World Geography

Here at the Sculley Academy, we study World Geography in a systematic way, covering every region of the world every four years. Scroll down for general resources and suggestions for many of the countries.

A
Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan

B
Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzogovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi

C
Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Congo Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic

D
Denmark Dijbouti Dominican Republic Dominica

E
Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia

F
Fiji Finland France French Guiana

G
Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Greenland Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana

H
Haiti Honduras Hungary

I
Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy

J
Jamaica Japan Jordan

K
Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan

L
Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg

M
Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Myanmar

N
Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Norway

O
Oman

P
Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico

Q
Qatar

R
Romania Russia Rwanda

S
San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somali Republic South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & Grenadines Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria

T
Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu

U
Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan

V
Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam

W
Western Samoa

Y
Yemen Yugoslavia

Z
Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe

We study a country by any of the following methods:

• Pray for that country–use LINK resources for kids
• visit a restaurant that serves the local cuisine
• read a newspaper from that country
• collect stamps from that country
• read a cultural overview
• meet with someone from that country or who has visited that country
• visit it!
• research recent world events
• learn about famous landmarks, natural and man-made
• study the history of that country
• visit interesting internet sites like GeoBee Quiz and National Geographic Xpeditions
• browse encyclopedias
• put together world map puzzles
• learn to speak some words in the native language
• watch a travel video
• study musical instruments from the region
• study biographies of people from there (leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, writers, explorers, missionaries)
• study native flora and fauna
• read literature from that country or set in that country
• make maps and charts
• make regional arts and crafts
• get cool, cheap (!) projects / books from Dover Publications
• learn music or songs from that country
• Faces World Geography magazines
• memorize a poem from that country
• Country Reports
• cook regional cuisine
• Globe Spotter game
• make some national clothing
• CIA Kids Geography Quizzes
• use geography software to explore that country
• National Geographic Educator websites
• surf the net on that region
• National Geographic virtual Xpeditions

Year 1

Australia and New Zealand

Australia (capital: Canberra)

Paul was born there and lived there from 1963 – 1989 and visited it (1992, 1995, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2016).

Karen lived there from 1971 – 1989 and visited it (1992, 1995, 2007).

P (1992, 1995, 2007), J (1995, 2007), M (2007, 2012), C (2007), E (2007, 2016), & K (2007, 2014) visited it.

Paul’s entire extended family lives there.

We learned about many Aussie animals, and did a 90-minute presentation to fellow homeschoolers on many aspects of Australia

We had visits from numerous Aussies who kept us well supplied with Aussie-isms, Aussie paraphernalia, and Aussie chocolate!

cool website: Let’s Explore Australia

New Zealand (capital: Wellington)

Paul & Karen visited it–had our 3 week honeymoon there!

P, J, M, C, E, & K visited it in 2007.

We read these books:

We Live in New Zealand

New Zealand: Modern World Nations

New Zealand in Pictures: Visual Geography Series

New Zealand: Checkerboard Geography Library

New Zealand: Ask About Oceania

We watched these movies:

Touring New Zealand

Balkan States

Bulgaria (capital: Sofia)

We read these books:

Bulgaria

Bulgaria – in Pictures

We watched these movies:

Rick Steve’s Eastern Europe

We colored children in Bulgarian costumes from Children’s Folk Costumes coloring book

We had a special Bulgarian meal with these dishes — Pulneni Tchushki (Stuffed Peppers), Kavarma (a pork dish), and Baklava (which is claimed by Bulgarians, Turks, and Greeks!) Later we also had Shopska Salad. All were delicious and the kids enjoyed them all!

Greece (capital: Athens)

We studied the Ancient Olympics.

Romania (capital: Bucharest)

K & E were born there and lived there for their first 13 months, 2000 – 2001.

Paul, Karen & C visited it (and our good friend Stephanie!) in 2001

We dressed a paper doll in a traditional Romanian costume (from Dover’s Traditional Folk Costumes of Europe)

We read and partially translated some Romanian tracts I had (“Cine Este Isus?”) [“Who is Jesus?]. We used our Romanian-English dictionary for the translation, along with our knowledge of tracts 🙂

Albania

Slovenia

Croatia

Macedonia

Yugoslavia

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Brazil and its neighbors

Brazil (capital: Brasilia)

Paul visited it–did a 2-week mission trip there in 1997

We read about Brazilian children and what they like to do.

Our exchange student / bonus daughter Marcele (from Rio de Janeiro) lived with us for 6 months in 1997!

Our church’s worship lyrics have sometimes been written in English and Portuguese, when we had a large Brazilian contingent.

Venezuela (capital: Caracas)

We read these books:

Venezuela

The Highest Waterfall

Baseball in the Barrios

Guyana

Suriname

French Guiana

British Isles

United Kingdom (capital: London)

Paul & Karen visited it in 1990.

We listened to several different kinds of bagpipe music.

We made tea and scones.

We keep up with friends from the U.K. (sporadically, anyway) – the Lockwoods, the Blacknells, . . .

We read these books:

A Primary Source Guide to the United Kingdom

A Visit to the United Kingdom

Games People Play: England

Ireland

The children used Dover Irish stencils and Irish postcards to make project pages.

We dressed paper dolls in traditional Irish clothing (from Dover’s Traditional Folk Costumes of Europe).

Canada

Canada (capital: Ottawa)

Paul & Karen visited it in 1989.

We watched a movie about beautiful places in Canada that we might be able to visit one day!

We read these books:

A to Z Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Ontario

Quebec

Manitoba

Nunavut

Saskatchewan

Northwest Territories

Alberta

British Columbia

Yukon

Canada

We watched these movies:

Canada’s National Parks

Grizzly Bears (National Geographic)

Central, East, and West Africa

Kenya (capital: Nairobi)

We read a book about elephants and how they survive even in drought conditions.

Nigeria (capital: Lagos)

Flossie described to us her impressions of Nigeria.

We read the book Nigeria

Somali Republic

Burundi

Dijbouti

Rwanda

Tanzania

Central African Republic

Zaire

Uganda

Cote d’Ivoire

Benin

Cameroon

Congo

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Liberia

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Togo

Burkina Faso

Guinea-Bissau

Equatorial Guinea

Sao Tome and Principe

Year 2

Central Europe

Czech Republic (capital: Prague)

We learned that school children in the Czech Republic learn English.

Poland (capital: Warsaw)

We watched a movie about Marie Curie, who was Polish.

We read about Frederic Chopin, a Polish composer.

Each of the children made a page about Poland–P drew a map, and wrote some country info on and around it; J wrote about the political features of Poland; M colored a Polish flag; C cut out a paper doll in Polish national costume (we photographed her face and printed it in black & white to go with the outfit)–very cute.

The children chose Polish recipes for our Polish dinner this week. We feasted on Cabbage Rolls (very spicy–yum!) and Honey Cake (delicious). Both recipes were in the book Cooking the Polish Way (the entire series is fabulous). We decided the best social studies projects are the ones involving food 🙂

Hungary (capital: Budapest)

We read Hungary (Ann Stalcup) and Hungary (Richard Esbenshade).

The children chose Hungarian recipes for our Hungarian dinner this week. We enjoyed Tomato Salad, Hungarian Goulash, and Walnut-filled Rolls. Everything was delicious! All of the recipes were in the book Cooking the Hungarian Way.

Slovakia

China and its neighbors

China (capital: Beijing)

We studied Giant Pandas, and got Zoo Atlanta to come and take some of our bamboo to our local Pandas. They said we have 2 or 3 days’ worth for the two at the zoo.

We learned about the current persecution of Christians in China.

South Korea (capital: Seoul)

Paul visited it in 2004.

P did a report on the foods and recipes of South Korea

J did a report on education in South Korea

We cooked and enjoyed Korean fish patties for lunch one day, from the book Cooking the Korean Way.

Mongolia (capital: Ulaanbaatar)

We read Mongolia (Vanishing Cultures)

North Korea

France and Germany

France (capital: Paris)

Paul & Karen visited it in 1990.

We read a biography of Louis Braille and wrote out the Braille alphabet.

We read a biography of Picasso, by Mike Venezia.

We read a biography of Louis Pasteur.

J did a special French class.

Germany (capital: Berlin)

Paul (1990, 2008) & Karen (1990, 2007, 2008), P (2008), J (2008), M (2008), C (2008), E (2008), K (2008) visited it.

C passed through Frankfurt airport.

We have Tante Hildegard to chat with about Deutschland.

We read a biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, and watched a movie about his life.

We read a biography of Johannes Brahms.

We studied German for several years!

Monaco (capital: Monaco-Ville)

Monaco: Enchantment of the World

website: Monaco Government Tourist Office

website: CIA World Fact Book

India and its neighbors

India (capital: New Delhi)

We located India’s major geographical features on a map.

We charted India’s 20 largest cities on a population graph.

We identified India’s near neighbors (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, China, Bangladesh, Burma).

We located India’s 7 largest cities on a map.

We studied the distinguishing features of elephants.

Afghanistan (capital: Kabul)

We watched The Carrot Road, a movie about carrots, which originated in Afghanistan.

Pakistan (capital: Islamabad)

Pakistan: A True Book

website – An Introduction to Pakistan

website – World Wildlife Federation: Pakistan

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Maldives

Myanmar

Italy and its neighbors

Italy (capital: Rome)

We studied the life of Galileo, and made a replica of his first telescope.

We made lists of sports, old and new, in Italy.

We read a biography of Leonardo da Vinci.

We read a biography of Michelangelo.

Vatican City (capital: Vatican City)

Malta (capital: Valletta)

Malta: Cultures of the World

San Marino

Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Bahamas

Paul & Karen visited it for our 20th anniversary, in 2006.

Mexico (capital: Mexico City)

Paul & Karen visited it in 1989.

We made “God’s Eye” weavings–you know, colored yarn woven around crossed sticks in a diamond pattern, except we used bamboo, ’cause there’s plenty of it!

We colored a map of Mexico.

We made Mexican-style tissue paper banners (with cutouts).

Panama (capital: Panama)

Karen visited it briefly as a child in 1971.

Jamaica (capital: Kingston)

Jamaica: The Land

Dominican Republic

Dominica

Grenada

St. Kitts & Nevis

St. Vincent & Grenadines

Trinidad & Tobago

St. Lucia

Haiti

Belize

El Salvador

Honduras

Nicaragua

Antigua & Barbuda

Barbados

Cuba

Guatemala

Costa Rica

Puerto Rico

Year 3

Middle East

Cool Middle East links:

Middle East: Land, Resources, & Economics

Israel (capital: Jerusalem)

We celebrated a Passover Seder with friends.

We drew the Star of David.

We made mosaic Menorahs.

We celebrated Hanukkah with a Messianic Jewish friend, and learned to play “Dreidel”

We ate a chocolate Star of David.

We made and ate marshmallow Menorahs.

Turkey (capital: Ankara) map

We traced Marco Polo’s route (he went through Turkey!)

We explored a Byzantine Architecture website (in Istanbul)

We examined a computer model of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul’s most famous landmark

We learned much about Turkey in a Country Study on Turkey

We browsed several library books on Turkey

Qatar

Bahrain

Oman

Syria

Cyprus

Iran

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Iraq

Jordan

Yemen

Kuwait

Lebanon

Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg

Belgium (capital: Brussels)

Belgian consulate website

We watched a Smart Travel video on Belgium et. al.

We browsed several Peter Paul Rubens art books (had to quickly skip over quite a few pictures for modesty’s sake!)

Netherlands (capital: Amsterdam)

We read these books:

The Hole in the Dike

Father, May I Come?

a biography of Rembrandt van Rijn

Luxembourg

North Africa

Morocco (capital: Rabat)

We read The Storytellers, by Ted Lewin, about professionals who tell serial stories in the marketplaces.

Egypt (capital: Cairo)

We watched a video on Egypt & Israel

We read these books:

A Look at Egypt

Cultures of the World: Egypt

Ten Little Mummies

Using recipes from the book A World of Recipes: Egypt, we prepared an Egyptian-style meal. Each of the children chose dishes that looked good to them, so we wound up with cheese & egg pastries, date & nut pastries, broad bean rissoles, Fattosh [a crunchy salad], and rice with vermicelli. I believe the children remember our culinary studies better than anything!

Cape Verde Islands

Algeria

Chad

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Libya

Mali

Mauritania

Niger

South Sudan

Sudan

Tunisia

Northern Andes

Peru (capital: Lima)

We studied the Puya plant.

Ecuador (capital: Quito)

We watched the movie Volcanoes and Rainforests

J did a project on population growth in Ecuador

M did a project on the water, soil, plants, and animals of the Galapagos Islands

C did a project on what a girl her age would wear in traditional dress in Ecuador

Colombia

Bolivia

Japan and Pacific Islands

Japan (capital: Tokyo)

Paul visited it in 2004.

We listened to a talk by a representative from the Japanese consulate.

We wrote out the numbers 1 to 10 in Japanese.

We traced the outlines of the four main islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.

Fiji

Karen visited it very briefly [the airport!] as a child in 1974.

Papua New Guinea (capital: Port Moresby)

We read several books about the country, and watched a Lonely Planet video.

C did a project on Pidgin, the national language — Tok Pisin – English dictionary

M did a project on Tsunamis — July 1998 Tsunami

J did a project on the physical features of the country.

Micronesia

Marshall Islands

Kiribati

Tuvalu

Nauru

Vanuatu

Western Samoa

Palau

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Russia and its neighbors

Russia (capital: Moscow)

Cool Russia links:

Interview the Artists

Paul, Karen, P, J, M, C, E, K lived there from Jan to Apr 2008, and again from ??? to ???

Karen & P went on a two-week mission trip to Perm via Moscow (with a team from Atlanta) in 2000.

Paul & J went on a two-week mission trip to Ufa via Perm and Moscow (with a team from Atlanta and a team from Perm) in 2003.

Karen & M went on a one-week trip to Perm via Moscow, to teach on prayer at the Vineyard Leaders’ School and to teach the “Learning to Love to Pray” conference (with our friend Susan) in 2007.

Karen & C went on a two week trip to Nizhny Novgorod and Perm, to visit our dear friends in both places, and to attend the Russian Vineyard women’s retreat in 2007.

We correspond with many Russian friends via email & text messaging.

We read about Siberian Tigers–M’s favorites.

We are studying Russian until fluency occurs and beyond!

Belarus

We hosted a Belarussian family of 6 for three weeks – Vadim, Tanya, Pascha, Illuscha, Vlad, Vadimka (only Vadim spoke English) 🙂

We went to a concert given by the Belarussian band, New Jerusalem, who are also very popular in Russia.

Tajikistan (capital: Dushanbe)

Cool Tajikistan links:

World Factbook

Lonely Planet

Tajikistan Update

InfoPlease

Fact Monster

Tourism in Tajikistan

Current time in Tajikistan

Tajik Alphabet

We correspond with a couple of families who live there.

J created a website — J’s Tajikistan project

We read a couple of books from the library about this country.

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Estonia

Georgia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Lithuania

Moldova

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

Year 4

Scandinavia and Finland

Sweden (capital: Stockholm)

We read Long Way to a New Land, by Joan Sandin. The children enjoyed hearing about Karen’s great-grandmother, Mimi Ekberg Carlson, who emigrated to the U.S. from Sweden at age 17 in the late 1890s.

We watched the movie of The Children of Noisy Village, by Astrid Lindgren, a sweet reminiscence based on the author’s childhood in Sweden. Of course it was pretty cool that the story centers around six children, 3 boys and 3 girls 🙂

We baked Pepparkakor. Goodbye traditional gingerbread cookies, hello Pepparkakor (wow!). The children pretty much did the entire process themselves (measuring, mixing, kneading, rolling, cutting, cooling), thus elevating their cooking careers to a new level.

Iceland (capital: Reykjavik)

We translated phrases from English to Icelandic!

Scandinavia (Dan Garrett)

Iceland (Jonathan Wilcox)

We did Scandinavian Boy and Girl Paper Dolls (Dover)

Nights of the Pufflings (Bruce McMillan)

Finland

Denmark

Norway

Greenland

Southeast Asia

Indonesia (capital: Jakarta)

Indonesia (Robin Lim)

We made recipes from Indonesia (Sue Townsend)

Komodo Dragon (Kathy Darling)

Each of the girls got an Indonesian Sticker Doll book (Dover)

M enjoyed Say It in Indonesian” (Dover)

Malaysia (capital: Kuala Lumpur)

Paul visited the KL airport in 2004.

Vietnam (capital: Hanoi)

We read Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong.

Brunei

Laos

Thailand

Cambodia

Philippines

Singapore

Southern Africa

Madagascar (capital: Antananarivo)

Madagascar: The Essential Guide (Steve Cole)

A Ticket to Madagascar (Mary Oluonye)

We watched a rock climbing video, North Face: Madagascar

We watched a Jeff Corwin video, Into Wild Madagascar

Chameleons (Kathy Darling)

South Africa (capitals: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pretoria)

A Family from South Africa (Jen Green)

Zimbabwe

Swaziland

Angola

Botswana

Lesotho

Malawi

Zambia

Mozambique

Namibia

Southern South America

Argentina (capital: Buenos Aires)

On the Pampas (Maria Cristina Brusca)

We watched the Lonely Planet Argentina video.

The Tiniest Giants: Discovering Dinosaur Eggs (Lowell Dingus and Luis M. Chiappe)

Chile (capital: Santiago)

We made recipes from Cooking the South American Way (Helga Parnell)

Welcome to Chile (Karen Kwek)

We watched the Lonely Planet video, Chile and the Easter Islands

Paraguay

Uruguay

Spain and Portugal

Portugal (capital: Lisbon)

Welcome to Portugal (Alison Jensen)

Portugal (Neil Champion)

“A Primary Source Guide to Portugal” (Elizabeth Rose)

Spain (capital: Madrid)

We studied Spanish for a couple of years!

Andorra

Switzerland and its neighbors

Austria (capital: Vienna)

We made recipes from Cooking the Austrian Way (Helga Hughes)

Austria (Sean Sheehan)

Lipizzans (Lynn Stone)

We baked and ate “Linzer Cake” and “Sacher Cake” (which was Paul’s birthday cake!)

Switzerland (capital: Bern)

Paul, Karen, C, K, & E passed through the airport in Zurich in 2001.

Liechtenstein

Sculley Family country statistics:

Paul has visited 16 countries

Karen has visited 14 countries

P has visited 5 countries

J has visited 5 countries

M has visited 5 countries

C has visited 8 countries

K has visited 7 countries

E has visited 7 countries