The marked territories on this global map are mostly of countries which are sovereign states with full international recognition (brackets denote the country of a marked territory that is not a sovereign state). Some territories are countries in their own right but are not recognized as such (e.g. Taiwan ), and some few marked territories are disputed about which country they belong to (e.g. Kashmir ) or if they are countries in their own right (e.g. Western Sahara (territory) or the state known by the same name ).
A country is a distinct part of the world , such as a state , nation , or other political entity . When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state , states with limited recognition , constituent country , or a dependent territory . Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations . There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, limited recognition and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly called countries.
The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and has changed over time. The Economist wrote in 2010 that "any attempt to find a clear definition of a country soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies."
Areas much smaller than a political entity may be referred to as a "country", such as the West Country in England, "big sky country" (used in various contexts of the American West ), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions ), or simply "the country" (used to describe a rural area ). The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as country music or country living . (Full article... )
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Bahrain , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is an island country in West Asia . It is situated on the Persian Gulf , and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands , centered on Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia , to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway . The population of Bahrain is 1,501,635 as of May 14, 2023, based on elaborations of the United Nations data, of whom 712,362 are Bahraini nationals. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi), and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore . The capital and largest city is Manama .
According to archeologist Geoffrey Bibby, Bahrain is the site of the ancient
Dilmun civilization . It has been famed since antiquity for its
pearl fisheries , which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the
earliest areas to be influenced by Islam , during the lifetime of
Muhammad in 628 AD. Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was ruled by the
Portuguese Empire from 1521 until 1602, when they were expelled by Shah
Abbas the Great of the
Safavid Iran . In 1783, the
Bani Utbah and allied tribes captured Bahrain from
Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the
Al Khalifa royal family , with
Ahmed al Fateh as Bahrain's first
hakim . (
Full article... )
List of Recognized articles
A demonym (; from Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos ) 'people, tribe' and ὄνυμα (ónuma ) 'name') or gentilic (from Latin gentilis 'of a clan, or gens ') is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, state, country, and continent). Demonyms are used to designate all people (the general population) of a particular place, regardless of ethnic, linguistic, religious or other cultural differences that may exist within the population of that place. Examples of demonyms include Cochabambino , for someone from the city of Cochabamba ; Tunisian for a person from Tunisia; and Swahili , for a person of the Swahili coast .
As a sub-field of
anthroponymy , the study of demonyms is called
demonymy or
demonymics . (
Full article... )
List of selected articles to understand countries
The following are images from various country-related articles on Wikipedia.
Remaining countries not listed in the Recognized articles section at left are displayed here.
The Dominican Republic is a North American country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea , bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with Haiti , making Hispaniola one of only two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin , that is shared by two sovereign states . It is the second-largest nation in the Antilles by area (after Cuba ) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and second-largest by population, with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom approximately 3.6 million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo , the capital city.
The native
Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola before the
arrival of Europeans , dividing it into
five chiefdoms .
Christopher Columbus claimed the island for
Castile , landing there on his
first voyage in 1492 . The
colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the
Americas . In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent
First Empire of Haiti in 1804. A group of Dominicans deposed the Spanish governor and declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the
Dominican War of Independence . Over the next 72 years, the Dominican Republic experienced
several civil wars , failed invasions by Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the
Dominican War of Restoration of 1863–1865. From 1930, the dictatorship of
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961.
Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a
military coup in 1963 . The
Dominican Civil War of 1965 was followed by the authoritarian rule of
Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved towards
representative democracy . (
Full article... )
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 The
United States of America (
USA or
U.S.A. ), commonly known as the
United States (
US or
U.S. ) or
America , is a country primarily located in
North America . It is a
federal union of 50
states , the federal capital district of
Washington, D.C. , and 326
Indian reservations . The 48
contiguous states are bordered by
Canada to the north and
Mexico to the south. The
State of Alaska lies to the northwest, while the
State of Hawaii is an
archipelago in the
Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major
island territories and
various uninhabited islands . The country has the world's
third-largest land area , second-largest
exclusive economic zone , and
third-largest population , exceeding 334 million.
Paleo-Indians migrated across the
Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and went on to form
various civilizations and societies .
British colonization led to the first settlement of the
Thirteen Colonies in
Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the
British Crown over taxation and
political representation sparked the
American Revolution , with the
Second Continental Congress formally
declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783
Revolutionary War , the country continued to
expand across North America . As more states
were admitted , a North-South
sectional division over
slavery led to the secession of the
Confederate States of America , which fought the remaining states of
the Union during the 1861–1865
American Civil War . With the Union's victory and preservation,
slavery was abolished nationally . By 1890, the United States had established itself as a
great power . After
Japan 's
attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S.
entered World War II . The
aftermath of the war left the U.S. and the
Soviet Union as the world's two
superpowers and led to the
Cold War , during which both countries engaged in a struggle for
ideological dominance and
international influence . Following the
Soviet Union's collapse and the
end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S.
emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding
significant geopolitical influence globally .
The
U.S. national government is a
presidential constitutional federal republic and
liberal democracy with
three separate branches :
legislative ,
executive , and
judicial . It has a
bicameral national legislature composed of the
House of Representatives , a
lower house based on population; and the
Senate , an
upper house based on equal representation for each state. Substantial autonomy
is provided by federalism , with
a political culture promoting
liberty ,
equality ,
individualism ,
personal autonomy , and
limited government . (
Full article... )
Image 2 The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the
United Kingdom (
UK ) or
Britain , is a country in
Northwestern Europe , off the coast of
the continental mainland . It comprises
England ,
Scotland ,
Wales , and
Northern Ireland . The UK includes the
island of
Great Britain , the north-eastern part of the island of
Ireland , and most of the
smaller islands within the
British Isles , a total area of 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
2 ). Northern Ireland shares
a land border with the
Republic of Ireland ; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean , the
North Sea , the
English Channel , the
Celtic Sea , and the
Irish Sea . The country had an estimated population of 67.6 million people in 2022. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is
London ,
whose wider metropolitan area is the largest in
Western Europe , with a population of 14.9 million. The cities of
Edinburgh ,
Cardiff , and
Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
The lands of the UK have been inhabited continuously since the
Neolithic . In AD 43 the
Roman conquest of Britain began; the
Roman departure was followed by
Anglo-Saxon settlement . In 1066,
the Normans conquered England . With the end of the
Wars of the Roses the English state stabilised and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the
annexation of Wales , the
domination of Scotland , and the establishment of the
British Empire . Over the course of the 17th century, the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the
English Civil War . In 1707, the
Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland united under the
Treaty of Union to create the
Kingdom of Great Britain . The
Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the
Kingdom of Ireland to create the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland
seceded from the UK in 1922 as the
Irish Free State , and the
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom.
The UK
became the first industrialised country and was the world's
foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "
Pax Britannica " between 1815 and 1914. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the
largest empire in history . However,
its involvement in the First World War and
the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of
decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. (
Full article... )
Image 3 India , officially the
Republic of India (
ISO :
Bhārat Gaṇarājya ), is a country in
South Asia . It is the
seventh-largest country by area ; the
most populous country with effect from June 2023; and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the
Indian Ocean on the south, the
Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the
Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with
Pakistan to the west;
China ,
Nepal , and
Bhutan to the north; and
Bangladesh and
Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of
Sri Lanka and the
Maldives ; its
Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with
Thailand , Myanmar, and
Indonesia .
Modern humans arrived on the
Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago.
Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human
genetic diversity .
Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the
Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the
Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE.
By 1200
BCE , an
archaic form of
Sanskrit , an
Indo-European language , had
diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the
Rigveda . Preserved by an
oral tradition that was
resolutely vigilant , the
Rigveda records the dawning of
Hinduism in India. The
Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400
BCE ,
stratification and
exclusion by
caste had emerged within Hinduism, and
Buddhism and
Jainism had arisen, proclaiming
social orders unlinked to heredity.
Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit
Maurya and
Gupta Empires based in the
Ganges Basin .
Their collective
era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of
untouchability into an organised system of belief. In
South India , the
Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of
Southeast Asia .
In the early medieval era,
Christianity ,
Islam ,
Judaism , and
Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts.
Muslim armies from
Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains,
eventually founding the
Delhi Sultanate , and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of medieval Islam .
In the 15th century, the
Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India.
In the
Punjab ,
Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion.
The
Mughal Empire , in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace,
leaving a legacy of luminous architecture.
Gradually expanding
rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its
sovereignty .
British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but
technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947 the British Indian Empire was
partitioned into two independent
dominions , a Hindu-majority
Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority
Dominion of Pakistan , amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. (
Full article... )
Image 4 France , officially the
French Republic , is a country located primarily in
Western Europe . Its
overseas regions and territories include
French Guiana in
South America ,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the
French West Indies , and many islands in
Oceania and the
Indian Ocean , giving it
one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world .
Metropolitan France shares borders with
Belgium and
Luxembourg to the north,
Germany to the northeast,
Switzerland to the east,
Italy and
Monaco to the southeast,
Andorra and
Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the
United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the
Rhine to the
Atlantic Ocean and from the
Mediterranean Sea to the
English Channel and the
North Sea . Its
eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km
2 (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of 68.4 million as of January 2024
[update] . France is a
semi-presidential republic with its capital in
Paris , the
country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.
Metropolitan France was settled during the
Iron Age by
Celtic tribes known as
Gauls before
Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct
Gallo-Roman culture . In the
Early Middle Ages , the
Franks formed the Kingdom of
Francia , which became the heartland of the
Carolingian Empire . The
Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with
West Francia evolving into the
Kingdom of France . In the
High Middle Ages , France was a powerful but decentralized
feudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with
England known as the
Hundred Years' War . In the 16th century, the
French Renaissance saw culture flourish and a
French colonial empire rise. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the
House of Habsburg and the
French Wars of Religion between
Catholics and
Huguenots . France was successful in the
Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of
Louis XIV .
The
French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the
Ancien Régime and produced the
Declaration of the Rights of Man , which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under
Napoleon Bonaparte , subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing the
First French Empire . The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the
Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the
French Second Republic which was succeeded by the
Second French Empire upon
Napoleon III 's takeover. His empire collapsed during the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the
Third French Republic , and subsequent decades saw a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the
Belle Époque . France was one of the
major participants of
World War I , from which
it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the
Allies of World War II , but it surrendered and
was occupied in 1940. Following
its liberation in 1944 , the short-lived
Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the defeat in the
Algerian War . The current
Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by
Charles de Gaulle . Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining
close economic and military ties with France . (
Full article... )
Image 5 Turkey , officially the
Republic of Türkiye , is a country mainly located in
Anatolia in
West Asia , with a smaller part called
East Thrace in
Southeast Europe . It borders the
Black Sea to the north;
Georgia ,
Armenia ,
Azerbaijan , and
Iran to the east;
Iraq ,
Syria , and the
Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the
Aegean Sea ,
Greece , and
Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic
Turks , while ethnic
Kurds are the
largest ethnic minority . Officially
a secular state , Turkey has
a Muslim-majority population.
Ankara is Turkey's capital and
second-largest city , while
Istanbul is its largest city and economic and financial center, as well as the
largest city in Europe . Other major cities include
İzmir ,
Bursa , and
Antalya .
Turkey was first inhabited by modern humans during the
Late Paleolithic . Home to important
Neolithic sites like
Göbekli Tepe and some of the
earliest farming areas , present-day Turkey was inhabited by
various ancient peoples .
Hattians were assimilated by the
Anatolian peoples .
Classical Anatolia transitioned into cultural
Hellenization following the conquests of
Alexander the Great ; Hellenization continued during the
Roman and
Byzantine eras. The
Seljuk Turks began migrating into Anatolia in the 11th century, starting the
Turkification process. The Seljuk
Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the
Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into
Turkish principalities . Beginning in 1299, the
Ottomans united the principalities and
expanded ;
Mehmed II conquered
Istanbul in 1453 . During the reigns of
Selim I and
Suleiman the Magnificent , the Ottoman Empire became a
global power . From 1789 onwards, the empire saw
a major transformation ,
reforms , and centralization while
its territory declined .
In the 19th and early 20th centuries,
persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and
in the Russian Empire resulted in large-scale loss of life and
mass migration into modern-day Turkey from the
Balkans ,
Caucasus , and
Crimea . Under the control of the
Three Pashas , the Ottoman Empire
entered World War I in 1914, during which the Ottoman government committed
genocides against its
Armenian ,
Greek , and
Assyrian subjects. Following Ottoman defeat, the
Turkish War of Independence resulted in the
abolition of the sultanate and the signing of the
Treaty of Lausanne . The Republic
was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, modelled on
the reforms initiated by the country's first president,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . Turkey
remained neutral during most of World War II , but was involved in the
Korean War . Coups
in 1960 and
1980 interrupted the transition to a multi-party system. (
Full article... )
Image 6 China , officially the
People's Republic of China (
PRC ), is a country in
East Asia . With
a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the world's
second-most populous country after
India , representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and
borders fourteen countries by land . With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the
third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 33
province-level divisions : 22
provinces , five
autonomous regions , four
municipalities , and two semi-autonomous
special administrative regions .
Beijing is the country's capital, while
Shanghai is
its most populous city by urban area and largest
financial center .
China is considered one of the
cradles of civilization : the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the
Paleolithic ; by the late second millennium BCE, the earliest
dynastic states had emerged in the
Yellow River basin. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the
Zhou dynasty , accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques,
literature ,
philosophy , and
historiography . In 221 BCE, China was unified under
an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the
Qin ,
Han ,
Tang ,
Yuan ,
Ming , and
Qing . With the
invention of gunpowder and
paper , the establishment of the
Silk Road , and the building of the
Great Wall ,
Chinese culture —including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has
heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede
parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of
unequal treaties .
After decades of struggle, the
1911 Revolution resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the
Republic of China (ROC) the following year. The country under the nascent
Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the
Warlord Era , which was ended upon the
Northern Expedition conducted by the
Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The
Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces
purged members of the rival
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against the KMT-led
Nationalist government . Following the country's invasion by the
Empire of Japan in 1937, the KMT and CCP temporarily agreed to a truce in favor of
a united front against the Japanese. The
Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, atrocities such as the
Nanjing Massacre had a lasting impact on the country. The end of war with Japan in 1945 was quickly followed by a resumption of hostilities between the KMT and CCP. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country,
proclaiming the People's Republic of China and forcing the
Nationalist government to retreat to the
island of Taiwan . The country was split, with
both sides claiming to be the
sole legitimate government of China . Following the implementation of
land reforms , further attempts by the PRC to realize
communism failed: the
Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the
Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and the subsequent
Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by
Maoist populism. Following the
Sino-Soviet split , the
Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of
relations with the United States .
Economic reforms that began in 1978 led by reformists within the CCP moved the country away from a socialist
planned economy towards
an increasingly capitalist market economy , spurring significant economic growth. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the
Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. (
Full article... )
Image 7 Australia , officially the
Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the
mainland of the
Australian continent , the island of
Tasmania , and numerous
smaller islands . It is the largest country by area in
Oceania and the
sixth-largest country in the world. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a
megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including
deserts and
tropical rainforests .
The ancestors of
Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the
last glacial period . They settled on the continent and formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing
artistic and
religious traditions in the world. Australia's
written history commenced with
Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal
colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing
British colonies were established, each gaining
responsible government by 1890. The colonies
federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in the
Australia Acts of 1986.
Australia is a
federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising
six states and ten territories . Its population of over 27 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.
Canberra is the nation's capital, while
its most populous cities are
Sydney and
Melbourne , both with a population of over 5 million. Australia is
culturally diverse and has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world. It has a
highly developed market economy and
one of the highest per capita incomes globally. Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It
ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. (
Full article... )
Image 8 Russia , or the
Russian Federation , is a country spanning
Eastern Europe and
North Asia . It is the
largest country in the world by area , extending across
eleven time zones and sharing
land borders with fourteen countries . It is the world's
ninth-most populous country and
Europe's most populous country . Russia is a highly urbanised country including 16 population centres with over a million inhabitants. Its capital and
largest city is
Moscow .
Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and
its cultural capital .
The
East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state,
Kievan Rus' , arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted
Orthodox Christianity from the
Byzantine Empire . Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated; the
Grand Duchy of Moscow led the unification of Russian lands, leading to the proclamation of the
Tsardom of Russia in 1547. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of
Russian explorers , developing into the
Russian Empire , which remains the
third-largest empire in history . However, with the
Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule
was abolished and eventually replaced by the
Russian SFSR —the world's first constitutionally
socialist state . Following the
Russian Civil War , the Russian SFSR established the
Soviet Union with three other
Soviet republics , within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the
expense of millions of lives , the Soviet Union underwent
rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the
Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the
Eastern Front . With the onset of the
Cold War , it competed with the
United States for
ideological dominance and
international influence . The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the
most significant Russian technological achievements , including the
first human-made satellite and the
first human expedition into outer space .
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the
dissolution of the Soviet Union as the Russian Federation.
A new constitution was adopted, which established a
federal semi-presidential system . Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by
Vladimir Putin , under whom the country has experienced
democratic backsliding and a shift towards
authoritarianism .
Russia has been militarily involved in a number of
conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries , including
its war with Georgia in 2008 and
its war with Ukraine since 2014, which has involved the internationally unrecognised
annexations of Ukrainian territory including
Crimea in 2014 and
four other regions in 2022 during
an ongoing invasion . (
Full article... )
Image 9 The
Netherlands ,
informally Holland , is a country located in
Northwestern Europe with
overseas territories in the
Caribbean . It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands . The Netherlands consists of
twelve provinces ; it borders
Germany to the east and
Belgium to the south, with a
North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares
maritime borders with the
United Kingdom , Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with
West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of
Friesland . Dutch, English, and
Papiamento are official in the
Caribbean territories .
Netherlands literally means "lower countries" in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with 26% situated below
sea level . Most of the areas below sea level, known as
polders , are the result of
land reclamation that began in the 14th century . In the
Republican period , which began in 1588, the Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among the most powerful and influential in Europe and the world; this period is known as the
Dutch Golden Age . During this time, its trading companies, the
Dutch East India Company and the
Dutch West India Company ,
established colonies and trading posts all over the world.
With a population of over 17.9 million people, all living within a total area of 41,850 km
2 (16,160 sq mi)—of which the land area is 33,500 km
2 (12,900 sq mi)—the Netherlands is the
33rd most densely populated country, with a density of 535 people per square kilometre (1,390 people/sq mi). Nevertheless, it is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its
fertile soil , mild climate,
intensive agriculture , and
inventiveness . The four largest cities in the Netherlands are
Amsterdam ,
Rotterdam ,
The Hague and
Utrecht . Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and the nominal
capital , though the primary national political institutions are located in the Hague. (
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Image 10 Canada is a country in
North America . Its
ten provinces and three territories extend from the
Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean and northward into the
Arctic Ocean , making it the world's
second-largest country by total area , with the
world's longest coastline . Its
border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both
meteorologic and
geological regions. It is
a sparsely inhabited country of just over 41
million people, the vast majority residing south of the
55th parallel in
urban areas . Canada's capital is
Ottawa and
its three largest metropolitan areas are
Toronto ,
Montreal , and
Vancouver .
Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century,
British and
French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of
various armed conflicts , France
ceded nearly all of
its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three
British North American colonies through
Confederation , Canada was formed as a
federal dominion of four provinces. This began an
accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the
Statute of Westminster, 1931 , and culminating in the
Canada Act 1982 , which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the
Parliament of the United Kingdom .
Canada is a
parliamentary democracy and a
constitutional monarchy in the
Westminster tradition . The country's
head of government is the
prime minister , who holds office by virtue of their ability to
command the confidence of the elected
House of Commons and is appointed by the
governor general , representing the
monarch of Canada , the ceremonial
head of state . The country is a
Commonwealth realm and is
officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is
very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and gender equality. It is one of the world's most
ethnically diverse and
multicultural nations, the product of
large-scale immigration . Canada's long and complex
relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on
its history ,
economy , and
culture . (
Full article... )
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