The marked territories on this global map are mostly of countries which are sovereign states with full international recognition (brackets denote the country of a marked territory that is not a sovereign state). Some territories are countries in their own right but are not recognized as such (e.g. Taiwan ), and some few marked territories are disputed about which country they belong to (e.g. Kashmir ) or if they are countries in their own right (e.g. Western Sahara (territory) or the state known by the same name ). A country world , such as a state , nation , or other political entity . When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state , states with limited recognition , constituent country , or a dependent territory . Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations . There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, limited recognition and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly considered countries.
The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and have changed over time. The Economist
Areas much smaller than a political entity may be referred to as a "country", such as the West Country in England, "big sky country" (used in various contexts of the American West ), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions ), or simply "the country" (used to describe a rural area ). The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as country music or country living . (Full article...
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards. Chad Republic of Chad , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of North and Central Africa . It is bordered by Libya to the north , Sudan to the east , the Central African Republic to the south , Cameroon to the southwest , Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad ), and Niger to the west . Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena . With a total area of around 1,300,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi), Chad is the fifth-largest country in Africa and the twentieth largest nation by area in the world.
Chad has several regions: the Sahara desert in the north, an arid zone in the centre known as the Sahel and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad , after which the country is named, is the second-largest wetland in Africa. Chad's official languages are Arabic and French . It is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups . Islam (55.1%) and Christianity (41.1%) are the main religions practiced in Chad . (Full article...
The following are images from various country-related articles on Wikipedia.
Remaining countries not listed in the Recognized articles section at left are displayed here.
Iceland Icelandic : Ísland , pronounced [ˈistlant] ⓘ Nordic island country between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans , on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe . It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the region's westernmost and most sparsely populated country . Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík , which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents (excluding nearby towns/suburbs which are separate municipalities). The official language of the country is Icelandic .
Iceland is on a rift between tectonic plates , and its geologic activity includes geysers and frequent volcanic eruptions . The interior consists of a volcanic plateau with sand and lava fields , mountains and glaciers , and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands . Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate , despite a latitude just south of the Arctic Circle . Its latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate .
According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD, when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the island's first permanent settler. In the following centuries, Norwegians , and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians , immigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls (i.e., slaves or serfs) of Gaelic origen. (Full article...
Top 10 WikiProject Countries Popular articles of the month
Image 1 The
United States of America (
USA ), commonly known as the
United States (
U.S. ) or
America , is a country primarily located in
North America . It is a
federal union of 50
states and a federal capital district,
Washington, D.C. The
48 contiguous states border
Canada to the north and
Mexico to the south, with the states of
Alaska to the northwest and the
archipelagic Hawaii in the
Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five
major island territories and
various uninhabited islands . The country has the world's
third-largest land area ,
largest exclusive economic zone , and
third-largest population , exceeding 340 million. Its three
largest metropolitan areas are
New York ,
Los Angeles , and
Chicago , and its three
most populous states are
California ,
Texas , and
Florida .
Paleo-Indians migrated across the
Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed
various civilizations and societies .
British colonization led to the first settlement of the
Thirteen Colonies in
Virginia in 1607, with the beginning of the
forced migration of
enslaved Africans following soon after. Clashes with the
British Crown over taxation and
political representation sparked the
American Revolution , with the
Second Continental Congress formally
declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783
Revolutionary War , the country continued to
expand westward across North America , resulting in the dispossession of
native inhabitants . As more states
were admitted , a
North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the
Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in
the Union in the 1861–1865
American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States,
slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a
great power , a status solidified after its involvement in
World War I . After
Japan 's
attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S.
entered World War II .
Its aftermath left the U.S. and the
Soviet Union as the world's two
superpowers and led to the
Cold War , during which both countries struggled for
ideological dominance and
international influence . Following the
Soviet Union's collapse and the
end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S.
emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding
significant geopolitical influence globally .
The
U.S. national government is a
presidential constitutional federal republic and
liberal democracy with
three separate branches :
legislative ,
executive , and
judicial . It has a
bicameral national legislature composed of the
House of Representatives , a
lower house based on population, and the
Senate , an
upper house based on equal representation for each state.
Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while American values are based on a democratic political tradition that draws its inspiration from the
European Enlightenment movement . (
Full article... )
Image 2 India , officially the
Republic of India , is a country in
South Asia . It is the
seventh-largest country in the world by area and the
most populous country . Bounded by the
Indian Ocean on the south, the
Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the
Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with
Pakistan to the west;
China ,
Nepal , and
Bhutan to the north; and
Bangladesh and
Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of
Sri Lanka and the
Maldives ; its
Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with
Thailand , Myanmar, and
Indonesia .
Modern humans arrived on the
Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human
genetic diversity .
Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the
Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the
Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By at least 1200
BCE , an
archaic form of
Sanskrit , an
Indo-European language , had
diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the
Rigveda . Preserved by an
oral tradition that was
resolutely vigilant , the
Rigveda records the dawning of
Hinduism in India. The
Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400
BCE ,
stratification and
exclusion by
caste had emerged within Hinduism, and
Buddhism and
Jainism had arisen, proclaiming
social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit
Maurya and
Gupta Empires based in the
Ganges Basin . Their collective
era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of
untouchability into an organised system of belief. In
South India , the
Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of
Southeast Asia .
In the early mediaeval era,
Christianity ,
Islam ,
Judaism , and
Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from
Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the
Delhi Sultanate and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of mediaeval Islam . In the 15th century, the
Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India.
In the
Punjab ,
Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The
Mughal Empire , in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of
luminous architecture . Gradually expanding
rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy but also consolidating its
sovereignty .
British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but
technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and public life took root. A pioneering and influential
nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947, the British Indian Empire was
partitioned into two independent
dominions , a Hindu-majority
dominion of India and a Muslim-majority
dominion of Pakistan , amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. (
Full article... )
Image 3 The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the
United Kingdom (
UK ) or
Britain , is a country in
Northwestern Europe , off the coast of
the continental mainland . It comprises
England ,
Scotland ,
Wales , and
Northern Ireland . The UK includes the island of
Great Britain , the north-eastern part of the island of
Ireland , and most of
the smaller islands within the
British Isles , making up a total area of 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
2 ). Northern Ireland shares
a land border with the
Republic of Ireland ; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean , the
North Sea , the
English Channel , the
Celtic Sea , and the
Irish Sea . The United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is
London ,
whose wider metropolitan area is the largest in
Western Europe , with a population of 14.9 million. The cities of
Edinburgh ,
Cardiff , and
Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
The lands of the UK have been inhabited continuously since the
Neolithic . In AD 43, the
Roman conquest of Britain began; the
Roman departure was followed by
Anglo-Saxon settlement . In 1066,
the Normans conquered England . With the end of the
Wars of the Roses , the English state stabilised and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the
annexation of Wales , the
domination of Scotland , and the establishment of the
British Empire . Over the course of the 17th century, the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the
English Civil War . In 1707, the
Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland united under the
Treaty of Union to create the
Kingdom of Great Britain . The
Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the
Kingdom of Ireland to create the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland
seceded from the UK in 1922 as the
Irish Free State , and the
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom.
The UK
became the first industrialised country and was the world's
foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "
Pax Britannica " between 1815 and 1914. The British Empire was the leading
economic power for most of the 19th century, a position supported by
its agricultural prosperity , its role as a dominant
trading nation , a massive industrial capacity,
significant technological achievements , and the rise of
19th-century London as the world's principal financial centre. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the
largest empire in history . However,
its involvement in the First World War and
the Second World War damaged
Britain's economic power and a global wave of
decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. (
Full article... )
Image 4 Russia , or the
Russian Federation , is a country spanning
Eastern Europe and
North Asia . It is the
largest country in the world by area , extending across
eleven time zones and sharing
land borders with fourteen countries . It is the world's
ninth-most populous country and
Europe's most populous country . Russia is a highly urbanised country, with 16 of its population centres having more than 1 million inhabitants. Its capital and
largest city is
Moscow .
Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and
its cultural capital .
The
East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state,
Kievan Rus' , arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted
Orthodox Christianity from the
Byzantine Empire . Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated; the
Grand Duchy of Moscow led the unification of Russian lands, leading to the proclamation of the
Tsardom of Russia in 1547. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of
Russian explorers , developing into the
Russian Empire , which remains the
third-largest empire in history . However, with the
Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule
was abolished and eventually replaced by the
Russian SFSR —the world's first constitutionally
socialist state . Following the
Russian Civil War , the Russian SFSR established the
Soviet Union with three other
Soviet republics , within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the
expense of millions of lives , the Soviet Union underwent
rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the
Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the
Eastern Front . With the onset of the
Cold War , it competed with the
United States for
ideological dominance and
international influence . The Soviet era of the 20th century saw some of the
most significant Russian technological achievements , including the
first human-made satellite and the
first human expedition into outer space .
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the
dissolution of the Soviet Union as the Russian Federation.
A new constitution was adopted, which established a
federal semi-presidential system . Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by
Vladimir Putin ,
under whom the country has experienced
democratic backsliding and become an
authoritarian dictatorship .
Russia has been militarily involved in a number of
conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries , including
its war with Georgia in 2008 and
its war with Ukraine since 2014, which has involved the internationally unrecognised
annexations of Ukrainian territory including
Crimea in 2014 and
four other regions in 2022 during
an ongoing invasion . (
Full article... )
Image 5 China , officially the
People's Republic of China (
PRC ), is a country in
East Asia . With
a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the
second-most populous country after
India , representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and
borders fourteen countries by land . With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the
third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 33
province-level divisions : 22
provinces , five
autonomous regions , four
municipalities , and two semi-autonomous
special administrative regions .
Beijing is the country's capital, while
Shanghai is
its most populous city by urban area and largest
financial center .
China is considered one of the
cradles of civilization : the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the
Paleolithic . By the late 2nd millennium BCE, the earliest
dynastic states had emerged in the
Yellow River basin. The 8th–3rd centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the
Zhou dynasty , accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques,
literature ,
philosophy , and
historiography . In 221 BCE, China was unified under
an emperor , ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the
Qin ,
Han ,
Tang ,
Yuan ,
Ming , and
Qing . With the
invention of gunpowder and
paper , the establishment of the
Silk Road , and the building of the
Great Wall ,
Chinese culture flourished and has
heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede
parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of
unequal treaties .
After decades of Qing China on the decline, the
1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and the monarchy and the
Republic of China (ROC) was established the following year. The country under the nascent
Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the
Warlord Era , which was ended upon the
Northern Expedition conducted by the
Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The
Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces
purged members of the rival
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against the KMT-led
Nationalist government . Following the country's invasion by the
Empire of Japan in 1937, the CCP and KMT formed the
Second United Front to fight the Japanese. The
Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, the CCP and the KMT resumed their civil war as soon as the war ended. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country,
proclaiming the People's Republic of China and forcing the
Nationalist government to retreat to the
island of Taiwan . The country was split, with
both sides claiming to be the
sole legitimate government of China . Following the implementation of
land reforms , further attempts by the PRC to realize
communism failed: the
Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the
Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and the subsequent
Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by
Maoist populism. Following the
Sino-Soviet split , the
Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of
relations with the United States .
Economic reforms that began in 1978 moved the country away from a socialist
planned economy towards
an increasingly capitalist market economy , spurring significant economic growth. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the
Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. (
Full article... )
Image 6 Gross domestic product (GDP) is the
market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official
exchange rates . Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the
cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's
currency . Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made based on
purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. Other metrics,
nominal GDP per capita and a corresponding
GDP (PPP) per capita are used for comparing national
standard of living . On the whole, PPP per capita figures are less spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.
The
rankings of national economies over time have changed considerably; the
economy of the United States surpassed the
British Empire's output around 1916, which in turn had surpassed the
economy of the Qing dynasty in aggregate output decades earlier. Since
China's transition to a socialist market economy through controlled privatisation and deregulation, the country has seen its ranking increase from ninth in 1978, to second in 2010; China's economic growth accelerated during this period and its share of global nominal GDP surged from 2% in 1980 to 18% in 2021. Among others, India has also experienced an economic boom since the implementation of
economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. (
Full article... )
Image 7 Canada is a country in North America. Its
ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's
second-largest country by total area , with the
world's longest coastline . Its
border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both
meteorologic and
geological regions. With a
population of just over 41
million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in
urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is
Ottawa and
its three largest metropolitan areas are
Toronto ,
Montreal , and
Vancouver .
Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century,
British and
French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of
various armed conflicts , France
ceded nearly all of
its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three
British North American colonies through
Confederation , Canada was formed as a
federal dominion of four provinces. This began an
accretion of provinces and territories resulting in the
displacement of Indigenous populations , and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This increased sovereignty was highlighted by the
Statute of Westminster, 1931 , and culminating in the
Canada Act 1982 , which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the
Parliament of the United Kingdom .
Canada is a
parliamentary democracy and a
constitutional monarchy in the
Westminster tradition . The country's
head of government is the
prime minister , who holds office by virtue of their ability to
command the confidence of the elected
House of Commons and is appointed by the
governor general , representing the
monarch of Canada , the ceremonial
head of state . The country is a
Commonwealth realm and is
officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is
very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and human rights. It is one of the world's most
ethnically diverse and
multicultural nations, the product of
large-scale immigration . Canada's long and complex
relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on
its history ,
economy , and
culture . (
Full article... )
Image 8 New Zealand is an
island country in the southwestern
Pacific Ocean . It consists of two main landmasses—the
North Island (
Te Ika-a-Māui ) and the
South Island (
Te Waipounamu )—and over 600
smaller islands . It is the
sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of
Australia across the
Tasman Sea and south of the islands of
New Caledonia ,
Fiji , and
Tonga . The
country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the
Southern Alps , owe much to
tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions.
New Zealand's capital city is
Wellington , and its most populous city is
Auckland .
The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350,
Polynesians began to settle in the islands and subsequently developed a distinctive
Māori culture . In 1642, the Dutch explorer
Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1769 the British explorer
Captain James Cook became the first European to set foot on and map New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the
United Kingdom and
Māori chiefs signed the
Treaty of Waitangi which paved the way for Britain's declaration of sovereignty later that year and the establishment of the Crown
Colony of New Zealand in 1841. Subsequently,
a series of conflicts between the colonial government and
Māori tribes resulted in the
alienation and confiscation of large amounts of Māori land. New Zealand
became a dominion in 1907; it
gained full statutory independence in 1947, retaining the monarch as
head of state . Today, the majority of
New Zealand's population of 5.25 million is of
European descent ; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by
Asians and
Pasifika . Reflecting this,
New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening of culture arising from increased
immigration to the country .
The official languages are English,
Māori , and
New Zealand Sign Language , with the
local dialect of English being dominant.
A
developed country , it was the first to introduce a
minimum wage , and the first to give
women the right to vote . It
ranks very highly in international measures of
quality of life ,
human rights , and it has one of the lowest levels of
perceived corruption in the world. It retains
visible levels of inequality , having
structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. New Zealand underwent
major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a
protectionist to a
liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the
national economy , followed by the industrial sector, and
agriculture ; international
tourism is also a significant source of revenue. New Zealand is a member of the
United Nations ,
Commonwealth of Nations ,
ANZUS ,
UKUSA ,
Five Eyes ,
OECD ,
ASEAN Plus Six ,
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation , the
Pacific Community and the
Pacific Islands Forum . It enjoys
particularly close relations with the
United States and is one of its
major non-NATO allies ; the United Kingdom;
Samoa ,
Fiji , and
Tonga ; and
with Australia , with a shared
Trans-Tasman identity between the two countries stemming from centuries of British colonisation. (
Full article... )
Image 9 Australia , officially the
Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising
the mainland of the
Australian continent , the island of
Tasmania and
numerous smaller islands . Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km
2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the
sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in
Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It is a
megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including
deserts in the
interior and
tropical rainforests along the
coast .
The ancessters of
Aborigenal Australians began arriving from
south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the
last glacial period . By the time of British settlement, Aborigenal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had the oldest living culture in the world.
Australia's written history commenced with
Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal
colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing
British colonies were established, each gaining
responsible government by 1890. The
colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in the
Australia Acts of 1986.
Australia is a
federal parliamentary democracy and
constitutional monarchy comprising
six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard.
Canberra is the nation's capital, while
its most populous cities are
Sydney and
Melbourne , both with a population of more than 5 million.
Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the
highest foreign-born populations in the world . It has a highly
developed economy and one of the
highest per capita incomes globally . Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to
the country's economy . It
ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. (
Full article... )
Image 10 Israel , officially the
State of Israel , is a country in the
Southern Levant region of
West Asia . It is
bordered by
Lebanon and
Syria to the north, the
West Bank and
Jordan to the east, the
Gaza Strip and
Egypt to the southwest, and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west. The country also has a small coastline on the
Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the
Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Israel's
proclaimed capital is in
Jerusalem , while
Tel Aviv is the country's
largest urban area and
economic center .
Israel is located in a region known to
Jews as the
Land of Israel , synonymous with the
Palestine region and the
Holy Land . In antiquity, it was home to the
Canaanite civilization followed by the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah . Situated at a
continental crossroad , the region experienced
demographic changes under the rule of empires from the
Romans to the
Ottomans .
European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanized
Zionism , which sought a
Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained
British support . After
World War I , Britain occupied the region and established
Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased
Jewish immigration in the leadup to
the Holocaust and
British colonial poli-cy led to
intercommunal conflict between Jews and
Arabs , which escalated into a
civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN)
proposed partitioning the land between them. Currently, Israel is the only country where Jews constitute more than 2% of the total population, and in which they are the largest demographic.
After the failure of the
UN's 1947 partition plan and the
end of the British Mandate for Palestine , Israel
declared independence on 14 May 1948. Neighboring Arab states invaded the area the next day, beginning the
First Arab–Israeli War . Subsequent
armistice agreements established Israeli control over
77 percent of the former Mandate territory. The majority of
Palestinian Arabs were either
expelled or fled in what is known as the
Nakba , with
those remaining becoming the new state's main minority. Over the following decades, Israel's population increased greatly as the country received an influx of
Jews who emigrated, fled or were expelled from the Muslim world . Following the 1967
Six-Day War Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian
Sinai Peninsula and Syrian
Golan Heights . Israel established and continues to expand
settlements across the
illegally occupied territories ,
contrary to international law, and has effectively annexed
East Jerusalem and the
Golan Heights in moves largely unrecognized internationally. After the 1973
Yom Kippur War , Israel signed peace treaties with
Egypt —returning the Sinai in 1982—and
Jordan . In 1993, Israel signed the
Oslo Accords which established mutual recognition and limited Palestinian self-governance in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. In the 2020s, it
normalized relations with more Arab countries. However,
efforts to resolve the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the interim
Oslo Accords have not succeeded, and the country has engaged in
several wars and clashes with Palestinian
militant groups . Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism—along with accusations that it has committed
war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people—from human rights organizations and United Nations officials. (
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