Ernest Atlas
Countries
195 country essays from Ernest Atlas, each on its own page, listed A to Z.
A
- Afghanistan Afghanistan occupies a pivotal place in the geography and history of Asia.
- Albania Albania occupies a compact but strategically consequential corner of the western Balkan Peninsula, facing the Adriatic and Ionian seas at the southern gateway to the…
- Algeria Algeria occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Andorra Nestled high in the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain, the Principality of Andorra is one of Europe’s smallest sovereign states and one of its most distinctive.
- Angola Angola occupies a distinctive place in contemporary Africa.
- Antarctica Status: Continent governed under the Antarctic Treaty System (no sovereign UN member “country”).
- Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda occupies a distinctive place in the eastern Caribbean.
- Aotearoa New Zealand New Zealand—known in te reo Māori as Aotearoa—occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Argentina Argentina occupies a distinctive place in the story of the Americas.
- Armenia Armenia occupies a distinctive place in the geography and imagination of Eurasia.
- Australia Australia occupies a singular place among the world’s nations.
- Austria Austria occupies a distinctive place in the European story.
- Azerbaijan Azerbaijan occupies one of the most strategically consequential crossroads in Eurasia.
B
- Bahrain Bahrain is easy to overlook on a map and difficult to forget once studied with care.
- Bangladesh Bangladesh occupies a distinctive place in South Asia and in the wider story of development.
- Barbados Barbados occupies a distinctive place in the Caribbean imagination and in the modern history of the Americas.
- Belarus Belarus occupies a quiet but consequential place on the map of Europe.
- Belau in the Western Pacific In the far western reaches of Micronesia, where the Philippine Sea meets the broader Pacific, lies a small sovereign republic whose islands have long occupied an outsized…
- Belgium Belgium occupies a modest corner of northwestern Europe, yet its influence on European politics, commerce, and culture far exceeds what its size alone would suggest.
- Belize Belize occupies a distinctive place on the map of the Americas.
- Benin The Republic of Benin occupies a slender corridor of West Africa that stretches from the humid lagoons of the Gulf of Guinea to the drier plains of the Niger River.
- Bhutan In the eastern Himalayas, between the vast plateaus of Tibet to the north and the plains of India to the south, lies the Kingdom of Bhutan—a small, landlocked country…
- Bolivia The Plurinational State of Bolivia occupies a distinctive place in South America.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina sits at a crossroads of European history.
- Botswana Botswana occupies a distinctive place in modern African history.
- Brazil Brazil occupies a singular place among the world’s large nations.
- Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam—often shortened to Brunei—is a small, oil-rich Islamic sultanate on the northern coast of Borneo in Southeast Asia.
- Bulgaria Bulgaria occupies the eastern half of the Balkan Peninsula, a country whose mountains, plains, and Black Sea shore have long served as a bridge between Europe and the…
- Burkina Faso Burkina Faso occupies a pivotal place in the geography and politics of West Africa.
- Burma Burma—the name used by the United States government, while the military government since 1989 and the United Nations use Myanmar—occupies a pivotal place in mainland…
- Burundi Burundi is a small, densely populated country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa.
C
- Cabo Verde Far out in the eastern Atlantic, where the trade winds meet the dry breath of the Sahara, lies an island republic whose history is written as much in movement as in…
- Cambodia Cambodia occupies a distinctive place in Southeast Asia’s historical and contemporary imagination.
- Cameroon Cameroon occupies a distinctive place on the African map and in the continent’s modern story.
- Canada Canada occupies the northern half of the North American continent and ranks among the world’s largest countries by land area.
- The Central African Republic At the geographic heart of the African continent lies the Central African Republic (CAR), a landlocked country whose physical centrality has rarely translated into…
- Chad Few countries illustrate the interlocking pressures of geography, history, and global politics as clearly as Chad.
- Chile Few countries compress as much geographic extremity into a single national outline as Chile.
- China The People’s Republic of China (PRC) occupies a central place in contemporary world affairs.
- Colombia Colombia occupies a distinctive place in the Americas.
- The Commonwealth of The Bahamas Few countries occupy so vivid a place in the global imagination as The Bahamas.
- Costa Rica Costa Rica occupies a slender stretch of the Central American isthmus, yet its reputation travels far beyond its borders.
- Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire—also widely known in English as Ivory Coast—occupies a distinctive place in West Africa.
- Croatia Croatia occupies a distinctive place on the map of Europe.
- Cuba Cuba occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Cyprus Cyprus occupies a distinctive place in the eastern Mediterranean: geographically close to Anatolia and the Levant, politically and institutionally European, and…
- Czechia Czechia—formally the Czech Republic, and promoted since 2016 by its own government as the short English name “Czechia”—occupies a compact but consequential place at the…
D
- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known in English as North Korea, occupies the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—also widely known as Congo-Kinshasa or DR Congo—occupies a vast sweep of Central Africa and holds a place of unusual importance…
- Denmark Denmark occupies a distinctive place in northern Europe: compact in territory, maritime in outlook, and consequential in the history of Scandinavia and the wider Atlantic…
- Djibouti On the narrow southern threshold of the Red Sea, where Africa almost touches Arabia, lies one of the continent’s smallest and most strategically consequential states.
- Dominica The Commonwealth of Dominica is a small island country in the Lesser Antilles of the eastern Caribbean Sea, nestled between the French overseas departments of Guadeloupe…
- The Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Greater Antilles, and stands today as one of the Caribbean’s most…
E
- Ecuador Ecuador occupies a compact but astonishingly varied corner of northwestern South America.
- Egypt Few countries compress so much historical depth into so visible a geography.
- El Salvador El Salvador occupies a distinctive place in Central America and in the broader story of the Americas.
- Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa’s smallest states by land area and population, yet it occupies an outsized place in discussions of postcolonial politics, hydrocarbon…
- Eritrea Eritrea occupies a distinctive place on the map of the Horn of Africa and in the political imagination of the late twentieth century.
- Estonia Estonia occupies a slender strip of northeastern Europe where the Baltic Sea meets the East European Plain.
- Ethiopia Ethiopia occupies a distinctive place in African and world affairs.
F
- The Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a sovereign Pacific island republic whose name is easy to confuse with the broader geographic and cultural region called…
- Fiji Scattered across a vast stretch of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Fiji occupies a distinctive place among the world’s island nations.
- Finland Finland occupies a distinctive place in northern Europe.
- France France occupies a distinctive place among the nations of the Western world.
G
- Gabon Gabon occupies a distinctive place on the map of Central Africa and in the wider story of the continent’s postcolonial development.
- The Gambia The Republic of The Gambia occupies one of the most distinctive silhouettes on the map of Africa: a slender ribbon of land threaded along the lower course of the Gambia…
- Georgia at the Crossroads Georgia—known to its own people as Sakartvelo—is a compact but consequential country at the eastern edge of the Black Sea, where the mountain systems of the Greater and…
- Germany Germany sits at the crossroads of Europe—geographically, historically, and economically.
- Ghana Ghana occupies a distinctive place in African and global affairs.
- Greece Greece occupies a distinctive place in the geography of Europe and in the imagination of the wider world.
- Greenland Status: Autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark (not a UN member state).
- Grenada Grenada is a small archipelagic state in the eastern Caribbean whose reputation as the “Isle of Spice” has long outgrown its physical size.
- Guatemala Guatemala occupies a distinctive place in Central America.
- Guinea The Republic of Guinea—often called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from Guinea-Bissau to its northwest and from Equatorial Guinea on the Gulf of Guinea farther…
- Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau is a small West African republic whose story is larger than its map.
- Guyana Guyana occupies a distinctive place on the map of the Americas.
H
I
- Iceland Iceland sits in the North Atlantic as a geologically restless island whose story is inseparable from ice, fire, and the sea.
- India India occupies most of the South Asian subcontinent and stands among the world's most consequential countries by geography, demography, economy, and culture.
- Indonesia Indonesia occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Iraq Iraq occupies a central place in the geography and historical imagination of southwestern Asia.
- Ireland The Republic of Ireland—known in Irish as Éire and formally styled Ireland—occupies most of the island that forms the westernmost major landmass of the British Isles.
- The Islamic Republic of Iran Iran—officially the Islamic Republic of Iran—occupies a distinctive place in world geography and history.
- Israel Israel occupies a narrow corridor of land at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, a geography that has long placed it at the intersection of continents, empires…
- Italy Italy occupies a distinctive place in European and world affairs: a peninsula thrusting into the Mediterranean, bordered by the Alps, studded with islands, and carrying a…
J
- Jamaica Jamaica occupies a distinctive place in the Caribbean and in the wider Atlantic world.
- Japan Japan occupies a distinctive place among the world’s nations.
- Jordan The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan occupies a slender corridor of Southwest Asia where desert, highland, and rift valley meet, and where ancient trade routes once linked…
K
- Kazakhstan Kazakhstan occupies a distinctive place in the contemporary world: geographically vast yet sparsely inhabited, historically rooted in steppe pastoralism yet shaped by…
- Kenya Kenya occupies a distinctive place in eastern Africa.
- The Kingdom of Eswatini Nestled between South Africa and Mozambique in southern Africa, the Kingdom of Eswatini is one of the continent’s smallest sovereign states and one of its most…
- The Kingdom of Tonga Across the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where coral reefs rim volcanic ridges and the International Date Line threads among scattered atolls, lies the Kingdom of Tonga—an…
- Kiribati In the central Pacific Ocean, where the equator and the antimeridian meet a scatter of coral rings, lies the Republic of Kiribati—a sovereign state whose land area is…
- Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis—officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis—is among the smallest sovereign states in the Western Hemisphere, yet its historical and…
- Kuwait Kuwait occupies a small corner of the northwestern Persian Gulf, yet its story resonates far beyond its borders.
- Kyrgyzstan In the heart of Central Asia, where the Tien Shan rises in serrated white ridges and alpine lakes hold the reflected light of perpetual snow, lies Kyrgyzstan—a landlocked…
L
- Laos The Lao People's Democratic Republic—commonly called Laos—occupies a distinctive place in mainland Southeast Asia.
- Latvia Latvia occupies a distinctive place among the nations of northeastern Europe.
- Lebanon Lebanon occupies a narrow ribbon of land on the eastern Mediterranean, yet its influence on regional history, commerce, and culture has long exceeded its geographic size.
- Liberia Liberia occupies a distinctive place in African and Atlantic history.
- Libya Libya occupies a vast stretch of North Africa’s Mediterranean shore and Saharan interior, a geography that has shaped settlement, commerce, and political life for…
- Liechtenstein Nestled between Switzerland and Austria in the heart of the Alpine arc, the Principality of Liechtenstein is one of Europe’s smallest sovereign states and, by several…
- Lithuania Lithuania occupies a distinctive place among the countries of northeastern Europe.
- Saint Lucia Saint Lucia occupies a distinctive place in the Eastern Caribbean.
- Luxembourg Few countries illustrate the paradoxes of modern Europe as clearly as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
M
- Madagascar Separated from mainland Africa by the Mozambique Channel yet linked by language and ancestry more closely to distant Southeast Asia, Madagascar occupies a singular place…
- Malawi Malawi occupies a slender ribbon of highland and lake country in southeastern Africa, a landlocked republic whose physical form is inseparable from the East African Rift…
- Malaysia Malaysia occupies a distinctive place in Southeast Asia.
- The Maldives Scattered across a vast expanse of the north-central Indian Ocean, the Republic of Maldives occupies a place in the global imagination that few nations of comparable size…
- Mali Mali occupies a distinctive place in the geography and historical imagination of West Africa.
- Malta Few places on Earth concentrate so much history, cultural layering, and contemporary dynamism into so small a territory as Malta.
- The Marshall Islands Few sovereign states compress so much history, geography, and moral complexity into so little dry land as the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
- Mauritania Mauritania occupies a distinctive place on the map of Africa and in the imagination of those who study the continent’s transitions between desert and savanna, Arabophone…
- Mauritius In the southwestern Indian Ocean, roughly eight hundred kilometres east of Madagascar, lies the Republic of Mauritius—an island state whose physical smallness belies the…
- Mexico Mexico—officially the United Mexican States—occupies a pivotal position in the Americas.
- Moldova The Republic of Moldova occupies a modest strip of land between the Prut and Dniester rivers on the northeastern edge of the Balkan region of Europe, yet its historical…
- Monaco Few places on Earth concentrate as much history, wealth, symbolism, and geographic paradox into so small a space as the Principality of Monaco.
- Mongolia Mongolia occupies a distinctive place in both the geography of Asia and the imagination of the wider world.
- Montenegro Montenegro is a small country with a large presence in the European imagination.
- Morocco Morocco occupies a distinctive place on the map of North Africa and of the wider Mediterranean world.
- The Most Serene Republic of San Marino On a limestone mountain rising from the hills of central Italy, a small republic has preserved a continuous claim to self-government for longer than almost any other…
- The Mountain Kingdom Few countries on Earth present as distinctive a geographic and political profile as the Kingdom of Lesotho.
- Mozambique Stretching along the southeastern edge of Africa, the Republic of Mozambique occupies a long corridor of coast and hinterland that has, for centuries, linked the interior…
N
- Namibia Namibia occupies a distinctive place on the map of southern Africa and in the wider story of twentieth-century decolonization.
- Naoero Naoero—known internationally as Nauru until 2026, when a constitutional amendment certified on 13 May and announced by the government in July restored its indigenous name…
- Nepal Few countries compress as much geographic drama, civilizational depth, and political transformation into so compact a space as Nepal.
- The Netherlands Few countries illustrate so clearly how geography can shape destiny as the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- Nicaragua Nicaragua occupies a distinctive place in Central America and in the wider story of the Americas.
- Niger Niger—officially the Republic of Niger—is a vast, landlocked country in western Africa that sits astride one of the world’s most consequential ecological frontiers: the…
- Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a West African country whose scale and diversity make it one of the most consequential states on the African…
- North Macedonia North Macedonia is a small, landlocked republic in the south-central Balkans whose modern story is inseparable from the wider geographic region traditionally known as…
- Norway Norway occupies the western half of the Scandinavian Peninsula, a long and mountainous country whose fjord-cut coast faces the North Atlantic and whose eastern frontier…
O
P
- Pakistan Pakistan occupies a pivotal place in South Asia, both geographically and historically.
- Panama Few countries occupy so decisive a place on the world map as Panama.
- Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Paraguay Paraguay occupies a distinctive place in South America.
- Peru Peru occupies a distinctive place in the geography and imagination of South America.
- The Philippines The Republic of the Philippines occupies a distinctive place in Southeast Asia and in the wider Pacific world.
- Poland Poland occupies a distinctive place in the geography and history of Europe.
- Portugal Portugal occupies the Atlantic edge of southwestern Europe, a comparatively compact country whose influence on world history has been out of proportion to its size.
Q
R
- The Republic of Korea The Republic of Korea—commonly known in English as South Korea and officially as Daehan Minguk—occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia.
- The Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo—commonly called Congo-Brazzaville or Congo (Brazzaville)—is a west-central African state that sits astride the Equator and faces, across the…
- Romania Romania occupies a distinctive place in southeastern Europe.
- The Russian Federation The Russian Federation occupies a unique place in the modern world.
- Rwanda Rwanda occupies a distinctive place in the modern African story.
S
- Samoa In the central South Pacific, roughly midway between Hawaii and New Zealand, lies the Independent State of Samoa—an archipelago whose cultural reach has long exceeded its…
- São Tomé and Príncipe Far out in the Gulf of Guinea, where the Atlantic meets the humid equatorial air, lie two green volcanic islands that form one of Africa’s smallest and most distinctive…
- Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia occupies a singular place in the modern world.
- Senegal At the western edge of the African continent, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Sahel and the tropical forests of the south, lies Senegal—a country long described as the…
- Serbia Serbia occupies a pivotal place in Southeastern Europe.
- Seychelles Scattered across the western Indian Ocean, the Republic of Seychelles is among the world’s smallest sovereign states by population and land area, yet among Africa’s most…
- Sierra Leone Sierra Leone occupies a compact stretch of the West African coast, yet its story reaches far beyond its borders.
- Singapore Singapore is a compact island republic at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, roughly 137 kilometers north of the Equator, whose strategic position on the Strait of…
- Slovakia Slovakia occupies a compact but consequential place in the heart of Europe.
- Slovenia Slovenia is a compact Central European republic whose landscape and history have long placed it at a crossroads.
- The Solomon Islands Across the southwestern Pacific, where the Coral Sea gives way to the open ocean and Melanesia’s island arcs stretch toward Micronesia and Polynesia, lies the sovereign…
- Somalia Somalia occupies a distinctive place on the map of Africa and in the modern history of state formation.
- South Africa South Africa occupies a distinctive place in the modern world: a mineral-rich democracy at the tip of the African continent, shaped by deep human antiquity, colonial…
- South Sudan South Sudan is the world’s youngest widely recognized sovereign state, having declared independence on 9 July 2011 after decades of struggle, negotiation, and a decisive…
- Spain Spain occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula at the southwestern edge of Europe, a country whose landscapes, languages, and political institutions have been shaped by…
- Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped island in the northern Indian Ocean, separated from the southern tip of peninsular India by the narrow Palk Strait.
- Sudan The Republic of the Sudan occupies a pivotal position in northeastern Africa, where the Sahara meets the Sahel, the Nile gathers its twin branches, and the Red Sea opens…
- Suriname Suriname occupies a distinctive place on the map of South America.
- Sweden Sweden occupies most of the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe and presents one of the clearest modern examples of how a sparsely populated, high-latitude country…
- Switzerland Switzerland occupies a comparatively small space on the map of Europe, yet it has long exercised an influence disproportionate to its size.
- Syria Syria occupies a pivotal place in the eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East.
T
- Tajikistan In the high heart of Central Asia, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates grind against one another and throw up some of the planet’s most formidable ranges, lies…
- Tanzania The United Republic of Tanzania occupies a distinctive place in eastern Africa.
- Thailand Thailand occupies a distinctive place in mainland Southeast Asia.
- Timor-Leste Timor-Leste—known in English as East Timor and in Tetum as Timor Lorosa’e—occupies a distinctive place among the world’s newer sovereign states.
- Togo Togo is a slender West African republic that stretches inland from a short Atlantic shoreline on the Gulf of Guinea.
- Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago occupies a distinctive place in the Caribbean and in the wider Americas.
- Tunisia Tunisia occupies a distinctive place in North Africa and in the wider Mediterranean world.
- Turkey at the Crossroads Few countries occupy a geographic and historical position as consequential as Turkey—officially the Republic of Türkiye.
- Turkmenistan Turkmenistan occupies one of Central Asia’s most austere and consequential landscapes.
- Tuvalu In the west-central Pacific Ocean, far from continental markets and major shipping lanes, lies one of the world’s smallest and most distinctive sovereign states.
U
- Uganda Uganda occupies a distinctive place in East Africa.
- Ukraine Ukraine occupies a pivotal place in European geography and history.
- The Union of the Comoros Scattered across the northern reaches of the Mozambique Channel, the Union of the Comoros occupies a strategic yet precarious place in the western Indian Ocean.
- The United Arab Emirates Few modern states compress so much change into so short a span of political time as the United Arab Emirates.
- The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupies a distinctive place among modern states.
- The United States of America The United States of America occupies a distinctive place in the modern world.
- Uruguay On a map of South America, Uruguay can look almost incidental—a slender wedge of grassland and coastline pressed between Brazil and Argentina, facing the Atlantic Ocean…
- Uzbekistan Uzbekistan sits at the geographic and historical heart of Central Asia—a doubly landlocked republic whose cities once stitched together caravan routes between China…
V
- Vanuatu In the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where deep blue water meets a long chain of volcanic islands, lies the Republic of Vanuatu—a Melanesian nation whose name, in many…
- Venezuela Venezuela occupies a distinctive place in the geography and modern history of Latin America.
- Vietnam Vietnam occupies a distinctive place on the map of Southeast Asia and in the story of the modern world.
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines occupies a distinctive place among the island states of the eastern Caribbean.