List of countries

Glossary of countries and regions

• afghanistan - noun a mountainous landlocked country in central Asia; bordered by Iran to the west and Russia to the north and Pakistan to the east and south

• albania - noun a republic in southeastern Europe on the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula

• algeria - noun a republic in northwestern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea with a population that is predominantly Sunni Muslim; colonized by France in the 19th century but gained autonomy in the early 1960s

• american samoa - noun a United States territory on the eastern part of the island of Samoa

• andorra - noun a small republic in the eastern Pyrenees between Spain and France

• angola - noun a republic in southwestern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean; achieved independence from Portugal in 1975 and was the scene of civil war until 1990

• anguilla - noun type genus of the Anguillidae: eels; a British colony in the West Indies

• antarctica - noun an extremely cold continent at the south pole almost entirely below the Antarctic Circle; covered by an ice cap up to 13,000 feet deep

• antigua and barbuda - noun a country in the northern Leeward Islands

• argentina - noun type genus of the Argentinidae: argentines; a republic in southern South America; second largest country in South America

• armenia - noun a landlocked republic in southwestern Asia; formerly an Asian soviet; modern Armenia is but a fragment of ancient Armenia which was one of the world's oldest civilizations; throughout 2500 years the Armenian people have been invaded and oppressed by their neighbors

• aruba - noun a popular island resort in the Netherlands Antilles

• ascension - noun (astronomy) the rising of a star above the horizon; (New Testament) the rising of the body of Jesus into heaven on the 40th day after his Resurrection; (Christianity) celebration of the Ascension of Christ into heaven; observed on the 40th day after Easter; the act of changing location in an upward direction; a movement upward

• australia - noun a nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony; the smallest continent; between the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean

• austria - noun a mountainous republic in central Europe; under the Habsburgs (1278-1918) Austria maintained control of the Holy Roman Empire and was a leader in European politics until the 19th century

• azerbaijan - noun a landlocked republic in southwestern Asia; formerly an Asian soviet

• bahamas - noun island country in the Atlantic east of Florida and Cuba; a popular winter resort

• bahrain - noun an island country in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia; oil revenues funded progressive programs until reserves were exhausted in 1970s; an island in the Persian Gulf

• bangladesh - noun a Muslim republic in southern Asia bordered by India to the north and west and east and the Bay of Bengal to the south; formerly part of India and then part of Pakistan; it achieved independence in 1971

• barbados - noun easternmost of the West Indies about 300 miles north of Venezuela; a parliamentary democracy on the island of Barbados; former British colony; a popular resort area

• belarus - noun a landlocked republic in eastern Europe; formerly a European soviet

• belgium - noun a monarchy in northwestern Europe; headquarters for the European Union and for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• belize - noun a country on the northeastern coast of Central America on the Caribbean; formerly under British control

• benin - noun a country on western coast of Africa; formerly under French control

• bermuda - noun a group of islands in the Atlantic off the Carolina coast; British colony; a popular resort

• bhutan - noun a landlocked principality in the Himalayas northeast of India

• bolivia - noun a form of canasta in which sequences can be melded; a landlocked republic in central South America; Simon Bolivar founded Bolivia in 1825 after winning independence from Spain

• bosnia and herzegovina - noun a mountainous republic of south-central Europe; formerly part of the Ottoman Empire and then a part of Yugoslavia; voted for independence in 1992 but the mostly Serbian army of Yugoslavia refused to accept the vote and began ethnic cleansing in order to rid Bosnia of its Croats and Muslims

• botswana - noun a landlocked republic in south-central Africa that became independent from British control in the 1960s

• bouvet island - noun an island belonging to Norway in the South Atlantic near the Antarctic Circle

• brazil - noun the largest Latin American country and the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world; located in the central and northeastern part of South America; world's leading coffee exporter; three-sided tropical American nut with white oily meat and hard brown shell

• british virgin islands - noun more than 40 northeastern Virgin Islands (15 inhabited); a dependent territory of the United Kingdom

• brunei - noun a sultanate in northwestern Borneo; became independent of Great Britain in 1984

• bulgaria - noun a republic in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe

• burkina faso - noun a desperately poor landlocked country in western Africa; was formerly Upper Volta under French rule but gained independence in 1960

• burma - noun a mountainous republic in southeastern Asia on the Bay of Bengal

• burundi - adj. of or relating to or characteristic of Burundi or its people; noun a landlocked republic in east central Africa on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika

• cambodia - noun a nation in southeastern Asia; was part of Indochina under French rule until 1946

• cameroon - noun a republic on the western coast of central Africa; was under French and British control until 1960; an inactive volcano in western Cameroon; highest peak on the West African coast

• canada - noun a nation in northern North America; the French were the first Europeans to settle in mainland Canada

• cayman islands - noun a British colony in the Caribbean northwest of Jamaica; an international banking center

• central african republic - noun a landlocked country in central Africa; formerly under French control; became independent in 1960

• chad - noun a family of Afroasiatic tonal languages (mostly two tones) spoken in the regions west and south of Lake Chad in north central Africa; a landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa; was under French control until 1960; a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape; a lake in north central Africa; fed by the Shari river

• chile - noun a republic in southern South America on the western slopes of the Andes on the south Pacific coast; very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency

• china - noun high quality porcelain originally made only in China; a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world; dishware made of high quality porcelain; a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the communists led by Mao Zedong

• cocos - noun coconut palms

• colombia - noun a republic in northwestern South America with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of Simon Bolivar; Spanish is the official language

• comment - noun a written explanation or criticism or illustration that is added to a book or other textual material; a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief; a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people; verb explain or interpret something; make or write a comment on; provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases

• comoros - noun a country on the Comoro Islands

• congo - noun a republic in west-central Africa; achieved independence from France in 1960; a republic in central Africa; achieved independence from Belgium in 1960; a major African river (one of the world's longest); flows through Congo into the South Atlantic; black tea grown in China

• costa rica - noun a republic in Central America; one of the most politically stable countries in Latin America

• cote d'ivoire - noun a republic in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; one of the most prosperous and politically stable countries in Africa

• croatia - noun a republic in the western Balkans in south-central Europe in the eastern Adriatic coastal area; formerly part of the Habsburg monarchy and Yugoslavia; became independent in 1991

• cuba - noun the largest island in the West Indies; a communist state in the Caribbean on the island of Cuba

• curacao - noun flavored with sour orange peel; a popular island resort in the Netherlands Antilles

• cyprus - noun an island in the eastern Mediterranean; a country on the island of Cyprus; 80% of the people are of Greek origin and 20% or Turkish origin

• denmark - noun a constitutional monarchy in northern Europe; consists of the mainland of Jutland and many islands between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

• djibouti - noun a country in northeastern Africa on the Somali peninsula; formerly under French control but became independent in 1997; port city on the Gulf of Aden; the capital and largest city of Djibouti

• dominica - noun a volcanic island in the Windward Islands that was once a stronghold of the Carib Indians; a country on the island of Dominica

• dominican republic - noun a republic in the West Indies; located on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola

• ecuador - noun a republic in northwestern South America; became independent from Spain in 1822; the landscape is dominated by the Andes

• egypt - noun a republic in northeastern Africa known as the United Arab Republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 BC; an ancient empire west of Israel; centered on the Nile River and ruled by a Pharaoh; figured in many events described in the Old Testament

• el salvador - noun a republic on the Pacific coast of Central America

• entity - noun that which is perceived or known or inferred to have its own distinct existence (living or nonliving)

• equatorial guinea - noun a country of west central Africa (including islands in the Gulf of Guinea); became independent from Spain in 1968

• eritrea - noun an African country north of Ethiopia on the Red Sea; achieved independence from Ethiopia in 1993

• estonia - noun a republic in northeastern Europe on the Baltic Sea

• ethiopia - noun Ethiopia is a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; formerly called Abyssinia

• falkland islands - noun a group of over 100 islands in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Argentina; a British crown colony

• faroe islands - noun a group of 21 volcanic islands in the North Atlantic between Iceland and the Shetland Islands; a self-governing colony that is a possession of Denmark in the Faroe Islands

• fiji - noun an independent state within the British Commonwealth located on the Fiji Islands

• finland - noun republic in northern Europe; achieved independence from Russia in 1917

• france - noun a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe; French writer of sophisticated novels and short stories (1844-1924)

• french polynesia - noun a French overseas possession in the South Pacific

• gabon - noun a republic on the west coast of Africa

• gambia - noun a narrow republic surrounded by Senegal in West Africa

• gaza strip - noun a coastal region at the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean bordering Israel and Egypt

• georgia - noun a republic in Asia Minor on the Black Sea separated from Russia by the Caucasus mountains; formerly an Asian soviet but became independent in 1991; a state in southeastern United States; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War; one of the British colonies that formed the United States

• germany - noun a republic in central Europe; split into East German and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990

• ghana - noun a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea

• gibraltar - noun location of a colony of the United Kingdom on a limestone promontory at the southern tip of Spain; strategically important because it can control the entrance of ships into the Mediterranean; one of the Pillars of Hercules

• greece - noun a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil

• greenland - noun the largest island in the world; lies between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean; a self-governing province of Denmark

• grenada - noun an island state in the West Indies in the southeastern Caribbean Sea; an independent state within the British Commonwealth

• guadeloupe - noun an island territory of France located in the eastern West Indies; tourism is the major industry

• guam - noun the largest and southernmost island in the Marianas which is administered as a territory of the United States; it was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898

• guatemala - noun a republic in Central America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; noted for low per capita income and illiteracy; politically unstable

• guernsey - noun breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey; a Channel Island northwest of Jersey

• guinea - noun a republic in western Africa on the Atlantic; formerly a French colony; achieved independence from France in 1958; a former British gold coin worth 21 shillings; a west African bird having dark plumage mottled with white; native to Africa but raised for food in many parts of the world; offensive terms for a person of Italian descent

• guinea-bissau - noun a republic on the northwestern coast of Africa; recognized as independent by Portugal in 1974

• guyana - noun a republic in northeastern South America; achieved independence from England in 1966

• haiti - noun a republic in the West Indies on the western part of the island of Hispaniola; achieved independence from France in 1804; the poorest and most illiterate nation in the western hemisphere; an island in the West Indies

• holy see - noun the smallest sovereign state in the world; the see of the Pope (as the Bishop of Rome); home of the Pope and the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church; achieved independence from Italy in 1929

• honduras - noun a republic in Central America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; an early center of Mayan culture

• hong kong - noun formerly a Crown Colony on the coast of southern China in Guangdong province; leased by China to Britain in 1842 and returned in 1997; one of the world's leading commercial centers

• hungary - noun a republic in central Europe

• iceland - noun a volcanic island in the North Atlantic near the Arctic Circle; an island republic on the island of Iceland; became independent of Denmark in 1944

• india - noun a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947

• indonesia - noun a republic in southeastern Asia on an archipelago including more than 13,000 islands; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945; the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific regions

• internet - noun a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange

• iran - noun a theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia; Iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil

• iraq - noun a republic in the Middle East in western Asia; the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia was in the area now known as Iraq

• ireland - noun an island comprising the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; a republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of Ireland; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1921

• isle of man - noun one of the British Isles in the Irish Sea

• israel - noun an ancient kingdom of the Hebrew tribes at the southeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea; founded by Saul around 1025 BC and destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 BC; Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean; formerly part of Palestine

• italy - noun a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD

• jamaica - noun an island in the West Indies south of Cuba and west of Haiti; a country on the island of Jamaica; became independent of England in 1962; much poverty; the major industry is tourism

• japan - noun lacquer with a durable glossy black finish, originally from the orient; lacquerware decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner with a glossy durable black lacquer; a string of more than 3,000 islands east of Asia extending 1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the western Pacific Ocean; a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese Archipelago; a world leader in electronics and automobile manufacture and ship building; verb coat with a lacquer, as done in Japan

• jersey - noun a breed of diary cattle developed on the island of Jersey; a slightly elastic machine-knit fabric; a close-fitting pullover shirt; the largest of the Channel Islands; a Mid-Atlantic state on the Atlantic; one of the original 13 colonies

• jordan - noun an Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea; a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea; John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan

• kazakhstan - noun a landlocked republic south of Russia and northeast of the Caspian Sea; the original Turkic-speaking inhabitants were overrun by Mongols in the 13th century; an Asian soviet from 1936 to 1991

• kenya - noun a republic in eastern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1963; major archeological discoveries have been made in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya

• kiribati - noun an island republic in the west central Pacific just south of the equator

• korea - noun an Asian peninsula (off Manchuria) separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan; the Korean name is Dae-Han-Min-Gook or Han-Gook

• kosovo - noun a Serbian province in southern Serbia and Montenegro populated predominantly by Albanians

• kuwait - noun an Arab kingdom in Asia on the northwestern coast of the Persian Gulf; a major source of petroleum; a seaport on the Persian Gulf and capital of Kuwait

• kyrgyzstan - noun a landlocked republic in west central Asia bordering on northwestern China; formerly an Asian soviet but became independent in 1991

• laos - noun a mountainous landlocked communist state in southeastern Asia; achieved independence from France in 1949

• latvia - noun a republic in northeastern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea

• lebanon - noun an Asian republic at east end of Mediterranean

• lesotho - noun a landlocked constitutional monarchy in southern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966

• liberia - noun a republic in West Africa; established in 1822 by Americans as a way to free negro slaves

• libya - noun a military dictatorship in northern Africa on the Mediterranean; consists almost entirely of desert; a major exporter of petroleum

• liechtenstein - noun a small landlocked principality (constitutional monarchy) in central Europe located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland

• lithuania - noun a republic in northeastern Europe on the Baltic Sea

• luxembourg - noun a grand duchy (a constitutional monarchy) landlocked in northwestern Europe between France and Belgium and Germany; an international financial center; the capital and largest city of Luxembourg

• macau - noun a former Portuguese province on the south coast of China and two islands in the South China Sea; reverted to China in 1999

• madagascar - noun an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa; the 4th largest island in the world; a republic on the island of Madagascar; achieved independence from France in 1960

• malawi - noun a landlocked republic in southern central Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1964

• malaysia - noun a constitutional monarchy in southeastern Asia on Borneo and the Malay Peninsula; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957

• maldives - noun a group of about 1,200 small coral islands (about 220 inhabited) in the Indian ocean; a republic on the Maldive Islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1965

• mali - noun a landlocked republic in northwestern Africa; achieved independence from France in 1960; Mali was a center of West African civilization for more than 4,000 years

• malta - noun a strategically located island south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea; a republic on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1964

• marshall islands - noun a group of coral islands in eastern Micronesia; a republic (under United States protection) on the Marshall Islands

• martinique - noun an island in the eastern Caribbean in the Windward Islands; administered as an overseas region of France

• mauritania - noun a country in northwestern Africa with a provisional military government; achieved independence from France in 1960; largely western Sahara Desert

• mauritius - noun an island in the southwestern Indian Ocean; a parliamentary state on the island of Mauritius

• metropolitan - adj. relating to or characteristic of a metropolis; noun a person who lives in a metropolis; in the Eastern Orthodox Church this title is given to a position between bishop and patriarch; equivalent to archbishop in western Christianity

• mexico - noun a republic in southern North America; became independent from Spain in 1810

• micronesia - noun the islands in the northwestern part of Oceania; a country scattered over Micronesia with a constitutional government in free association with the United States; achieved independence in 1986

• midway islands - noun an atoll in the Hawaiian Islands some 1300 mile northwest of Honolulu; site of an important United States naval base

• moldova - noun a landlocked republic in eastern Europe; formerly a European soviet but achieved independence in 1991

• monaco - noun a constitutional monarchy in a tiny enclave on the French Riviera

• mongolia - noun a vast region in Asia including the Mongolian People's Republic and China's Inner Mongolia; a landlocked socialist republic in central Asia

• montenegro - noun a former country bordering on the Adriatic Sea; now part of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro

• montserrat - noun a volcanic island in the Caribbean; in the West Indies

• morocco - noun a kingdom (constitutional monarchy) in northwestern Africa with a largely Muslim population; achieved independence from France in 1956; a soft pebble-grained leather made from goatskin; used for shoes and book bindings etc.

• mozambique - noun a republic on the southeastern coast of Africa on the Mozambique Channel; became independent from Portugal in 1975

• myanmar - noun a mountainous republic in southeastern Asia on the Bay of Bengal

• namibia - noun a republic in southwestern Africa on the south Atlantic coast (formerly called South West Africa); achieved independence from South Africa in 1990; the greater part of Namibia form part of the high Namibian plateau of South Africa

• nauru - noun a small island in the central Pacific Ocean 2,800 miles southwest of Hawaii; in Micronesia west of the Gilbert Islands; an island republic on Nauru Island; phosphate exports support the economy

• nepal - noun a small landlocked Asian country high in the Himalayas between India and China

• netherlands - noun a constitutional monarchy in western Europe on the North Sea; half the country lies below sea level

• netherlands antilles - noun a group of islands in the Lesser Antilles just north of Venezuela that are administered by The Netherlands

• new caledonia - noun an island east of Australia and north of New Zealand

• new zealand - noun North Island and South Island and adjacent small islands in the South Pacific; an independent country within the British Commonwealth; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1907; known for sheep and spectacular scenery

• nicaragua - noun a republic in Central America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821

• niger - noun a landlocked republic in West Africa; gained independence from France in 1960; most of the country is dominated by the Sahara Desert; an African river; flows into the South Atlantic

• nigeria - noun a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; gained independence from Britain in 1960; most populous African country

• norfolk island - noun an island territory of Australia in the Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of Australia; formerly a British penal colony

• north - adj. situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the north; adv. in a northern direction; noun any region lying in or toward the north; the region of the United States lying north of the Mason-Dixon line; British statesman under George III whose policies led to rebellion in the American colonies (1732-1792); the cardinal compass point that is at 0 or 360 degrees; the direction in which a compass needle points; the United States (especially the northern states during the American Civil War)

• northern mariana islands - noun a self-governing territory comprising all of the Mariana Islands except Guam

• norway - noun a constitutional monarchy in northern Europe on the western side of the Scandinavian Peninsula; achieved independence from Sweden in 1905

• oman - noun a strategically located monarchy on the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula; the economy is dominated by oil

• pakistan - noun a Muslim republic that occupies the heartland of ancient south Asian civilization in the Indus River valley; formerly part of India; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947

• palau - noun a chain of more than 200 islands about 400 miles long in the western central Pacific Ocean; a republic in the western central Pacific Ocean in association with the United States

• panama - noun a republic on the Isthmus of Panama; achieved independence from Colombia in 1903; a stiff hat made of straw with a flat crown

• papua new guinea - noun a parliamentary democracy on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea

• paraguay - noun a landlocked republic in south central South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1811

• peru - noun a republic in western South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; was the heart of the Inca empire from the 12th to 16th centuries

• philippines - noun an archipelago in the southwestern Pacific including some 7000 islands; a republic on the Philippine Islands; achieved independence from the United States in 1946

• poland - noun a republic in central Europe; the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 started World War II

• portugal - noun a republic in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; Portuguese explorers and colonists in the 15th and 16th centuries created a vast overseas empire (including Brazil)

• puerto rico - noun the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean; a self-governing commonwealth associated with the United States occupying the island of Puerto Rico

• qatar - noun a peninsula extending northward from the Arabian mainland into the Persian Gulf; an Arab country on the peninsula of Qatar; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1971; the economy is dominated by oil

• reunion - noun the act of coming together again; a party of former associates who have come together again

• romania - noun a Balkan republic in southeastern Europe

• russia - noun a former empire in eastern Europe and northern Asia created in the 14th century with Moscow as the capital; powerful in the 17th and 18th centuries under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great when Saint Petersburg was the capital; overthrown by revolution in 1917; a federation in northeastern Europe and northern Asia; formerly Soviet Russia; since 1991 an independent state; a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991; formerly the largest Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR occupying eastern Europe and northern Asia

• rwanda - noun a landlocked republic in central Africa; formerly a German colony

• saint kitts and nevis - noun a country on several of the Leeward Islands; located east southeast of Puerto Rico; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1983

• saint lucia - noun a volcanic island in the Windward Isles south of Martinique; a country on the island of Saint Lucia; gained independence from Great Britain in 1979

• saint martin - noun an island in the western Leeward Islands; administered jointly by France and the Netherlands

• saint vincent and the grenadines - noun an island country in the central Windward Islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1979

• samoa - noun a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific midway between Hawaii and Australia; its climate and scenery and Polynesian culture make it a popular tourist stop; a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific

• san marino - noun the smallest republic in the world; the oldest independent country in Europe (achieved independence in 301); located in the Apennines and completely surrounded by Italy; the capital and only city of San Marino

• sao tome and principe - noun island nation in the South Atlantic off the West coast of Africa; achieved independence from Portugal in 1975; has enormous offshore oil reserves

• saudi arabia - noun an absolute monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia; vast oil reserves dominate the economy

• senegal - noun a republic in northwestern Africa on the coast of the Atlantic; formerly a French colony but achieved independence in 1960

• serbia - noun a historical region in central and northern Yugoslavia; Serbs settled the region in the 6th and 7th centuries

• seychelles - noun a group of about 90 islands in the western Indian Ocean north of Madagascar; a republic on the Seychelles islands; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1976

• sierra leone - noun a republic in West Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961

• singapore - noun an island south of the Malay Peninsula; a country in southeastern Asia on the island of Singapore; achieved independence from Malaysia in 1965; the capital of Singapore; one of the world's biggest ports

• slovakia - noun a landlocked republic in central Europe; separated from the Czech Republic in 1993

• slovenia - noun a mountainous republic in central Europe; formerly part of the Habsburg monarchy and Yugoslavia; achieved independence in 1991

• solomon islands - noun the southern Solomon Islands that since 1978 form an independent state in the British Commonwealth; the northernmost islands are part of Papua New Guinea; the remainder form an independent state within the British Commonwealth

• somalia - noun a republic in extreme eastern Africa on the Somali peninsula; subject to tribal warfare

• south - adj. situated in or facing or moving toward or coming from the south; adv. in a southern direction; noun any region lying in or toward the south; the region of the United States lying south of the Mason-Dixon line; the cardinal compass point that is at 180 degrees; the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861

• south africa - noun a republic at the southernmost part of Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1910; first European settlers were Dutch (known as Boers)

• spain - noun a parliamentary monarchy in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; a former colonial power

• sri lanka - noun a republic on the island of Ceylon; became independent of the United Kingdom in 1948

• sudan - noun a region of northern Africa south of the Sahara and Libyan deserts; extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea; a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; achieved independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1956

• suriname - noun a republic in northeastern South America on the Atlantic; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1975

• svalbard - noun a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean

• sweden - noun a Scandinavian kingdom in the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula

• switzerland - noun a landlocked federal republic in central Europe

• syria - noun an Asian republic in the Middle East at the east end of the Mediterranean; site of some of the world's most ancient centers of civilization

• taiwan - noun an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of mainland China in the South China Sea; a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the communists led by Mao Zedong

• tajikistan - noun a landlocked mountainous republic in southeast central Asia north of Afghanistan; formerly an Asian soviet

• tanzania - noun a republic in eastern Africa

• terre adelie - noun a costal region of Antarctica south of Australia; noted for its large colonies of penguins

• thailand - noun a country of southeastern Asia that extends southward along the Isthmus of Kra to the Malay peninsula

• togo - noun a republic on the western coast of Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; formerly under French control

• tonga - noun the language of the Tongan people of south central Africa (Zambia and Rhodesia); a monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1970

• trinidad and tobago - noun an island republic in the West Indies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1962

• tunisia - noun a republic in northwestern Africa on the Mediterranean coast; achieved independence from France in 1956

• turkey - noun large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food; an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual; flesh of large domesticated fowl usually roasted; a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1923; a person who does something thoughtless or annoying

• turkmenistan - noun a republic in Asia east of the Caspian Sea and south of Kazakhstan and north of Iran; an Asian soviet from 1925 to 1991

• tuvalu - noun a group of coral islands in Micronesia southwest of Hawaii; a small island republic on the Tuvalu islands; formerly part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands until it withdrew in 1975 and became independent of the United Kingdom in 1978

• uganda - noun a landlocked republic in eastern Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1962

• ukraine - noun a republic in southeastern Europe; formerly a European soviet; the center of the original Russian state which came into existence in the ninth century

• united arab emirates - noun a federation of seven Arab emirates on the eastern Arabian peninsula; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1971; rich in oil reserves

• united kingdom - noun a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland

• united states - noun North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776; the executive and legislative and judicial branches of the federal government of the United States

• uruguay - noun a South American republic on the southeast coast of South America; achieved independence from Brazil in 1825

• uzbekistan - noun a landlocked republic in west central Asia; formerly an Asian soviet

• vanuatu - noun a volcanic island republic in Melanesia; independent since 1980

• vatican city - noun the capital of the State of the Vatican City

• venezuela - noun a republic in northern South America on the Caribbean; achieved independence from Spain in 1811; rich in oil

• vietnam - noun a communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea; achieved independence from France in 1945; a prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States

• virgin islands - noun a group of islands in northeastern West Indies (east of Puerto Rico) discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493; owned by United States and Britain

• wake island - noun an island in the western Pacific between Guam and Hawaii

• west bank - noun an area between Israel and Jordan on the west bank of the Jordan river; populated largely by Palestinians

• western sahara - noun an area in northwestern Africa with rich phosphate deposits; under Moroccan control since 1992

• western samoa - noun a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific

• world - adj. involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope; noun all of the living human inhabitants of the earth; all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you; people in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest; a part of the earth that can be considered separately; the concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife; people in general considered as a whole; the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on; everything that exists anywhere

• yemen - noun a republic on the southwestern shores of the Arabian Peninsula on the Indian Ocean; formed in 1990

• zaire - noun the basic unit of money in Zaire; a republic in central Africa; achieved independence from Belgium in 1960

• zambia - noun a republic in central Africa; formerly controlled by Great Britain and called Northern Rhodesia until it gained independence within the commonwealth in 1964

• zimbabwe - noun a landlocked republic in south central Africa formerly called Rhodesia; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1980.