Independence Day in Samoa

Residents of SAMOA are celebrating their Independence Day tomorrow. Since 1962, Samoa's celebration of independence was and is held annually on June 1st to commemorate the independence of Samoa from New Zealand. Independence was actually achieved on January 1st, not June 1st. Nevertheless, tomorrow is the day for Samoan festivities and celebrations. I hope the citizens of Samoa have a Happy Independence Day tomorrow!

Liberia Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for LIBERIA in Western Africa lists 19 critically endangered species and 38 endangered species. There are fortunately no extinct species in Liberia, or at least none listed by the IUCN. Critically endangered species include the African Slender-snouted Crocodile, Goliath Grouper, Grandbassa River Crab, Lugbe River Crab, Mount Nimba Viviparous Toad, Spot-winged Greenbul bird, White-backed Vulture, and Wide Sawfish. The aforementioned toad occupies only about 7 square kilometers of land in the mountainous Nimba Range area, at the tri-state border of Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia. The extent of occurrence for this toad species is about 40 sq. kilometers in area. Endangered species include the Cherry Mahogany, Jentink's Duiker antelope, Lobster Claw Crab, Pygmy Hippopotamus, Red Colobus, Spearnose Skate, and Ziama Horseshoe Bat.

Lesotho Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for LESOTHO in Southern Africa lists eight endangered species. So far in my posting about endangered species, Kiribati and Lesotho are the only countries to not have any critically endangered species, just endangered (a lower level of species). There are fortunately no extinct species in Lesotho, or at least none listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Lesotho's eight endangered species are the Cape Griffon (Cape Vulture), Egyptian Eagle, Lesotho Meadow Katydid, Ludwig's Bustard bird, Maloti Redfin minnow fish, Sehlabathebe Water Lily, Southern Crowned Crane, and White-tailed Rat. Cape Vultures live in parts of Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa.

Lesotho Meadow Katydids are endemic to the southern Lesotho Highlands and only live in an estimated area of 8 square kilometers. Ludwig's Bustard birds unfortunately collide with power lines at an alarming rate. These birds live in Namibia, South Africa, and extreme southwestern Angola. The geographic ranges of Maloti Redfins and Sehlabathebe Water Lilies extend from much of Lesotho into the eastern portion of Eastern Cape province and the western part of KwaZulu-Natal province. Like Lesotho Meadow Katydids, Lesotho Blue butterflies (Lepidochrysops lerothodi) are named after the mountainous kingdom, which is completely surrounded by South Africa.

Lebanon Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for LEBANON in the Middle East lists five critically endangered species and twenty-eight endangered species. There are fortunately no extinct species in Lebanon, or at least none listed by the IUCN. Lebanon's critically endangered species are the Ammiq Garra fish, European Eel, Leguminaia saulcyi mussel, Pseudobithynia kathrinae snail, and Sociable Plover. Ammiq Garra fish are only found in Ammiq Wetland, the country's largest wetland (only 6 square kilometers in size) and particularly located in east-central Lebanon. The aforementioned mussel species lives west of the Mount Lebanon mountain range, in northern Jordan, and in northwestern Syria. Pseudobithynia kathrinae snails inhabit areas in northeastern Lebanon, east of the major mountain range. Endangered species include the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Bushy Coral, Common Rorqual baleen whale, Egyptian Eagle, Lebanon Savory wildflower, Lebanon Viper, and Sweet Violet wildflower.

Parishes of Grenada

Click on the map image above to enlarge it in a pop-up lightbox window.

Part of the Windward Islands group and located south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and north of Trinidad and Tobago, GRENADA is administratively divided into parishes named after saints, which is the case for Dominica (previous post) and other Caribbean island countries as well. Located on the main Grenada island, these seven parishes are Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George (Saint George's), Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Mark, and Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick includes multiple small islands in its northern extent. In addition, Grenada's northernmost region is considered to be a dependency. Featuring multiple small islands, this dependency is named Carriacou, or Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Grenada's capital, St. George's, is not surprisingly located on the western coast of St. George Parish. More information about this island country can be found in my Grenada post.

Parishes of Dominica

Click on the map image above to enlarge it in a pop-up lightbox window.

Part of the Windward Islands archipelago and located south of Guadeloupe and north of Martinique, DOMINICA is administratively divided into parishes named after saints, like in other Caribbean island countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, etc. Dominica's ten parishes are Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, and Saint Peter. More information about this island country can be found in my Dominica post.

Parishes of Barbados

Click on the map image above to enlarge it in a pop-up lightbox window.

Like Antigua and Barbuda featured in the previous post, BARBADOS is administratively divided into parishes. The eleven parishes and administrative divisions of Barbados are Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Saint Michael, Saint Peter, Saint Philip, and Saint Thomas. Below are the parishes' capital cities:

Christ Church  —  Oistins
St. Andrew  —  Greenland
St. George  —  Bulkeley
St. James  —  Holetown
St. John  —  Four Roads
St. Joseph  —  Bathsheba
St. Lucy  —  Crab Hill
St. Michael  —  Bridgetown (national capital)
St. Peter  —  Speightstown
St. Philip  —  Crane (The Crane)
St. Thomas  —  Hillaby

Parishes of Antigua and Barbuda

Click on the map image above to enlarge it in a pop-up lightbox window.

Considered to be a best-kept secret in comparison to some other well-visited Caribbean countries in the Caribbean Sea, ANTIGUA and BARBUDA of course features the main islands of Antigua and Barbuda — but also includes much smaller islands close by and relatively far away (Redonda). Administratively, the country is divided into six Parishes and two Dependencies. Despite sharing sovereignty and unity with Antigua since 1981, Barbuda is still administratively known as a dependency and not a parish. The currently uninhabited island of Redonda is another dependency. As the map above shows, Antigua island's six parishes are Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and Saint Philip. Not surprisingly, the capital city Saint John's is located in Saint John Parish.

Ecotourism in San Marino

Featuring a generally hilly terrain and large stands of forests, the small Republic of SAN MARINO is completely surrounded by Italy. While Italy is known for its plethora of world-renown tourist attractions, San Marino also attracts visitors to its historic sites and recreational areas. Hikers and mountain bikers might decide to trek up the Apennines (Appennini) mountain range as well as San Marino's highest peak, located in south-central San Marino. Monte Titano (Mount Titan) stands at about 740 meters and 2,425 feet in elevation near the capital city, San Marino (colloquially known as Città).

Between the towns of Aquaviva and San Marino in northwestern San Marino, San Marino Adventures amusement park features 26 trails, rock climbing, and obstacle courses through the local forest. This tourist attraction dubs itself as, "Il parco avventura più grande della riviera adríatica," or "The biggest adventure park on the Adriatic coast."

Animals Named After Grenada

At least five species are named after GRENADA, a tiny Caribbean island country located about 144 kilometers north of Venezuela's Paria Peninsula (post link). These species are the Grenada Bank Blindsnake, Grenada Groundsnake (Shaw's Dark Ground Snake), Grenada Dove, Grenada Flycatcher bird, and New Grenada Drum (Ethelwynn's Drum) fish. Grenada's name originated from the French word for pomegranate, la grenade. There are plenty of pomegranate trees growing throughout Grenada's main island and smaller islands, and the fleshy fruit is considered a national symbol.

More Information about Grenada (↗)

Highest Points in Luxembourg

There is some controversy when it comes to documenting the highest point of LUXEMBOURG, a tiny monarchy in Western Europe. What cannot be disputed is the fact that the two commonly accepted highest points are located about 1.05 kilometers and 0.6 miles down the road from each other, separated by the town of Knauf near Op d'Burrigplatz Road. Located to the west of the other high point (east of Huldange town), the hill of Buurgplatz (Burrigplatz) has traditionally been known as Luxembourg's highest point. It stands at 559 meters and 1834 feet in elevation and boasts two features: a peaked cylindrical tower and a boastful sign claiming Buurgplatz as the highest point! Meanwhile, Kneiff hill stands only one more meter (about 1837 feet) taller than Buurgplatz. Both hilly points are located in Northern Luxembourg near the Belgium border.

More Information about Luxembourg »

Land O' Lakes: Lithuania

While LITHUANIA is one of the world's smallest countries (just over 65,000 sq. kilometers in area), the Baltic country in Eastern Europe is a land of over 6,000 lakes. As shown in the Bing Map below, most lakes are found in northeastern Lithuania's Aukštaitija ethnographic region and Utena County — near Belarus in the east and Latvia in the north. Other lakes are predominantly found in southern Lithuania, near Belarus and Poland.

View Larger Map  |  View Bird's Eye

Lake Drūkšiai boasts the largest surface area of any Lithuanian lake, spanning an area of almost 49 square kilometers and 19 sq. miles. While Lake Dusia has a smaller surface area (~23 sq. kilometers), it is the largest lake by total volume — containing over 340 cubic kilometers and 81 cubic miles of water. Other Lithuanian lakes include Avilys, Dūkštas, Dysnai, Galstas, Galvė, Luodis, Shlavantas, and Vištytis.

Latvia Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for LATVIA in Eastern Europe lists two critically endangered species and four endangered species. There are fortunately no extinct species in Latvia, or at least none listed by the IUCN. The European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) and European Mink (Mustela lutreola) are Latvia's critically endangered species. Across a large swath of western Russia, the European Mink may be extinct. Latvia's endangered species are the Agabus clypealis beetle, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus), Freshwater Mussel Pearl (Margaritifera margaritifera), and Thick-shelled River Mussel (Unio crassus).

Laos Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for LAOS in Southeast Asia lists 34 critically endangered species and 68 endangered species. There are fortunately no extinct species in Laos, or at least none listed by the IUCN. However, some endangered species are in extreme risk of extinction, as my Golden Triangle post explains. Critically endangered species include the Black Crested Gibbon, Giant Ibis bird, Indochinese Box Turtle, Javan Rhinoceros, Kouprey bovine, Mekong Giant Catfish, Mekong Giant Salmon Carp, Siamese Crocodile, Siamese Tiger Perch, and Sunda Pangolin. Endangered species include the Asian Elephant, Black-bellied Tern bird, Double Flowered Paphiopedilum flower, Indochinese Lutung monkey, Laotian Rock Rat (less than 5,000 square kilometer range in central Laos), Large-antlered Muntjac deer (located in eastern and southeastern Laos and southern Vietnam), Masked Finfoot, Mekong Freshwater Stingray, Phayre’s Leaf Monkey, and Yellow-headed Tortoise.