Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA. He grew up at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

Mortenson first visited Pakistan in 1993 after vowing to climb K2 in honor of his sister, who had died shortly before.

Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute, which has built dozens of schools for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Central Asia Institute serves nearly 60,000 children. About 40,000 of the CAI’s students are girls.

There is a sequel to Three Cups of Tea. It is called Stones into Schools.

In Balti culture, having tea with someone symbolizes trust and respect.

To the people who live there, the seemingly endless mountains are symbols of strength, endurance and resourcefulness.

For the Balti people in particular, offering food is their greatest symbol of hospitality.

When Mortenson’s friends in Korphe found out he married, they served him an egg, a valuable treat for them.

After learning about 9/11, the women of Kuardu give Mortenson eggs for the widows of New York.

K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth. It is in the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas.

The village of Korphe is located in the Baltistan region of Pakistan.

Islam means 'submission’ and derives from a word meaning 'peace'. In a religious context it means the willingness to give oneself to God.

A person who practices Islam is called a Muslim. More than 1 ½ billion people in the world are Muslims. They come from many places in the world.

Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world. The world’s largest Muslim community is in Indonesia.

Allah is “God” in the Islamic religion.

About 23% of the world’s population is Islamic. It is the world’s second largest religion.

A 2010 study found that 96.4% of Pakistan’s people and 99.8% of Afghanistan’s people are Muslim.

The Qur’an is the major religious text in Islam. It is like the Bible in other religions.

Muslims worship their God in mosques.

Like there are three denominations of Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant), there are three major denominations of Islam. They are Sunni, Shia and Sufism.

People from the United States of America are called Americans. Things that come from the USA are American. “I bought my car from the Americans at American Auto.”

People from Pakistan are called Pakistanis. Things that come from Pakistan are Pakistani. “I’m going to buy a Pakistani carpet from the Pakistanis.”

People from Afghanistan are called Afghans. Things from Afghanistan are Afghani. “The nice Afghan man sold me an Afghani sweater.”

The average life expectancy in the United States is years. Females outlive males an average of 5 years.

The average life expectancy in Pakistan is years. Females live longer by about 3 ½ years.

The average life expectancy in Afghanistan is years. Females are expected to outlive males by about 2 ½ years.

The literacy rate in the US is 99%. The amount of people who can read and write is equally split between males and females.

The literacy rate in Pakistan is 49.9%. 63% of males can read and write, while only 36% of females can do the same.

The literacy rate in Afghanistan is 28.1%. Only 13% of women can read and write.

The capital of the USA is Washington, DC. The US has four other major (and larger) cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami.

The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. Like the US, this country’s capital is its 5 th largest city. It comes in behind Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

The only major city in Afghanistan is its capital, Kabul.

The United States has 6 different time zones! Ours is the closest time to Afghanistan’s and Pakistan’s because we are farthest East.

Pakistan’s time zone is 10 hours ahead of ours. When we begin school at 8:00am, it is already 6:00pm there.

Afghanistan’s time zone is 9 ½ hours ahead of ours. When we dismiss at 4pm, it is already 1:30am there.

The United States won its independence from Great Britain in 1776.

Pakistan became independent from British India in 1947.

Afghanistan was granted its independence in It had previously been controlled by the United Kingdom.

The US has a population of nearly 314 million. Nearly 80% (245 million) of them are Internet-able.

Pakistan’s population is over 190 million. Only 10% of Pakistanis can use the Internet.

Afghanistan’s population is about 30.5 million. Less than 1% of Afghans are Internet-literate.

All facts courtesy of: Islamic Finder Spark Notes Three Cups of Tea Wikipedia CIA World Factbook