Countries of World page 4

Malawi
Malawi is a landlocked country, located in southeast Africa. Lake Malawi, formerly Lake Nyasa, occupies most of the country’s eastern border.
Madagascar
Madagascar lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa opposite Mozambique. The world’s fourth-largest island.
Macedonia
Macedonia is a landlocked state in the heart of the Balkans and is a mountainous country with small basins of agricultural land. The Vardar is the largest and most important river.
Luxembourg
The Ardennes Mountains extend from Belgium into the northern section of Luxembourg. The rolling plateau of the fertile Bon Pays is in the south.
Lithuania
Lithuania is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea and borders Latvia on the north, Belarus on the east and south, and Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia on the southwest.It is a country of gently rolling hills, many forests, rivers and streams, and lakes.
Liechtenstein
Tiny Liechtenstein, lies on the east bank of the Rhine River south of Lake Constance between Austria and Switzerland. It consists of low valley land and Alpine peaks.
Libya
Libya stretches along the northeast coast of Africa between Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east; to the south are the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. A greater part of the country lies within the Sahara. Along the Mediterranean coast and farther inland is arable plateau land.
Liberia
Lying on the Atlantic in the southern part of West Africa. Most of the country is a plateau covered by dense tropical forests, which thrive under an annual rainfall of about 160 in. a year.
Lesotho
Mountainous Lesotho, the size of Maryland, is surrounded by the Republic of South Africa.
Lebanon
Lebanon lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel and west of Syria. The Lebanon Mountains, which parallel the coast on the west, cover most of the country, while on the eastern border is the Anti- Lebanon range.
Latvia
Latvia borders Estonia on the north, Lithuania in the south, the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Riga in the west, Russia in the east, and Belarus in the southeast. Latvia is largely a fertile lowland with numerous lakes and hills to the east.
Laos
A landlocked nation in Southeast Asia occupying the northwest portion of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is surrounded by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. Laos is a mountainous country, especially in the north, where peaks rise above 9,000 ft (2,800 m).
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan (formerly Kirghizia) is a rugged country with the Tien Shan mountain range covering approximately 95% of the whole territory. The mountaintops are perennially covered with snow and glaciers.
Kuwait
Kuwait is situated northeast of Saudi Arabia at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, south of Iraq. The low-lying desert land is mainly sandy and barren.
Kosovo
The first inhabitants on the Balkan Peninsula were the ancient people known as the Illyrians. The Slavs followed in the 6th and 7th centuries.
Korea South
South Korea lies below the 38th parallel on the Korean peninsula. It is mountainous in the east; in the west and south are many harbors on the mainland and offshore islands.
Korea North
Korea is a 600-mile (966 km) peninsula jutting out from Manchuria and China. The country is almost completely covered by a series of north-south mountain ranges separated by narrow valleys.
Kiribati
Kiribati, formerly the Gilbert Islands, consists of three widely separated main groups of southwest Pacific islands: the Gilberts on the equator, the Phoenix Islands to the east, and the Line Islands farther east.
Kenya
Kenya lies across the equator in east-central Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean. In the north, the land is arid; the southwest corner is in the fertile Lake Victoria Basin; and a length of the eastern depression of the Great Rift Valley separates western highlands from those that rise from the lowland coastal strip.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan lies in the north of the central Asian republics and is bounded by Russia in the north, China in the east, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the south, and the Caspian Sea and part of Turkmenistan in the west. It has almost 1,177 mi (1,894 km) of coastline on the Caspian Sea.
Jordan
The Middle East kingdom of Jordan is bordered on the west by Israel and the Dead Sea, on the north by Syria, on the east by Iraq, and on the south by Saudi Arabia. Arid hills and mountains make up most of the country.
Japan
An archipelago in the Pacific, Japan is separated from the east coast of Asia by the Sea of Japan. Japan’s four main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island in the West Indies, 145 km south of Cuba and 161 km west of Haiti. The island is made up of coastal lowlands, a limestone plateau, and the Blue Mountains, a group of volcanic hills, in the east.
Italy
Italy, is a long peninsula shaped like a boot, surrounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic. It is bounded by France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia to the north.
Israel
Israel, lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Its maritime plain is extremely fertile.
Ireland
Ireland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean and separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea. The mountains are low, with the highest peak, Carrantuohill in County Kerry, rising to 1,041 m.
Iraq
The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein collapsed on April 9, 2003, after U.S. and British forces invaded the country. Sovereignty was returned to Iraq on June 28, 2004.
IRAN
Iran has been an Islamic theocracy since the Pahlavi monarchy regime was overthrown on Feb. 11, 1979.
Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelago in Southeast Asia consisting of 17,000 islands (6,000 inhabited) and straddling the equator.
Iceland
Iceland, lies in the north Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and just touches the Arctic Circle

Countries of World page 3

Panama
The Panama Canal bisects the isthmus at its narrowest and lowest point, allowing passage from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It is marked by a chain of mountains in the west, moderate hills in the interior, and a low range on the east coast.
Palestinian Proposed
The Palestinian Authority (PA), with Arafat its elected leader, took control of the newly non Israeli-occupied areas, assuming governmental duties in 1994.
Palau
The Palau island chain consists of about 200 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, 528 mi (650 km) southeast of the Philippines. Only eight of the islands are permanently inhabited.
Pakistan
Pakistan is situated in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, with Afghanistan and Iran on the west, India on the east, and the Arabian Sea on the south. The Baluchistan Plateau lies to the west, and the Thar Desert and an expanse of alluvial plains, the Punjab and Sind, lie to the east.
Oman
Oman is a 1,000-mile-long (1,700-km) coastal plain at the southeast tip of the Arabian peninsula lying on the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
Norway
Norway is situated in the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula. It extends about 1,770 km from the North Sea along the Norwegian Sea to more than 483 km above the Arctic Circle, the farthest north of any European country.
Nigeria
Nigeria, is the most populous country in Africa, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea.
Niger
Niger, in West Africa’s Sahara region.The Niger River in the southwest flows through the country’s only fertile area. Elsewhere the land is semiarid
Nicaragua
A Central American nation - has mountainous in the west, with fertile valleys.Two big lakes, Nicaragua and Managua, are connected by the Tipitapa River. The Pacific coast is volcanic and very fertile.
New Zealand
New Zealand, about 1,250 mi (2,012 km) southeast of Australia, consists of two main islands and a number of smaller outlying islands so scattered that they range from the tropical to the antarctic. New Zealand’s two main components are the North Island and the South Island, separated by Cook Strait.
Netherlands
The Netherlands, on the coast of the North Sea, is part of the great plain of north and west Europe, the Netherlands has maximum dimensions of 360 by 257 km and is low and flat except in Limburg in the southeast, where some hills rise up to 1056 ft. About half the country’s area is below sea level, making the famous Dutch dikes a requisite for the use of much of the land.
Nepal
In Nov. 1990, King Birendra promulgated a new constitution and introduced a multiparty parliamentary democracy in Nepal. King Gyanendra dissolved the government in 2002 and has since ruled as an absolute monarch.
Nauru
Nauru (pronounced NAH-ooroo) is an island in the Pacific just south of the equator, about 2,500 mi (4,023 km) southwest of Honolulu.
Namibia
Namibia is bounded on the north by Angola and Zambia, on the east by Botswana, and on the east and south by South Africa. It is for the most part a portion of the high plateau of southern Africa, with a general elevation of from 3,000 to 4,000 ft.
Myanmar
Myanmar occupies the Thailand/Cambodia portion of the Indochinese peninsula.India lies to the northwest and China to the northeast.
Mozambique
Mozambique stretches for 1,535 mi (2,470 km) along Africa’s southeast coast. The country is generally a low-lying plateau broken up by 25 sizable rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean.
Morocco
Morocco, lies across the Strait of Gibraltar on the Mediterranean and looks out on the Atlantic from the northwest shoulder of Africa. On the Atlantic coast there is a fertile plain.
Montenegro
Government Republic. Montenegro, formerly part of Serbia and Montenegro, gained independence on June 3, 2006.
Mongolia
Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south. The productive regions of Mongolia—a tableland ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 ft (914 to 1,524 m) in elevation—are in the north, which is well drained by numerous rivers, including the Hovd, Onon, Selenga, and Tula.
Monaco
Monaco is a tiny, hilly wedge driven into the French Mediterranean coast; it is 9 mi east of Nice, France.
Moldova
Moldova (formerly Moldavia) is a landlocked republic of hilly plains lying east of the Carpathian Mountains between the Prut and Dniester (Dnestr) rivers. The country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine.
Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia is composed of the island states of Yap, Chuuk (Truk), Pohnpei (Ponape), and Kosrae, all in the Caroline Islands. The islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low coral atolls, with volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk.
Mexico
Mexico is bordered by the United States to the north and Belize and Guatemala to the southeast. Baja California in the west is an 1,287-km peninsula and forms the Gulf of California.
Mauritius
Mauritius is a mountainous island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.
Mauritania
Mauritania, is situated in northwest Africa with about 350 mi (592 km) of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. The country is mostly desert, with the exception of the fertile Senegal River valley in the south and grazing land in the north.
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, east of the Carolines, are divided into two chains: the western, or Ralik, group, including the atolls Jaluit, Kwajalein, Wotho, Bikini, and Eniwetok; and the eastern, or Ratak, group, including the atolls Mili, Majuro, Maloelap, Wotje, and Likiep.
Malta
The five Maltese islands— Malta, Gozo, Comino, Comminotto, and Filflawith— have a combined land area smaller than Philadelphia. Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea, about 97 km south of the southeast tip of Sicily.
Mali
Most of Mali, in West Africa, lies in the Sahara.The only fertile area is in the south, where the Niger and Senegal rivers provide irrigation.
Maldives
The Republic of Maldives is a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean about 417 mi (671 km) southwest of Sri Lanka. Its 1,190 coral islets stretch over an area of 35,200 square mi (90,000 sq km).

Malaysia
Malaysia is on the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia. The nation also includes Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo to the east.

Countries of World page 2

Sudan

Sudan, in northeast Africa, is the largest country on the continent. The Red Sea washes about 500 mi of the eastern coast.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

St. Vincent, chief island of the chain, is 29 km long and 8 km, island is mountainous and well forested. The Grenadines, a chain of nearly 600 islets with a total area of only 27 sq km, extend for 96 km between St. Vincent and Grenada.

Saint Lucia

One of the Windward Islands of the eastern Caribbean, St. Lucia lies just south of Martinique. It is of volcanic origin. A chain of wooded mountains runs from north to south and from them flow many streams into fertile valleys.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

St. Kitts, the larger of the two islands, is roughly oval in shape except for a long, narrow peninsula to the southeast. Its highest point is Mount Liamuiga (3,792 ft. The Narrows, a 2-mile- wide channel, separates the two islands.

Sri Lanka

An island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India. Most of the land is flat and rolling; mountains in the southcentral region rise to over 8,000 ft (2,438 m).

Spain

Spain occupies 85% of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal, in southwest Europe. Africa is less than 16 km south at the Strait of Gibraltar. A broad central plateau slopes to the south and east, crossed by a series of mountain ranges and river valleys.

South Africa

South Africa, on the continent’s southern tip, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and by the Indian Ocean on the south and east. The kingdom of Lesotho forms an enclave within the southeast part of South Africa, which occupies an area nearly three times that of California.

Somalia

Between January 1991 and August 2000, Somalia had no working government. In 2004, a new transitional Parliament was instituted and elected a president.

Solomon Islands

A scattered archipelago of about 1,000 mountainous islands and low-lying coral atolls, the Solomon Islands lie east of Papua New Guinea and northeast of Australia in the south Pacific. The islands include Guadalcanal, Malaita, Santa Isabel, San Cristóbal, Choiseul, New Georgia, and the Santa Cruz group

Slovenia

Slovenia is largely a mountainous republic and almost half of the land is forested, with hilly plains spread across the central and eastern regions.

Slovakia

Slovakia is located in central Europe. The land has rugged mountains, rich in mineral resources, with vast forests and pastures.

Singapore

The Republic of Singapore consists of the main island of Singapore, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and 58 nearby islands.

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.

Seychelles

The Seychelles consist of an archipelago of about 100 islands in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar. The principal islands are Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue.

Serbia

Republic. Serbia was one of six republics that made up the country of Yugoslavia, which broke up in the 1990s. In Feb. 2003, Serbia and Montenegro were the remaining two republics of rump Yugoslavia, forming a loose federation.

Senegal

The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is the westernmost point in Africa. Senegal is mainly a low-lying country, with a semidesert area in the north and northeast and forests in the southwest. The largest rivers include the Senegal in the north and the Casamance in the southern tropical climate region.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia was an absolute monarchy until 1992, at which time the Saud royal family introduced the country’s first constitution. The legal system is based on the sharia (Islamic law).

Sao Tome and Principe

The tiny volcanic islands of São Tomé and Príncipe lie in the Gulf of Guinea about 150 mi (240 km) off West Africa. São Tomé (about 330 sq mi; 859 sq km) is covered by a dense mountainous jungle, out of which have been carved large plantations.

San Marino

San Marino is surrounded by Italy. It is situated in the Apennines, a little inland from the Adriatic Sea near Rimini.

Samoa

Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, is in the South Pacific Ocean about 2,200 mi (3,540 km) south of Hawaii. The larger islands in the Samoan chain, Upolu and Savai’i, are mountainous and of volcanic origin

Rwanda

Rwanda, in east-central Africa, is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Steep mountains and deep valleys cover most of the country.

Russia

The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States.It occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south.

Romania

Romania is in southeast Europe. The Carpathian Mountains divide Romania’s upper half from north to south and connect near the center of the country with the Transylvanian Alps, running east and west.

Qatar

Qatar (KAH-ter) occupies a small peninsula that extends into the Persian Gulf from the east side of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is to the west and the United Arab Emirates to the south. The country is mainly barren.

Portugal

Portugal occupies the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. The country is crossed by three large rivers that rise in Spain, flow into the Atlantic and divide the country into three geographic areas.

Poland

Poland, is in north-central Europe.Most of the country is a plain with no natural boundaries except the Carpathian Mountains in the south and the Oder and Neisse rivers in the west. Other major rivers, are the Vistula, Warta, and Bug.

Philippines

The Philippine Islands are an archipelago of over 7,000 islands lying about 500 mi (805 km) off the southeast coast of Asia.Only about 7% of the islands are larger than one square mile, and only one-third have names.

Peru

Peru, in western South America, extends for nearly 2,414 km along the Pacific Ocean. Colombia and Ecuador are to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, and Chile to the south.

Paraguay

Paraguay is surrounded by Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina in south-central South America. Eastern Paraguay, between the Paraná and Paraguay rivers, is upland country with the thickest population settled on the grassy slope that inclines toward the Paraguay River.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia, and many outlying islands. The Indonesian province of West Papua (Irian Jaya) is to the west.

Countries of World page 1

Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad, the larger at 4,828 sq km, is mainly flat and rolling, with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 300 sq km, is heavily forested with hardwood trees.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in south-central Africa. It is bordered by Botswana on the west, Zambia on the north, Mozambique on the east, and South Africa on the south.
Zambia
Zambia, a landlocked country in south-central Africa. The country is mostly a plateau that rises to 8,000 ft (2,434 m) in the east.
Yemen
Formerly divided into two nations, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic, the Republic of Yemen occupies the southwest tip of the Arabian Peninsula on the Red Sea opposite Ethiopia and extends along the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Vietnam
Vietnam occupies the eastern and southern part of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia, with the South China Sea along its entire coast. China is to the north and Laos and Cambodia are to the west.
Venezuela
Venezuela, occupies most of the northern coast of South America on the Caribbean Sea. Mountain systems break Venezuela into four distinct areas: (1) the Maracaibo lowlands; (2) the mountainous region in the north and northwest; (3) the Orinoco basin, with the llanos (vast grass-covered plains) on its northern border and great forest areas in the south and southeast; and (4) the Guiana Highlands, south of the Orinoco, accounting for nearly half the national territory.
Vatican City
The Vatican City State is situated on the Vatican hill, on the right bank of the Tiber River, within the city of Rome.
Vanuata
Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands lying between New Caledonia and Fiji in the South Pacific. Largest of the islands is Espiritu Santo (875 sq mi; 2,266 sq km); others are Efate, Malekula, Malo, Pentecost, and Tanna.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is situated in central Asia between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, the Aral Sea, and the slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains. The republic also includes the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic, with its capital, Nukus.
Uruguay
Uruguay, on the east coast of South America south of Brazil and east of Argentina. The country consists of a low, rolling plain in the south and a low plateau in the north.
United States
Federal republic. The president is elected for a four-year term and may be reelected only once. The bicameral Congress consists of the 100-member Senate, elected to a six-year term with one-third of the seats becoming vacant every two years, and the 435-member House of Representatives, elected every two years.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a Parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops; and the House of Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members.
United Arab Emirates
Federation formed in 1971 by seven emirates known as the Trucial States—Abu Dhabi (the largest), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. In addition to a federal president and prime minister, each emirate has a separate ruler who oversees the local government.
Ukraine
Located in southeast Europe, the country consists largely of fertile black soil steppes. Mountainous areas include the Carpathians in the southwest and the Crimean chain in the south.
Uganda
Uganda, is in East Africa. It is bordered on the west by Congo. The country, which lies across the equator, is divided into three main areas—swampy lowlands, a fertile plateau with wooded hills, and a desert region.
Tuvalu
Tuvalu consists of nine small islands scattered over 500,000 sq mi of the western Pacific, just south of the equator. The islands include Niulakita, Nukulaelae, Funafuti, Nukufetau, Vaitupu, Nui, Niutao, Nanumaga (Nanumanga), and Nanumea.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan (formerly Turkmenia) is bounded by the Caspian Sea in the west, Kazakhstan in the north, Uzbekistan in the east, and Iran and Afghanistan in the south. About nine-tenths of Turkmenistan is desert, chiefly the Kara Kum.
Turkey
Turkey is at the northeast end of the Mediterranean Sea in southeast Europe and southwest Asia. To the north is the Black Sea and to the west is the Aegean Sea.
Tunisia
Tunisia, at the northernmost bulge of Africa, thrusts out toward Sicily to mark the division between the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea. Coastal plains on the east rise to a north-south escarpment that slopes gently to the west.
Tonga
Situated east of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific, Tonga (also called the Friendly Islands) consists of some 150 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. Most of the islands contain active volcanic craters; others are coral atolls.
Togo
Togo, is on the south coast of West Africa. The Gulf of Guinea coastline, only 32 mi long (51 km), is low and sandy. The only port is at Lomé. The Togo hills traverse the central section.
Thailand
Thailand occupies the western half of the Indochinese peninsula and the northern two-thirds of the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia.
Tanzania
Tanzania is in East Africa on the Indian Ocean. Tanzania contains three of Africa’s best known lakes—Victoria in the north, Tanganyika in the west, and Nyasa in the south.
Tajikistan
Ninety-three percent of Tajikistan’s territory is mountainous, and the mountain glaciers are the source of its rivers. Tajikistan is an earthquake-prone area.
Taiwan
The Republic of China today consists of the island of Taiwan, an island 100 mi (161 km) off the Asian mainland in the Pacific; two off-shore islands, Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu; and the nearby islets of the Pescadores chain.

Syria

Syria lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Coastal Syria is a narrow plain, in back of which is a range of coastal mountains, and still farther inland a steppe area. In the east is the Syrian Desert and in the south is the Jebel Druze Range.
Switzerland
Switzerland, in central Europe, is the land of the Alps.Its tallest peak is the Dufourspitze at 4,634m on the Swiss side of the Italian border, one of 10 summits of the Monte Rosa massif.
Sweden
Sweden, which occupies the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, is the fourth-largest country in Europe and is onetenth larger than California. The country slopes eastward and southward from the Kjólen Mountains along the Norwegian border, where the peak elevation is Kebnekaise at 6,965 ft (2,123 m) in Lapland.
Swaziland
Swaziland, is surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique. The country is largely mountainous.
Suriname
Suriname lies on the northeast coast of South America, with Guyana to the west, French Guiana to the east, and Brazil to the south. The principal rivers are the Corantijn on the Guyana border, the Marowijne in the east, and the Suriname, on which the capital city of Paramaribo is situated.