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 called countries.
The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and has 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. India Republic of India (ISO : Bhārat Gaṇarājya South Asia . It is the seventh-largest country by area ; the most populous country as of 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 .
Between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE , Indo-Aryans migrated into India from the northwest, bringing with them Sanskrit , an Indo-European language . Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda 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 . (
Full article... )
List of Recognized articles
A national coat of arms independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement . While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally considered a symbol of the government or (especially in monarchies) the head of state personally and tends to be used in print, on armorial ware , and as a wall decoration in official buildings. The royal arms of a monarchy, which may be identical to the national arms, are sometimes described as arms of dominion or arms of sovereignty.
An important use for national coats of arms is as the main symbol on the covers of
passports , the document used internationally to prove the citizenship of a person. Another use for national coats of arms is as a symbol on
coins of the associated state for general circulation. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles to understand countries
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.
Niger the Niger , officially the Republic of the Niger , is a country in West Africa . It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast , Chad to the east , Nigeria to the south , Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest , Mali to the west , and Algeria to the northwest . It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa and the second largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara . Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million0 lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's southwest corner.
Following the spread of Islam to the region, Niger was on the fringes of some states, including the
Kanem–Bornu Empire and the
Mali Empire before more significant parts of its territory became included in states such as the
Sultanate of Agadez and the
Songhai Empire . It was colonized by France during the
Scramble for Africa as part of
French West Africa , becoming a
distinct colony in 1922. Since obtaining independence in 1960, Niger has experienced five coups d'état and four periods of
military rule . Niger's seventh and most recent constitution was enacted in 2010, establishing a multiparty, unitary semi-presidential system. Following the most recent
coup in 2023 , the country is once again under a
military junta . (
Full article... )
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 The
United States of America (
USA or
U.S.A. ), commonly known as the
United States (
US or
U.S. ) or
America , is a country primarily located in
North America . It is
a federation of 50
states , which also includes
a federal capital district (
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 is non-contiguous and lies to the northwest, while the
State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. Outside the union of states, the U.S. also asserts sovereignty over five major
unincorporated 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
Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the country continued to
expand across North America . As more
states were admitted , 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 .
The
U.S. national government is a
presidential constitutional 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 given to states and several territories , 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 as of 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 .
Between 2000
BCE and 1500
BCE ,
Indo-Aryans migrated into India from the northwest, bringing with them
Sanskrit , an
Indo-European language . 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 Georgia (
Georgian :
საქართველო ,
romanized :sakartvelo ,
IPA: [sakʰartʰʷelo] ⓘ ) is a
transcontinental country in
Eastern Europe and
West Asia . It is part of the
Caucasus region, bounded by the
Black Sea to the west,
Russia to the north and northeast,
Turkey to the southwest,
Armenia to the south, and
Azerbaijan to the southeast. Georgia covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi). It has a
population of 3.7 million, of which over a third live in the capital and
largest city ,
Tbilisi .
Georgians , who are native to the region, constitute a majority of the country's population and are its
titular nation .
Georgia has been inhabited since
prehistory , hosting the world's earliest known sites of
winemaking , gold mining, and textiles. The
classical era saw the emergence of several kingdoms, such as
Colchis and
Iberia , that formed the nucleus of the modern Georgian state. In the early fourth century,
Georgians officially
adopted Christianity , which contributed to the
unification into the
Kingdom of Georgia . Georgia reached
its Golden Age during the
High Middle Ages under the reigns of King
David IV and Queen
Tamar . Beginning in the 15th century, the kingdom declined and
disintegrated under pressure from various regional powers, including the
Mongols , the
Ottoman Empire , and
Persia , before being
gradually annexed into the
Russian Empire starting in 1801.
After the
Russian Revolution in 1917, Georgia briefly emerged as
an independent republic under
German protection , but was
invaded and annexed by the
Soviet Union in 1922, becoming
one of its
constituent republics . In the 1980s, an independence movement grew quickly, leading to
Georgia's secession from the Soviet Union in April 1991. For much of the
subsequent decade , the country endured economic crises,
political instability , and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Following the peaceful
Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued a
pro-Western foreign policy, introducing a series of
democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the
European Union and
NATO . This Western orientation led to
worsening relations with Russia , culminating in the
Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and continued Russian occupation of
parts of Georgia . (
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 . 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 total area of the United Kingdom is 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
2 ), with an estimated population of nearly 67.6 million people in 2022.
In 1707, the
Kingdom of England (which included
Wales ) 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 name, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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. British influence can be observed in the legal and political systems of many of
its former colonies , and
British culture remains globally influential, particularly
in language ,
literature ,
music and
sport .
English is the world's
most widely spoken language and the
third-most spoken native language . (
Full article... )
Image 5 Albania (
a(w)l-BAY -nee-ə ;
Albanian :
Shqipëri or
Shqipëria ), officially the
Republic of Albania (Albanian:
Republika e Shqipërisë ), is a country in
Southeast Europe . It is in the
Balkans , on the
Adriatic and
Ionian Seas within the
Mediterranean Sea , and shares
land borders with
Montenegro to the northwest,
Kosovo to the northeast,
North Macedonia to the east and
Greece to the south. With an area of 28,748 km
2 (11,100 sq mi), it has a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. Albania's landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the
Albanian Alps and the
Korab ,
Skanderbeg ,
Pindus and
Ceraunian Mountains , to fertile lowland plains extending from the
Adriatic and
Ionian seacoasts.
Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by
Durrës ,
Vlorë , and
Shkodër .
In ancient times, the
Illyrians inhabited northern and central regions of Albania, whilst
Epirotes inhabited the south. Several important ancient
Greek colonies were also established on the coast. The
Illyrian kingdom centered in what is now Albania was the dominant power before the
Rise of Macedon . In the 2nd century BC, the
Roman Republic annexed the region, and after the division of the
Roman Empire it became part of
Byzantium . The first known
Albanian autonomous principality,
Arbanon , was established in the 12th century. The
Kingdom of Albania ,
Principality of Albania and
Albania Veneta were formed between the 13th and 15th centuries in different parts of the country, alongside other Albanian principalities and political entities. In the late 15th century, Albania
became part of the
Ottoman Empire . In 1912, the modern Albanian state
declared independence . In 1939,
Italy invaded the
Kingdom of Albania , which became
Greater Albania , and then a
protectorate of
Nazi Germany during
World War II . After the war, the
People's Socialist Republic of Albania was formed, which lasted until the
Revolutions of 1991 concluded with the
fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania.
Since its independence in 1912, Albania has undergone a diverse political evolution, transitioning from a
monarchy to a
communist regime before becoming a
sovereign parliamentary constitutional republic . Governed by a
constitution prioritizing the separation of powers, the country's political structure includes a
parliament , a ceremonial
president , a functional
prime minister and a hierarchy of courts. Albania is a
developing country with an
upper-middle income economy driven by the service sector, with manufacturing and
tourism also playing significant roles. After the dissolution of its communist system the country shifted from
centralized planning to an
open market economy . Albanian citizens benefit from
universal health care access and free primary and secondary education. (
Full article... )
Image 6 The
Czech Republic , also known as
Czechia , is a
landlocked country in
Central Europe . Historically known as
Bohemia , it is bordered by
Austria to the south,
Germany to the west,
Poland to the northeast, and
Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate
continental and
oceanic climate . The capital and largest city is
Prague ; other major cities and urban areas include
Brno ,
Ostrava ,
Plzeň and
Liberec .
The
Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under
Great Moravia . It was formally recognized as an
Imperial State of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became
a kingdom in 1198. Following the
Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the
Crown lands of Bohemia were gradually integrated into the
Habsburg monarchy . Nearly a hundred years later, the
Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the
Thirty Years' War . After the
Battle of White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the
Austrian Empire .
In the 19th century, the
Czech lands became more industrialized, and in 1918 most of it became part of the
First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of
Austria-Hungary after
World War I . Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a
parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the
interwar period . After the
Munich Agreement in 1938,
Nazi Germany systematically
took control over the Czech lands.
Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an
Eastern Bloc communist state following a
coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a
Soviet -led invasion of the country during the
Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the
Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored
democracy . On 31 December 1992,
Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved , with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. (
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 as well as
its 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 . Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the
Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to become the
Tsardom of Russia . 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 independent 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
annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring
Ukraine , followed by the further annexation of
four other regions in 2022 during
an ongoing invasion . (
Full article... )
Image 8 Germany , officially the
Federal Republic of Germany (
FRG ), is a country in
Central Europe . It lies between the
Baltic and
North Sea to the north and the
Alps to the south. Its 16
constituent states have a total population of over 84 million in an area of 357,600 km
2 (138,100 sq mi), making it the most populous
member state of the European Union . It borders
Denmark to the north,
Poland and
Czechia to the east,
Austria and
Switzerland to the south, and
France ,
Luxembourg ,
Belgium , and the
Netherlands to the west. The
nation's capital and
most populous city is
Berlin and its main financial centre is
Frankfurt ; the largest urban area is the
Ruhr .
Settlement in what is now Germany began in the
Lower Paleolithic , with various tribes inhabiting it from the
Neolithic onward, chiefly the
Celts . Various
Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since
classical antiquity . A region named
Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the
Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the
Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century,
northern German regions became the centre of the
Protestant Reformation . Following the
Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the
German Confederation was formed in 1815.
Formal
unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with the
North German Confederation Treaty establishing the
Prussia -led
North German Confederation later transformed in 1871 into the
German Empire . After
World War I and the
German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Empire was in turn transformed into the
Weimar Republic . The
Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to the establishment of
a totalitarian dictatorship ,
World War II , and
the Holocaust . After the
end of World War II in Europe and
a period of Allied occupation , in 1949,
Germany as a whole was organized into two separate polities with limited sovereignty: the Federal Republic of Germany, generally known as
West Germany , and the German Democratic Republic, known as
East Germany , while Berlin continued its
de jure Four Power status . The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the
European Economic Community and the
European Union , while the German Democratic Republic was a communist
Eastern Bloc state and member of the
Warsaw Pact . After
the fall of the
communist led-government in East Germany,
German reunification saw the
former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on
3 October 1990 . (
Full article... )
Image 9 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
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 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 10 Turkey , officially the
Republic of Türkiye , is a country mainly in
Anatolia in
West Asia , with a smaller part called
East Thrace in
Southeast Europe . It borders the
Black Sea to the north;
Georgia ,
Armenia ,
Azerbaijan , and
Iran to the east;
Iraq ,
Syria , and the
Mediterranean Sea (and
Cyprus ) to the south; and the
Aegean Sea ,
Greece , and
Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic
Turks , while ethnic
Kurds are the
largest ethnic minority . Officially
a secular state , Turkey has
a Muslim-majority population.
Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city.
Istanbul is its largest city, and its economic and financial center, as well as the
largest city in Europe . Other major cities include
İzmir ,
Bursa and
Antalya .
Human habitation began in the
Late Paleolithic . Home to important
Neolithic sites like
Göbekli Tepe and some of the
earliest farming areas , present-day Turkey was inhabited by
various ancient peoples .
Hattians were assimilated by the
Anatolian peoples .
Classical Anatolia transitioned into cultural
Hellenization following the conquests of
Alexander the Great ; Hellenization continued during the
Roman and
Byzantine eras. The
Seljuk Turks began migrating into Anatolia in the 11th century, starting the
Turkification process. The Seljuk
Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the
Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into
Turkish principalities . Beginning in 1299, the
Ottomans united the principalities and
expanded ;
Mehmed II conquered
Istanbul in 1453 . During the reigns of
Selim I and
Suleiman the Magnificent , the Ottoman Empire
became a global power . From 1789 onwards, the empire saw major transformation,
reforms , and centralization while
its territory declined .
In the 19th and early 20th centuries,
persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and
in the Russian Empire resulted in large-scale loss of life and
mass migration into modern-day Turkey from the
Balkans ,
Caucasus , and
Crimea . Under the control of the
Three Pashas , the Ottoman Empire
entered World War I in 1914, during which the Ottoman government committed
genocides against its
Armenian ,
Greek and
Assyrian subjects. Following Ottoman defeat, the
Turkish War of Independence resulted in the
abolition of the sultanate and the signing of the
Treaty of Lausanne . The Republic
was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, modelled on the
reforms initiated by the country's first president,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . Turkey
remained neutral during most of World War II , but was involved in the
Korean War . Coups
in 1960 and
1980 interrupted the transition to a multi-party system. (
Full article... )
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