You think you know the world map. Most of us do, or at least we think we do until we realize we’ve been staring at a Mercator projection our whole lives that makes Greenland look as big as Africa. It isn't. Not even close. Africa is actually fourteen times larger.
Our global alphabet is a messy, beautiful disaster of shifting borders and name changes. Honestly, just keeping up with the official list of countries starting from a to z is a full-time job. Since 2024, we've seen everything from diplomatic rebrands to heated debates over who gets to be called a "country" at all.
The A-List and Why It's Complicated
Afghanistan usually kicks off the list. But if you’re looking at official UN recognition versus who is actually on the ground, it’s a legal headache. The UN still flies the flag of the defunct Republic, even though the de facto government is the Islamic Emirate.
Then you’ve got the name changes.
Cape Verde? Forget it. It's Cabo Verde now. They officially requested in 2013 that nobody translate their name into English or French anymore. They want the Portuguese original. Same goes for Czechia, which spent years trying to convince the world it wasn't just "The Czech Republic." It’s punchier. It’s also easier to fit on a hockey jersey.
Did you know Azerbaijan is technically on two continents? Geologists argue the boundary between Europe and Asia cuts right through the Caucasus watershed. This makes Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia transcontinental. It's a weird flex for trivia night, but it matters for things like Eurovision and soccer leagues.
Surprising Truths About the "B" and "C" Nations
People love to visit the Bahamas. But most don't realize it's an archipelago of over 700 islands. Only about 30 are inhabited.
Bhutan is another wild one. They don’t measure success by GDP (Gross Domestic Product). They use GNH—Gross National Happiness. They also remained one of the last countries on Earth to introduce television, finally giving in around 1999. Imagine that.
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And then there's Canada.
- It has more lakes than the rest of the world combined.
- It has the longest coastline on the planet.
- It’s the second-largest country by landmass but has a population smaller than the Tokyo metro area.
From D to M: The Middle of the Map
Dominica and the Dominican Republic are not the same place. People mix them up constantly. Dominica is a tiny, rugged volcanic island known for its "Boiling Lake." The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and is where you go for all-inclusive resorts and the oldest cathedral in the Americas, Santa Maria la Menor.
Ethiopia is literally living in the past. Or the future, depending on how you look at it. They follow a Coptic calendar that is roughly seven to eight years behind the Gregorian one we use in the West. It’s currently 2018 or 2019 there while you're reading this in 2026. They also have 13 months.
"A desert is defined by rainfall, not heat. This is why Antarctica is technically the world's largest desert, even if it's covered in ice." — Geography Fact Check
Speaking of the cold, Iceland is a linguistic time capsule. Because of their isolation, the Icelandic language hasn't changed much in a thousand years. A modern teenager in Reykjavik can basically read the ancient Sagas from the 1200s without a translator.
The Time Zone Chaos
If you think your jet lag is bad, try living in Kiribati. This Pacific nation was once split by the International Date Line. One part of the country would be on Monday while the other was still on Sunday. In 1995, they just moved the line. Now, it zig-zags wildly around them so the whole country can be on the same day.
France actually has the most time zones in the world. Twelve. Russia has eleven. Because of its overseas territories like Reunion and French Guiana, the sun never really sets on the French Republic.
The Final Stretch: N to Z
Nauru is the smallest island nation. It’s so small you can walk around the entire country in about an hour. It’s also one of the few countries without an official capital city, though Yaren is the de facto center of government.
Norway has the second longest coastline in the world, largely thanks to its fjords. If you stretched it out, it would wrap around the Earth twice.
South Africa is the only country with three capitals.
- Pretoria (Administrative)
- Cape Town (Legislative)
- Bloemfontein (Judicial)
And finally, we hit Zimbabwe. It’s home to Victoria Falls, which is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, but it is the largest sheet of falling water. The local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, means "The Smoke That Thunders."
What You Should Do Next
If you're planning to travel or just want to be less wrong about the world, stop looking at flat maps. Download a 3D globe app or use Google Earth to see the real scale of these nations.
Check the "Entry Requirements" page for any country you're interested in before booking a flight. Names change, visa rules shift, and what was a "friendly" border last year might be closed this year. For the most accurate, real-time data on sovereign status, the United Nations Member States list and the CIA World Factbook remain the gold standards.
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Understanding countries starting from a to z isn't just about memorizing a list. It's about realizing that the world is much more fluid and strange than a classroom poster suggests. Go look up the "Kingdom in the Sky" (Lesotho) or find out why San Marino is the world's oldest republic. There's a lot to see.