Part 1. Countries and Continents

Pay attention to the reading of the following geographical names:

Congo [’kɔŋgəu], Zaire [za:’iə], Zambia [’zæmbiə], Namibia [nə’mibiə], Luanda [lu:’a:ndə], Buenos Aires [’bweinəs’e(ə)ri:z], Chile [’t∫ili], Aconcagua [‚ækən’ka:gwə], Patagonia [‚pætə’gəuniə], Andes [’ændi:z], hemisphere [’hemisfiə], Mediterranean [‚meditə’reiniən], Nicosia [‚nikə(u)’siə], Turkey [’tə:ki], Syria [’si(ə)riə], Lebanon [’lebənən], Canal [kə’næl], Riyadh [ri’ja:d], Persian [’pə:∫(ə)n]

Text 1.The country is situated on the African continent. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean from the west. It borders on Congo and Zaire in the north, on Zambia in the east and on Namibia in the south. The area of the country is 1 246 700 square kilometers. The capital of the country is Luanda.

The surface is hilly and grass covered, with rocky desert in the south. Mount Moco is the highest. It is 2 619 meters high. There is a narrow coastal plain. There are several rivers in the mountains. The Cuanza is the longest. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Text 2.It is the second largest South American country with population about 32 880 000 people. The capital of the country is Buenos Aires. Spanish is its official language. In the south-east the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

On the border with Chile there is the Andes Chain with the highest point Mount Aconcagua in the western hemisphere. It is 6 960 meters high. The wild plateaus of Patagonia are in the south-west. The biggest plain is in the north-east. There are many rivers and all of them flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

Text 3.This island at the eastern end of the Mediterranean has fertile coastal plains in the central part. The Troödos Mountains are in the west with Olympus the highest point of the island which is 1 953 meters high. The area of the island is 9 251 square kilometers. Nicosia is its capital. The official languages are Turkish and Greek. It has the sea-borders with Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

Text 4.The country occupies the narrow isthmus between two American continents. The Canal of the country links the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. Its area is only 77 082 square kilometers. The population of the country is 2 418 000 people. Official language is Spanish.

The interior is mountainous with the Tabasará Mountains in the west and the San Blas Mountains in the east. The highest point, Volcán Barú, is in the western part. Its height is 3 475 meters. The best farmland is in the lowlands along the Pacific coast. The eastern part is covered with forests and swamps. There are some small rivers most of them flow into the Pacific Ocean. Gatún Lake is the biggest. It forms the main part of the Canal body.

Text 5.The country occupies the most part of the biggest peninsula in the world. The area of the country is 2 149 690 square kilometers. Riyadh is the capital. The population is 14 131 000 people. Official language is Arabic. It is washed by the Red Sea from the west and by the Persian Gulf from the east.

There is a narrow coastal Red Sea plain, and inland is a highland zone including the Hejaz in the north and the Asir Mountains in the south with the highest point of the country, Abha, which is 3 133 meters high. To the east are the plateaus sloping gently toward lowlands near the Persian Gulf coast. These plateaus cover 90% of the country and include the deserts of An Nafud in the north and the Rub al Khali in the south-east.

Exercise 8. Read the following text “Geographical Position of Brazil” and study the map of this country perfectly. Pay attention to pronunciation of the following geographical names: