Global Puzzle

We're all familiar with puzzles of the U.S. that consist of the 50 states of the Union (I love the ones where they never fit back in quite the same way they came out just try to fit Connecticut back in!). I have not however, in all my puzzle-working years seen an equivalent world puzzle, consisting of country-shaped pieces to fit back together, until I saw this one. This beautiful global puzzle consists of 600 pieces, and when finished, measures 36" x 18". 193 countries in the world have all been carefully cut and crafted to form whole continents, and each is clearly labeled with its name as well as its capital city. In the case of the U.S. and Canada, most of the states and territories are even cut into their own pieces as well, except for the very small ones. Well, great, you might say, it'll really help me learn my geography, especially in regards to which countries are neighbors, but the earth is, after all, primarily ocean. What will I learn from linking all those blue pieces? I'm glad you asked! The interlocking ocean pieces each contain the name, capital, population and area of each of the 193 countries alphabetically. This takes the "guesswork" out of the oceans, and imparts a little more information to the puzzle worker as well. Also, this forms a great framework to finish the puzzle by adding the land masses last, as most of the country shapes are not exactly conducive to interlocking. Pull this out for a family evening together, or for geography class if you're anything like me, you won't be able to tear yourself away from a good puzzle, and the geographical knowledge will sink in almost automatically! - Jess