A 180-square-mile land of deep valleys and high Pyrenees Mountains - the principality of Andorra - is ruled by two foreign sovereigns: the bishop of the Spanish town of Seo de Urgel, south of the Andorran border, and the President of France. Seven centuries ago, a Spanish bishop and the French Count of Foix settled a long-term land dispute by agreeing to become co-princes of the Andorran valley. The Spanish title was handed down the centuries to the present bishop. On the French side, the title was passed to the kings of Navarre, then to the kings of France, and now to the presidents of France. (source)
The army of Andorra, a small principality in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, consists entirely of officers. Its duties are mostly of a ceremonial nature.
India has a bill of rights for cows. [ India | World Countries | Animals ]
Around 5,000 languages are currently spoken in the world (an exact count is hard to give because even linguists don't always agree as to whether two languages are different or if one is a dialect of the other). About 4% of them are spoken by 96% of Earth's population. [ World Countries | Languages of the World ] (source)
The landlocked country of Kyrgyzstan is surrounded by four other landlocked states, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikstan, and Afghanistan, making it the only double-landlocked country in the world. (source)
The shortest national anthem is the Japanese national anthem, which is only four lines long. The longest is the Greek national anthem, which is 158 verses long. [ World Countries | Music ]
Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia are building a 27-hole golf course on the border between the three countries, with nine holes in each country. Much of the area proposed for the golf course is currently a minefield. [ World Countries | Sports and Games ]
"Iran" means "Land of the Aryans". (source)
What we now call Iran has, in the past, been called Persia, Parthia, or Media, depending on the ethnic group ruling it. [ Place Names | World Countries ]
Singapore is the largest country without any farms (approximately 650 square kilometres). As well, the world's three smallest countries (Vatican City, Monaco, and Nauru) don't have any farms either. (source)
The official president of North Korea is still Kim Il-Sung, even though he died in 1994. (source)
India is the world's second most populous country, with a population of more than 1,000,000,000. The world's third most populous country, the United States, has a population less than 30% of that of India. [ India | World Countries ] (source)
Guyana is the only South American country with English as its official language. [ Languages of the World | World Countries ]
Russia was essentially founded as a by-product of slave raids by Vikings travelling between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire in the ninth century. [ World Countries | Slavery | Vikings ] (source)
The Falkland Islands have a human population of around 2,000 but a sheep population of 700,000, making 350 sheep for each person. [ World Countries | Animals ] (source)
The only country that has changed the pronunciation of its name is Kenya. While it was formerly pronounced "KEEN-ya", the name is now pronounced "KEN-ya", like the last name of leader Jomo Kenyatta was pronounced.
Over 800 languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea, none of which are spoken by more than a small percentage of the population. (source)
The modern country of Ghana is not the same as ancient Ghana. Today's Ghana was formerly known as the Gold Coast, on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Ancient Ghana, which lasted until around 1240, occupied parts of what are now Mali and Mauritania, between the Senegal and Niger rivers. The word "ghana" was a title meaning "war chief", and the area got its name from Africans from the north who would trade with "ghana". [ Place Names | World Countries ]
Everyone in Iceland is literate. Every Icelander must graduate from school in order to get a job, and he has to be able to speak three languages. (The "native" language, namely Icelandic - which is the ancient language of the sagas - is spoken in no other country.) (source)
England and Portugal have never been at war with each other. It is probably the longest unbroken peace (Portugal was created over 850 years ago) between any two nations in the world. (source)
Among countries larger than 1000 square kilometres, Bangladesh has the highest population density, with more than 910 people per square kilometre.
The country of Liberia was founded as a voluntary haven for freed American slaves. The land was purchased from tribal chiefs in 1822 by the American Colonization Society, the price including among other things a box of beads, three pairs of shoes, a box of soap, a barrel of rum, and 12 spoons. [ Slavery | World Countries ] (source)
The South American country of Suriname consists of about 23% Catholics, 25% Protestants, 20% Muslims, and 27% Hindus. As well, many of the native people practice traditional animism, a population of former black slaves whose ancestors escaped into the rainforest practice an African syncretic faith, and its Chinese community practises Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. [ World Countries | Philosophy and Religion ] (source)
During the 19th century, Turkey lost three wars to Russia (in 1812, 1829, and 1878). The Greeks won their independence by defeating the Turks in 1827, while the Egyptians invaded and defeated Turkey in wars fought in 1832, 1839, and 1840. From 1912 to 1913, Turkey lost wars to Italy, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania. During World War I, Turkey joined the Central Powers and went down to defeat with Germany.
The Spratley Islands, a group of over 100 small, uninhabited islands or reefs in the middle of the South China Sea, are claimed by five different countries. (source)
As recently as 1890, almost no country required its nationals to have appropriate documents to travel abroad, and only a few countries (such as Persia, Romania, Russia, and Serbia) required foreigners to have passports to cross their borders. (source)