99 Fun Facts About Countries of the World

What is the capital city of Japan?

Tokyo became the capital when Emperor Meiji moved his court there from Kyoto in 1868; the Greater Tokyo Area is home to roughly 37 million people.

Which country overtook its neighbour in 2023 to become the world's most populous?

India passed China in 2023 with over 1.4 billion people, ending a run at the top that China had held for decades.

Which island country was known as Ceylon until 1972?

Sri Lanka gained independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948 and took its present name when it became a republic in 1972.

What is the official currency of the United Kingdom?

The pound sterling, with roots in Anglo-Saxon England, is the UK's currency; Britain kept it rather than adopting the euro when the single currency launched in 1999.

Angel Falls, the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, is in which country?

Angel Falls in Venezuela drops 979 metres from Auyán-tepui; it is named after US aviator Jimmie Angel, who crash-landed his plane on the tepui's summit in 1937.

What is the capital city of Australia?

Canberra is the capital of Australia. It was purpose-built as the capital in the early 20th century to resolve a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.

Whose flag carries a green cedar tree between two red stripes?

Lebanon's flag shows a green cedar, the country's emblem since antiquity, on a white band between two red stripes; the design was adopted in 1943.

The temple complex of Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, is in which country?

Angkor Wat was built in Cambodia in the 12th century under the Khmer king Suryavarman II and appears on the country's national flag.

The ancient trading city of Timbuktu is in which modern country?

Mali's Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic scholarship in the 14th century, and its name became a byword in English for somewhere impossibly remote.

What is the official language of Brazil?

It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, a legacy of colonisation that began in 1500.

Reykjavík, the world's northernmost national capital, is the capital of which country?

Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, sits at about 64°08′ N; Nuuk in Greenland lies slightly further north, but Greenland is a Danish territory rather than a sovereign state.

What is the smallest country in the world by area?

Vatican City covers about 0.44 square kilometres as an enclave inside Rome and is also the world's least populous state, with well under 1,000 residents.

Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?

Ethiopia was long called Abyssinia in the West, a name derived from the Arabic al-Habasha; apart from Italy's 1936–41 occupation it was never colonised.

Which city, on the Ontario side of the river opposite Gatineau, is the Canadian capital?

Ottawa, on the Ontario bank of the Ottawa River facing Gatineau, Quebec, was chosen as capital by Queen Victoria in 1857; Toronto is merely the largest city.

Easter Island, famous for its moai statues, is a territory of which country?

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was annexed by Chile in 1888 and lies about 3,500 km west of the Chilean mainland; its nearest inhabited neighbour, Pitcairn Island, is over 2,000 km away.

Which country's flag is the only national flag that is not rectangular?

Nepal's flag consists of two stacked triangles, making it the only national flag in the world that is not rectangular or square.

What currency is used in Japan?

The yen was adopted as Japan's currency by the New Currency Act of 1871 and is one of the world's most traded currencies, alongside the US dollar and the euro.

Which Central American country abolished its army in 1948 and never brought it back?

Costa Rica's junta leader José Figueres abolished the army in December 1948, and Article 12 of the 1949 constitution made the abolition permanent.

Which Caribbean island nation is named after a virgin martyr of Syracuse?

Saint Lucia is named after Lucy of Syracuse, martyred in 304; legend says shipwrecked French sailors landed there on her feast day, 13 December.

What is the capital of South Korea?

Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea, home to about half of the country's population in its greater metropolitan area.

Which country produces the most cocoa beans in the world?

Ivory Coast has been the world's leading cocoa grower since the late 1970s, supplying roughly 40% of global output; neighbouring Ghana ranks second.

Which country's coastline, roughly 243,000 km across three oceans, is the world's longest?

The Arctic archipelago does most of the work: its islands account for the bulk of Canada's 243,000 km of shore.

What is the only country that borders both France and Brazil?

Suriname's eastern neighbour is French Guiana, an overseas department of France, and its southern neighbour is Brazil; no other country touches both.

Which Asian country escaped European colonisation as a buffer between Britain and France?

Thailand, then called Siam, lay between British Burma and French Indochina; in 1896 Britain and France agreed to leave the Chao Phraya valley as a neutral buffer zone.

Which country was historically known as Persia?

Iran was known abroad as Persia until 1935, when Reza Shah asked foreign governments to use the native name; the Achaemenid Persian Empire arose there in the 6th century BC.

Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, is in which country?

Lake Baikal, in Siberian Russia, reaches 1,642 metres deep and holds roughly a fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water.

Which country topped the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2025, with 61 sites?

After the 2025 session Italy had 61 sites, 55 of them cultural, with China one behind on 60.

Nairobi is the capital of which country?

Nairobi, Kenya's capital, began as a depot on the Uganda Railway in 1899 and has a national park, home to lions and rhinos, inside its city limits.

Which country is home to the ancient city of Petra?

Petra is located in southern Jordan. This ancient Nabataean city, carved into rose-red cliffs, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Which Scandinavian country's North Cape is a famous place to watch the midnight sun?

North Cape (Nordkapp) sits on Magerøya island in northern Norway at about 71° N; the midnight sun is visible there from mid-May to late July.

Which country has more pyramids than Egypt?

Sudan's Kushite rulers built around 255 pyramids at Meroë, Nuri and el-Kurru, roughly twice as many as survive in Egypt.

What is the currency of the country whose capitals include Pretoria and Bloemfontein?

Named for the Witwatersrand, the gold-bearing ridge Johannesburg is built on; 'rand' is simply the Afrikaans and Dutch word for ridge.

Which country's national flag is square, showing a white cross on red?

Switzerland's flag, a white cross on red, is one of only two square national flags (with Vatican City's); the Red Cross emblem reverses its colours in honour of the movement's Swiss founding.

Which country has the highest population density in the world?

Monaco packs about 38,000 people into just over 2 square kilometres on the French Riviera, roughly 19,000 per square kilometre, more than double Singapore's density.

Which country was first to let women vote in national elections, in 1893?

New Zealand granted the vote in 1893, the first self-governing country in the world to do so.

Which country became Africa's largest by area when Sudan split in 2011?

Algeria, about 2.38 million square kilometres, became Africa's largest country in 2011 when South Sudan's secession cut Sudan, previously the largest, to roughly 1.86 million.

Which South American country has Quito as its capital?

Ecuador is Spanish for 'equator', the line that crosses the country just north of Quito; the name was adopted when it left Gran Colombia in 1830.

Which two countries are doubly landlocked (surrounded entirely by landlocked countries)?

Both of Liechtenstein's neighbours are themselves landlocked, as are all five of Uzbekistan's.

Which country has 12 official languages, the most recent being a sign language added in 2023?

Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English are among the eleven spoken ones; South African Sign Language joined them in 2023.

Which city has been the Turkish capital since the republic was founded in 1923?

Ankara, then a modest Anatolian town, was declared capital on 13 October 1923, days before Atatürk proclaimed the republic, replacing the old Ottoman capital Istanbul.

Which country is the world's largest island nation by area?

Indonesia is the world's largest island nation, spanning over 17,000 islands across 1.9 million square kilometers. It is also the fourth most populous country in the world.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is in which country?

Tanzania's Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano standing 5,895 metres, and its summit was renamed Uhuru, meaning 'Freedom', Peak after independence.

Which country's Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859, is recognised by UNESCO as the oldest operating university?

Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, was founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, a migrant from Kairouan in Tunisia; UNESCO and Guinness list it as the oldest continually operating university.

What is Mongolia's capital, the coldest national capital on Earth?

Ulaanbaatar, whose name means 'Red Hero', sits at about 1,350 metres and has an average annual temperature below freezing, making it the coldest national capital.

Which country consumes the most tea per capita?

Turkey leads the world in tea drunk per person, around 3 kg a year; black tea served in tulip-shaped glasses comes mostly from the Black Sea coast around Rize.

Which country declared independence on 9 July 2011 after a referendum?

South Sudan seceded from Sudan on 9 July 2011 after a January referendum in which 98.83% voted for independence, becoming the UN's 193rd member state.

Which country has the most islands in the world?

Sweden's statistics agency counted 267,570 islands in 2013, more than any other country; fewer than 1,000 of them are inhabited.

Which landlocked South American country keeps a navy with a base on Lake Titicaca?

Bolivia lost its Pacific coast to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–84) but maintains a navy of several thousand personnel, with a main base on Lake Titicaca.

Which country's national anthem has no official lyrics?

Spain's 'Marcha Real', in use since 1770, is one of the few national anthems with no official words; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and San Marino also have wordless anthems.

Counting overseas territories, which country spans 12 time zones, the most of any nation?

Mainland France sits in just one zone, but territories from French Polynesia to Réunion and Kerguelen push the total to 12, 13 if you count its Antarctic claim.

Which country is named after a 16th-century Spanish king?

The Philippines were named Las Islas Filipinas by explorer Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543 in honour of Prince Philip, who became King Philip II of Spain in 1556.

What is the world's largest landlocked country?

Kazakhstan, at about 2.7 million square kilometres, is the ninth-largest country in the world and the largest with no ocean coast; its capital moved from Almaty to Astana in 1997.

Which country's national flag features an AK-47 rifle?

Mozambique's flag, adopted in 1983, shows an AK-47 crossed with a hoe over an open book, symbolising defence, labour and education; the rifle recalls the FRELIMO independence struggle.

Which country is tied for the most land neighbours in the world, bordering 14 others?

China borders 14 countries, from North Korea and Vietnam round to Afghanistan and Kazakhstan, equalling Russia's tally; its roughly 22,000 km of land border is the world's longest.

Which country's national flag is different on its front and back?

Paraguay's flag carries the national coat of arms on the front and the Treasury seal, a lion beneath a Phrygian cap with the motto 'Paz y Justicia', on the reverse; the two-sided design was formalised in 1842.

Which country is the world's largest producer of avocados?

Mexico grows roughly a quarter of the world's avocados, around 2.5 million tonnes a year, more than double the next producer; the fruit is native to the region from Mexico down to Peru.

Which country moved its capital from Yangon to purpose-built Naypyidaw in 2005?

Myanmar's military government moved the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw in November 2005; the name means 'abode of kings', and the city is known for its vast, near-empty 20-lane boulevards.

Which kingdom is the largest of the three countries entirely enclosed by one neighbour?

Lesotho, about 30,000 square kilometres, is wholly surrounded by South Africa; the other enclaved states, Vatican City and San Marino, lie inside Italy. Its lowest point, 1,400 metres, is the highest of any country.

Which country's name comes from the Latin word for silver?

Argentina takes its name from argentum, Latin for silver; early explorers of the Río de la Plata ('river of silver') chased legends of silver mountains that actually lay in Bolivia and Peru.

Which West African country was called the Republic of Upper Volta until 1984?

Burkina Faso replaced Upper Volta on 4 August 1984 under President Thomas Sankara; the name blends Mossi and Dioula words meaning roughly 'land of upright people'.

Which country has the largest population of any European Union member?

Germany's 16 states hold more than 83 million people, the most of any EU member; Berlin is the capital, while the Ruhr is the largest urban area and Frankfurt the financial hub.

The 15th-century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is in which country?

Machu Picchu in Peru sits on a ridge at 2,430 metres above the Urubamba valley; the Inca citadel was brought to world attention by Hiram Bingham in 1911.

Which country, with a highest natural point of 2.4 metres, is the lowest-lying on Earth?

The Maldives' highest natural point is just 2.4 metres above sea level; its 1,190 coral islands average about 1.5 metres in elevation, with over 80% of the land under 1 metre.

Which country has more living languages than any other, about 840?

Papua New Guinea has about 840 living languages, roughly an eighth of the world's total, most spoken by fewer than a thousand people; English, Tok Pisin and Hiri Motu serve as shared tongues.

Which country do its own people call Hellas?

Greece is Hellas (Elláda) to its own people, and its official name is the Hellenic Republic; the English name descends from the Latin Graecia.

Which country is known to its own people as Sakartvelo?

Georgia is Sakartvelo to Georgians, roughly 'land of the Kartvelians'; the English exonym, shared with the US state, is of disputed origin and often linked to St George.

Which country's flag shows a copper-coloured map of the country itself?

Cyprus's flag shows the island in copper-orange above two olive branches; the colour recalls the copper mined there since antiquity, and the branches stand for peace between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

Which country is the most populous in Africa?

Nigeria, with well over 220 million people, is Africa's most populous country and among the six most populous on Earth, home to roughly one in six Africans.

Which Pacific nation is the only country whose territory lies in all four hemispheres?

Kiribati's 33 islands straddle both the equator and the 180th meridian, putting it in all four hemispheres; in 1995 it moved the International Date Line so the whole country shared one calendar day.

Which Southeast Asian country is the most heavily bombed in history, per capita?

Laos was hit by some 2 million tons of US ordnance between 1964 and 1973, much of it aimed at the Ho Chi Minh Trail, roughly a ton for every inhabitant at the time.

Which African country was named Zaire from 1971 to 1997?

Mobutu Sese Seko renamed DR Congo (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) as Zaire in 1971, a Portuguese rendering of a Kikongo word for 'river'; the old name returned after his overthrow in 1997.

Which country was known as Rhodesia before independence in 1980?

Zimbabwe was Rhodesia, named after Cecil Rhodes, whose company colonised it in the 1890s; a white-minority government declared independence in 1965, and majority rule brought the new name in 1980.

Which European country's currency is the forint?

Hungary's forint takes its name from Florence, whose gold florin was copied across medieval Europe; the modern forint was introduced in 1946 to end the pengő's hyperinflation.

Which country's currency is named after a colourful bird that also appears on its flag?

Guatemala's currency, the quetzal, and its flag both honour the resplendent quetzal, a bird sacred to the Maya, whose rulers wore its long green tail feathers.

Which is the only Central American country with English as its official language?

Belize, the former colony of British Honduras, became independent in 1981 and kept English as its official language, though most people speak Belizean Creole or Spanish day to day.

Which country is the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy?

Luxembourg is the only sovereign grand duchy; its head of state holds the title Grand Duke, and the country was a founding member of the United Nations, NATO and the European Communities.

Which country's flag holds the Guinness record as the oldest in continuous use?

Denmark's Dannebrog, a white cross on red, legendarily fell from the sky at a battle in Estonia in 1219; Guinness dates its continuous use to 1625, the oldest of any national flag.

The Burj Khalifa, completed in 2010, stands in which country?

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, rises 828 metres and became the world's tallest building on topping out in 2009; it was renamed at its 2010 opening after Abu Dhabi's ruler, Sheikh Khalifa, who bailed out the project.

What is the largest country lying entirely within Europe?

Ukraine covers about 603,000 square kilometres, more than metropolitan France, making it the largest country entirely in Europe; only Russia, most of whose land is in Asia, is bigger on the continent.

Which country's flag includes an open Bible in its coat of arms?

The Dominican Republic's coat of arms, centred on its flag, shows a Bible open at John 8:32 beneath a cross with the motto 'Dios, Patria, Libertad'; no other national flag depicts a Bible.

Which is the only country in history founded by a successful slave revolt?

Haiti emerged from the 1791 uprising in French Saint-Domingue and declared independence in 1804, becoming the second republic in the Americas and the first state born of a slave revolt.

From 1977 to 2011, which country's flag was plain green with no design at all?

Libya's Gaddafi adopted the plain green flag in 1977 after breaking with Egypt, tying it to his Green Book philosophy; the rebels who toppled him in 2011 restored the pre-1969 tricolour.

Ha Long Bay, famous for its thousands of limestone islands, is in which country?

Vietnam's Ha Long means 'descending dragon': legend says a family of dragons spat jewels into the sea to form the karst towers as a barrier against invaders.

Which Balkan country changed its name in 2019 under the Prespa agreement?

North Macedonia adopted its new name in February 2019 under the Prespa agreement with Greece, settling a dispute dating from its 1991 independence and clearing its path into NATO in March 2020.

Which country was the first in the world to adopt Christianity as state religion, in 301?

Armenia's King Tiridates III was converted by Gregory the Illuminator and made Christianity the state religion in 301, more than a decade before Constantine's Edict of Milan.

Which country hosted and won the very first FIFA World Cup in 1930?

Uruguay hosted the 1930 tournament, playing every match in Montevideo to mark the centenary of its first constitution, and beat Argentina 4–2 in the final; only four European teams made the voyage.

Which Pacific republic, the world's third-smallest country, has no official capital city?

Nauru, a 21-square-kilometre island once rich from phosphate, has no official capital; government offices cluster in Yaren district, which is listed as the capital by default.

Which Pacific island nation earns government revenue by leasing its '.tv' internet domain?

Tuvalu's '.tv' country code, a lucky accident of the alphabet, has been leased to registrars and streaming firms since 2000 for millions of dollars a year; fishing licences and a trust fund supply most other revenue.

Which country topped the World Happiness Report every year from 2018 to 2025?

Finland held first place in the World Happiness Report for eight straight years, 2018 to 2025, with Denmark and Iceland usually close behind; the ranking rests on a Gallup World Poll life-evaluation question.

Wild lemurs, more than 100 species of them, are found only in which island country?

Madagascar is the only place lemurs live wild: their ancestors probably rafted across from Africa on floating vegetation, then evolved in isolation into more than 100 species, from mouse-sized to cat-sized.

About a quarter of which European country lies below sea level?

About 26% of the Netherlands lies below sea level, much of it reclaimed polder protected by dykes, and roughly a fifth of the Dutch population lives below the waterline; the name means 'low countries'.

Which country is the largest island in the Caribbean?

Cuba's main island, about 105,000 square kilometres, is the Caribbean's largest and ranks around 17th in the world; Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, is second.

Which Pacific country skipped 30 December 2011 entirely by jumping across the date line?

Samoa jumped west across the International Date Line at the end of 29 December 2011, moving from UTC−11 to UTC+13 to share a working week with Australia and New Zealand; Friday 30 December never happened.

Which African country's flag is almost identical to Romania's blue-yellow-red tricolour?

Both countries adopted the design independently, and Romania dropped its communist emblem in 1989, making the match nearly exact. Chad has formally complained to the UN.

Which African country was settled from 1822 by freed and free-born Black Americans?

Liberia was settled from 1822 by the American Colonization Society, which shipped more than 15,000 Black Americans over four decades; the capital, Monrovia, is named after US President James Monroe.

Which African country renamed itself in 2018 on the 50th anniversary of its independence?

Eswatini is the name long used in the Swazi language; King Mswati III made the switch on the 50th anniversary of independence, and the country is one of the world's last absolute monarchies.

Which country is historically the world's largest producer of emeralds?

Colombia's Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor mines have long supplied the bulk of the world's finest emeralds, roughly half of global output by value in the decade to 2005.

Which is the only country in mainland South America with English as its official language?

Guyana, a former British colony, takes its name from an Indigenous word meaning 'land of many waters'; most people also speak an English-based creole.

Which country became the first in the world to make bitcoin legal tender, in 2021?

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced the Bitcoin Law at a Miami crypto conference in June 2021 and it took effect that September; under a 2025 IMF deal, accepting bitcoin became voluntary.