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. Japan island country in East Asia . Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland , it 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 over 123 million as of 2025, making it the eleventh-most populous country .
The capital of Japan and its largest city is Tokyo ; the Greater Tokyo Area is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. 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 . (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.
Ireland (Irish : Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ⓘ Republic of Ireland Poblacht na hÉireann Northwestern Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland , with a population of about 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Dublin , on the eastern side of the island, with a population of over 1.5 million. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland , which is part of the United Kingdom . It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary , parliamentary republic . The legislature, the Oireachtas lower house , Dáil Éireann upper house , Seanad Éireann president (Uachtarán head of state , but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach lit. ' chief ' ), elected by the Dáil and appointed by the president, who appoints other government ministers.
The Irish Free State was created with Dominion status in 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty . In 1937, a new constitution was adopted, in which the state was named "Ireland" and effectively became a republic, with an elected non-executive president . It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 . Ireland became a member of the United Nations in 1955. It joined the European Communities (EC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU), in 1973. The state had no formal relations with Northern Ireland for most of the 20th century, but the 1980s and 1990s saw the British and Irish governments working with Northern Irish parties to resolve the conflict that had become known as the Troubles . Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and Northern Irish government have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North/South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement. (Full article...
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 Syria , officially the
Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in
West Asia located in the
Eastern Mediterranean and the
Levant . It borders the
Mediterranean Sea to the west,
Turkey to
the north ,
Iraq to
the east and southeast ,
Jordan to
the south , and
Israel and
Lebanon to
the southwest . It is a
republic under
a transitional government and comprises
14 governorates .
Damascus is the capital and largest city. With a population of 25 million across an area of 185,180 square kilometres (71,500 sq mi), it is the
57th-most populous and
87th-largest country.
The name "Syria" historically referred to a
wider region , broadly synonymous with the Levant and known in Arabic as
ash-Sham . The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the
Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Damascus and
Aleppo are cities of great cultural significance. Damascus was the seat of the
Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital for the
Mamluk Sultanate in
Egypt . The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century
after centuries of Ottoman rule , as a
French Mandate . The state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly
Ottoman -ruled Syrian provinces. It gained
de jure independence as a
parliamentary republic in 1945 when the
First Syrian Republic became a founding member of the
United Nations , an act which legally ended the French Mandate. French troops withdrew in April 1946, granting the nation
de facto independence.
The post-independence period was tumultuous, with
multiple coup attempts in the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a
brief union with
Egypt , which was terminated in a
1961 coup d'état . The
1963 coup d'état carried out by the
military committee of the
Ba'ath Party established a
one-party state , which
ran Syria under martial law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles within
Ba'athist factions caused further coups in
1966 and
1970 , the latter of which saw
Hafez al-Assad come to power. Under Assad, Syria became a
hereditary dictatorship , with power consolidated around
his family .
Assad died in 2000, and he was succeeded by his son,
Bashar . (
Full article... )
Image 2 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
semi-exclavic state of
Alaska in the northwest and the
archipelagic state of
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 and
third-largest population , exceeding 340 million. The U.S. also possesses the world's
second-largest exclusive economic zone . 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 to North America across the
Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies.
Spanish exploration and colonization led to the establishment in 1513 of
Spanish Florida , the first European colony in what is now the continental United States. France's colony of
French Florida was destroyed by the Spaniards, and
permanent French colonies were founded much later. Subsequent
British colonization led to the first settlement of the
Thirteen Colonies in
Virginia in 1607. The development of intensive agriculture in the rapidly expanding colonies soon led to the
forced migration of
enslaved Africans . 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 westward across North America , resulting in the dispossession of
native inhabitants . As more states
were admitted , a
North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the
Confederate States of America , which fought
the Union in the 1861–1865
American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States,
slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a
great power , a status 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 struggled 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.
Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while
American values are based on a democratic political tradition that draws its inspiration from the
European Enlightenment movement . (
Full article... )
Image 3 India , officially the
Republic of India , is a country in
South Asia . It is the
seventh-largest country by area ; the
most populous country from June 2023 onwards; and since 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 near
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, predominantly in 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
hymns recorded the dawning of
Hinduism in India. India's pre-existing
Dravidian languages were supplanted in the northern regions. By 400
BCE ,
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 . Widespread creativity suffused this era, but the status of women declined, and
untouchability became an organized belief. In
South India , the
Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian language 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. The resulting
Delhi Sultanate drew northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of mediaeval Islam . In south India, the
Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture. 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. It turned India into a colonial economy but consolidated 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. Noted for nonviolent resistance it 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 . A large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration accompanied the partition. (
Full article... )
Image 4 Greenland is an
autonomous territory in the
Kingdom of Denmark . It is the largest of three constituent parts of the kingdom, the other two being
metropolitan Denmark and the
Faroe Islands ; the citizens of all territories are full
citizens of Denmark . Along with the Faroe Islands, Greenland has a de facto political status of a
constituent country . As Greenland is one of the
Overseas Countries and Territories of the
European Union , citizens of Greenland enjoy the benefits associated with
citizenship of EU Member States . The capital and largest city of Greenland is
Nuuk . Greenland lies between the
Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago . It is the
world's largest island , and is the location of the northernmost point of land in the world—
Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's
northernmost undisputed point of land ;
Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on
aid from
Denmark , amounting to near half of the territory's total public revenue.
Though a part of the continent of
North America , Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with the
European kingdoms of
Norway and
Denmark for more than a millennium, beginning in 986. Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by
circumpolar peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.
Norsemen settled the uninhabited
southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century (having previously
settled Iceland ), and the 13th century saw the arrival of
Inuit .
Since the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese had been trying to discover the northern passage to Asia, culminating in the oldest cartographic representation of its coast. Later in the early 17th century,
Dano-Norwegian explorers reached Greenland again, reestablishing a presence on the island. When
Denmark and
Norway separated in 1814, Greenland was transferred from the Norwegian to the Danish crown, and the former colony was fully integrated into the Danish state in 1953 under the
Constitution of Denmark , which made the people in Greenland citizens of Denmark. In the
1979 Greenlandic home rule referendum , Denmark granted
home rule to Greenland; in the
2008 Greenlandic self-government referendum , Greenlanders voted for the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local
Naalakkersuisut (Greenlandic government). Under this structure, Greenland gradually assumed responsibility for a number of governmental services and areas of competence. Under the 1978 Home Rule Act, Naalakkersuisut has assumed responsibility of 17 out of 17 areas, including tax policies, policies of the
Greenlandic church , fishery, the education system, social policies, and the health care system. Under the 2009 Self-Government Act, Naalakkersuisut has assumed responsibility of 3 out of 33 areas, these are timezone policies, policies regarding raw materials, and working conditions for off-shore work. Due to the Constitution, the Danish government retains control of citizenship, monetary policy, Supreme Court, security policies (including military affairs), and foreign affairs. Most residents of Greenland are Inuit. With the melting of the ice due to
global warming , its abundance of mineral wealth and its strategic position between Europe, North America and the Arctic zone, Greenland is of interest to great powers. Denmark was a founding member of
NATO in 1949, and Greenland thus became part of the
Western Bloc during the
Cold War . The
United States has a NATO military base on the island (
Pituffik Space Base ) under a defense agreement with the Danish government. (
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 , 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. The British Empire was the leading
economic power for most of the 19th century, a position supported by
its agricultural prosperity , its role as a dominant
trading nation , a massive industrial capacity,
significant technological achievements , and the rise of
19th-century London as the world's principal financial centre. 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 South Korea , officially the
Republic of Korea (
ROK ), is a country in
East Asia . It constitutes the southern half of the
Korean Peninsula and borders
North Korea along the
Korean Demilitarized Zone . The country's western border is formed by the
Yellow Sea , while its eastern border is defined by the
Sea of Japan . Like North Korea, South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and
adjacent islands . It has
a population of 51.71 million, of which half live in the
Seoul Metropolitan Area , the
ninth most populous metropolitan area in the world . Other major cities include
Busan ,
Daegu , and
Incheon .
The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the
Lower Paleolithic period.
Its first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BCE. After the unification of the
Three Kingdoms of Korea into
Silla and
Balhae in the late 7th century, Korea was ruled by the
Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the
Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). The succeeding
Korean Empire (1897–1910) was
annexed in 1910 into the
Empire of Japan .
Japanese rule ended following
Japan's surrender in
World War II , after which Korea was
divided into two zones :
a northern zone , which was occupied by the
Soviet Union , and
a southern zone , which was
occupied by the
United States . After negotiations on
reunification failed, the southern zone became the Republic of Korea in August 1948, while the northern zone became the
communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea the following month.
In 1950,
a North Korean invasion began the
Korean War , which ended in 1953 after extensive fighting involving the
American-led United Nations Command and the
People's Volunteer Army from China with
Soviet assistance . The war
left 3 million Koreans dead and the economy in ruins . The authoritarian
First Republic of Korea led by
Syngman Rhee was overthrown in the
April Revolution of 1960. However, the
Second Republic failed to control the revolutionary fervor. The
May 16 coup of 1961 led by
Park Chung Hee put an end to the Second Republic, signaling the start of the
Third Republic in 1963. South Korea's devastated economy
began to soar under Park's leadership, recording
one of the fastest rises in average GDP per capita . Despite lacking natural resources, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the
Four Asian Tigers based on international trade and
economic globalization , integrating itself within the world economy with
export-oriented industrialization . The
Fourth Republic was established after the
October Restoration of 1972, in which Park wielded absolute power. The
Yushin Constitution declared that the president could suspend basic
human rights and appoint a third of the parliament. Suppression of the opposition and human rights abuse by the government became more severe in this period. Even after
Park's assassination in 1979, the authoritarian rule continued in the
Fifth Republic led by
Chun Doo-hwan , which violently seized power by two coups and brutally suppressed the
Gwangju Uprising . The
June Democratic Struggle of 1987
ended authoritarian rule , forming the current Sixth Republic. The country is now considered among the
most advanced democracies in continental and East Asia. (
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 land area, extending across
eleven time zones and sharing
land borders with fourteen countries . Russia is the
ninth-most populous country in the world and the
most populous country in Europe . It is a highly urbanised country, with sixteen of its population centres having more than 1 million inhabitants. Russia's capital and
largest city is
Moscow , while
Saint Petersburg is its second-largest city and
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. The latter 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 Gross domestic product (GDP) is the
market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official
exchange rates . Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the
cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's
currency . Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made based on
purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. Other metrics,
nominal GDP per capita and a corresponding
GDP (PPP) per capita are used for comparing national
standard of living . On the whole, PPP per capita figures are less spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.
The
rankings of national economies over time have changed considerably; the
economy of the United States surpassed the
British Empire's output around 1916, which in turn had surpassed the
economy of the Qing dynasty in aggregate output decades earlier. Since
China's transition to a socialist market economy through controlled privatisation and deregulation, the country has seen its ranking increase from ninth in 1978, to second in 2010; China's economic growth accelerated during this period and its share of global nominal GDP surged from 2% in 1980 to 18% in 2021. Among others, India has also experienced an economic boom since the implementation of
economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. (
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
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 across an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), making it 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 2nd millennium BCE, the earliest
dynastic states had emerged in the
Yellow River basin. The 8th–3rd 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 Qing China on the decline, the
1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and the monarchy and the
Republic of China (ROC) was established 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 CCP and KMT formed the
Second United Front to fight the Japanese. The
Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, the CCP and the KMT resumed their civil war as soon as the war ended. 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. A movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the
Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. (
Full article... )
Image 10 Canada is a country in
North America . Its
ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's
second-largest country by total area , with the
world's longest coastline . Its
border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both
meteorologic and
geological regions. With a
population of just over 41
million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in
urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is
Ottawa and
its three largest metropolitan areas are
Toronto ,
Montreal , and
Vancouver .
Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century,
British and
French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of
various armed conflicts , France
ceded nearly all of
its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three
British North American colonies through
Confederation , Canada was formed as a
federal dominion of four provinces. This began an
accretion of provinces and territories resulting in the
displacement of Indigenous populations , and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This increased sovereignty was highlighted by the
Statute of Westminster, 1931 , and culminated in the
Canada Act 1982 , which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the
Parliament of the United Kingdom .
Canada is a
parliamentary democracy and a
constitutional monarchy in the
Westminster tradition . The country's
head of government is the
prime minister , who holds office by virtue of their ability to
command the confidence of the elected
House of Commons and is appointed by the
governor general , representing the
monarch of Canada , the ceremonial
head of state . The country is a
Commonwealth realm and is
officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is
very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and human rights. It is one of the world's most
ethnically diverse and
multicultural nations, the product of
large-scale immigration . Canada's long and complex
relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on
its history ,
economy , and
culture . (
Full article... )
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