Asia There are 27 countries in Asia; Asia stretches from former "stans" of the USSR to the Pacific Ocean.

Malaysia Bangladesh Maldives Bhutan Mongolia Brunei Myanmar Cambodia Nepal China Philippines India Singapore Indonesia Sri Lanka Japan Taiwan Kazakhstan Tajikistan North Korea Thailand South Korea Turkmenistan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Laos Vietnam Middle East and North Africa The 23 countries of the Middle East and North Africa include some countries not traditionally part of the Middle East but their cultures cause their placement in this region. Afghanistan Morocco Algeria Oman Azerbaijan* Pakistan Bahrain Qatar Egypt Saudi Arabia Iran Somalia Iraq Syria Israel* Tunisia Jordan Turkey Kuwait United Arab Emirates Lebanon Yemen Libya * The former republics of the Soviet Union are typically lumped into one region, even 15 years after independence. In this listing, they've been placed where most appropriate. * Israel may be located in the Middle East but it is certainly an outsider and perhaps better belongs attached to Europe, like its seaward neighbor and European Union member state, Cyprus.

Europe With 48 countries, there aren't many surprises on this list. However, this region stretches from North America and back to North America as it encompasses Iceland and all of Russia. Albania Lithuania Andorra Luxembourg Armenia Macedonia Austria Malta Belarus Moldova Belgium Monaco Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Bulgaria Netherlands Croatia Norway Cyprus Poland Czech Republic Portugal Denmark Romania Estonia Russia Finland San Marino France Serbia Georgia Slovakia Germany Slovenia Greece Spain Hungary Sweden Iceland* Switzerland Ireland Ukraine Italy United Kingdom of Great Britain and Kosovo Northern Ireland** Latvia Vatican City Liechtenstein * Iceland straddles the Eurasian plate and the North American plate so geographically it is halfway between Europe and North America. However, its culture and settlement is clearly European in nature. ** The United Kingdom is the country composed of the constituent entities known as England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. North America Economic powerhouse North America only includes three countries but it is most of a continent and thus a region onto itself.

Canada Greenland*

Mexico United States of America

* Greenland is not yet an independent country. Central America and the Caribbean There are no landlocked countries among these twenty countries of Central America and the Caribbean. Antigua and Barbuda Guatemala The Bahamas Haiti Barbados Honduras Belize Jamaica Costa Rica Nicaragua Cuba Panama Dominica Saint Kitts and Nevis Dominican Republic Saint Lucia El Salvador Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Grenada Trinidad and Tobago South America Twelve countries occupy this continent that stretches from the equator to nearly the Antarctic Circle. Argentina Guyana Bolivia Paraguay Brazil Peru Chile Suriname Colombia Uruguay Ecuador Venezuela Sub-Saharan Africa There are 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region of Africa is often called SubSaharan Africa but some of these countries are actually Intra-Saharan (within the Sahara Desert). Angola Chad Benin Comoros Botswana Republic of the Congo Burkina Faso Democratic Republic of the Congo Burundi Cote d'Ivoire Cameroon Djibouti Cape Verde Equatorial Guinea Central African Republic Eritrea

Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Australia and Oceania

Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

These fifteen countries vary widely in their cultures and occupy a large swath of the world ocean although (with the exception of the continent-country Australia), do not occupy much land. Australia Palau East Timor* Papua New Guinea Fiji Samoa Kiribati Solomon Islands Marshall Islands Tonga Federated States of Micronesia Tuvalu Nauru Vanuatu New Zealand * While East Timor lies on an Indonesian (Asian) island, its eastern location requires that it be located with the Oceania nations of the world.