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.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia . A federal constitutional monarchy , it consists of 13 states and three federal territories , separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo 's East Malaysia . Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore , Vietnam , and Indonesia . East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia, as well as a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, the country's largest city, and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government .
Putrajaya is the administrative centre, which represents the seat of both the executive branch (the Cabinet , federal ministries, and federal agencies ) and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 34 million, the country is the world's 43rd-most populous country . Malaysia is tropical and is one of 17 megadiverse countries ; it is home to numerous endemic species . Tanjung Piai in the Malaysian state of Johor is the southernmost point of continental Eurasia .
The country has its origins in the
Malay kingdoms , which, from the 18th century on, became
subject to the
British Empire , along with the British
Straits Settlements protectorate. During
World War Two ,
British Malaya , along with other nearby British and American colonies, was occupied by the
Empire of Japan . Following three years of occupation, Peninsular Malaysia was briefly unified as the
Malayan Union in 1946 until 1948 when it was restructured as the
Federation of Malaya . The country achieved independence on 31 August 1957. On
16 September 1963 , independent Malaya united with the then
British crown colonies of
North Borneo ,
Sarawak , and
Singapore to become Malaysia. In August 1965, Singapore was
expelled from the federation and became a
separate, independent country . (
Full article... )
List of Recognized articles
World map of countries and territories by HDI scores in increments of 0.050 (based on 2022 data, published in 2024) ≥ 0.950
0.900–0.950
0.850–0.899
0.800–0.849
0.750–0.799
0.700–0.749
0.650–0.699
0.600–0.649
0.550–0.599
0.500–0.549
0.450–0.499
0.400–0.449
≤ 0.399
Data unavailable
The Human Development Index (HDI ) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy , education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system ), and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development . A country scores a higher level of HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the gross national income GNI (PPP) per capita is higher. It was developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul-Haq and was further used to measure a country's development by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Human Development Report Office.
The 2010
Human Development Report introduced an
inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for this
inequality ), while the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality." (
Full article... )
List of selected articles to understand countries
The following are images from various country-related articles on Wik.ipedia.Pro.
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 , the federal capital district of
Washington, D.C. , and 326
Indian reservations . The 48
contiguous states border
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 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 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 3 Bangladesh , officially the
People's Republic of Bangladesh , is a country in
South Asia . It is the
eighth-most populous country in the world and among the
most densely populated with a population of 170 million in an area of 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi). Bangladesh shares land borders with
India to the north, west, and east, and
Myanmar to the southeast. To the south, it has a coastline along the
Bay of Bengal . It is separated from
Bhutan and
Nepal by the
Siliguri Corridor , and from
China by the mountainous Indian state of
Sikkim .
Dhaka , the capital and
largest city , is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre.
Chittagong is the second-largest city and the busiest port. The official language is
Bengali , with
Bangladeshi English also used in government.
Bangladesh is part of the historic and
ethnolinguistic region of
Bengal , which was divided during the
Partition of British India in 1947 as the
eastern enclave of the
Dominion of Pakistan , from which it gained independence in 1971 after a bloody war. The country has a
Bengali Muslim majority. Ancient Bengal was known as
Gangaridai and was a stronghold of pre-Islamic kingdoms. The
Muslim conquest after 1204 led to the sultanate and
Mughal periods, during which an independent
Bengal Sultanate and wealthy
Mughal Bengal transformed the region into an important centre of regional affairs, trade, and diplomacy. The
Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of British rule. The creation of
Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 set a precedent for the emergence of Bangladesh. The
All-India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka in 1906. The
Lahore Resolution in 1940 was supported by
A. K. Fazlul Huq , the first
Prime Minister of Bengal . The present-day territorial boundary was established with the announcement of the
Radcliffe Line .
In 1947,
East Bengal became the most populous province in the
Dominion of Pakistan and was renamed
East Pakistan , with Dhaka as the legislative capital. The
Bengali Language Movement in 1952, the
1958 Pakistani coup d'état , and the
1970 Pakistani general election spurred
Bengali nationalism and
pro-democracy movements. The refusal of the Pakistani
military junta to transfer power to the
Awami League , led by
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , triggered the
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The
Mukti Bahini , aided by India, waged a successful
armed revolution ; the conflict saw the
Bangladeshi genocide . The new state of Bangladesh became a constitutionally
secular state in 1972, although
Islam was declared the
state religion in 1988. In 2010, the
Bangladesh Supreme Court reaffirmed secular principles in the constitution. The Constitution of Bangladesh officially declares it a
socialist state . (
Full article... )
Image 4 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 nearly 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 5 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 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 6 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 7 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 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.
Jerusalem is
controversially proclaimed by Israel to be its capital, 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 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 massively 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 8 Australia , officially the
Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising
the mainland of the
Australian continent , the island of
Tasmania , and
numerous smaller islands . Comprising
six states and ten territories , 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 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 democracy and
constitutional monarchy . 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'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... )
Image 9 Saint Lucia is an
island country of the
West Indies in the eastern
Caribbean . The island was previously called
Iouanalao and later
Hewanorra , names given by the native
Arawaks and
Caribs (respectively), two
Amerindian peoples. Part of the
Windward Islands of the
Lesser Antilles , it is located north/northeast of the island of
Saint Vincent , northwest of
Barbados and south of
Martinique . It covers a land area of 617 km
2 (238 square miles) with an estimated population of over 180,000 people as of 2018. The nation's capital and largest city is
Castries .
The first proven inhabitants of the island, the
Arawaks , are believed to have first settled in 200–400 AD. Around 800 AD, the island would be taken over by the
Kalinago . The French were the first Europeans to settle on the island, and they signed a treaty with the native Caribs in 1660. England took control of the island in 1663. In ensuing years, England and France fought 14 times for control of the island, and thus consequently control over this immensely valuable geopolitical position changed frequently. Eventually, the British took complete control in 1814, shortly after the victory over French Emperor
Napoleon . Because the island switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West" after the Greek mythological character,
Helen of Troy .
Representative government was introduced in 1924 with
universal suffrage being established in 1951. From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the
West Indies Federation . On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state, while remaining as a
Commonwealth realm . (
Full article... )
Image 10 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, 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
highly 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... )
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