Nations Of The World -- S
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World Almanac for Kids
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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.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Basseterre
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Islands in the Caribbean Sea, near Puerto Rico
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101 sq. mi. (261 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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38,958
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$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars
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English
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Did You Know: St. Kitts was the first island in the West Indies settled by the British, in 1623.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Castries
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Island on eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea
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238 sq. mi. (616 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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166,312
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$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars
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English, French patois
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Did You Know: The island has switched hands between the British and French 14 times.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Kingston
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Islands on eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea, north of Grenada
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150 sq. mi. (389 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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117,534
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$1 = 2.67 East Carribean dollars
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English, French patois
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Did You Know: Black Caribs living here are descended from slaves and native Indians.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Apia
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Islands in the South Pacific Ocean
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1,137 sq. mi. (2,944 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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177,287
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$1 = 2.67 tala
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English, Samoan
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Did You Know: Most Samoans live in small seashore villages of 100 to 500 people.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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San Marino
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Southern Europe, surrounded by Italy
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24 sq. mi. (61 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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28,880
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$1 = .77 euros
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Italian
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Did You Know: San Marino claims to be Europe's oldest country, founded in A.D. 301.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Sao Tome
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In the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa
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386 sq. mi. (1,001 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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187,410
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$1 = 9,043 dobras
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Portuguese
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Did You Know: Portugal ruled these islands for nearly 300 years, leaving in 1975.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Riyadh
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Western Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula
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756,985 sq. mi. (1,960,582 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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26,417,599
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$1 = 3.75 riyals
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Arabic
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Did You Know: Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, is the holiest city of Islam.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Dakar
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West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, south of Mauritania
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75,749 sq. mi. (196,190 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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11,126,832
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$1 = 506 CFA francs
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French, Wolof
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Did You Know: Senegal is among the world's largest producers of peanuts.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Belgrade, Podgorica
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Europe, on the Balkan Penninsula, west of Romania and Bulgaria
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39,518 sq. mi. (102,350 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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10,829,175
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$1 = 61.38 new dinars
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Serbo-Croatian, Albanian
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Did You Know: Ruins of the Roman town of Singidunum can still be seen in Belgrade.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Victoria
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Islands off the coast of Africa, in the Indian Ocean
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176 sq. mi. (455 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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81,188
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$1 = 5.43 rupees
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English, French, Creole
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Did You Know: These islands were uninhabited when ships sailing for the British East India Company landed there in 1609.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Freetown
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West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, south of Guinea
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27,699 sq. mi. (71,740 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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6,017,643
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$1 = 2,356 leones
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English, Mende, Temne, Krio
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Did You Know: Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra called the area Serra Layoa, "Lion Mountains," in 1460.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Singapore
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Mostly on one island, off the tip of Southeast Asia
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267 sq. mi. (693 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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4,425,720
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$1 = 1.63 Singapore dollars
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Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English
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Did You Know: Singapore is the world's second most densely populated country after Monaco.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Bratislava
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Eastern Europe, between Poland and Hungary
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18,859 sq. mi. (48,845 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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5,431,363
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$1 = 29.54 koruny
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Slovak, Hungarian
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Did You Know: This nation became independent when Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Ljubljana
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Eastern Europe, between Austria and Croatia
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7,827 sq. mi. (20,273 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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2,011,070
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$1 = 184.72 tolars
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Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian
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Did You Know: Slovenia escaped the violence that affected Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Honiara
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Western Pacific Ocean
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10,985 sq. mi. (28,450 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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538,032
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$1 = 7.12 Solomon Islands dollars
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English, Melanesian
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Did You Know: Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands, was the site of a key World War II battle.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Mogadishu
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East Africa, east of Ethiopia
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246,201 sq. mi. (637,657 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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8,591,629
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$1 = 3,088 shillings
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Somali, Arabic, Italian, English
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Did You Know: Thirty U.S. soldiers were killed here during UN peacekeeping work (1992-1994).
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Pretoria (admin.) Cape Town (legisl.)
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At the southern tip of Africa
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471,010 sq. mi. (1,219,912 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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44,344,136
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$1 = 5.94 rand
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Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sotho
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Did You Know: South Africa has 11 official languages; 9 of them are native.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Madrid
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Europe, south of France, on the Iberian Peninsula
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194,897 sq. mi. (504,782 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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40,341,462
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$1 = .77 euros
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Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Galician
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Did You Know: Spanish rulers grew rich in the 1500s from New World gold and silver.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Colombo
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Island in the Indian Ocean, southeast of India
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25,332 sq. mi. (65,610 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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20,064,776
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$1 = 98.65 rupees
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Sinhala, Tamil, English
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Did You Know: In 1960, Sri Lanka chose the world's first elected female prime minister.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Khartoum
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North Africa, south of Egypt, on the Red Sea
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967,498 sq. mi. (2,505,810 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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40,187,486
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$1 = 256.11 dinars
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Arabic, Nubian, Ta Bedawie
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Did You Know: Sudan is the largest country in Africa in total area, while Algeria is the largest in land area.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Paramaribo
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South America, on the northern shore, east of Guyana
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63,039 sq. mi. (163,270 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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438,144
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$1 = 2.8 Suriname dollars
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Dutch, Sranang Tongo
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Did You Know: In 1677, Britain "traded" Suriname to the Dutch for New York City.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Mbabane
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Southern Africa, almost surrounded by South Africa
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6,704 sq. mi. (17,363 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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1,173,900
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$1 = 5.96 emalangeni
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English, siSwati
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Did You Know: 4 out of 10 adults in Swaziland have the AIDS virus.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Stockholm
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Northern Europe, on the Scandinavian Peninsula
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173,732 sq. mi. (449,964 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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9,001,774
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$1 = 6.95 kronor
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Swedish
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Did You Know: In 1910, Sweden created Europe's first national park. In all, some 7,700 square miles of land is now preserved.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Bern (admin.) Lausanne (judicial)
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Central Europe, in the Alps, north of Italy
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15,942 sq. mi. (41,290 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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7,489,370
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$1 = 1.19 Swiss francs
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German, French, Italian, Romansch
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Did You Know: Though it is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, Switzerland did not join the UN until 2002.
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Capital
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Location of Country
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Area
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Damascus
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In the Middle East, north of Jordan and west of Iraq
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71,498 sq. mi. (185,180 sq. km.)
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Population
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Currency
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Language
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18,448,752
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$1 = 51.96 pounds
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Arabic, Kurdish, Armenian
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Did You Know: Damascus may be the world's oldest continuously occupied city.
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