Every Day Is Special: February 11 - African Holidays (Again!)

February 11 - African Holidays (Again!)

Posted on February 11, 2020

The continent of Africa is huge - the second largest in the world. (Actually, this depends on your list of continents, since some people count Europe as separate from Asia, and others bundle them together into Eurasia; and some people count North America as separate from South America, and others bundle them together as the Americas. I am using the 7 continent scheme: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. (Listed from largest to smallest.)

If you put all of Europe into Africa, you'd still have room
left over for three of the largest nations in the world
(#3 China, #4 U.S., and #7 India).

Not only is Africa huge, it's extremely diverse, with lands that are super dry deserts and lands that are warm, humid rainforests; with biological diversity that includes our favorite zoo and circus animals; with human diversity, including the most genetic diversity and also enormous cultural diversity.

You can get a taste of how diverse the cultures are in Africa by realizing that there are between 1,500 and 2,000 languages spoken there!

I'm going to talk a bit about two different African nations that happen to have holidays on the same day - today! - but remember that within each of these nations, there is a. Lot. Of. Diversity!

Today is Armed Forces Day in Liberia.

During the mid-1900s, when so many African nations were suffering from civil wars and military coups, Liberia managed to stay stable under President W. V. S. Tubman. But in the late 1900s, post-Tubman years, the country was plunged into two wars, and the armed forces were entangled in those wars. Many people suffered from horrible acts done by soldiers; much of the armed forces were wiped out, and most of the desire to celebrate the armed forces was wiped out as well!

However, the nation began to restructure its armed forces and paraded before the president and people in 2007.