Madagascaren

Madagascar AREA587,041 sq km (226,658 sq miles). POPULATION13,494,000 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY23.0 per sq km. CAPITALAntananarivo (formerly Tananarive). CAPITAL POPULATION1,052,835 (1993). GEOGRAPHYMadagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world, lies in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mozambique. It includes several much smaller islands. A central chain of high mountains, the Hauts Plateaux, occupies more than half of the main island and is responsible for the marked differences – ethnically, climatically and scenically – between the east and west coasts. The narrow strip of lowlands on the east coast, settled from the 6th century...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Macau

Macau AREA21.45 sq km (8.28 sq miles). POPULATION430,539 (1998). 95% of the population is Chinese and 5% Portuguese, European and from other regions. POPULATION DENSITY20,0071.7 per sq km. CAPITALMacau. CAPITAL POPULATION GEOGRAPHYMacau is situated on a tiny peninsula at the mouth of the Pearl River. Two bridges of 2.5km (1.5 miles) and 4.5km (2.8 miles) respectively link it to its nearest island of Taipa, which in turn is joined to the island of Côloane by a 2.2 km-/1.3 mile-long causeway. At the extreme northern end of the peninsula, on a narrow isthmus, is the imposing gateway (Portas do Cerco, or Border Gate), which leads to the Zhuhai...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Luxembourg

Luxembourg AREA2586 sq km (999 sq miles). POPULATION423,700 (1998). POPULATION DENSITY163.8 per sq km. CAPITALLuxembourg-Ville. CAPITAL POPULATION79,500 (1998). GEOGRAPHYThe Grand Duchy of Luxembourg shares borders to the north and west with Belgium, to the south with France and to the east with Germany. One-third of the country is made up of the hills and forests of the Ardennes, while the rest is wooded farmland. In the southeast is the rich wine-growing valley of Moselle. The capital, Luxembourg-Ville, is built on a rock overlooking the Alzette and Petrusse valleys. GOVERNMENTConstitutional monarchy. Luxembourg is a founding member of...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Lithuania

Lithuania AREA65,301 sq km (25,213 sq miles). POPULATION3,701,253 (1999). POPULATION DENSITY56.7 per sq km. CAPITALVilnius. CAPITAL POPULATION578,412 (1999). GEOGRAPHYLithuania is situated on the eastern Baltic coast and borders Latvia in the north, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation and Poland in the southwest and Belarus in the southwest and east. The geometrical centre of Europe lies in eastern Lithuania near the village of Bernotai, 25km (16 miles) north of Vilnius. The landscape alternates between lowland plains and hilly uplands and has a dense, intricate network of rivers, including the Nemunas and the Neris. 1.5% of...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein AREA160 sq km (61.8 sq miles). POPULATION31,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY200.0 per sq km. CAPITALVaduz CAPITAL POPULATION5106 (1998). GEOGRAPHYLiechtenstein shares borders with Austria and Switzerland and lies between the upper reaches of the Rhine Valley and the Austrian Alps. The principality is noted for its fine vineyards. GOVERNMENTImperial Principality with a hereditary constitutional monarchy. Principality established in 1719. Present Constitution from 1921. Head of State: Prince Hans Adam II since 1989. Head of Government: Prime Minister Mario Frick since 1993. LANGUAGEGerman; a dialect of Alemannish is widely spoken....

Read more »

Posted in: countries

LlibyaArab Jamahiriya

LlibyaArab Jamahiriya AREA1,775,500 sq km (685,520 sq miles). POPULATION4,811,902 (1995). POPULATION DENSITY2.7 per sq km. CAPITALTripoli. CAPITAL POPULATION990,700 (1984). GEOGRAPHYLibya consists mostly of huge areas of desert. It shares borders with Tunisia and Algeria in the west, and Egypt in the east, while the Sahara extends across the southern frontiers with Niger, Chad and the Sudan. There are almost 2000km (1250 miles) of Mediterranean coast, with a low plain extending from the Tunisian border to the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) area in the east. Inland the terrain becomes more hilly. Agriculture has developed mainly on the coast...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Liberia

Liberia AREA97,754 sq km (37,743 sq miles). POPULATION2,879,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY29.5 per sq km. CAPITALMonrovia. CAPITAL POPULATION668,000 (1990). GEOGRAPHYLiberia borders Sierra Leone, Guinea Republic and Côte d'Ivoire. The Atlantic coastline to the west is 560km (348 miles) long, of which over half is sandy beach. Lying parallel to the shore are three distinct belts. The low coastal belt is well watered by shallow lagoons, tidal creeks and mangrove swamps, behind which rises a gently undulating plateau, 500-800m (1640-2625ft) high, partly covered with dense forests. Inland and to the north is the mountain region which includes...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Lesotho

Lesotho AREA30,355 sq km (11,720 sq miles). POPULATION2,131,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY70.2 per sq km. CAPITALMaseru. CAPITAL POPULATION170,000 (1990). GEOGRAPHYLesotho is a landlocked country surrounded on all sides by South Africa. It is a mountainous kingdom situated at the highest part of the Drakensberg escarpment on the eastern rim of the South African plateau. Its mountainous terrain is cut by countless valleys and ravines, making it a country of great beauty. To the west the land descends through a foothill zone of rolling hills to a lowland belt along the border where two-thirds of the population live. Three large rivers, the...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Lativa

Lativa AREA64,589 sq km (24,938 sq miles). POPULATION2,439,800 (1999). POPULATION DENSITY37.8 per sq km. CAPITALRiga CAPITAL POPULATION815,851 (1997). GEOGRAPHYLatvia is situated on the Baltic coast and borders Estonia in the north, Lithuania in the south, the Russian Federation in the east and Belarus in the southeast. The coastal plain is mostly flat, but inland to the east the land is hilly with forests and lakes. There are about 12,000 rivers in Latvia, the biggest being the River Daugava. The ports of Riga, Liepaja and Ventspils never freeze over during the winter. GOVERNMENTRepublic. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991....

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Laos)

Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Laos) AREA236,800 sq km (91,400 sq miles). POPULATION4,845,800 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY20.5 per sq km (1997). CAPITALVientiane. CAPITAL POPULATION555,100 (1997). GEOGRAPHYLaos is a landlocked country bordered to the north by China, to the east by Vietnam, to the south by Cambodia and to the west by Thailand and Myanmar. Apart from the Mekong River plains along the border of Thailand, the country is mountainous, particularly in the north, and in places is densely forested. GOVERNMENTPeople's Republic since 1975. Head of State: Khamtai Siphandon since 1996. Head of Government: Sisavat Keobounphan since 1998....

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan AREA198,500 sq km (76,600 sq miles). POPULATION4,635,000 (1998). POPULATION DENSITY23.3 per sq km. CAPITALBishkek (Frunze). CAPITAL POPULATION585,800 (1996). GEOGRAPHYKyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. The majestic Tien Shan (Heavenly Mountains) range occupies the greater part of the area. Its highest peak is Pik Pobedy at 7439m (24,406ft). GOVERNMENTRepublic. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State and Government: President Askar Akaev since 1990. Acting Prime Minister: Amangeldy Muraliyev, appointed by the President in 1999. LANGUAGEThe official language is Kyrgyz,...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Kuwait

Kuwait AREA17,818 sq km (6880 sq miles). POPULATION1,866,104 (1998). POPULATION DENSITY104.7 per sq km. CAPITALKuwait City. CAPITAL POPULATION28,859 (1995). GEOGRAPHYKuwait shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. To the southeast lies the Persian Gulf, where Kuwait has sovereignty over nine small islands (the largest is Bubiyan and the most populous is Failaka). The landscape is predominantly desert plateau with a lower, more fertile coastal belt. GOVERNMENTTraditional Arab monarchy. Head of State: Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed as-Sabah since 1978. Head of Government: Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah as-Salim as-Sabah since 1978. Gained...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Kiribati

Kiribati AREA810.5 sq km (312.9 sq miles). POPULATION77,853 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY96.1 per sq km. CAPITALSouth Tarawa. CAPITAL POPULATION29,028 (1990). GEOGRAPHYKiribati (pronounced 'Kiribass', formerly the Gilbert Islands) consists of three groups in the central Pacific: Kiribati (including Banaba, formerly Ocean Island), the Line Islands and the Phoenix Islands. The 33 islands, scattered across two million square miles of the central Pacific, are low-lying coral atolls with coastal lagoons. The exception is Banaba, which is a coral formation rising to 80m (265ft). The soil is generally poor, apart from Banaba, and rainfall is variable....

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Kenya

Kenya AREA580,367 sq km (224,081 sq miles). POPULATION31,806,000 (1995). POPULATION DENSITY54.8 per sq km. CAPITALNairobi. CAPITAL POPULATION1,346,000 (1989). GEOGRAPHYKenya shares borders with Ethiopia in the north, Sudan in the northwest, Uganda in the west, Tanzania in the south, and Somalia in the northeast. To the east lies the Indian Ocean. The country is divided into four regions: the arid deserts of the north, the savannah lands of the south, the fertile lowlands along the coast and around the shores of Lake Victoria, and highlands in the west, where the capital Nairobi is situated. Northwest of Nairobi runs the Rift Valley, containing...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Kazalhstan

Kazalhstan AREA2,717,300 sq km (1,049,150 sq miles). POPULATION15,921,00 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY5.9 per sq km. CAPITALAstana (formerly called Akmola). CAPITAL POPULATION287,000 (1993). GEOGRAPHYFive times the size of France and half the size of the United States, Kazakhstan is the second largest state in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north and west, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the southwest, Kyrgyzstan to the south and China to the southeast. 90% of the country is made up of steppe, the sand massives of the Kara Kum and the vast desert of Kizilkum, while in...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Jordan

Jordan AREA97,740 sq km (37,738 sq miles). POPULATION5,774,000 (1997). An estimated 4,368,000 people live on the East Bank of the River Jordan; the remainder live on the West Bank, which is now administered by the Palestinian National Authority. Nearly half a million people in East Jordan are classified as Palestinian refugees and are maintained by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Another quarter of a million people are reckoned to have been displaced by the events of the 1967 Middle East war. POPULATION DENSITY55.6 per sq km. CAPITALAmman CAPITAL POPULATION1,696,300 (1996). GEOGRAPHYJordan shares borders with Israel, Syria, Iraq...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Jamaica

Jamaica AREA10,991 sq km (4244 sq miles). POPULATION2,530,000 (1995). POPULATION DENSITY230.2 er sq km. CAPITALKingston CAPITAL POPULATION643,801 (1991). GEOGRAPHYJamaica is the third-largest island in the West Indies, a narrow outcrop of a submerged mountain range. The island is crossed by a range of mountains reaching 2256m (7402ft) at the Blue Mountain Peak in the east and descending towards the west with a series of spurs and forested gullies running north and south. Most of the best beaches are on the north and west coasts. The island's luxuriant tropical and subtropical vegetation is probably unsurpassed anywhere in the Caribbean. GOVERNMENTConstitutional...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Iitaly

Iitaly AREA301,323 sq km (116,341 sq miles). POPULATION57,380,000 (official estimate 1996). POPULATION DENSITY190.4 per sq km. CAPITALRome. CAPITAL POPULATION2,645,322 (1996). GEOGRAPHYItaly is situated in Europe and attached in the north to the European mainland. To the north the Alps separate Italy from France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Northern Italy: The Alpine regions, the Po Plain and the Ligurian-Etruscan Appennines. Piedmont and Val d'Aosta contain some of the highest mountains in Europe and are good areas for winter sports. Many rivers flow down from the mountains towards the Po Basin, passing through the beautiful Italian...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Israel

Israel AREA22,145 sq km (8550 sq miles). POPULATION5,836,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY263.5 per sq km. CAPITALJerusalem. CAPITAL POPULATION613,600 (1996, including East Jerusalem). GEOGRAPHYIsrael is on the eastern Mediterranean, bordered by Lebanon and Syria to the north, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the south. The country stretches southwards through the Negev Desert to Eilat, a resort town on the Red Sea. The fertile Plain of Sharon runs along the coast, while inland, parallel to the coast, is a range of hills and uplands with fertile valleys to the west and arid desert to the east. The Great Rift Valley begins beyond the sources...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Ireland

Ireland AREA70,285 sq km (27,137 sq miles). POPULATION3,626,087 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY51.6 per sq km. CAPITALDublin. CAPITAL POPULATION952,700 (1996). GEOGRAPHYThe Republic of Ireland lies in the north Atlantic Ocean and is separated from Britain by the Irish Sea to the east. The northeastern part of the island (Northern Ireland) is part of the United Kingdom. The country has a central plain surrounded by a rim of mountains and hills offering some of the most varied and unspoilt scenery in Europe – quiet sandy beaches, semi-tropical bays warmed by the Gulf Stream, and rugged cliffs make up the 5600km (3500 miles) of coastline. GOVERNMENTRepublic....

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Indonesia

Indonesia AREA1,919,317 sq km (741,053 sq miles). POPULATION198,342,900 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY103.3 per sq km. CAPITALJakarta (Java). CAPITAL POPULATION9,341,400 (1996). GEOGRAPHYIndonesia lies between the mainland of South-East Asia and Australia in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's largest archipelago state. Indonesia is made up of six main islands – Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Kalimantan (part of the island of Borneo) and Irian Jaya (the western half of New Guinea) – and 30 smaller archipelagos. In total, the Indonesian archipelago consists of more than 17,000 islands. 6000 of these are inhabited and stretch over...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

India

India AREA3,287,263 sq km (1,269,219 sq miles). POPULATION936,000,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY284.7 per sq km. CAPITALNew Delhi. CAPITAL POPULATION7,206,704 (1991). GEOGRAPHYIndia shares borders to the northwest with Pakistan, to the north with China, Nepal and Bhutan, and to the east with Bangladesh and Myanmar. To the west lies the Arabian Sea, to the east the Bay of Bengal and to the south the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast, and the Maldives off the southwest coast. The far northeastern states and territories are all but separated from the rest of India by Bangladesh as it extends northwards from the Bay of Bengal...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Hungary

Hungary AREA93,030 sq km (35,919 sq miles). POPULATION10,135,400 (1998). POPULATION DENSITY108.9 per sq km. CAPITALBudapest CAPITAL POPULATION1,861,383 (1998). GEOGRAPHYHungary is situated in Central Europe, sharing borders to the north with the Slovak Republic, to the northeast with Ukraine, to the east with Romania, to the south with Croatia and Serbia and to the west with Austria and Slovenia. There are several ranges of hills, chiefly in the north and west. The Great Plain (Nagyalföld) stretches east from the Danube to the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the CIS, to the mountains of Transylvania in Romania, and south to the...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Hongkong

Hongkong AREA1095 sq km (423 sq miles). POPULATION6,502,100 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY5938.0 per sq km. CAPITAL CAPITAL POPULATION GEOGRAPHYHong Kong is located in the Far East, just south of the Tropic of Cancer. Hong Kong Island is 32km (20 miles) east of the mouth of Pearl River and 135km (84 miles) southeast of Canton. It is separated from the mainland by a good natural harbour. Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 by the Treaty of Nanking; and the Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island) in 1860 by the Convention of Peking. The area of Boundary Street to Shenzhen River and a group of 260 islands,...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Iceland

Iceland AREA103,000 sq km (39,770 sq miles). POPULATION269,727 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY2.6 per sq km. CAPITALReykjavík. CAPITAL POPULATION105,487 (1996). GEOGRAPHYIceland is a large island in the North Atlantic close to the Arctic Circle and includes islands to the north and south. The landscape is wild, rugged and colourful, with black lava, red sulphur, hot blue geysers, grey and white rivers with waterfalls and green valleys, its coastline richly indented with bays and fjords. The whole of the central highland plateau of the island is a beautiful but barren and uninhabitable moonscape; so much so that the first American astronauts were...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Honduras

Honduras AREA112,492 sq km (43,433 sq miles). POPULATION6,338,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY56.3 per sq km. CAPITALTegucigalpa CAPITAL POPULATION897,000 (1996). GEOGRAPHYHonduras shares borders in the southeast with Nicaragua, in the west with Guatemala, and in the southwest with El Salvador. To the north lies the Caribbean and to the south the Pacific Ocean. The interior of the country comprises a central mountain system running from east to west, cut by rivers flowing into both the Caribbean and Pacific. The lowlands in the south form a plain along the Pacific coast. The Gulf of Fonseca in the southwest contains many islands which have...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Haiti

Haiti AREA27,750 sq km (10,714 sq miles). POPULATION7,492,000 (1997). POPULATION DENSITY270.0 per sq km. CAPITALPort-au-Prince. CAPITAL POPULATION846,247 (1995). GEOGRAPHYHaiti is situated in the Caribbean and comprises the forested mountainous western end of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Its area includes the Île de la Gonâve, in the Gulf of the same name; among other islands is La Tortue off the north peninsula. Haiti's coastline is dotted with magnificent beaches, between which stretches lush subtropical vegetation, even covering the slopes which lead down to the shore. Port-au-Prince is a magnificent...

Read more »

Posted in: countries

Guyana

Guyana AREA214,969 sq km (83,000 sq miles). POPULATION838,000 (1996). POPULATION DENSITY3.9 per sq km. CAPITALGeorgetown CAPITAL POPULATION200,000 (1996). GEOGRAPHYGuyana lies in the northeast of South America, bordered by Venezuela to the west, Surinam to the southeast and Brazil to the south. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The word 'Guiana' (the original spelling) means 'land of many waters' and the name was well chosen, for there are over 1600km (965 miles) of navigable rivers in the country. The interior is either high savannah uplands (such as those along the Venezuelan border, called the Rupununi, and the...

Read more »

Posted in: countries