Category World Geography

Which is the smallest island nation?

The world’s smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation is Nauru. Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, this island is about 1,300 km to the northeast of the Solomon Islands. Its closest neighbour is the island of Banaba in Kiribati, which is about 300 km to the east. Nauru does not have an official capital, but its government offices are located in the district of Yaren.

People from Micronesia settled here around 1000 BCE, and Nauru was made a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, the League of Nations authorised Australia, New Zealand, and the Kingdom to jointly administer Nauru. Later, during the Second World War, it was occupied by Japanese troops. After the war came to an end, the country became a part of the United Nations trusteeship and gained its independence in 1968. It became a member of the Pacific Community (PC) in 1969.

Nauru’s constitution offers fundamental rights and freedoms for individuals. The country has a government that combines parliamentary and presidential systems. Its parliament has members elected by Nauruan citizens aged 20 and older, and it serves a tenure of three years unless dissolved by a vote of no confidence. This parliament elects the president, who acts as the head of both the state and the government. Nauru accepts aid from Australia and is sometimes called a client state of Australia.

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Is Australia the smallest continent?

Australia is the smallest continent in the world and includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and portions of Indonesia), the Aru Islands, Ash-more and Cartier Islands, most of the Coral Sea Islands, and some other offshore continental islands. The country of Australia is however a single landmass and encompasses most of the continent. The Australian continent is sometimes referred to as an island continent as it is surrounded by oceans.

Papua New Guinea, which is a country within the Australian continent, is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse countries. It is also mostly rural, as only 18 per cent of its people live in urban areas. It is estimated that West Papua, a province of Indonesia, has over 44 uncontacted tribal groups. Australia, which forms the largest landmass in the continent, is an urbanised region that is also the world’s 14th-largest economy with the second-highest human development index globally. Canberra is Australia’s capital and is located in the southeast between Sydney and Melbourne, which are the more significant economic and cultural centres of Australia.

Australia’s ecosystem is unusual due to its remote location and is home to many animal species that occur nowhere else in the world. This list includes the platypus, kangaroo, echidna, and koala. Australia has 516 national parks, which protect its rare plants and animals.

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What makes the continent Asia unique?

Asia is the largest continent in the world in terms of land area and is spread across 44.6 million square kilometres. It is also home to 4.6 billion people from the total 7.7 billion population of our planet, making it the most populous continent as well. Apart from these specialities, Asia also has the highest and lowest points on land. Mount Everest, which is 8,848.86 metres above sea level, is the highest point and the Dead Sea depression, which is more than 431 metres below sea level, is the point.

A total of 49 countries form the continent of Asia. India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and many more big and small countries are part of this continent.

Since the beginning, Asia has been home to the majority of the human population and gave birth to the first civilizations of our world. Even the most popular religions of the world such as Hindu- ism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, as well as many others were founded here.

Asia has a great variety of ethnic groups, cultures, environments, geographies, economies, historical connections and government systems. Similarly, it also has many different climates across its landscapes. From equatorial climates and hot deserts in the Middle East to temperate regions in the east and continental climate in the centre, Asia has almost all types of climatic zones. It even has subarctic and polar regions in Siberia.

Asia is home to about 2,300 languages, which include some of the widely spoken languages like Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, and Japanese.

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WHAT ISLAND CHANGES HANDS BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN EVERY SIX MONTHS?

Pheasant Island changes countries every six months! An uninhabited river island in the Bidasoa River between France and Spain, Pheasant Island’s administration alternates between both countries every six months. The island is also the smallest and oldest-surviving condominium. A condominium is a territory over which multiple nations exercise equal dominion and sovereignty, without dividing it into different national zones.

Pheasant Island is around 660 feet long and 130 feet wide. Despite its name, it doesn’t house any pheasants or human civilization for that matter. The only permanent resident of Pheasant Island is a historic monument to commemorate the Treaty of the Pyrenees. France and Spain signed a peace treaty on this island called the Treaty of the Pyrenees. A series of 24 conferences were held between Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France and Luis de Haro, a Grandee of Spain, in 1659 after the end of the Thirty Years’ War. The climax of the conferences led to the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in Pheasant Island. Under the terms of the treaty, Pheasant Island is a possession of Spain from February 1 to July 31 each year. From August 1 till January 31, it becomes part of the nation of France. Thus, Pheasant Island has a unique bi-national dependency.

Spain and France have joint sovereignty of Pheasant Island. This arrangement is called a condominium. Faisans Island or Pheasant Island is one of the oldest condominiums in existence. A condominium is a territory over which multiple countries exercise equal sovereignty and dominion over without dividing it into different national zones. This is the world’s only destination where sovereignty is not shared simultaneously, but alternately. For six months in a year, Pheasant Island is Spanish and for the next six, it’s French. It took the Spanish and French three long months of negotiation on the neutral territory of Pheasant Island, to come to this arrangement.  The peace agreement, the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed. And the borders were clearly demarcated and the territory was exchanged. To seal the deal, a royal wedding took place on the island, between the French King Louis XIV and the daughter of the Spanish King Philip IV.

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WORLD ATLAS – NORTHERN AFRICA

The northern half of Africa stretches down from the fertile coast bordering the Mediterranean Sea, through vast areas of desert and savanna, into the forests of the west and central Africa. Apart from the Atlas Mountains, the Ethiopian Highlands and Saharan ranges, much of the region is a level plateau.

In the far north of Africa, the countries bordering the coast benefit from natural resources of oil and gas. They also rely on tourism and the manufacture of textiles and carpets. The population is mostly Arabs. Berbers, an ancient native people, live in the uplands of Morocco.

South of the Sahara, agriculture is the primary industry of many countries. Rivers such as the Nile, Niger and Senegal provide essential water with which to irrigate crops. However, in many countries such as Mauritania and Mali, drought is a recurrent problem. In the driest areas, nomadic cattle-herders travel vast distances in search of good grazing.

There are many different peoples living in Northern Africa. Conflict between them often leads to long and devastating wars. The combination of war, drought and widespread poverty has led to terrible famines in Ethiopia and Sudan.

West Africa has a wetter climate, and crops such as coffee, bananas, cocoa, groundnuts and citrus fruits are grown. For many years, timber has been an important product of countries such as the Cote d’Ivoire, but this was carried out at such a rate that vast areas of the forest have now disappeared. Mining of oil and metal ores is a rich resource, but due to poor government and frequent wars, many countries are still impoverished.

Many people in Northern Africa live in small towns or villages, producing just enough food and goods for themselves. Others crowd into the cities, looking for work. They often have to live in very poor conditions on the outskirts of the city.

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WORLD ATLAS – SOUTHERN AFRICA

The Congo basin covers much of central Africa. Here, the mighty Congo River winds through dense rainforest, where animals such as the rare mountain gorilla and a host of bird species live.

 To the south and east are high plateaux, with a cooler, drier climate. Much of the land is flat grassland, called savanna, where animals such as giraffes, elephants and lions roam. In the southwest, the savanna gives way to areas of hot, dry desert. In the east, deep valleys, high volcanic mountains and huge lakes have formed along a split in the Earth’s crust, known as the Great Rift Valley.

Southern Africa is rich in natural resources such as oil, metals (particularly copper and gold) and diamonds. Mining is therefore a vitally important industry. Tourism is also important to the savanna regions, where large national parks have been set up to protect the wildlife. In the eastern highlands, crops of tea and coffee are grown for export. Cattle are farmed for their meat and dairy products.

Outside South Africa and the Copper Belt (southern Congo and northern Zambia), large industrial areas are scarce. Countries such as Angola and Mozambique, with fertile land and rich resources, are nevertheless poverty-stricken due to years of civil war. Many people are farmers, and produce only enough food for themselves.

There are many hundreds of different tribal groups in Southern Africa, with many different languages and customs. Violent clashes between rival groups are frequent. In the worst affected regions, millions of people have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the conflicts.

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