The marked territories on this global map from the United Nations 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 ), 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 with a government that functions as a sovereign state , an unrecognized state , a constituent country , or a dependent territory . A country may consist of multiple nations, a structure known as a multinational state . Countries are often distinguished as developing countries or developed countries .
There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world. This ambiguity is a result of several countries not being recognized as sovereign states by the UN system, but are recognized by at least one UN member, known as "diplomatic recognition '. These countries often have disputed territories and have only partial recognition . A number of entities without recognition are also commonly considered a country.
Areas other 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 ), cottage country 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 .
The definition and usage of the word "country" has fluctuated and changed over time. The Economist Full article...
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards. China People's Republic of China (PRC ), is a country in East Asia . It is the second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion (17% of the world's population), across an area of 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), making it the third-largest country by area . It is divided into 33 province-level divisions , including two special administrative regions . Beijing is the capital, while Shanghai is the most populous city by urban area . Its geography features the vast Central Plain , major rivers such as the Yangtze and Yellow River , deserts, subtropical and temperate forests, and mountain ranges such as the Himalayas .
The first humans in China arrived during the Paleolithic . By the 2nd millennium BCE, dynastic states had emerged. The 1st millennium BCE saw political turmoil and cultural growth. In 221 BCE, China was unified under the Qin and the succeeding Han dynasty , ushering in two millennia of imperial rule across periods of unity and division. Its achievements include widespread cultural influence , the Silk Road , and the invention of gunpowder , paper , printing , and the compass . After increased Western political, economic, and philosophical influence, the 1911 Revolution overthrew the empire and established the Republic of China (ROC). The Warlord Era and Chinese Civil War followed, interrupted by Japan 's invasion . This ended in a Chinese victory in 1945. In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the People's Republic of China and forced the ROC's retreat to Taiwan . Both sides claim political legitimacy. CCP attempts to advance communism faltered through famine and political turmoil. The reform and opening up that began in 1978 moved China towards a market economy , spurring economic growth. (Full article...
A telephone numbering plan numbering scheme used in a telecommunications network to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reachable by a system of destination code routing. Telephone numbering plans are defined world-wide, as well as within each of the administrative regions of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and in private telephone networks.
In public numbering systems, geographic location typically plays a role in the sequence of numbers assigned to each telephone subscriber. Many numbering plan administrators subdivide their territory of service into geographic regions designated by a prefix, often called an area code or city code , which is a set of digits forming the most-significant part of the dialing sequence to reach a telephone subscriber. Within such regions designated by area codes, locally unique telephone numbers are assigned based on locally determined principles but in agreement with the larger-network rules. (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.
Vatican City Vatican City State (Italian : Stato della Città del Vaticano ; Latin : Status Civitatis Vaticanae ), often shortened as the Vatican , is a landlocked sovereign city-state . Ruled by the pope , it is an enclave within the city of Rome , Italy, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church . Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome , commonly known as the Holy See , itself a sovereign entity under international law , which maintains its temporal power , governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence. Vatican is also used as a metonym for the Holy See, which is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, comprising the pope and the Roman Curia . The independent state of Vatican City came into existence in 1929 via the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy , which spoke of it as a creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy .
With an area of 43.9 hectares (108 acres) and a population of about 882 in 2024, it is the smallest sovereign state in the world both by area and by population . It is the only country in the world with a population of under 1,000 people. It is among the least populated capitals in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal -monarchical state ruled by the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church ; the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. The Holy See dates to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which in 2018 had about 1.329 billion baptized Catholics in the world, in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches . After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. (Full article...
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 The
United States of America (
USA ), also known as the
United States (
U.S. ) or
America , is a country primarily located in
North America . It is a
federal republic consisting 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-exclave of
Alaska in the northwest and the
archipelago of
Hawaii in the
Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five
major island territories and
various uninhabited islands in
Oceania and the
Caribbean . It is a
megadiverse country , with the world's
third-largest land area and
third-largest population , exceeding 341 million.
Paleo-Indians first migrated from North Asia to North America at least 15,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations.
European discovery of the Americas began in 1492, and
British colonization followed with the 1607 settlement of
Virginia , the first of the
Thirteen Colonies . The
American Enlightenment that spread throughout the colonies in the 18th century valued
republicanism and
liberalism . Clashes with the
British Crown over
taxation without parliamentary representation and the denial of other
English rights evolved into the
American Revolution , which led to the July 2, 1776,
Lee Resolution formally declaring independence from Great Britain. This was followed two days later, on the
Fourth of July , by the public release of the
Declaration of Independence . Victory in the 1775–1783
Revolutionary War brought
international recognition of the country's sovereignty . Rapid
westward territorial expansion followed the purchase, settlement, and conquest of European and Indigenous-controlled territory. As more states were
admitted into the Union , a North–South
division over slavery led 11 Southern states to
declare secession and join as the
Confederate States of America in order to
preserve slavery there . These states fought against the
Union in the
American Civil War of 1861–1865 but were defeated. With the United States' victory and reunification, slavery was
abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a
great power , a status solidified after
its involvement during
World War I . Following
Japan 's
attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S.
entered World War II on the side of
the Allies .
Its aftermath left the U.S. and the
Soviet Union as rival
superpowers , competing for
ideological dominance and
international influence during the
Cold War . The
Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 left it the world's
sole superpower , although since the 2020s
China has been widely cited as
a potential rival .
The
federal government is a
representative democracy with
a president and
a constitution that creates
a separation of powers among three branches:
legislative ,
executive , and
judicial . The
Congress is 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 grants substantial autonomy to the 50 states. A
developed country ,
it ranks high in economic competitiveness, innovation, and
higher education . Accounting for
over a quarter of nominal global GDP, the
U.S. economy has been the world's largest
since about 1890 . It is the
wealthiest country , with the
highest disposable household income per capita among
OECD members, though
its wealth inequality is highly pronounced. Shaped by
centuries of immigration , the
culture of the country is diverse and
globally influential . Making up
nearly a third of global military spending, the country is widely considered to have
the most powerful armed forces in the world and was the first to develop and employ
nuclear weapons . A member of
numerous international organizations including the
United Nations Security Council , it plays a major role in global political, cultural, economic, and military affairs. (
Full article... )
Image 2 Iran , officially the
Islamic Republic of Iran , historically known as
Persia , is a country in
West Asia . It borders
Iraq to the west,
Turkey ,
Azerbaijan , and
Armenia to the northwest, the
Caspian Sea to the north,
Turkmenistan to the northeast,
Afghanistan to the east,
Pakistan to the southeast, and the
Gulf of Oman and the
Persian Gulf to the south. With a population of over 92 million, Iran ranks 17th globally in both
geographic size and
population . It is divided into
five regions with
31 provinces .
Tehran is the nation's
capital and
largest city and serves as its primary economic centre.
Home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, the territory of present-day Iran was first unified under the
Medes in the 7th century BC and reached its territorial height in the 6th century BC, when
Cyrus the Great founded the
Achaemenid Empire .
Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the 4th century BC. An Iranian rebellion in the 3rd century BC established the
Parthian Empire , which later liberated the country. In the 3rd century AD, the Parthians were succeeded by the
Sasanian Empire , which oversaw a golden age in the
history of Iranian civilization . Ancient Iran saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanization, religion, and administration. Once a center for
Zoroastrianism , Iran underwent
Islamization following the
7th century Muslim conquest . Innovations in
literature ,
philosophy , mathematics,
medicine , astronomy and
art were renewed during the
Islamic Golden Age and
Iranian Intermezzo , a period during which
Iranian Muslim dynasties ended Arab rule and revived the
Persian language . This era was followed by
Seljuk and
Khwarazmian rule,
Mongol conquests and the
Timurid Renaissance from the 11th to 14th centuries.
In the 16th century, the native
Safavid dynasty re-established a unified Iranian state with
Twelver Shia Islam as the
official religion , laying the framework for the modern state of Iran. During the
Afsharid Empire in the 18th century, Iran was a leading world power, but it lost this status after the
Qajars took power in the 1790s. The early 20th century saw the
Persian Constitutional Revolution and the establishment of the
Pahlavi dynasty by
Reza Shah , who ousted the last Qajar Shah in 1925. Following the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941 , his son
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi rose to power. Attempts by
Mohammad Mosaddegh to
nationalize the oil industry led to the
Anglo-American coup in 1953 . The
Iranian Revolution in 1979 overthrew the monarchy, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established by
Ruhollah Khomeini , the country's first
supreme leader . In 1980,
Iraq invaded Iran , sparking the eight-year-long
Iran–Iraq War . Iran has since been involved in
proxy wars with
Israel and
Saudi Arabia ; in 2025, Israeli strikes on Iran escalated tensions into the
Twelve-Day War . Following the war and amid a
growing economic crisis , the
largest protests since 1979 erupted in 2025. The
United States and
Israel launched a
war with Iran in 2026,
assassinating supreme leader
Ali Khamenei and his son,
Mojtaba Khamenei was
elected his successor. (
Full article... )
Image 3 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 , with a population of over 69 million in 2024. 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 , covering 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
2 ). It shares
a land border with the
Republic of Ireland and is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean , the
North Sea , the
English Channel , the
Celtic Sea and the
Irish Sea , while maintaining sovereignty over the
Crown Dependencies and the
British Overseas Territories . The capital and largest city of England and the UK is
London ;
Edinburgh ,
Cardiff and
Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
The British Isles have been continuously inhabited since the
Neolithic . In AD 43 the
Roman conquest of Britain began. The
Roman departure between 383 and 410 was followed by
Anglo-Saxon settlement beginning around 450. In 1066 the
Normans conquered England . Over 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 empire encompassed around a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the
largest in history . However,
its involvement in the First World War and
in 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 4 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 have changed significantly over time. For instance, the United States overtook the British Empire around 1916; Japan rose rapidly in the post-World War II period to become the world’s second-largest economy by the 1970s; China moved from ninth place in 1978 to second in 2010 following market reforms. These shifts reflect long-term changes in global economic output. (
Full article... )
Image 5 Israel , officially the
State of Israel , is a country in the
Southern Levant region of
West Asia . It is
bordered by
Lebanon to the north,
Syria to the northeast,
Jordan to the east, and
Egypt to the southwest.
Israel's western coast lies on the
Mediterranean Sea , its southern tip reaches the
Red Sea , and to the east is
Earth's lowest point near the
Dead Sea .
Jerusalem is the government seat and
proclaimed capital , while
Tel Aviv is Israel's
largest urban area and
economic centre .
The
Land of Israel , also called
Palestine or the
Holy Land , was home to the ancient
Canaanites and later the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah and
Hasmonean Judea . Located near
continental crossroads , its
demographics shifted under various empires. 19th-century
European antisemitism fuelled the
Zionist movement for a
Jewish homeland , which gained
British support with the 1917
Balfour Declaration . After
World War I , Britain occupied the region and established
Mandatory Palestine . British rule and
Jewish immigration in the leadup to the
Holocaust intensified
Arab-Jewish tensions , which escalated into
a civil war after the 1947
United Nations (UN)
Partition Plan .
Israel
declared independence as the
British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948, followed by an
invasion by
Arab states . The
1949 armistice expanded Israel beyond the UN plan, while no new Arab state was created, leaving
Gaza under Egyptian control and the
West Bank ruled by Jordan . Most
Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled during the
Nakba , while Israeli independence prompted
antisemitism in the Arab world and
Jewish exodus therefrom , mainly to Israel. After the 1967
Six-Day War , Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and Egyptian
Sinai , and annexed
East Jerusalem and the Syrian
Golan Heights . Peace treaties were signed with
Egypt in 1979 (the Sinai being returned in 1982) and
Jordan in 1994. The 1993
Oslo Accords introduced limited
Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza, while the 2020
Abraham Accords normalised ties with more Arab states, but the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict persists. Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian territories has drawn international criticism, with experts calling its actions
war crimes and crimes against humanity. After the
Hamas -led
October 7 attacks , Israel began committing
genocide against Palestinians in Gaza . Israel and its allies, including the
United States ,
deny that Israel's actions constitute genocide. (
Full article... )
Image 6 Lebanon , officially the
Lebanese Republic , is a country in the
Levant region of
West Asia . Situated at the crossroads of the
Mediterranean Basin and the
Arabian Peninsula , it is 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 coastline. 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 civilization that spanned the
Mediterranean Basin . In 64 BC, the region became part of the
Roman Empire and the subsequent
Byzantine Empire . After the seventh century, it
came under the rule of different Arab Islamic
caliphates , including the
Rashidun ,
Umayyad and
Abbasid caliphates. The 11th century saw the establishment of Christian
Crusader states , which fell to the
Ayyubids and the
Mamluks . Lebanon came under
Ottoman rule in the early 16th century. Under Ottoman sultan
Abdulmejid I , the first Lebanese
proto-state , the
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , was established as a home for
Maronite Christians , as part of the
Tanzimat reforms .
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
confessional government , with the state's major religious groups being
apportioned specific political powers . The new Lebanese state was relatively stable, 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 . It has been the scene of several
conflicts with Israel , of which the
ongoing war marks the fourth Israeli invasion since 1978. (
Full article... )
Image 7 India , officially the
Republic of India , is a country in
South Asia . It is the
seventh-largest country by area ; the
most populous country in the world 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;
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 Myanmar,
Thailand 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.
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
early dawnings 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 . During this era, there was a flourishing of creativity in art, architecture, and writing, the status of women declined, and
untouchability became an organised belief. In
South India , the
Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian language scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of
Southeast Asia .
In the
1st millennium Islam ,
Christianity ,
Judaism , and
Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Early in the
2nd millennium Muslim armies from
Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains. The resulting
Delhi Sultanate drew northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of medieval 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 ushered in two centuries of economic expansion and relative peace, and left
a rich architectural legacy . Gradually expanding
rule of the British East India Company 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 the public life took root.
A nationalist movement emerged in India, the first in the non-European
British Empire and an influence on other nationalist movements. Noted for nonviolent resistance after 1920, it became the primary 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 8 Hungary is a
landlocked country in
Central Europe . Spanning much of the
Carpathian Basin , it is bordered by
Slovakia to the north,
Ukraine to the northeast,
Romania to the east and southeast,
Serbia to the south, both
Croatia and
Slovenia to the southwest, and
Austria to the west. Hungary lies within the
Danube River's drainage basin , and is dominated by great lowland
plains . It has a population of over 9.5 million, consisting mostly of ethnic
Hungarians (Magyars) and a
significant Romani minority .
Hungarian is the
official language , and among the
few in Europe outside the
Indo-European family .
Budapest is the country's capital and
its largest city , and the dominant cultural and economic centre.
Before the establishment of the Hungarian state, the territory was settled by various groups, including
Celts ,
Romans ,
Huns ,
Germanic peoples ,
Avars , and
Slavs . Statehood began in the late ninth century with the
Principality of Hungary , which transformed into a
Christian medieval kingdom under King
Stephen I in 1000. Following defeat by the
Ottoman Empire at the
Battle of Mohács in 1526, the country was split into three regions for over 150 years until it was reunited under
Habsburg rule by the turn of the 18th century. Despite subsequent uprisings against the Habsburgs, a compromise in 1867 formed the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy , which operated as a European major power until its collapse after
World War I . Hungary's modern borders were subsequently established by the 1920
Treaty of Trianon , which resulted in severe losses for the country, including 71% of its historical territory, the majority of its economy and population, including
a third of ethnic Hungarians now living outside its borders.
Reeling from the aftermath of the war, Hungary endured turmoil in the early
interwar period , culminating in the
nationalist conservative regime of
Regent ruler
Miklós Horthy . Hungary joined the
Axis powers in
World War II , suffering significant damage and casualties. After brief
Soviet occupation, the
Hungarian People's Republic was established in 1949 as a
satellite state inside the
Warsaw Pact . Subsequent political repression and economic stagnation led to the unsuccessful
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , though
communist rule softened in following decades. As part of the
Revolutions of 1989 , Hungary peacefully transitioned into a
democratic parliamentary republic . It joined the
European Union (EU) in 2004 and the
Schengen Area in 2007. Under the leadership of
Viktor Orbán and
Fidesz from 2010 to 2026, the country experienced a
democratic backsliding . (
Full article... )
Image 9 China , officially the
People's Republic of China (
PRC ), is a country in
East Asia . It is the
second-most populous country after India, with
a population exceeding 1.4 billion (17% of the world's population), across an area of 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), making it the
third-largest country by area . It is divided into 33
province-level divisions , including two
special administrative regions .
Beijing is the capital, while
Shanghai is the
most populous city by urban area . Its geography features the vast
Central Plain , major rivers such as the
Yangtze and
Yellow River , deserts,
subtropical and temperate forests, and
mountain ranges such as the
Himalayas .
The first humans in China arrived during the
Paleolithic . By the 2nd millennium BCE,
dynastic states had emerged. The 1st millennium BCE saw political turmoil and cultural growth. In 221 BCE, China was unified under the
Qin and the succeeding
Han dynasty , ushering in two millennia of imperial rule across periods of unity and division. Its achievements include
widespread cultural influence , the
Silk Road , and the invention of
gunpowder ,
paper ,
printing , and the
compass . After increased Western political, economic, and philosophical influence, the
1911 Revolution overthrew the empire and established the
Republic of China (ROC). The
Warlord Era and
Chinese Civil War followed, interrupted by
Japan 's
invasion . This ended in a Chinese victory in 1945. In 1949, the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
proclaimed the People's Republic of China and forced the
ROC's retreat to
Taiwan .
Both sides claim political legitimacy. CCP attempts to advance
communism faltered through famine and political turmoil. The
reform and opening up that began in 1978 moved China towards a
market economy , spurring economic growth.
The PRC is a
unitary communist state with the CCP as its
sole ruling party . It is one of the five
permanent members of the
UN Security Council and a member of
many multilateral organizations . China is the world's largest
manufacturer and makes up about one-fifth of the global economy. It is the second largest economy on Earth. International organizations
rank China poorly in measures of
democracy and
human rights . Since the 2020s, it has been described as a
superpower due to its large military,
nuclear stockpile , and influence in geopolitics,
science and technology ,
manufacturing , economics and culture. (
Full article... )
Image 10 Japan is an
island country in
East Asia . Located in the
Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the
Asian mainland , it is bordered to 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 alongside
14,121 smaller islands . Japan is divided into
47 administrative prefectures and
eight traditional regions , and around 75% of
its terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating
its agriculture and
highly urbanized population along its eastern
coastal plains . With a population of almost 123 million as of 2026, it is the world's
11th most populous country .
Tokyo is
the country's capital and
largest city .
The first known habitation of the
archipelago dates to the
Upper Paleolithic , with the beginning of the
Japanese Paleolithic dating to
c. 36,000 BC . Between the 4th and 6th centuries, its kingdoms were united under
an emperor in
Nara and later in
Heian-kyō . From the 12th century, actual power was held by military aristocrats known as
shōgun and feudal lords called
daimyō , enforced by warrior nobility named
samurai . After rule by the
Kamakura and
Ashikaga shogunates and
a century of warring states , Japan was unified in 1600 by the
Tokugawa shogunate , which implemented
an isolationist foreign policy . In 1853,
an American fleet forced Japan to
open trade to the West , which led to the
end of the shogunate and the
restoration of imperial power in 1868.
The
Meiji period saw Japan pursue rapid
industrialization ,
modernization ,
militarism , and
overseas colonization . The country
annexed Korea in 1910,
invaded China in 1937, and
attacked the U.S. and
European colonial powers in 1941, thus
entering World War II as an
Axis power . After being defeated in the
Pacific War and suffering the U.S.
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Japan
surrendered in 1945 and
came under Allied occupation . It underwent
rapid economic growth in the following decades and became one of the first
major non-NATO allies of the U.S. Since the collapse of the
Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s, it has experienced a prolonged period of
economic stagnation referred to as the
Lost Decades . (
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