Country Info New Zealand is a small island country (area: 2,68,680 square kilometres) located in the southern Pacific Ocean and to the south-eastern direction of the continent of Australia. The country comprises two main landmasses, the North Island and the South Island separated by the Cook Strait, besides several other smaller islands like the Chatham Islands, Stewart Island, Waiheke Island. Fiji and Tonga are the other close neighbours of New Zealand, also known as Kiwi after one of the rare flightless birds found on its soil. The country’s coastline is 15,134 kilometres long. National capital is Wellington. Flora Owing to the factor of isolation and a location that did not invite much attention and consequent disturbance by mankind in the past, New Zealand has in its possession a rich biodiversity including extraordinary flora and fauna.  [...] 

Country Info Costa Rica (area: 51,100 square kilometres) is a small country in Central America which is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south and by the Pacific Ocean to the west and Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica has always fared better in terms of environmental safeguard activities. In 2008, the country was ranked fifth in the world and first in the Americas on Environmental Performance Index. Also the News Economics Foundation has granted Costa Rica the topmost position in the Happy Planet Index besides terming it as the ‘greenest country’ in the world. Capital of Costa Rica is San José. Palo Verde National Park Palo Verde National Park is one of the many national parks in Costa Rica. Spread over an area of 184 square kilometres in Guanacaste Province in north-western part of Costa Rica, the national park  [...] 

Skadar Lake (also known as Lake Scutari and Lake Shkodër is located on the border between the two Balkan countries of Montenegro and Albania in eastern Europe. Lake Skadar is the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula. It has been named after the city of Shkodra in northern Albania. Geographical features of Skadar Lake The lake has an area of 400 square kilometres, two-third of which falls in Montenegro. It is located in Zeta –Skadar plains. The length of the lake is 48 kilometres while the breadth is 14 kilometres. The coastline is 170 kilometres long. The maximum depth of the lake is 44 metres while its surface elevation is 6 metres above the sea level. In fact, the lake is relatively shallow with the deepest part of  its bed sinking below the sea level, leaving it in a state of crypto-depression. The drainage basin of the lake is near  [...] 

About Serengeti The Serengeti (from Masaai ‘Siringitu’ meaning ‘endless plains’) ecosystem extends from north-western Tanzania to south-western Kenya spanning over an area of 30,000 square kilometres. The Serengeti region encompasses besides Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Maswa Game Reserve, Loliondo, Grumeti and Ikorongo Controlled Areas and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Two world heritage sites and biosphere reserves have been set up within the Serengeti ecosystem. The ecosystem, which is one of the oldest in the entire earth, has often served as a favourite subject to creative personalities like writers, filmmakers and photographers besides attracting over 90,000 tourists every year. The story goes that Stewart Edwin White, an American hunter was the first white man to hit upon the Serengeti  [...] 

Country Info Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia or Ethiopia (area: 11,26,829 square kilometres) is one of the most ancient countries in the world. It is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa and is flanked by Somalia in the east, Sudan in the west, Djibouti and Eritrea in the north and Kenya in the south. The capital is Addis Ababa. Geographically, Ethiopia is a land of great contrasts. The terrain ranges from the the rugged Simien Mountains to the Danakil Depression located at 120 metres below the sea level forming one of the lowest dry land points on earth. The elevated land complex in Ethiopia is divided by the Great Rift Valley and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes and semi-deserts. The diversity in terrain has led to variation in climate, soil, natural vegetation and human settlement patterns. Southern Ethiopia The  [...] 

Primary info The northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia, located in south-western Africa (area 8,25,418 square kilometres) and southern Angola  (area 1,24,6700 square kilometres) is called the Skeleton Coast. To the east of the Skeleton Coast lies  Kaokoveld and Damaraland. The former is known to be one of the last great wilderness in the southern part of the African continent and is inhabited by the Himba people while the latter is home to the Damara people. The Namib Desert lies to the south-east of the coast.To its south lies the Walvis bay. How did the Skeleton Coast get its name? The indigenous Bushmen of Namibia termed the coast as ‘The Land God Made in Anger’ while the Portuguese crew and sailors called it as ‘The Gates to Hell’. The coast has been mainly named after the carcasses and remains of whales that littered  [...] 

Okavango River Okavango, the fourth longest river in southern Africa drains Angola, namibia and Botswana. It is known as Cubango River in Angola where it originates and ultimately drains into the Moremi Wildlife Reserve in Botswana. The river is 1,600 kilometres long and has a basin area of 5,30,000 square kilometres. The river does not have any outlet into the sea. Instead, it empties into the Okovango Delta, a swamp in the Kalahari Desert. The river also feeds adjoining water bodies like Popa Falls, Boteti River and Lake Ngami. Okavango River’s water is a serious bone of contention between the drought-hit namib ia and Botswana. Okavango Delta Okavango Delta is the world’s largest inland delta (area 28,000 square kilometres). The Okavango River flows through the Kalahari till it splits itself into a maze of lagoons, channels and islands,  [...]