't had much time for pondering. He will probably consider over the weekend and make a commitment Mon or Tues. I will definitely post the winner. :D

[learningmama]

:D Liechtenstein

 

My dh loves Europe and always joked that our daughter will marry the prince of Liechtenstein. This summer he attended a conference in Miami and lo and behold he was able to meet a man from Liechtenstein. He was so excited and the guy was impressed that dh knew about his country.

[Kathryn]

:D Liechtenstein

 

My dh loves Europe and always joked that our daughter will marry the prince of Liechtenstein. This summer he attended a conference in Miami and lo and behold he was able to meet a man from Liechtenstein. He was so excited and the guy was impressed that dh knew about his country.

 

I did a European geography course in college and chose Liechtenstein for my presentation. I loved learning about it. It's so tiny and cute!

[love2read]

Estonia. Someone who escaped as a child before it was swallowed up by the Soviet Union told me the language was almost completely lost because it's so small. Apparently it was kept alive overseas.

[tvaleri]

Canouan.

 

Dh went here and Trinidad on a mission trip years ago. Travel agents couldn't find it =)

 

Smiles,

Teresa

[sarah1615]

Sadly, everything I know about Albania I learned from watching Cheers. Remember the

where Coach is helping Sam study geography and he sings, "Albania. Albania. You border on the Adriatic!"

 

That is exactly what I think of when I hear Albania!!

[stripe]

Canouan.

 

Dh went here and Trinidad on a mission trip years ago. Travel agents couldn't find it =)

 

Smiles,

Teresa

 

Is it really a country? It appears to be an island that belongs to St Vincent. (The US dept of state does not list Canouan as its own country, but some of these issues are tricky.)

[boscopup]

Estonia. I don't have an argument, but my daughter loves it and wants to live there.

 

A college-aged student came up to my house a couple weeks ago, wanting to sell some educational materials. He said he was from Estonia and asked if I knew where it was. I said yes. He looked at me like this: :001_huh: I told him I homeschool! :lol:

 

In reality, I didn't know *exactly* where it was, but I HAD heard of it and knew the general vicinity of where it was - ie, when I picked up my globe, I went right to the general spot and found it quickly. :)

 

I was trying to get the guy to leave, as we were needing to head to the grocery store, but it was funny to see his face. I guess most people had never heard of it.

[Little Nyssa]

Roadrunner-- I studied Georgian years ago, in college. It is the most fun language to speak! :001_smile:

 

Sakartvelos gaumar jos!!!

[TXBeth]

Belgium.

Reasons to study it:

1)It is a country that hasn't had a government in about 3 years.

2) It is bilingual.

3) The Flemish and the Walloons can't stand each other and talk endlessly about dividing the country in two.

4) Caesar said the Belgians were the most fierce.

5) The beer and chocolate are delightful.

And, finally:

6) A remarkable number of people in the US have no clue it exists.

 

Ummm...you forgot the most important reason.

7) great waffles!

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :tongue_smilie:

[IsabelC]

Tell him to pick one that interests him and be done with it! Why?

 

Well, way back when I was at school (and I'm about to show my age here), I too wanted to write about a country nobody had heard of. I chose the little-known middle eastern nation of Kuwait. Nobody in my class knew where it was. Then the Gulf War happened. I felt seriously cheated that I had worked so hard to learn about Kuwait and suddenly everyone knew about it. :lol:

[Harriet Vane]

And the winner is . . .

 

BHUTAN

 

Ds likes the flag, and not many people suggested it. It sounds interesting.

 

THANKS for your help!!

[Amira]

And the winner is . . .

 

BHUTAN

 

Ds likes the flag, and not many people suggested it. It sounds interesting.

 

THANKS for your help!!

 

Great choice! I've wanted to go there for years.

[Delirium]

What a neat country to learn about. Nice choice :)

[Stacia]

And the winner is . . .

 

BHUTAN

 

Ds likes the flag, and not many people suggested it. It sounds interesting.

 

THANKS for your help!!

 

strider, while your ds is working on his project, you might enjoy reading The Geography of Bliss in the meantime. Bhutan is one of the first countries covered in it. :001_smile:

[Harriet Vane]

strider, while your ds is working on his project, you might enjoy reading The Geography of Bliss in the meantime. Bhutan is one of the first countries covered in it. :001_smile:

 

Hmmmm . . . intriguing.

 

Thanks! :)

[Nestof3]

Nathan is excited! Here goes:

 

Slovenia

Kosovo

Guinea Biseau

Liberia

Macedonia

[Nestof3]

And the winner is . . .

 

BHUTAN

 

Ds likes the flag, and not many people suggested it. It sounds interesting.

 

THANKS for your help!!

 

Nathan says that's a good one.