Countries6 min read
The 10 Smallest Countries in the World
From Vatican City to Malta, discover the world's tiniest sovereign nations and the surprising stories behind their micro-sized borders.
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Geography Blog
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One Article at a Time
Countries, capitals, flags, world records, and geography facts. Written to spark curiosity.
History5 min read
Countries With the Most UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Italy leads the world with 58 designated sites. Discover which countries have the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites and what makes them exceptional.
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Capitals5 min read
Why Do Some Countries Have Two Capital Cities?
South Africa has three capitals. Bolivia has two. The Netherlands holds Parliament in a different city from its official capital. Here's why.
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Countries6 min read
The 10 Largest Countries in the World by Area
Russia is nearly twice the size of Canada. The 10 biggest nations together cover roughly half of all land on Earth. Here's the full breakdown.
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Facts7 min read
15 Geography Facts That Will Surprise You
Australia is wider than the Moon. France has more time zones than Russia. Africa spans all four hemispheres. These are the geography facts that change how you see the world.
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Countries8 min read
Landlocked Countries: A Complete Guide
There are 44 landlocked countries in the world. Two of them are doubly landlocked. One has a navy despite having no coast. Here's everything you need to know.
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Countries5 min read
How Many Countries Are There in the World?
The answer depends on who you ask. The UN recognizes 193 member states, but the real count is more complicated than that.
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Facts5 min read
The 10 Most Visited Countries in the World
France tops the list with over 90 million tourists a year. Here are the countries that attract the most visitors and what draws people there.
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History7 min read
Countries That No Longer Exist
The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the Ottoman Empire. History is full of countries that once dominated maps and then vanished. Here is what happened to them.
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Landscapes6 min read
The 10 Highest Mountains in the World
All 10 of the world's highest peaks are in Asia. Nine of them are in the Himalayas. Here is the full ranking with the stories behind each summit.
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Facts6 min read
The Most Spoken Languages in the World
English is the most spoken language by total speakers. Mandarin has the most native speakers. Here is the full picture of language distribution across the globe.
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Countries6 min read
The Most Densely Populated Countries in the World
Monaco packs 26,000 people into 2 km². Bangladesh has more people than Russia but is 118 times smaller. Here are the world's most crowded nations.
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Capitals6 min read
Capital Cities That Were Built From Scratch
Brasília, Canberra, Naypyidaw, Astana. Some capitals were designed and built entirely from nothing. Here is why countries sometimes start from a blank page.
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Landscapes6 min read
The 10 Longest Rivers in the World
The Nile or the Amazon? Scientists still debate which is longer. Here is the full ranking of Earth's longest rivers and the civilizations they shaped.
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History6 min read
The Newest Countries in the World
South Sudan became independent in 2011. Kosovo in 2008. East Timor in 2002. Here are the world's youngest nations and the stories behind their independence.
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Flags5 min read
The Most Unusual National Flags in the World
One flag has a weapon on it. One is the only non-rectangular flag in the world. One features a tree. Here are the flags that break all the rules.
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History6 min read
The Oldest Countries in the World
San Marino claims to be the world's oldest republic. Japan's imperial line stretches back over 2,600 years. Defining the oldest country is harder than it sounds.
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Countries6 min read
Which Country Has the Most Neighboring Countries?
China and Russia are tied for first place, each sharing a land border with 14 other countries. Here's the full list of neighbors for both, and the countries that come close.
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Facts7 min read
Which Countries Drive on the Left Side of the Road?
About 75 countries and territories drive on the left, roughly a third of the world. Nearly all of them trace the rule back to the British Empire. Here's the full list by region.
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Facts6 min read
Which Country Has the Most Time Zones? (It's Not Russia)
Russia spans 11 time zones, but France holds the record with 12, thanks to its scattered overseas territories. China, meanwhile, officially uses just one.
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Countries7 min read
Which Countries Have No Military? The Full List of Nations Without an Army
Around 20 countries, from Costa Rica to Iceland to Vatican City, maintain no standing army. Some abolished theirs by choice; others rely on treaties with larger allies.
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Facts6 min read
Which Countries Use the US Dollar as Their Official Currency?
Ecuador, El Salvador, and East Timor all officially replaced their national currency with the US dollar. Here's every country that has fully dollarized, and why.
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Countries6 min read
How Many Countries Are on Each Continent?
Africa has the most, with 54. Here's the full country count for every continent, and why the numbers don't always add up the way you'd expect.
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Borders6 min read
Why Does Gambia Have Such a Strange Shape?
The Gambia is a thin ribbon of land, barely 50 km wide, that follows a single river and sits almost entirely inside Senegal. The reason traces back to 19th-century colonial rivalry between Britain and France.
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Borders6 min read
Why Is Lesotho Completely Surrounded by South Africa?
Lesotho is one of only three countries in the world entirely enclosed within another. Its borders exist because a 19th-century king asked for British protection rather than face conquest by Boer settlers.
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Borders6 min read
Why Is Kaliningrad Separated From the Rest of Russia?
Kaliningrad is a piece of Russian territory on the Baltic Sea, wedged between Poland and Lithuania, hundreds of kilometers from the Russian mainland. It's a leftover of World War II border changes.
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Borders6 min read
Why Is Baarle Split Between Belgium and the Netherlands?
The town of Baarle is a patchwork of more than 20 Belgian parcels scattered inside the Netherlands, some barely bigger than a house. The border dates back to medieval land deals, and it still runs through living rooms today.
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Countries6 min read
Why Is Chile So Long and Narrow?
Chile stretches more than 4,300 km from north to south but averages only about 180 km wide. The shape comes from being squeezed between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
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Countries6 min read
Why Is Bolivia Landlocked?
Bolivia wasn't always landlocked. It lost its entire Pacific coastline to Chile in a 19th-century war over nitrate mining rights, and the loss still shapes its politics today.
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Facts6 min read
How Big Is Greenland Really? (It's Smaller Than You Think)
On most world maps, Greenland looks about as big as Africa. In reality, Africa is roughly 14 times larger. It's one of the most famous map distortions in geography.
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History7 min read
What Countries Were Part of the Soviet Union?
The USSR was made up of 15 Soviet republics before it dissolved in 1991. All of them are now fully independent countries, from the Baltic states to Central Asia.
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Landscapes5 min read
What Country Is Mount Everest In?
Mount Everest sits exactly on the border between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China. Its summit is one of the few points on Earth where two countries meet at the top of the world.
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Capitals6 min read
Why Isn't Istanbul the Capital of Turkey?
Istanbul is Turkey's largest city and its historic imperial capital, but Ankara has been the official capital since 1923. The switch was a deliberate break from the Ottoman past.
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