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 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 considered countries.
The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and have changed over time. The Economist
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. Wales Welsh : Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] ⓘ country that is part of the United Kingdom . It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east , the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021[update] coastline . It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate . Its capital and largest city is Cardiff .
A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament (Welsh : senedd ). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 . Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism , exemplified in the early 20th century by David Lloyd George , was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party . Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd devolved policy matters . (Full article...
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.
Thailand Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula . With a population of almost 66 million, it spans 513,115 square kilometres (198,115 sq mi). Thailand is bordered to the northwest by Myanmar , to the northeast and east by Laos , to the southeast by Cambodia , to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia , and to the southwest by the Andaman Sea ; it also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the state capital and largest city.
Thai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 6th to 11th centuries. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon , Khmer Empire , and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang , Sukhothai , Lan Na , and Ayutthaya , which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, which became a regional power by the end of the 15th century. Ayutthaya reached its peak during the 18th century, until it was destroyed in the Burmese–Siamese War . King Taksin the Great quickly reunified the fragmented territory and established the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom (1767–1782), of which he was the only king. He was succeeded in 1782 by Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I), the first monarch of the current Chakri dynasty . Throughout the era of Western imperialism in Asia , Siam remained the only state in the region to avoid colonization by foreign powers, although it was often forced to make territorial , trade, and legal concessions in unequal treaties. The Siamese system of government was centralised and transformed into a modern unitary absolute monarchy during the 1868–1910 reign of Chulalongkorn (Rama V). In World War I , Siam sided with the Allies , a political decision made in order to amend the unequal treaties. Following a bloodless revolution in 1932, it became a constitutional monarchy and changed its official name to Thailand, becoming an ally of Japan in World War II . In the late 1950s, a military coup under Sarit Thanarat revived the monarchy's historically influential role in politics. During the Cold War , Thailand became a major ally of the United States and played an anti-communist role in the region as a member of SEATO , which was disbanded in 1977. (Full article...
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 The
United States of America (
USA ), commonly known as the
United States (
U.S. ) or
America , is a country primarily located in
North America . It is a
federal union of 50
states and a federal capital district,
Washington, D.C. The 48
contiguous states border
Canada to the north and
Mexico to the south, with the states of
Alaska to the northwest and the
archipelagic Hawaii 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 ,
largest exclusive economic zone , and
third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three
largest metropolitan areas are
New York ,
Los Angeles , and
Chicago , and its three
most populous states are
California ,
Texas , and
Florida .
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 division over slavery led to the secession of the
Confederate States of America , which fought the remaining
Union states in the 1861–1865
American Civil War . With the Union's victory and preservation,
slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the U.S. had established itself as a
great power , which was solidified after its involvement in
World War I . After
Japan 's
attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S.
entered World War II .
Its aftermath 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 Lebanon (
LEB -ə-non, -nən;
Arabic :
لُبْنَان ,
romanized : Lubnān ,
local pronunciation: [lɪbˈneːn] ), officially the
Republic of Lebanon , is a country in the
Levant region of
West Asia , bordered by
Syria to the north and east,
Israel to the south, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west;
Cyprus lies a short distance from the country's coastline. It is at the crossroads of the
Mediterranean Basin and the
Arabian Peninsula . Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi).
Beirut is the country's capital and largest city.
Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of
Phoenicia , a maritime empire that stretched the
Mediterranean Basin . In 64 BC, the region became part of the
Roman Empire , and later the
Byzantine Empire . After the 7th century, it came under the rule of different
caliphates , including the
Rashidun ,
Umayyad and
Abbasid Caliphate . The 11th century saw the establishment of
Crusader states , which fell to the
Ayyubids and the
Mamluks , and eventually the
Ottomans . Under Ottoman ruler
Abdulmejid I , the first Lebanese proto-state, the
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , was established in the 19th century as a home for
Maronite Christians , in the
Tanzimat period.
After the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following
World War I , Lebanon came under the
Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon , administered by
France , which established
Greater Lebanon . French rule weakened significantly after the
German invasion of France in 1940. By 1943, Lebanon had gained independence from
Free France and established a distinct form of
confessionalist government , with the state's major religious groups being
apportioned specific political powers . The new Lebanese state was relatively stable after independence, but this was ultimately shattered by the outbreak of the
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). Lebanon was also subjugated by two military occupations:
Syria from 1976 to 2005 and
Israel from 1985 to 2000 . Since the end of the conflicts, there have been extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. (
Full article... )
Image 3 India , officially the
Republic of India , is a country in
South Asia . As the
seventh-largest country by area and the
most populous country since June 2023, it is the world's most populous democracy since the time of its independence in 1947. 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 mediaeval 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 mediaeval 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 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 Israel , officially the
State of Israel , is a country in the
Southern Levant region of
West Asia . It is
bordered by
Lebanon and
Syria to the north, the
West Bank and
Jordan to the east, the
Gaza Strip and
Egypt to the southwest, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west. The country also has a small coastline on the
Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the
Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Israel's
proclaimed capital is in
Jerusalem , while
Tel Aviv is the country's
largest urban area and
economic center .
Israel is located in a region known to
Jews as the
Land of Israel , synonymous with the
Palestine region , the
Holy Land , and
Canaan . In antiquity, it was home to the
Canaanite civilization followed by the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah . Situated at a
continental crossroad , the region experienced
demographic changes under the rule of various empires from the
Romans to the
Ottomans .
European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanized
Zionism , which sought a
Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained
British support . After
World War I , Britain occupied the region and established
Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased
Jewish immigration in the leadup to the
Holocaust and
British colonial policy led to
intercommunal conflict between Jews and
Arabs , which escalated into a
civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN)
proposed partitioning the land between them.
The State of Israel
declared its establishment on 14 May 1948. The armies of neighboring Arab states invaded the area of the former Mandate the next day, beginning the
First Arab–Israeli War . Subsequent
armistice agreements established Israeli control over
77 percent of the former Mandate territory. The majority of
Palestinian Arabs were either
expelled or fled in what is known as the
Nakba , with
those remaining becoming the new state's main minority. Over the following decades, Israel's population increased greatly as the country received an influx of
Jews who emigrated, fled or were expelled from the Muslim world . Following the 1967
Six-Day War Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian
Sinai Peninsula and Syrian
Golan Heights . Israel established and continues to expand
settlements across the
illegally occupied territories ,
contrary to international law, and has effectively annexed
East Jerusalem and the
Golan Heights in moves largely unrecognized internationally. After the 1973
Yom Kippur War , Israel signed peace treaties with
Egypt —returning the Sinai in 1982—and
Jordan . In the 2020s, it
normalized relations with more Arab countries. However,
efforts to resolve the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the interim
Oslo Accords have not succeeded, and the country has engaged in
several wars and clashes with Palestinian
militant groups . Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism—along with accusations that it has committed
war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people—from human rights organizations and United Nations officials. (
Full article... )
Image 5 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 , making up 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 United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. 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 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
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 , 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 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
Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, atrocities such as the
Nanjing Massacre had a lasting impact on the country. 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 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 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 become an
authoritarian dictatorship .
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 8 Singapore , officially the
Republic of Singapore , is an
island country and
city-state in
maritime Southeast Asia . The country's territory comprises one
main island ,
63 satellite islands and islets , and
one outlying islet . It is about one
degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the
equator , off the southern tip of the
Malay Peninsula , bordering the
Strait of Malacca to the west, the
Singapore Strait to the south along with the
Riau Islands in
Indonesia , the
South China Sea to the east, and the
Straits of Johor along with the
State of Johor in
Malaysia to the north.
Singapore's
history dates back at least eight hundred years, having been a maritime
emporium known as
Temasek and subsequently a major constituent part of several successive
thalassocratic empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819, when
Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an
entrepôt trading post of the
British Empire . In 1867, Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the
Straits Settlements . During
World War II , Singapore was
occupied by Japan in 1942 and returned to British control as a separate
Crown colony following
Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained
self-governance in 1959 and, in 1963, became part of the new federation of
Malaysia , alongside
Malaya ,
North Borneo , and
Sarawak .
Ideological differences led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; Singapore became an independent
sovereign country in 1965. After early years of
turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a
hinterland , the nation rapidly developed to become one of the
Four Asian Tigers .
As a highly
developed country , it has one of the
highest GDP per capita (PPP) in the world. It is also identified as a
tax haven . Singapore is the only country in Asia with a AAA
sovereign credit rating from
all major rating agencies . It is a major
aviation ,
financial , and
maritime shipping hub and has consistently been ranked as one of the
most expensive cities to live in for
expatriates and
foreign workers . Singapore ranks highly in key social indicators:
education ,
healthcare ,
quality of life ,
personal safety ,
infrastructure , and
housing , with a
home-ownership rate of 88 percent.
Singaporeans enjoy one of the
longest life expectancies ,
fastest Internet connection speeds ,
lowest infant mortality rates , and
lowest levels of corruption in the world. It has the
third highest population density of any country in the world , although there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a result of
urban planning . With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four
official languages :
English ,
Malay ,
Mandarin , and
Tamil . English is the
common language , with exclusive use in numerous
public services .
Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape
national policies in education, housing, and politics. (
Full article... )
Image 9 Japan is an
island country in
East Asia . It is located in the
Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the
Asian mainland , and is bordered on the west by the
Sea of Japan and extends from the
Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the
East China Sea in the south. The
Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—
Hokkaido ,
Honshu ,
Shikoku , and
Kyushu —and
thousands of smaller islands , covering 377,975 square kilometres (145,937 sq mi). Japan has a population of nearly 124 million as of 2024, and is the
eleventh-most populous country .
Its capital and
largest city is
Tokyo ; the
Greater Tokyo Area is the
largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 38 million inhabitants as of 2016. Japan is divided into 47
administrative prefectures and
eight traditional regions . About three-quarters of
the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating
its agriculture and
highly urbanized population along its eastern
coastal plains . The country sits on the Pacific
Ring of Fire , making its islands prone to destructive
earthquakes and
tsunamis .
The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the
Upper Paleolithic , with the beginning
Japanese Paleolithic dating to
c. 36,000 BC . Between the fourth and sixth centuries, its kingdoms were united under
an emperor in
Nara , and later
Heian-kyō . From the 12th century, actual power was held by military dictators (
shōgun ) and feudal lords (
daimyō ), and enforced by warrior nobility (
samurai ). After rule by the
Kamakura and
Ashikaga shogunates and
a century of warring states , Japan was unified in 1600 by the
Tokugawa shogunate , which implemented
an isolationist foreign policy . In 1853,
a United States fleet forced Japan to
open trade to the West , which led to the
end of the shogunate and the
restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the
Meiji period , the
Empire of Japan pursued rapid
industrialization and
modernization , as well as
militarism and
overseas colonization . In 1937, Japan
invaded China , and in 1941
attacked the United States and European colonial powers, entering
World War II as an
Axis power . After suffering defeat in the
Pacific War and
two atomic bombings , Japan
surrendered in 1945 and
came under Allied occupation . After the war, the country underwent
rapid economic growth , although
its economy has stagnated since 1990 .
Japan is a
constitutional monarchy with a
bicameral legislature, the
National Diet . A
great power and the only Asian member of the
G7 , Japan has constitutionally
renounced its right to declare war , but maintains
one of the world's strongest militaries . A
developed country with one of the world's
largest economies , Japan is a global leader in
science and technology and the
automotive ,
robotics , and
electronics industries . It has one of the world's
highest life expectancies , though it is undergoing
a population decline .
Japan's culture is well known around the world, including
its art ,
cuisine ,
film ,
music , and
popular culture , which includes prominent
comics ,
animation , and
video game industries. (
Full article... )
Image 10 Australia , officially the
Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising
the mainland of the
Australian continent , the island of
Tasmania and
numerous smaller islands . Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km
2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the
sixth-largest country in the world and the largest country by area in
Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It is a
megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including
deserts in the
interior and
tropical rainforests along the
coast .
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 democracy and
constitutional monarchy comprising
six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 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 more than 5 million.
Australia's culture is diverse, and the country 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... )
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