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Nations Of The World -- S

Overview · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and The Grenadines · Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) · San Marino · São Tomé and Príncipe · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia And Montenegro · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Slovakia · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · Spain · Sri Lanka · Sudan · Suriname · Swaziland · Sweden · Switzerland · Syria

Overview

World map

World Almanac for Kids

There are 193 independent nations in the world. The information here gives the name and capital of each nation, its location, and its area. Population is an estimate of how many people lived in each country in mid-2005. Currency shows the name of each nation's money and how much one United States dollar was worth there as of early 2005. Language lists official languages and other common languages.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Basseterre

Islands in the Caribbean Sea, near Puerto Rico

101 sq. mi. (261 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

38,958

$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars

English

Did You Know: St. Kitts was the first island in the West Indies settled by the British, in 1623.

Saint Lucia

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Castries

Island on eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea

238 sq. mi. (616 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

166,312

$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars

English, French patois

Did You Know: The island has switched hands between the British and French 14 times.

Saint Vincent and The Grenadines

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Kingston

Islands on eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea, north of Grenada

150 sq. mi. (389 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

117,534

$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars

English, French patois

Did You Know: Black Caribs living here are descended from slaves and native Indians.

Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Apia

Islands in the South Pacific Ocean

1,137 sq. mi. (2,944 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

177,287

$1 = 2.67 tala

English, Samoan

Did You Know: Most Samoans live in small seashore villages of 100 to 500 people.

San Marino

Capital

Location of Country

Area

San Marino

Southern Europe, surrounded by Italy

24 sq. mi. (61 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

28,880

$1 = .77 euros

Italian

Did You Know: San Marino claims to be Europe's oldest country, founded in A.D. 301.

São Tomé and Príncipe

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Sao Tome

In the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa

386 sq. mi. (1,001 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

187,410

$1 = 9,043 dobras

Portuguese

Did You Know: Portugal ruled these islands for nearly 300 years, leaving in 1975.

Saudi Arabia

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Riyadh

Western Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula

756,985 sq. mi. (1,960,582 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

26,417,599

$1 = 3.75 riyals

Arabic

Did You Know: Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, is the holiest city of Islam.

Senegal

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Dakar

West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, south of Mauritania

75,749 sq. mi. (196,190 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

11,126,832

$1 = 506 CFA francs

French, Wolof

Did You Know: Senegal is among the world's largest producers of peanuts.

Serbia And Montenegro

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Belgrade, Podgorica

Europe, on the Balkan Penninsula, west of Romania and Bulgaria

39,518 sq. mi. (102,350 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

10,829,175

$1 = 61.38 new dinars

Serbo-Croatian, Albanian

Did You Know: Ruins of the Roman town of Singidunum can still be seen in Belgrade.

Seychelles

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Victoria

Islands off the coast of Africa, in the Indian Ocean

176 sq. mi. (455 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

81,188

$1 = 5.43 rupees

English, French, Creole

Did You Know: These islands were uninhabited when ships sailing for the British East India Company landed there in 1609.

Sierra Leone

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Freetown

West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, south of Guinea

27,699 sq. mi. (71,740 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

6,017,643

$1 = 2,356 leones

English, Mende, Temne, Krio

Did You Know: Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra called the area Serra Layoa, "Lion Mountains," in 1460.

Singapore

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Singapore

Mostly on one island, off the tip of Southeast Asia

267 sq. mi. (693 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

4,425,720

$1 = 1.63 Singapore dollars

Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English

Did You Know: Singapore is the world's second most densely populated country after Monaco.

Slovakia

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Bratislava

Eastern Europe, between Poland and Hungary

18,859 sq. mi. (48,845 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

5,431,363

$1 = 29.54 koruny

Slovak, Hungarian

Did You Know: This nation became independent when Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

Slovenia

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Ljubljana

Eastern Europe, between Austria and Croatia

7,827 sq. mi. (20,273 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

2,011,070

$1 = 184.72 tolars

Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian

Did You Know: Slovenia escaped the violence that affected Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Solomon Islands

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Honiara

Western Pacific Ocean

10,985 sq. mi. (28,450 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

538,032

$1 = 7.12 Solomon Islands dollars

English, Melanesian

Did You Know: Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands, was the site of a key World War II battle.

Somalia

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Mogadishu

East Africa, east of Ethiopia

246,201 sq. mi. (637,657 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

8,591,629

$1 = 3,088 shillings

Somali, Arabic, Italian, English

Did You Know: Thirty U.S. soldiers were killed here during UN peacekeeping work (1992-1994).

South Africa

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Pretoria (admin.) Cape Town (legisl.)

At the southern tip of Africa

471,010 sq. mi. (1,219,912 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

44,344,136

$1 = 5.94 rand

Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sotho

Did You Know: South Africa has 11 official languages; 9 of them are native.

Spain

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Madrid

Europe, south of France, on the Iberian Peninsula

194,897 sq. mi. (504,782 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

40,341,462

$1 = .77 euros

Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Galician

Did You Know: Spanish rulers grew rich in the 1500s from New World gold and silver.

Sri Lanka

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Colombo

Island in the Indian Ocean, southeast of India

25,332 sq. mi. (65,610 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

20,064,776

$1 = 98.65 rupees

Sinhala, Tamil, English

Did You Know: In 1960, Sri Lanka chose the world's first elected female prime minister.

Sudan

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Khartoum

North Africa, south of Egypt, on the Red Sea

967,498 sq. mi. (2,505,810 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

40,187,486

$1 = 256.11 dinars

Arabic, Nubian, Ta Bedawie

Did You Know: Sudan is the largest country in Africa in total area, while Algeria is the largest in land area.

Suriname

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Paramaribo

South America, on the northern shore, east of Guyana

63,039 sq. mi. (163,270 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

438,144

$1 = 2.8 Suriname dollars

Dutch, Sranang Tongo

Did You Know: In 1677, Britain "traded" Suriname to the Dutch for New York City.

Swaziland

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Mbabane

Southern Africa, almost surrounded by South Africa

6,704 sq. mi. (17,363 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

1,173,900

$1 = 5.96 emalangeni

English, siSwati

Did You Know: 4 out of 10 adults in Swaziland have the AIDS virus.

Sweden

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Stockholm

Northern Europe, on the Scandinavian Peninsula

173,732 sq. mi. (449,964 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

9,001,774

$1 = 6.95 kronor

Swedish

Did You Know: In 1910, Sweden created Europe's first national park. In all, some 7,700 square miles of land is now preserved.

Switzerland

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Bern (admin.) Lausanne (judicial)

Central Europe, in the Alps, north of Italy

15,942 sq. mi. (41,290 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

7,489,370

$1 = 1.19 Swiss francs

German, French, Italian, Romansch

Did You Know: Though it is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, Switzerland did not join the UN until 2002.

Syria

Capital

Location of Country

Area

Damascus

In the Middle East, north of Jordan and west of Iraq

71,498 sq. mi. (185,180 sq. km.)

Population

Currency

Language

18,448,752

$1 = 51.96 pounds

Arabic, Kurdish, Armenian

Did You Know: Damascus may be the world's oldest continuously occupied city.