Area 5,853 square mi (15,007 square km) Population 1.212 million 2014 Capital Dili Highest Point 9,778 ft (2,963 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $1.552 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble. THE ISLAND OF Timor, in the Indonesian archipelagos, is no stranger to struggle. Disputed between the Dutch and Portuguese […]

Area 20,729 square mi (48,730 square km) Population 10.53 million 2014 Capital Santo Domingo Highest Point 10,416 ft (3,175 m) Lowest Point 151 ft (46 m) GDP $63.97 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources nickel, gold, silver. THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, which sits on the western portion of the island of Hispaniola in the CARIBBEAN SEA, was […]

Area 294 square mi (754 square km) Population 72,340 2014 Capital Roseau Highest Point Morne Diablatins 4,775 ft (1,447 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $537.8 million 2014 Primary Natural Resources timber, hydropower. THE LAST OF THE islands of the West Indies to be colonized, chiefly because of the fierce resistance of the native Carib […]

Area 8,958 square mi (23,000 square km) Population 886,300 (2014) Capital Djibouti Highest Point Musa Ali 6,653 ft (2,028 m) Lowest Point -550 ft (-168 m) GDP $1.582 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources negligible. BORDERED BY ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, and SOMALIA in Africa, the country of Djibouti (the former French Somaliland and then AFARS and Issas) […]

Area 16,807 square mi (43,094 square km) Population 5.640 million 2014 Capital Copenhagen Highest Point 571 ft (173 m) Lowest Point -23 ft (-7 m) GDP $342.0 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt. DENMARK IS A COUNTRY whose history and culture is almost entirely shaped by the sea. With a coastline […]

Area 30,450 square mi (78,866 square km) Population 10.51 million 2014 Capital Prague Highest Point 5,256 ft (1,602 m) Lowest Point 377 ft (115 m) GDP $205.5 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources graphite, coal, timber. THE CZECH REPUBLIC consists of the two historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia. The Czech Republic borders SLOVAKIA to the […]

Area 3,604 square mi (9,250 square km) Population 1.153 million 2014 Capital Nicosia Highest Point 6,407 ft (1,951 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $23.23 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources copper, pyrites, asbestos. CYPRUS IS AN island in the eastern MEDITERRANEAN SEA, 70 mi (113 km) south of TURKEY. For thousands of years, its civilization […]

Area 68,885 square mi (110,860 square km) Population 11.26 million 2014 Capital Havana Highest Point 6,578 ft (2,005 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $77.15 billion 2013 Primary Natural Resources sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice. CUBA, THE 15th largest island in world, is part of the West Indies in the CARIBBEAN SEA. This island, which […]

Area 22,000 square mi (56,542 square km) Population 4.236 million 2014 Capital Zagreb Highest Point Dinara 604 ft (1,830 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $57.22 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources oil, coal, bauxite, hydropower. CROATIA IS AT once one of the oldest and newest states in Europe. There has been a Croatian state of […]

Area 124,501 square mi (322,460 square km) Population 20.80 million (2014) Capital Yamoussoukro Highest Point 5,748 ft (1,752 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $34.25 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese. COTE D'IVOIRE (Ivory Coast) is bordered by MALI and BURKINA FASO on the north, by LIBERIA and GUINEA on the […]

Area 19,729 square mi (51,100 square km) Population 4.938 million 2014 Capital San Jose Highest Point 12,500 ft (3,810 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $49.55 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources coffee, bananas, agricultural products. THE REPUBLIC OF Costa Rica, home to almost 3.9 million people, is located in Central America between NICARAGUa and PANAMA […]

Area 905,563 square mi (2,345,410 square km) Population 69.36 million (2014) Capital Kinshasha Highest Point 16,765 ft (5,110 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $32.96 billion (2014) Natural Resources diamonds, gold, silver, tin, bauxite. THE DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) is strategically located as the geographic centerpiece of Africa. Smaller in area than only SUDAN […]

Area 132,047 square mi (342,000 square km) Population 4.559 million (2014) Capital Brazzaville Highest Point 2,963 ft (903 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $14.14 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum, wood, potassium, potash, gold. THE REPUBLIC OF Congo is located in western Africa and covers an area slightly smaller than MONTANA. It is bordered […]

Area 846 square mi (2,170 square km) Population 752,400 (2014) Capital Moroni Highest Point Le Kartala 7,788 ft (2,360m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $647.7 million (2014) Natural Resources tourism, arable land, agriculrural products. COMOROS IS ONE of the world's poorest, and also most politically unstable countries. Located off the east coast of Africa, at the northern end of the […]

Area 439,735 square mi (1,138,910 square km) Population 48.93 million 2014 Capital Bogota Highest Point 18,947 ft (5,775 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $377.7 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore. COLOMBIA IS A country located in northwestern South America. Named for Christopher Columbus, it is the only South American […]

Area 3,645,468 square mi (9,596,960 square km) Population 1.364 billion 2014 Capital Beijing Highest Point 29,035 ft (8,850 m) Lowest Point -505 ft (-154 m) GDP $10.36 trillion 2014 Primary Natural Resources coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas. CHINA IS ONE of the largest countries in the world, with more than 3.6 million square mi (9.6 […]

Area 302,778 square mi (756,950 square km) Population 17.77 million 2014 Capital Santiago Highest Point 22,573 ft (6,880 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $258.1 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources copper, fish, agricultural products. CHILE IS A LONG and narrow country in South America, about 3,999 mi (6,435 km) long and an average of 112 […]

Area 495,752 square mi (1,284,000 square km) Population 13.21 million (2014) Capital N’Djamena Highest Point 11,204 ft (3,415 m) Lowest Point 525 ft (160 m) GDP $13.92 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum, uranium, fish. THE REPUBLIC OF CHAD is a LANDLOCKED country located in north-central Africa. It is bounded by LIBYA, NIGER, NIGERIA, CAMEROON, […]

Area 240,535 square mi (622,984 square km) Population 4.709 million (2014) Capital Banqui Highest Point 4,658 ft (1,420 m) Lowest Point 1,099 ft (335 m) GDP $1.783 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources diamonds, uranium, gold. DEEP IN THE HEART of the African continent, the LANDLOCKED Central African Republic is on a heavily forested plateau about […]

Area 1,557 square mi (4,033 square km) Population 503,600 2014 Capital Praia Highest Point Mt. Fogo 9,281 ft (2,829 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $1.871 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources salt, basalt, limestone, kaolin, fish. CAPE VERDE IS a volcanically produced archipelago, consisting of 10 major islands and five islets in the ATLANTIC OCEAN, […]

Area 3,850,000 square mi (9,984,670 square km) Capital Ottawa Population 35.54 million 2014 Highest Point 19,550 ft (5,959 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $1.787 trillion 2014 Primary Natural Resources iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold. CANADA ENCOMPASSES the second-largest land area of any country after RUSSIA. Like its southern neighbor, the UNITED STATES, Canada's […]

Area 183,569 square mi (475,440 square km) Population 22.82 million (2014) Capital Yaounde Highest Point 13,435 ft (4,095 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $32.55 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber CAMEROON IS A triangle-shaped nation slightly larger than CALIFORNIA. It is wedged between NIGERIA and EQUATORIAL GUINEA on Africa's west-central […]

Area 69,884 square mi (181,040 square km) Population 15.41 million 2014 Capital Phnom Penh Highest Point 5,938 ft (1,810 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $16.71 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources timber, gemstones, hydropower potential. BORDERED BY VIETNAM, LAOS, and THAILAND, Cambodia, with a near circular shape, is a perfect example of a compact country. […]

Area 10,759 square mi (27,830 square km) Population 10.48 million 2014 Capital Bujumbura Highest Point 8,760 ft (2,670 m) Lowest Point 2,539 ft (772 m) GDP $3.094 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources coffee, tea, cotton, minerals. BURUNDI IS A landlocked country in eastern Africa. It has borders with the Democratic Republic of the CONGO, RWANDA, […]

Area 105,840 square mi (274,200 square km) Population 17.42 million 2014 Capital Ougadougou Highest Point 2,457 ft (749 m) Lowest Point 656 ft (200 m) GDP $12.54 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources manganese, limestone. A LANDLOCKED republic located in West Africa, bordering GHANA, COTE D'IVOIRE, and TOGO to the south, BENIN to the southeast, NIGER […]

Area 42,900 square mi (111,910 square km) Population 7.226 million 2014 Capital Sofia Highest Point 9,596 ft (2,925 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $55.73 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources bauxite, coal, copper, lead, timber. BULGARIA IS ONE OF 10 countries in the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. The peninsula is a mountainous region with […]

Area 2,055 square mi (5,770 square km) Population 423,200 2014 Capital Bandar Seri Begawan Highest Point Bukit Pagon 6,105 ft (1,850 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $17.26 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas. THE SULTANATE of Brunei is one of the world's smallest countries, but also one of the world's richest. A […]

Area 3,286,488 square mi (8,511,965 square km) Population 202.0 million 2014 Capital Brasilia Highest Point 9,888 ft (3,014 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $2.346 trillion 2014 Primary Natural Resources bauxite, gold, iron ore, uranium, petroleum. BRAZIL IS THE LARGEST and most populous country in South America. The country occupies almost half of the continent. […]

Area 231,803 square mi (600,370 square km) Population 2.039 million (2014) Capital Gaborone Highest Point 4,890 ft (1,491 m) Lowest Point 1,682 ft (513 m) GDP $15.81 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources diamonds, copper, silver. BOTSWANA IS a LANDLOCKED country in southern Africa, approximately 310 mi (500 km) from the nearest coastline to the southwest. […]

Area 19,940 square mi (51,129 square km) Population 3.825 million 2014 Capital Sarajevo Highest Point Maglic 7,826 ft (2,386 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $18.34 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources coal, iron, bauxite, zinc, hydropower. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA was one of the component states of the former federation of Yugoslavia until it declared its […]

Area 424,164 square mi (1,098,580 square km) Population 10.85 million 2014 Capital La Paz Highest Point 21,463 ft (6,542 m) Lowest Point 295 ft (90 m) GDP $34.18 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc. BOLIVIA IS A COMPLEX and fascinating country. Located in the center of South America, it shares borders […]

Area 29,204 square mi (47,000 square km) Population 765,600 2014 Capital Thimphu Highest Point 24,780 ft (7,553 m) Lowest Point 318 ft (97 m) GDP $1.821 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources hydropower. BHUTAN IS A LANDLOCKED country located in the eastern part of the HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS, bordered by INDIA in the south, east, and west […]

Area 43,483 square mi (112,620 square km) Population 10.60 million 2014 Capital Porto-Novo Highest Point 2,158 ft (658 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $8.747 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources oil, limestone, marble, timber. BENIN IS LOCATED in West Africa and is bordered to the west by TOGO, to the north by NIGER and BURKINA […]

Area 8,865 square mi (22,966 square km) Population 339,800 2014 Capital Belmopan Highest Point 3,805 ft (1,160 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $1.624 billion 2013 Primary Natural Resources bananas, cocoa, citrus, sugar, fish. BELIZE (“BELICE” IN SPANISH), formerly the Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras (prior to 1862), British Honduras (1862–1973), and […]

Area 11,790 square mi (30,510 square km) Population 11.23 million 2014 Capital Brussels Highest Point Signal de Botrange 2,290 ft (694 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $533.4 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources coal, natural gas. ALTHOUGH IT OCCUPIES a central position at the economic crossroads of western Europe, and its people have been central […]

Area 128,997 square mi (207,600 square km) Population 9.470 million 2014 Capital Minsk Highest Point 1,135 ft (346 m) Lowest Point 295 ft (90 m) GDP $76.14 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources forests, peat deposits, oil. BELARUS, FORMALLY BELORUSSIA, also called White Russia, is bounded on the west by POLAND, on the northwest by LATVIA […]

Area 168 square mi (431 square km) Population 286,100 2014 Capital Bridgetown Highest Point Mount Hillaby 1,109 ft (336 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $4.348 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, fish, natural gas. BARBADOS IS ONE of the clearest success stories of the CARIBBEAN SEA, with one of the most prosperous economies and stable […]

Area 55,126 square mi (133,910 square km) Population 158.5 million 2014 Capital Dhaka Highest Point 4,035 ft (1,230 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $173.8 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources natural gas, arable land, coal. BANGLADESH HAS been an independent country since 1971, when it seceded from PAKISTAN in South Asia. Prior to Muslim occupation […]

Area 256 square mi (665 square km) Population 1.344 million 2014 Capital Manama Highest Point 400 ft (122 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $33.87 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources oil, natural gas, fish, pearls. BAHRAIN IS LOCATED in the MIDDLE EAST; it is an archipelago in the PERSIAN GULF, east of SAUDI ARABIA. Bahrain […]

Area (land) 1,509 square mi (3,870 square km) Population 382,600 2014 Capital Nassau Highest Point 208 ft (63 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $8.511 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources timber, salt, aragonite. THE ISLAND OF San Salvador is cited as the first landing spot in the New World by the explorer Christopher Columbus on […]

Area 53,820 square mi (86,600 square km) Population 9.538 million 2014 Capital Baku Highest Point 15,551 ft (4,740 m) Lowest Point Caspian Sea -92 ft (-28 m) GDP $75.20 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, natural gas. AZERBAIJAN, A FORMER Soviet republic, now officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a nation with a Turkic and […]

Area 32,377 square mi (83,858 square km) Population 8.534 million 2014 Capital Vienna Highest Point 12,457 ft (3,797 m) Lowest Point 377 ft (115 m) GDP $436.3 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources natural gas, iron, timber. LANDLOCKED AUSTRIA (Osterreich in German) is located at the cultural and geographical crossroads of Central Europe. It is also […]

Area 2,967,895 square mi (7,686,850 square km) Population 23.49 million 2014 Capital Canberra Highest Point 7,311 ft (2,229 m) Lowest Point 49 ft (15 m) GDP $1.454 trillion 2014 Primary Natural Resources gold, silver, uranium. THE COMMONWEALTH of Australia is the world's sixth-largest country and is located on the world's smallest continent between the INDIAN […]

Area 11,500 square mi (29,800 square km) Population 2.984 million 2014 Capital Yerevan Highest Point 13,418 ft (4,090 m) Lowest Point 1,312 ft (400 m) GDP $10.88 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources hydroelectric potential. ARMENIA, LYING SOUTH of the towering CAUCASUS range and on the southwestern edge of Asia, is bounded to the north and […]

Area 1,068,302 square mi (2,766,890 square km) Capital Buenos Aires Population 41.80 million 2014 Highest Point 22,834 ft (6,960 m) Lowest Point -344 ft (-105 m) GDP $540.2 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources iron ore, petroleum, uranium. ARGENTINA IS A COUNTRY located in southern South America, the second-largest country on the continent. Argentina shares a […]

Area 173 square mi (443 square km) Capital Saint John's Population 90,900 2014 Highest Point 1,326 ft (402 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $1.269 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources pleasant tropical climate. ANTIGUA WAS ONE of the primary British colonies in the CARIBBEAN SEA and remains a leader among the Leeward Islands (from the […]

Area 481,351 square mi (1,246,700 square km) Population 22.14 million 2014 Capital Luanda Highest Point 8,594 ft (2,620 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $131.4 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, diamonds, natural gas. A COUNTRY LOCATED along the southwest coast of Africa, the republic of Angola is a vast territory divided into 18 provinces, […]

Area 183 square mi (468 square km) Capital Andorra la Vella Population 80,150 2014 Highest Point 9,722 ft (2,946 m) Lowest Point 2,772 ft (840 m) GDP $3.249 billion 2013 Primary Natural Resources hydropower, timber. ONE OF THE WORLD'S true curiosities, the sovereign coprincipality of Andorra retains independent status which, according to local history, was […]

Area 919,595 square mi (2,381,740 square km) Population 39.93 million (2014) Capital Algiers Highest Point 9,852 ft (3,003 m) Lowest Point -131 ft (-40 m) GDP $214.1 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum and natural gas, mining. WITH MORE THAN 80 percent of its land covered by the SAHARA DESERT in northern Africa, Algeria is […]

Area 10,685 square mi (28,748 square km) Capital Tirana Population 2.894 million 2014 Highest Point Maja e Korabit 9,085 ft (2,753 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $13.37 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources petroleum, hydropower. ALBANIA IS UNIQUE in many ways. This small, mountainous nation on the western side of the Balkan Peninsula has a […]

Area 250,000 square mi (647,500 square km) Population 31.28 million 2014 Capital Kabul Highest Point 24,550 ft (7,485 m) Lowest Point 846 ft (258 m) GDP $20.84 billion 2014 Primary Natural Resources natural gas, petroleum. THE STATE OF AFGHANISTAN is a landlocked country that borders PAKISTAN to the south, IRAN to the west, TURKMENISTAN, UZBEKISTAN, […]