Virgin Islands are a part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. They were originally named by Columbus, after a Catholic legend. The eastern islands form the British Virgin Islands and the western ones form the United States Virgin Islands (which used to belong to Denmark). [...]

With almost 180 million inhabitans Pakistan is one of the most populous countries of the world. Considering that fairly little is known about it in the west, save for its nuclear weapons and it being a neighbour of India. Disputes over some areas have led to wars between India and Pakistan. There have been several [...]

Djibouti is a tiny country in the Horn of Africa, mostly consisting of stony semidesert, with a population of less than a million. It used to belong to France and still maintains close relations to France. French is the official language and the currency is known as the Djibouti Franc. It is, however, also an [...]

Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe, though traditionally culturally associated with East Europe. Until 1993 it formed the country Czechoslovakia together with what is now the Czech republic. Earlier it used to be a part of Austria-Hungary. The economy is very quickly growing, in 2006 the growth in GDP was the highest in [...]

Côte d’Ivoire is a country in West Africa, also known as Ivory Coast. As the name suggests it is a former colony of France and French remains the official language. Religion-wise it is quite heterogenous, with large populations practicing Christianity, Islam and their mixtures with local religions. In the past 15 years it has experienced [...]

China is the world’s second largest country by land area and has the largest population, 1.3 billion. The precise total area is controversial, since China also claims ownership on e.g. Taiwan (also known as Republic of China, while China is officially the People’s Republic of China – quite confusing). It has a rich, far-reaching history [...]

Costa Rica is a small country in Central America. A 2009 study proclaimed it as both the happiest and greenest country in the world. In general it ranks pretty high in various human development indices. It is a former Spanish colony, but acquired its independence already in the 1800s. After a bloody civil war, in [...]

South Africa is a large country in Southern Africa (well, duh), unfortunately perhaps best known for its apartheid policy. About 80% of the people are of black origin, showing that yes, you can discriminate against the majority. It is also infamous for some other things, like the mind-blowingly high number of rapes and the horribly [...]

Greece is not hugely popular at the moment thanks to its severe money problems. It’s a shame, considering the rich history and culture of this Mediterranean country, being the Western birthplace of many arts, sciences, ideas and traditions, including the Olympic games. Apparently the Greek healthcare system remains one of the best in the world [...]

Vietnam is a quite long but mostly very narrow country located in the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. A former colony of France, the country suffered a a war from the 1950s/1960s until 1975, which killed millions of people, also many in the neighbouring countries. (For some reasons, many Americans think the U.S. “won” the [...]