state composed of two islands of the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Their combined area is 104 square miles (269 square kilometres). The capital is Basseterre on the island of Saint Kitts. Physical and human geography The ...

country in the central South Pacific Ocean, among the westernmost of the island nations of Polynesia. According to legend, Samoa is known as the “Cradle of Polynesia” because Savai'i island is said to be Hawaiki, the Polynesian...

country of sub-Saharan West Africa. Located at the westernmost point of the continent and served by multiple air and maritime travel routes, Senegal is known as the “Gateway to Africa.” The country lies at an ecological boundar...

One of three main forms of modern Hinduism, centred on the worship of Shiva. The earliest of the cults devoted to Shiva date from the 4th century &BC;. Texts written by devotees of Shiva in the 3rd century &AD; are the basis of Tantra in H...

country of western Africa. The country owes its name to the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, the first European to sight and map Freetown harbour. The original Portuguese name, Serra Lyoa (“Lion Mountains”), re...

city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, about 85 miles (137 kilometres) north of the Equator. It consists of the diamond-shaped Singapore Island and some 60 small islets; the main island occupies all but about 18 squ...

country in central Europe that was part of Yugoslavia for most of the 20th century. Slovenia is a small but topographically diverse country made up of portions of four major European geographic landscapes—the European Alps, the karst...

country on the Horn of Africa. It occupies an important geopolitical position between sub-Saharan Africa and the countries of Arabia and southwestern Asia. It is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden and on the east by the Indian Ocean;...

country located in extreme southwestern Europe. It occupies about 85 percent of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with its smaller neighbour Portugal. Spain is a storied country of stone castles, snowcapped mountains, vast monuments, ...

country located in northeastern Africa. It is bounded on the north by Egypt; on the east by the Red Sea and Ethiopia; on the south by Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; on the west by the Central African Republic and ...

landlocked country in the eastern flank of South Africa, where it adjoins Mozambique. It extends about 110 miles (175 kilometres) from north to south and about 80 miles from west to east at its largest dimensions. The name Swazi is the Ang...

federated country of central Europe. Switzerland's administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial centre. Switzerland's small size—its total area is about half that of Scotland—and its modest population g...