Countries and Places

Australia

Began as a British penal colony, its first being Botany Bay

Antarctica

Aka. the South Pole, its highest Point is the Vinson Massif

Bolivia

Bolivia (Simon Bolivar was the freedom fighter)

Named after independence a south American freedom fighter, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982 after a series of coups and counter coups, with the current government left to deal with their damage

Bolivia

Evo Morales, was a prominent president of this country from 2009 to 2019, ran on a platform of political reform, but was ousted from allegations of electoral fraud and growing violence.

Britain (Great Britain, United Kingdom, England)

Capital City: London

Britain (Great Britain, United Kingdom, England)

The oldest University in Britain is the University of Oxford

London

Britain’s capital city

London

The clock tower beside the Westminster Palace is colloquially known as the “Big Ben”, which technically refers to the the Elizabeth Tower’s largest bell

Nunavut

Its capital is Iqaluit, on Baffin Island. Famous for the artwork of the Inuit, formed from a 1993 reorganization of the Canadian Northwest Territories

Yukon Territory

Capital: Whitehorse. Mount Logan in the Yukon is Canada’s highest peak, shares a border with Alaska

Chile

Chile

Capital: Santiago

Chile

Current President: Gabriel Boric

Chile

It is the southernmost country in the world and is closest to Antarctica.

Chile

Declared independence in 1810 from Spain, won its war of independece in 1818. Won wars against Peru and Bolivia to get its northernmost territories

Chile

This country had a democratically elected president from 1891 until 1973, when General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende and established a dictatorship. Pinochet's regime persecuted leftists and implemented economic reforms that led to growth but also to a financial crisis in 1982. Pinochet’s rule ended in 1990 with a democratically inaugurated president.

Chile

The 1960 Valdiva earthquake in this country was the most powerful recorded

China (People’s Republic of China, PRC)

Capital City: Beijing

China (People’s Republic of China, PRC)

Current President: Xi Jinping (as of 20/08/2023)

China (People’s Republic of China, PRC)

Uighurs, an ethnic minority, mostly live in the autonomous region of Xinjiang in this country and practice Sunni Islam

China (People’s Republic of China, PRC)

Xi Jinping, who leads this country, was accused of persecuting the Uighur minority

Costa Rica

Capital City: San Jose

Cuba

Current President: Miguel Díaz-Canel (as of 20/08/2023), adopted the most current constitution in 2019

Cuba

Under an embargo of the US since 1960, Fidel Castro, leader of communist Cuba, was a key figure in Cuban and Cold War politics, due to the Cuban Missile Crisis

Egypt

Egypt

Current President: Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (as of 09/03/2023)

Egypt

Capital city: Cairo

Egypt

Partial independence from the UK in 1922 after the a revolution named for this country, and full independence in 1952

Egypt

The Suez Crisis in 1956 was an invasion of Egypt by Israel, Great Britain, and France after Egypt’s second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal. The ensuing international scandal caused all invaders to withdraw.

Egypt

The Arab Spring caused an ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, only to be replaced by a similarly dictatorial government

France

Current President: Emmanuel Macron (as of 20/08/2023)

Paris

Has the Louvre Museum, the most widely visited museum in the world and home to the Mona Lisa

The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany/Modern Germany)

Previously led by Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union of this country, did not seek reelection in 2021

The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany/Modern Germany)

Currently led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party, elected in 2021

Imperial Germany

Its last Kaiser(emperor) was Wilhelm II, who was forced to abdicate at the end of WWI

Imperial Germany

As a result of the Treaty of Versailles, this country took full blame for the war and lost various overseas colonies like Rwanda(Belgium) and Cameroon(France), along with accepting various military limits

Imperial Germany

The 1st Chancellor of this country is Otto Von Bismarck

Guatemala

The United Fruit Company lobbied to depose President Jacobo Árbenz in a US-backed coup encouraged by Secretary of State Dulles

Guatemala

Chichén Itzá, a major archaeological site in this country, was built by native pre-Columbian Mayans

Dublin

Capital of Ireland

Dublin

The most populous city in the Leinster province at the mouth of the river Liffey

Dublin

Home of Trinity College and the original Guinness brewery

Israel

Israel

Capital City: Jerusalem (though its claim over East Jerusalem is not internationally recognised)

Israel

Current Prime Minister: Benjamin Nethanyahu (as of 09/04/2023), serving since 2009

Israel

Hebrew is the official language of this country

Israel

Created as a Jewish homeland under a movement known as Zionism

Israel

Original boundaries known as the “Green Line”

Israel

First Prime Minister: David Ben-Gurion

Tel Aviv

The economic and technological center of Israel, located west of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, most foreign embassies of Israel are located here

Sicily

The largest island in Italy, location of the greek colony of Syracuse

Sicily

Site of the Battle of Himera, where the Greek tyrant Gelos crushed Carthaginian invaders, and this expedition, a failed Athenian invasion during the Peloponnesian War

Sicily

Homeplace of Archimedes

Japan

Capital City: Tokyo

Japan

Its currency is the Yen, abbreviated JPY

Japan

Has the most recorded earthquakes and lies along the Ring of Fire

Lebanon

Lebanon

Capital City: Beirut

Lebanon

A severe economic crisis in 2019 crippled the country’s economy, which was once a financial center due to its position as a crossroads to three continents

Lebanon

Hezbollah, a major Lebanese political party, militia, and US-designated foreign terrorist organization conducted operations against Israel, and has blocked Lebanese presidential elections in 2022

Beirut

Capital of Lebanon

Beirut

The site of a major ammonium nitrate explosion in 2020 in its port

Lesotho

An enclave in South Africa; it is completely surrounded by another nation. Known as Baustoland under British colonial rule

Libya

Libya

Previously an italian colony, passed to UN administration after the defeat of Italy in 1943, gained independence in 1951

Libya

A military coup led by Muammar al-Qaddafi took power in 1969, and ruled until 2011

Libya

Qaddafi made unwarranted territorial claims in the Gulf of Sidra, prompting the US under Ronald Regan to conduct freedom of navigation operations, Led to the Gulf of Sidra incident, where two F-14s shot down two Libyan Su-22 jets. This inspired the dogfight scene in the 1986 Top Gun

Libya

Qaddafi’s regime used the country’s oil revenue to fund overseas terrorist activicties, for which the international community politically isolated Qadhafi. This was loosed in 2003, after Lybian acceptance of responsibility

Libya

The Arab Spring overthrew Qaddafhi after he violently cracked down on protests, leaving the country divided ever since.

Nicaragua

Capital city: Managua

Nicaragua

Current President: Daniel Ortega (as of 20/08/2023)

Nicaragua

Has the largest lake in Central America, and is named for this country

Nicaragua

Bordered by Costa Rica to the south and Honduras to the north

North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea)

Current “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un, who succeeded his father Kim Jong-Il

North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea)

100,000 natives moved back to it from Japan from 1959 to 1984

North Macedonia

Capital City: Skopje

North Macedonia

A landlocked Balkan state, formerly part of Yugoslavia, borders Greece

North Macedonia

Admitted to the UN in 1993, dropped the FYR (Former Yugoslav Republic) prefix in the 2019 Prespa agreement, ending a dispute with Greece

Norway

Capital City: Oslo

Norway

Its North Sea holdings make it the largest fuel exporter in Europe

Norway

COP26 filed a motion to end oil and gas drilling in this country

Panama

Capital City: Panama City

Panama

Current President: Laurentino Cortizo(as of 20/08/2023)

Panama

Has the Panama Canal, which links the Gulf of Mexico and hence the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

Portugal

Capital city: Lisbon

Portugal

The Anglo-Portuguese alliance is the oldest alliance in the world, established by the Treaty of Windsor signed in 1386

Portugal

First colonized the Philippines

Barcelona

Situated in the autonomous community of Catalonia, the second most populated municipality in Spain

Barcelona

Home to Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia cathedral

Barcelona

Hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics

Madrid

The capital of Spain

Madrid

Its “golden triangle of art” includes: the Museo Nacional del Prado(has Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and Museo Reina Sofía.

Thailand

Capital city: Bangkok

Thailand

Current president: Srettha Thavisin (As of 09/03/2023)

Thailand

Shares the Malaysian Peninsula with Malaysia and the southern tip of Myanmar. The thinnest part of the Peninsula, the Isthmus of Kra, is largely a part of this country

Thailand

The Isan language is native to the northern part of this country, and widely spoken throughout this country

Thailand

The Mekong River forms part of this country’s border with Laos

Amsterdam

Home to its national museum, the Rijksmuseum, and a modern art museum called the Stedelijk

Tunisia