Countries

Afghanistan

A rugged crossroads of empires at the heart of Asia

Albania

A rugged Balkan coast of mountains, beaches, and ancient stone towns

Algeria

Africa's largest country, where the Sahara meets the Mediterranean

Andorra

A tiny Pyrenean principality of ski slopes and duty-free valleys

Angola

Atlantic oil power on the edge of the Kalahari

Antigua and Barbuda

A twin-island nation famed for 365 beaches

Argentina

From Patagonia's ice to the pampas and the Andes

Armenia

An ancient Christian nation in the highlands of the Caucasus

Australia

An island continent of desert, reef, and coast

Austria

An Alpine republic at the heart of old Europe

Azerbaijan

Land of fire on the Caspian shore

Bahamas

An archipelago of cays and shallow turquoise seas

Bahrain

A pearl-diving archipelago in the Persian Gulf

Bangladesh

A densely populated delta nation at the mouths of the Ganges and Brahmaputra

Barbados

The easternmost Caribbean isle, coral-built and outward-looking

Belarus

A landlocked heart of Eastern Europe, forest and marsh between giants

Belgium

The compact, bilingual capital of the European project

Belize

A jungle-and-reef nation where Maya ruins meet the Caribbean

Benin

Birthplace of Vodun and heir to the Kingdom of Dahomey

Bhutan

A Himalayan kingdom that measures success in Gross National Happiness

Bolivia

The high heart of South America

Bosnia and Herzegovina

A mountainous Balkan crossroads of three peoples and the Ottoman legacy

Botswana

Diamonds, the Kalahari, and the watery miracle of the Okavango

Brazil

South America's giant, from the Amazon to the Atlantic

Brunei

An oil-rich sultanate on the rainforest coast of Borneo

Bulgaria

Mountains, the Black Sea, and the oldest state name in Europe

Burkina Faso

The land of upright people at the heart of the Sahel

Burundi

A green, crowded heart in Africa's Great Lakes

Cambodia

The land of Angkor on the Mekong floodplain

Cameroon

Africa in miniature, from rainforest to Sahel

Canada

The world's second-largest country, from Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic

Cape Verde

A volcanic island nation adrift in the Atlantic

Central African Republic

A landlocked heart of the continent, rich in resources, scarred by conflict

Chad

A Saharan crossroads anchored by a vanishing lake

Chile

A ribbon of land between the Andes and the Pacific

China

The world's most populous nation reborn as an economic superpower

Colombia

Where the Andes meet two oceans

Comoros

A volcanic archipelago at the mouth of the Mozambique Channel

Costa Rica

A green republic of volcanoes, cloud forest, and two coasts

Côte d'Ivoire

West Africa's economic powerhouse and the world's cocoa giant

Croatia

A crescent of Adriatic coastline, a thousand islands, and walled stone cities

Cuba

The largest Caribbean island, layered in history and music

Cyprus

A divided island at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean

Czechia

The landlocked heart of Central Europe, crowned by Bohemia and Moravia

Democratic Republic of the Congo

A continent-sized country at the green heart of Africa

Denmark

A flat, sea-girt kingdom that anchors Scandinavia to the continent

Djibouti

A strategic furnace at the gate of the Red Sea

Dominica

The wild Nature Isle of the Caribbean

Dominican Republic

Hispaniola's larger half, with the Caribbean's highest peak

Ecuador

The equator, the Andes, and the Galápagos

Egypt

The gift of the Nile and a bridge between Africa and Asia

El Salvador

Central America's smallest, most densely settled volcanic land

Equatorial Guinea

Central Africa's Spanish-speaking oil enclave

Eritrea

A Red Sea highland with a reputation for solitude

Estonia

The digital pioneer of the Baltic, half land and half forest

Eswatini

Africa's last absolute monarchy in the highveld hills

Ethiopia

The ancient highland heart of the Horn of Africa

Federated States of Micronesia

Four island states across the western Pacific

Fiji

The crossroads of the South Pacific

Finland

The land of a thousand lakes and the long northern light

France

Europe's most-visited nation, from the Atlantic to the Alps

Gabon

An equatorial nation that turned rainforest into national parks

Georgia

A mountain crossroads between Europe and Asia

Germany

Europe's economic engine at the continent's crossroads

Ghana

The Gold Coast and West Africa's beacon of democracy

Greece

The cradle of Western civilization, scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas

Grenada

The Spice Isle of nutmeg, rainforest, and reefs

Guatemala

The Maya heartland of highland volcanoes and rainforest

Guinea

The water tower of West Africa, rich in bauxite

Guinea-Bissau

A maze of mangrove coast and the Bijagós Islands

Guyana

The English-speaking corner of South America

Haiti

The first Black republic, born of revolution

Honduras

A mountainous land between two seas and ancient Copan

Hungary

The Magyar plain, the Danube, and a language like no other in Europe

Iceland

A volcanic island riding the mid-Atlantic rift

India

The world's most populous nation and largest democracy

Indonesia

The world's largest archipelago, spanning two oceans

Iran

An ancient Persian civilization on a high desert plateau

Iraq

Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers

Ireland

The Emerald Isle, green, Atlantic, and famously diasporic

Israel

A small, contested homeland on the eastern Mediterranean

Italy

A boot-shaped peninsula of art, food, and the legacy of Rome

Jamaica

The cultural powerhouse of reggae and the Blue Mountains

Japan

An archipelago empire of volcanoes, technology, and deep tradition

Jordan

A desert kingdom of Petra and the Jordan Valley

Kazakhstan

The world's largest landlocked country, a steppe nation astride two continents

Kenya

Savanna, summit, and the cradle of the safari

Kiribati

Astride the equator and the date line

Kuwait

A small, oil-rich state at the head of the Persian Gulf

Kyrgyzstan

A mountain republic of the Tian Shan, where alpine lakes meet nomad tradition

Laos

Landlocked, mountainous heart of the Mekong

Latvia

The Baltic middle land of forests, rivers, and Art Nouveau

Lebanon

Mountains and Mediterranean, a mosaic of faiths

Lesotho

The mountain kingdom in the sky, surrounded by South Africa

Liberia

Africa's oldest republic, founded by freed slaves

Libya

A vast desert nation on the Mediterranean's southern shore

Liechtenstein

A tiny Alpine principality between Switzerland and Austria

Lithuania

The largest Baltic state, once a sprawling medieval empire

Luxembourg

A small grand duchy with vast financial reach

Madagascar

A continent of its own off the African coast

Malawi

The warm heart of Africa beside a great lake

Malaysia

Two coasts of a peninsula and a slice of Borneo

Maldives

A scattering of low coral atolls in the Indian Ocean

Mali

Heir to Timbuktu and the great empires of the Niger

Malta

A sun-baked archipelago fortress at the heart of the Mediterranean

Marshall Islands

Coral atolls between Hawaii and the Philippines

Mauritania

A Saharan bridge between Arab North and Black West Africa

Mauritius

A multicultural island where the dodo once walked

Mexico

Where ancient civilizations and a modern powerhouse meet

Moldova

A landlocked country of vineyards between the Prut and the Dniester

Monaco

A glittering city-state on the French Riviera

Mongolia

The land of Genghis Khan, vast steppe and the Gobi Desert

Montenegro

A small Adriatic land of black mountains and a fjord-like bay

Morocco

Where the Atlas Mountains meet the Atlantic and the Sahara

Mozambique

A long Indian Ocean coast steeped in Swahili and Portuguese worlds

Myanmar

A land of pagodas and rivers between India and China

Namibia

Where the world's oldest desert meets the Atlantic

Nauru

The world's smallest island republic

Nepal

The roof of the world, home to Everest and the high Himalaya

Netherlands

A low country reclaimed from the sea, dense and inventive

New Zealand

Two islands of mountains, fjords, and Maori heritage

Nicaragua

The land of lakes and volcanoes at the isthmus's heart

Niger

A Sahelian land of uranium and the southern Sahara

Nigeria

Africa's most populous nation and cultural superpower

North Korea

The world's most isolated state on the northern half of the Korean peninsula

North Macedonia

A landlocked Balkan land of lakes, mountains, and ancient crossroads

Norway

The land of fjords, oil wealth, and the far northern frontier

Oman

Frankincense coast and mountains at Arabia's edge

Pakistan

A populous South Asian nation from the Indus plains to the Karakoram

Palau

Limestone islands and a sea of jellyfish

Palestine

A contested homeland of the West Bank and Gaza

Panama

The narrow isthmus where a canal joins two oceans

Papua New Guinea

A land of a thousand languages

Paraguay

A bilingual, landlocked heartland

Peru

Heartland of the Inca, gateway to the Amazon

Philippines

An archipelago of seven thousand islands in the Pacific

Poland

From the Baltic dunes to the Tatra peaks, the keystone of Central Europe

Portugal

Europe's Atlantic edge, from port wine valleys to ocean-going history

Qatar

A tiny peninsula with outsized wealth and ambition

Republic of the Congo

Brazzaville's oil republic on the great river's northern bank

Romania

The Carpathian arc, the Danube delta, and a Latin island in a Slavic sea

Russia

The largest country on Earth, spanning Europe and Asia across eleven time zones

Rwanda

The land of a thousand hills, remade after catastrophe

Saint Kitts and Nevis

The smallest sovereign state in the Americas

Saint Lucia

Home of the soaring twin Pitons

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

A volcanic main isle scattered into a yachting paradise

Samoa

The heart of Polynesia

San Marino

The world's oldest republic, perched on a single mountain in Italy

Sao Tome and Principe

Volcanic islands of chocolate and cloud forest

Saudi Arabia

The desert kingdom and birthplace of Islam

Senegal

The westernmost tip of Africa and a Sahelian democracy

Serbia

A landlocked Balkan crossroads on the Danube, between empires and eras

Seychelles

A scattering of granite and coral in the open Indian Ocean

Sierra Leone

Lion mountains, diamonds, and a freed-slave legacy

Singapore

A global city-state at the tip of the Malay Peninsula

Slovakia

A landlocked Carpathian country of castles, caves, and high Tatra peaks

Slovenia

Where the Alps meet the Adriatic in a small, green, mountainous land

Solomon Islands

A Melanesian archipelago of forest and reef

Somalia

The Horn of Africa, where land meets two seas

South Africa

The rainbow nation at the continent's southern tip

South Korea

A technological powerhouse and cultural exporter on the southern peninsula

South Sudan

The world's youngest nation, born of the Nile and long war

Spain

The heart of Iberia, from Moorish palaces to sun-soaked coasts

Sri Lanka

A teardrop island of tea, temples, and tropical biodiversity

Sudan

Land of the two Niles, where Arab and African Africa meet

Suriname

A small, forested mosaic of cultures

Sweden

Scandinavia's largest nation, of forest, lakes, and design

Switzerland

An Alpine confederation of neutrality, banks, and peaks

Syria

An ancient Levantine crossroads remade by war

Tajikistan

The roof of Central Asia, a Persian-speaking land of the Pamir Mountains

Tanzania

Roof of Africa, cradle of safari, and the Swahili shore

Thailand

The never-colonized kingdom at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia

The Gambia

A river country threaded through the heart of Senegal

Timor-Leste

Southeast Asia's youngest nation, on a divided island

Togo

A slender sliver from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel

Tonga

The last Polynesian kingdom

Trinidad and Tobago

The oil-rich southern islands, birthplace of Carnival and steelpan

Tunisia

The compact crossroads of the Mediterranean and the Sahara

Turkey

A transcontinental bridge between Europe and Asia

Turkmenistan

A desert nation of vast gas reserves and a famously sealed society

Tuvalu

A low-lying nation on the front line of climate change

Uganda

The pearl of Africa at the source of the Nile

Ukraine

Europe's breadbasket of black-earth steppe, the Dnieper, and the Black Sea

United Arab Emirates

A federation of desert emirates turned global hub

United Kingdom

An island union whose reach once spanned the globe

United States

A continental superpower of fifty states and astonishing variety

Uruguay

A small, stable land of grass and coast

Uzbekistan

The Silk Road heartland, home to Samarkand and Bukhara

Vanuatu

A volcanic chain in the southwest Pacific

Vatican City

The world's smallest country, sovereign seat of the Catholic Church

Venezuela

Oil, the Orinoco, and the world's highest waterfall

Vietnam

An S-shaped coast from the Red River to the Mekong Delta

Yemen

Arabia Felix, a land of high mountains and deep crisis

Zambia

Copper, the Zambezi, and the thundering smoke of Victoria Falls

Zimbabwe

Stone cities, the Zambezi, and a land of dramatic reinvention