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. Belarus Republic of Belarus , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe . It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) with a population of 9.1 million. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions . Minsk is the capital and largest city ; it is administered separately as a city with special status.
Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus' , the Principality of Polotsk , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid the Civil War , ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR , which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War (1918–1921), Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations and the Soviet Union. The republic was home to a widespread and diverse anti-Nazi insurgent movement which dominated politics until well into the 1970s, overseeing Belarus' transformation from an agrarian to an industrial economy. (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.
East Timor Timor-Leste , officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste , is a country in Southeast Asia . It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor , the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco . The western half of the island of Timor is administered by Indonesia . Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea . The country's size is 14,950 square kilometres (5,770 sq mi). Dili , on the north coast of Timor, is its capital and largest city.
Timor was settled by Papuan and Austronesian peoples, which are reflected in the country's diverse mix of cultures and languages, displaying links to Southeast Asia and Melanesia . East Timor came under Portuguese influence in the sixteenth century, remaining a Portuguese colony until 1975. Internal conflict preceded a unilateral declaration of independence and an Indonesian invasion and annexation . Resistance continued throughout Indonesian rule and in 1999, a United Nations–sponsored act of self-determination led to Indonesia relinquishing control of the territory. On 20 May 2002, as Timor-Leste , it became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century. That same year, relations with Indonesia were established and normalized, with Indonesia also supporting East Timor's accession into ASEAN . (Full article...
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 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 states of
Alaska to the northwest and the
archipelagic 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 ,
largest exclusive economic zone , and
third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. 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 across the
Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed
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 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 states remaining in
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
the country's political culture promotes
liberty ,
equality ,
individualism ,
personal autonomy , and
limited government . (
Full article... )
Image 2 Israel , officially the
State of Israel , is a country in the
Southern Levant region of
West Asia . It is
bordered by
Lebanon and
Syria to the north, the
West Bank and
Jordan to the east, the
Gaza Strip and
Egypt to the southwest, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west. The country also has a small coastline on the
Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the
Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Israel's
proclaimed capital is in
Jerusalem , while
Tel Aviv is the country's
largest urban area and
economic center .
Israel is located in a region known to
Jews as the
Land of Israel , synonymous with the
Palestine region , the
Holy Land , and
Canaan . In antiquity, it was home to the
Canaanite civilization followed by the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah . Situated at a
continental crossroad , the region experienced
demographic changes under the rule of various empires from the
Romans to the
Ottomans .
European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanized
Zionism , which sought a
Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained
British support . After
World War I , Britain occupied the region and established
Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased
Jewish immigration in the leadup to the
Holocaust and
British colonial policy led to
intercommunal conflict between Jews and
Arabs , which escalated into a
civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN)
proposed partitioning the land between them.
The State of Israel
declared its establishment on 14 May 1948. The armies of neighboring Arab states invaded the area of the former Mandate the next day, beginning the
First Arab–Israeli War . Subsequent
armistice agreements established Israeli control over
77 percent of the former Mandate territory. The majority of
Palestinian Arabs were either
expelled or fled in what is known as the
Nakba , with
those remaining becoming the new state's main minority. Over the following decades, Israel's population increased greatly as the country received an influx of
Jews who emigrated, fled or were expelled from the Muslim world . Following the 1967
Six-Day War Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian
Sinai Peninsula and Syrian
Golan Heights . Israel established and continues to expand
settlements across the
illegally occupied territories ,
contrary to international law, and has effectively annexed
East Jerusalem and the
Golan Heights in moves largely unrecognized internationally. After the 1973
Yom Kippur War , Israel signed peace treaties with
Egypt —returning the Sinai in 1982—and
Jordan . In the 2020s, it
normalized relations with more Arab countries. However,
efforts to resolve the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the interim
Oslo Accords have not succeeded, and the country has engaged in
several wars and clashes with Palestinian
militant groups . Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism—along with accusations that it has committed
war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people—from human rights organizations and United Nations officials. (
Full article... )
Image 3 Iran , officially the
Islamic Republic of Iran (
IRI ), also known as
Persia , is a country in
West Asia . It borders
Turkey to the northwest and
Iraq to the west,
Azerbaijan ,
Armenia , the
Caspian Sea , and
Turkmenistan to the north,
Afghanistan to the east,
Pakistan to the southeast, the
Gulf of Oman and the
Persian Gulf to the south. With a
multi-ethnic population of almost 90 million in an area of 1,648,195 km
2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran ranks 17th globally in both
geographic size and
population . It is the
sixth-largest country entirely in
Asia and one of the world's
most mountainous countries. Officially an
Islamic republic , Iran has
a Muslim-majority population . The country is divided into
five regions with
31 provinces .
Tehran is the nation's
capital ,
largest city and
financial center .
A
cradle of civilization , Iran has been inhabited since the
Lower Palaeolithic . The large part of Iran was first unified as a
political entity by the
Medes under
Cyaxares in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when
Cyrus the Great founded the
Achaemenid Empire , one of the largest in
ancient history .
Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century BC. An Iranian rebellion established the
Parthian Empire in the third century BC and liberated the country, which was succeeded by the
Sasanian Empire in the third century AD.
Ancient Iran saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, religion and central government.
Muslims conquered the region in the seventh century AD, leading to
Iran's Islamization . The blossoming
literature ,
philosophy ,
mathematics ,
medicine ,
astronomy and
art became major elements for Iranian civilization during the
Islamic Golden Age . A series of
Iranian Muslim dynasties ended Arab rule, revived the
Persian language and ruled the country until the
Seljuk and
Mongol conquests of the 11th to 14th centuries.
In the 16th century, the native
Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state with
Twelver Shi'ism as the
official religion . During the
Afsharid Empire in the 18th century, Iran was a leading world power, though by the 19th century, it had lost significant territory through
conflicts with the Russian Empire . The early 20th century saw the
Persian Constitutional Revolution and the establishment of the
Pahlavi dynasty . Attempts by
Mohammad Mosaddegh to
nationalize the oil industry led to an
Anglo-American coup in 1953 . After the
Iranian Revolution , the monarchy was overthrown in 1979 and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established by
Ruhollah Khomeini , who became the country's first
Supreme Leader . In 1980,
Iraq invaded Iran , sparking the eight-year-long
Iran–Iraq War , which ended in stalemate. (
Full article... )
Image 4 India , officially the
Republic of India , is a country in
South Asia . It is the
seventh-largest country in the world by area and the
most populous country . 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. By at least 1200
BCE , an
archaic form of
Sanskrit , an
Indo-European language , had
diffused into India from the northwest. 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 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, eventually founding the
Delhi Sultanate and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of mediaeval 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 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 5 Lebanon (
LEB -ə-non, -nən;
Arabic :
لُبْنَان ,
romanized : Lubnān ,
local pronunciation:[lɪbˈneːn] ), officially the
Republic of Lebanon , is a country in the
Levant region of
West Asia , bordered by
Syria to the north and east,
Israel to the south, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west;
Cyprus lies a short distance from the country's coastline. It is at the crossroads of the
Mediterranean Basin and the
Arabian Peninsula . Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi).
Beirut is the country's capital and largest city.
Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of
Phoenicia , a maritime empire that stretched the
Mediterranean Basin . In 64 BC, the region became part of the
Roman Empire , and later the
Byzantine Empire . After the 7th century, it came under the rule of different
caliphates , including the
Rashidun ,
Umayyad and
Abbasid Caliphate . The 11th century saw the establishment of
Crusader states , which fell to the
Ayyubids and the
Mamluks , and eventually the
Ottomans . Under Ottoman ruler
Abdulmejid I , the first Lebanese proto-state, the
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , was established in the 19th century as a home for
Maronite Christians , in the
Tanzimat period.
After the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following
World War I , Lebanon came under the
Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon , administered by
France , which established
Greater Lebanon . By 1943, Lebanon had gained independence from
Free France and established a distinct form of
confessionalist government , with the state's major religious groups being
apportioned specific political powers . The new Lebanese state was relatively stable after independence, but this was ultimately shattered by the outbreak of the
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). Lebanon was also subjugated by two military occupations:
Syria from 1976 to 2005 and
Israel from 1985 to 2000 . Lebanon has been the scene of several
conflicts with Israel , of which the
ongoing war marks the fourth Israeli invasion of it since 1978. (
Full article... )
Image 6 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 , the
domination of Scotland , 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. 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 7 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 . 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 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. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the
Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. (
Full article... )
Image 8 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 and
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 . 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, which 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 9 Palestine , officially the
State of Palestine , is a country in the
southern Levant region of
West Asia recognized by
146 out of 193 UN member states . It encompasses the
Israeli-occupied West Bank , including
East Jerusalem , and the
Gaza Strip , collectively known as the
occupied Palestinian territories , within the broader geographic and historical
Palestine region . Palestine shares most of its borders with
Israel , and it borders
Jordan to the east and
Egypt to the southwest. It has a total land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while
its population exceeds five million people. Its
proclaimed capital is
Jerusalem , while
Ramallah serves as its administrative center.
Gaza City was its largest city prior to
evacuations in 2023 .
Situated at a
continental crossroad , the region of Palestine was ruled by various empires and experienced
various demographic changes from antiquity to the modern era. Being a bridge between
Asia and
Africa , it was treading ground for the
Nile and
Mesopotamian armies and merchants from
North Africa ,
China and
India . The region is known for its religious significance. The ongoing
Israeli–Palestinian conflict dates back to the rise of the
Zionist movement ,
supported by the
United Kingdom during
World War I . The war saw Britain occupying Palestine from the
Ottoman Empire , where it set up
Mandatory Palestine under the auspices of the
League of Nations . During this period, large-scale
Jewish immigration allowed by the British authorities led to increased tensions and violence with the local Palestinian Arab population. In 1947, Britain handed the issue to the United Nations, which proposed a
partition plan , for two independent Arab and Jewish states and an
independent entity for Jerusalem , but a
civil war broke out, and the plan was not implemented.
The
1948 Palestine war saw the
forcible displacement of most of its predominantly Arab population, and consequently the establishment of Israel, in what
Palestinians call the
Nakba . In the
Six-Day War in 1967, Israel
occupied the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip , which had been held by
Jordan and
Egypt respectively. The
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
declared independence in 1988. In 1993, the PLO signed the
Oslo peace accords with Israel, creating limited PLO governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the
Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel withdrew from Gaza in its
unilateral disengagement in 2005, but the territory is still considered to be under military occupation and has been
blockaded by Israel. In 2007,
internal divisions between political factions led to a
takeover of Gaza by
Hamas . Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the
Fatah -led PA, while the Gaza Strip has remained under the
control of Hamas . Israel has constructed large
settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, where currently more than 670,000
Israeli settlers , which are
illegal under international law . (
Full article... )
Image 10 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. (
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