Very shortly you will watch the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games. Each country competing in the Games sends its athletes into the grand arena wearing blazers and waving national flags. As is customary, the hugest nations have the hugest number of athletes, while the smallest can only offer a few. It is all up to the economy, size of territory and population and whether or not young people have been fed enough good food to become athletic and not suffer from rickets and malnutrition. The countries are listed alphabetically; the first number shows the size of territory in square kilometres, the second figure shows it in square miles. Bet you haven’t heard of some of these countries; many change their name periodically (and nonsensically), or you don’t know where they are. So I am telling you. Best wishes, especially if YOU are one of the athletes who might . . .
A
Abysssinia (see Ethiopia) Afghanistan 652,225 251,825
Algeria 2,381,741 919,515 Angola 1,246,700 481.354
Antigue and Barbuda (Leeward Islands group in
the Caribbean) 441.6 170.5 Argentina 2,780,092 1,073,399
Armenia (West Asia) 29,766 11,490 Australia 7,682,300 2,966,200
Austria 83,857 33,377 Azerbaijan 88,606 33,430
Bahamas 13,939 5,382 Bahrein 691 267
Bangladesh 142, 998 55,998 Barbados 430 166
Belarus 207,600 80,134 Belgium 30,158 11,783
Belize (Central America 22,965 8,867 Benin 112,600 43,450
Bermuda
(Self-governing Colony) 54 21 Butan (South Asia) 47,000 18,150
Bolivia 1,098,581 424,164 Bosnia-Herzegovina 51,129 19,741
Botswana 581,730 224,607 Brazil 8,511,965 3,286,488
Brunei (North West
Borneo) 5,765 2,226 Buganda (see Uganda)
Bulgaria 110,994 42,855 Burkina Faso (West Africa) 274,200 105.869
Burma (see Myanmar) Burundi (East Central Africa) 27,834 10,747
C
Cambodia 181,035 69,898 Cameroon 475,458 179,714
Canada (2nd largest) 9,970,610 3,849,675 Cape Verde 4,033 1,557
Central African Republic 622,436 240,324 Chad 1,284,000 495,795
Chile 756,626 292,135 China (3rd largest) 9,572,900 3,696,199
Colombia 1,141,748 440,831 Comoros (Indian Ocean; Fed. Islam. Rep.) 1,862 719
Congo 342,000 132,047 Congo, Democratic Republic of the;
formerly Zaire) 2,234,000 905,446
Costa Rica 51,000 19,730 Còte d’Ivoir (formerly IvoryCoast) 322,463 124,471
Croatia 56,537 21,829 Cuba (largest island, Caribbean) 110,861 42,804
Cyprus (containing the Turkish Republic
Of Northern Cyprus) 9,271 3,572 Czech Republic 78,864 30,442
D
Denmark 43,092 16,638 Djibouti (North-East Africa) 23,200 8,950
Dominica (Windward Group of
The Caribbean) 750 290 Dominican Republic 48,443 18,704
E
Ecuador 269,178 103,930 Egypt 997,739 385,229
El Salvador 21,041 8,124 Equatorial Guinea 28,051 10,831
Eritrea (North-East
Africa) 117,400 45,300 Estonia 45,111 17,413
Ethiopia 1,223,500 472,400 Fiji (South-West (Pacific) 18,274 7,056
Finland 338,145 150,559 France 543,965 210,026
G
Gabon (Atlantic coast
Of Africa) 267,667 103,347 Gambia (The) 10,689 4,127
Georgia (West Asia) 69,700 26,900 Germany (Federal Republic of) 356,954 137,820
Ghana 238,533 92,098 Greece 131,957 50,949
(Greenland, the world’s largest island, is simply a part of Denmark)
Grenada 345 133 Guatemala 108,889 42,042
Guinea (Atlantic coast
Of West Africa) 245,857 99,926 Guinea-Bissau 36,125 13,948
Guyana (North-east
Coast of South America) 215,083 88,044 H Haiti 27,400 10,579
Honduras 112,088 43,277 Hungary 93,033 35,920
I
Iceland (North-East
Atlantic) 103,000 39,769 India 3,166,414 1,222,559
Indonesia 1,919,443 741,101 Iran 1,648,196 636,342
Iraq 435,052 167,975 Ireland (Republic of) 70,285 27,137
Israel 20,700 7,992 Italy 301,277 116,324
J
Jamaica 10,991 4,244 Japan 377,835 145,342
Jordan 88,947 34,342 K Kazhakistan 2,713,300 1,048,887
Kenya 582,646 224,961 Kiribati (Pacific archipelago, pronounced
Kiribas) 811 313
Korea, North 122,400 47,300 Korea, South 99,237 38,316
Kuwait 17,818 6,880 Kyrgyzstan (formerly Kirghizia) 198,599 76,460
L
Laos 236,800 91,400 Latvia 63,718 24,595
Lebanon 10,230 3,950 Lesotho 30,355 11,720
Liberia 111,400 43,000 Libya 1,757,000 678,400
Liechtenstein 160 61.6 Lithuania 65,207 25,170
Luxembourg, Gran Duchy 2,586 999
M
Macedonia 25,713 9,928 Madagascar 587,041 226,658
Malawi (South-East
Africa) 118,484 45,747 Malaysia 330,442 127,584
Maldives (Indian
Ocean) 298 115 Mali 1,240,192 478,841
Malta 316 122 Marshall Islands (Central Pacific) 181.48 70.07
Mauritius (Southern
Indian Ocean) 2,040 788 Mexico 1,958,207 756,066
Micronesia (Fed. State of) 701 270 Moldova 33,700 13,000
Monaco 1.09 0.75 Mongolia 1,566,500 604,800
Morocco 458,730 177,117 Mozambique 802,000 309,572
Myanmar (formerly Burma) 676,877 261,228
N
Namibia (formerly
South West Africa) 824,292 317,818 Nepal 147,181 56,827
Netherlands, The, (also called Holland but this refers to twoWestern provinces) 41,863 16,163 New Zealand 267,844 103,415
Nicaragua 130,700 50,464 Niger 1,267,000 489,062
Nigeria 923,768 356,669 Norway 323,878 125,050
O
Oman 300,000 120,000
P
Pakistan 796,095 307,374 Palau (a.k.a. Belau) 488 188
Panama 77,082 29,762 Papua New Guinea 462,840 178,704
Paraguay 406,702 157,048 Perú 1,285,216 496,225
Philippines 300,000 115,800 Poland 312,683 120,727
Portugal 92,389 33,672 Puerto Rico 9,104 3,515
R
Romania 237,500 91,699 Russia (largest country) 17,075,000 6,590,950
Rwanda (East-central Africa) 26,338 10,169
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis (Leeward Islands of the Caribbean) 264.4 104.0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 389.3 150.3
Samoa 2,831 I,093 Sao Tomé and Principe 1000 386
Saudi Arabia 2,240,000 865,000 Scotland part of the UK since 1707)
Senegal 196,722 75,955 Seychelles 453 175
Sierra Leone 71,740 27,699 Singapore 622 240
Slovakia 49,035 18,928 Slovenia 20,251 7,897
Solomon Islands
(Pacific Ocean) 28,370 10,954 Somalia 637,000 246,000
South Africa 1,123,226 433,680 Spain 504,750 194,885
Sri Lanka
(formerly Ceylon) 65,610 25,332 Sudan, the 2,503,890 966,757
Surinam 163,820 63,251 Swaziland 17,364 6,704
Switzerland 41,293 15,943 Syria 185,180 71,498
T
Tajikistan 143,000 55,240 Tanzania 945,037 364,881
Thailand
(formerly Siam) 513,115 198,115 Togo (West Africa) 56,785 21,925
Tonga (in the
Friendly Islands) 749,9 289.5 Trinidad and Tobago 5,128 1,980
Tunisia 154,530 59,664 Turkey 779,452 300,948
Turkmenistan 488,100 186,400 Tuvalu (South Pacific) 23.96 9.25
U
Uganda 241,040 93,070 Ukraine 603,700 171,700
United Arab
Emirates 77,700 30,000 United Kingdom 244,110 94,251
USA (4th largest) 9,529,063 3,679,192 Uruguay 176,215 63,097
Uzbekistan 447,400 172,741
V
Vanuatu
(formery New Hebrides) 12,190 4,707 Venezuela 912,050 352,144
Vietnam 351,688 128,065 Y Yemen 492,099 182,366
(Yugoslavia is not recognised by the UN in its present form)
Z
Zambia 752,614 290,586 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) 390,759 150,893
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