India

 Republic of India

 It is the seventh-largest country by area,

 the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people),

 the most populous democracy in the world.

 It is 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;[f] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast;
and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.

 In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman
and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

 In 2017, the Indian economy was the world's sixth largest by nominal GDP and third largest
by purchasing power parity

 Following market-based economic reforms in 1991,

 one of the fastest-growing major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country

 . A nuclear weapons state and regional power,

 it has the second largest standing army in the world and

 ranks fifth in military expenditure

 India is a federal republic governed under a parliamentary system

 consists of 29 states and 7 union territories

 It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium
BCE—one of the world's earliest civilisations. In the following millennium, the oldest scriptures
associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Large-scale urbanisation occurred on the
Ganges in the first millennium BCE leading to the Mahajanapadas, and Buddhism and Jainism
arose. Early political consolidations took place under the Maurya, Satavahana and Gupta
empires; the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as Southeast Asia. In
the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, and Sikhism
emerged, all adding to the region's diverse culture. Much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate;
the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The country was unified in the 17th century
by the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the subcontinent came under the Maratha Empire
and in the 19th under the British East India Company, later shifting to British crown rule. A
nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was
noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947.

.[16]. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, and
inadequate public healthcare among nations.. India is widely recognised for its wide cinema, rich
cuisine and lush wildlife and vegetation. and is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of
protected habitats.

Sri Lanka

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,

founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and a
member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77, and the Non-Aligned
Movement.

Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of only two South Asian countries rated "high" on the
Human Development Index (HDI),

per capita income the highest among South Asian nations.

Pakistan

 Islamic Republic of Pakistan

 fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212,742,631 people.[18]

 the 33rd-largest country, spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles).

 Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman
in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the
southwest, and China in the far northeast.

 It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest,

and

 also shares a maritime border with Oman.

 Pakistan has the sixth-largest standing armed forces in the world

 a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear-weapons state,

 the second in South Asia and the only nation in the Muslim world to have that status.

 Pakistan has a semi-industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector and a

growing services sector.[37][38]

 The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power

 the 41st-largest in terms of nominal GDP (World Bank). It is ranked among the emerging and
growth-leading economies of the world,

 Pakistan is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Cooperation
Organisation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation, the Developing Eight, and the G20 developing nations, Group of 24,
Group of 77, and ECOSOC. It is also an associate member of CERN.

 Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

China

 People's Republic of China (PRC),

 one-party socialist state in East Asia and,

 population of around 1.404 billion,[13]

 the world's most populous country.

 Covering 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi),[k][19]

 China has the most borders of any country in the world.

 The Communist Party of China exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous
regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and
Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

 Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution, as a republic replaced the Qing
dynasty.
  The Chinese Civil War led to the break up of the country in 1949, with the victorious
Communist Party of China founding the People’s Republic of China on the mainland

 Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, a dispute which is still unresolved.

 Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978,

 China's economy has been one of the world's fastest-growing.

 As of 2016, it is the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and

 largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).

 China is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods.[23]

 recognized nuclear weapons state

 has the world's largest standing army

 second-largest defense budget.

 member of the United Nations, permanent member of the UN Security Council in 1971.
China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations,
including the ASEAN Plus mechanism, WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), the BCIM and the G20.

 China is a great power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been
characterized as a potential superpower

Iran

Persia[10] (/ˈpɜːrʒə/),[11]

Islamic Republic of Iran

 With over 81 million inhabitants,[6] Iran is the world's 18th-most-populous country.[15]

 land area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi),

 second-largest country in the Middle East the 17th-largest in the world.

 Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan,[a] to the
north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan
and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by
 Turkey and Iraq. The country's central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its
proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance.[16] Tehran is the
country's capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center.

 During the 1980s, the country was engaged in a war with Iraq, which lasted for almost
nine years and resulted in a high number of casualties and economic losses for both sides.

 Iran is a founding member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC, and OPEC.

 It is a major regional and middle power,[34][35] and

 its large reserves of fossil fuels – which include the world's largest natural gas supply and
the fourth-largest proven oil reserves[36][37] – exert considerable influence in
international energy security and the world economy.

 The country's rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 22 UNESCO World Heritage
Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and eleventh-largest in the world.[38]

 Iran is a multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, the
largest being Persians (61%), Azeris (16%), Kurds (10%), and Lurs (6%).[37]

Iraq

Republic of Iraq

bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the
south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad.

The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds; others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis,
Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians and Kawliya.[5] Around 95% of the country's 37
million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism and Mandeanism also present.
The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.

Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses
the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the
eastern part of the Syrian Desert.[6] Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through
Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant
amounts of fertile land.

Iraq is a founding member of the UN as well as of the Arab League, OIC, Non-Aligned
Movement and the IMF.

It is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates (provinces) and one

autonomous region (Iraqi Kurdistan).
Syria

Syrian Arab Republic

bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east,
Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. Syria's capital and largest city is Damascus.

Syria is an unitary republic consisting of 14 governorates and is the only country that politically
espouses Ba'athism. It is a member of one international organization other than the United
Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement; it has become suspended from the Arab League on
November 2011[10] and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,[11] and self-suspended from the
Union for the Mediterranean.[12]

In English, the name "Syria" was formerly synonymous with the Levant (known in Arabic as al-
Sham), while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires,
including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Its capital Damascus and largest city
Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.[13] In the Islamic era,
Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk
Sultanate in Egypt. The modern Syrian state was established in mid-20th century after centuries
of Ottoman and a brief period French mandate, and represented the largest Arab state to emerge
from the formerly Ottoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gained independence as a parliamentary
republic on 24 October 1945 when Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an
act which legally ended the former French Mandate – although French troops did not leave the
country until April 1946. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a large number of
military coups and coup attempts shook the country in the period 1949–71. In 1958, Syria
entered a brief union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic, which was terminated by the
1961 Syrian coup d'état. The Arab Republic of Syria came into being in late 1961 after
December 1 constitutional referendum, and was increasingly unstable until the Ba'athist coup
d'état, since which the Ba'ath Party has maintained its power. Syria was under Emergency Law
from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens. Bashar al-
Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad,[14] who was
in office from 1971 to 2000.

Since March 2011, Syria has been embroiled in an armed conflict, with a number of countries in
the region and beyond involved militarily or otherwise. As a result, a number of self-proclaimed
political entities have emerged on Syrian territory, including the Syrian opposition, Rojava,
Tahrir al-Sham and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Syria is ranked last on the Global Peace
Index, making it the most violent country in the world due to the war, although life continues
normally for most of its citizens as of December 2017. The war caused 470,000 deaths (February
2016 SCPR estimate),[15] 7.6 million internally displaced people (July 2015 UNHCR estimate)
and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered by UNHCR),[16] making population assessment
difficult in recent years.
Israel (/ˈɪzriəl, -reɪəl/; Hebrew: ‫ ;י ִשְׂ ָראֵל‬Arabic: ‫)إِ ْس َرائِيل‬, officially the State of Israel, is a country
in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of
the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the
east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip[13] to the east and west,
respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features
within its relatively small area.[7][14] Israel's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv,[15]
while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty
over Jerusalem is not recognised internationally.[16][17][18][19][fn 2]

The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age.[20][21] The Neo-Assyrian Empire
destroyed Israel around 720 BCE.[22] Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and
Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces.[23][24] The successful
Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE,[25] which in 63 BCE
however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian
dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea.[26] Judea lasted as a
Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction,[25] expulsion
of Jewish population[25][27] and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina.[28]
Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th
century the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim
control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk
Sultanate of Egypt extended its control over the Levant in the 13th century until its defeat by the
Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 19th century, national awakening among Jews led to the
establishment of the Zionist movement in the diaspora followed by waves of immigration to
Ottoman and later British Palestine.

In 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Palestine recommending the creation of
independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem.[29] The plan was accepted
by the Jewish Agency, and rejected by Arab leaders.[30][31][32] The following year, the Jewish
Agency declared the independence of the State of Israel, and the subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli
War saw Israel's establishment over most of the former Mandate territory, while the West Bank
and Gaza were held by neighboring Arab states.[33] Israel has since fought several wars with Arab
countries,[34] and it has since 1967 occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights
and the Gaza Strip (still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement, although some legal
experts dispute this claim).[35][36][37][fn 3] It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East
Jerusalem, but not the West Bank.[38][39][40][41] Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is the
world's longest military occupation in modern times.[fn 3][43] Efforts to resolve the Israeli–
Palestinian conflict have not resulted in final peace agreement. However, peace treaties between
Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have been signed.

In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state.[44] Israel is a
representative democracy[45] with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and
universal suffrage.[46][47] The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the
legislature. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member,[48] with the 33rd-largest
economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2017. The country benefits from
a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the
highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[49] Israel has the highest
standard of living in the Middle East,[12] and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
[50]

The United Arab Emirates (/juːˈnaɪtɪd ˈærəb ˈɛmɪrɪts/ (  listen); UAE; Arabic: ‫دولة اإلمارات العربية‬
‫ المتحدة‬Dawlat al-Imārāt al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates
(Arabic: ‫ اإلمارات‬al-Imārāt), is a federal absolute monarchy sovereign state in Western Asia at the
southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and
Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing maritime borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to
the north. In 2013, the UAE's population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati
citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates.[9][10][11]

The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971. The
constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi (which serves as the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras
al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by an absolute monarch;
together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs (traditionally
always the Emir of Abu Dhabi) is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. Islam is
the official religion of the UAE.[12]

The UAE's oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the
world's seventeenth-largest.[13][14] Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the
UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare,
education and infrastructure.[15] The UAE's economy is the most diversified in the Gulf
Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city and an
international aviation hub.[16][17] Nevertheless, the country is much less reliant on oil and gas than
in previous years and is economically focusing on tourism and business.

The UAE's rising international profile has led some analysts to identify it as a regional and
middle power.[18][19] It is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation, OPEC, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Qatar (/ˈkætɑːr/,[8] /ˈkɑːtɑːr/ (  listen), /ˈkɑːtər/ or /kəˈtɑːr/ (  listen);[9] Arabic: ‫ قطر‬Qatar

[ˈqɑtˤɑr]; local vernacular pronunciation: [ˈɡɪtˤɑr]),[10][11] officially the State of Qatar (Arabic:
‫ دولة قطر‬Dawlat Qatar), is a sovereign country located in Western Asia, occupying the small
Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with
Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. An arm of
the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island country of Bahrain.

Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until
gaining independence in 1971. Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since the early 19th
century. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani was the founder of the State of Qatar. Qatar is a
hereditary monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Whether
it should be regarded as a constitutional[12][13] or an absolute monarchy[14][15][16][17] is disputed. In
2003, the constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, with almost 98% in
favour.[18][19] In early 2017, Qatar's total population was 2.6 million: 313,000 Qatari citizens and
2.3 million expatriates.[20] Islam is the official religion of Qatar.[21]
Qatar is a high-income economy, backed by the world's third-largest natural-gas reserves and oil
reserves.[22] The country has the highest per capita income in the world. Qatar is classified by the
UN as a country of very high human development and is widely regarded as the most advanced
Arab state for human development.[23] Qatar is a significant power in the Arab world, reportedly
supporting several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and through its globally
expanding media group, Al Jazeera Media Network.[24][25][26] For its size, Qatar wields
disproportionate influence in the world, and has been identified as a middle power.[27][28] Qatar
will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Arab country to do so.[29]

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt, among other Gulf states, cut off
diplomatic relations with the country, accusing it of supporting and funding terrorism and
manipulating internal affairs of its neighboring states, an escalation of longstanding tensions with
Saudi Arabia.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or
America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing
territories, and various possessions.[fn 6] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2) and with
over 325 million people, the United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total
area[fn 7] and the third-most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest
city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are
contiguous and in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the
northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait
from Russia to the west. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The
U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across
nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United
States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.[19]

Paleo-Indians migrated from Russia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago.[20]
European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen
British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and
the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began
in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with
the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power.[21]
The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named
the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The
United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th
century, acquiring new territories,[22] displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting
new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.[22] During the second half of the 19th century,
the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.[23][24] By the end of the century, the United States
had extended into the Pacific Ocean,[25] and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial
Revolution, began to soar.[26] The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the
country's status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a
global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in
warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. During the Cold War,
the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969
moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the
United States as the world's sole superpower.[27] The United States is the world's oldest surviving
federation. It is a representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority
rights protected by law".[28]

The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations.
The United States is a highly developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal
GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global
GDP.[29] The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services
and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in
the world.[30] The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of
goods.[31][32] Though its population is only 4.3% of the world total,[33] the U.S. holds 33.4% of the
total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.[34]
The United States ranks among the highest nations in several measures of socioeconomic
performance, including average wage,[35] human development, per capita GDP, and productivity
per person.[36] The U.S. is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global
military spending,[37] and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.[38]

Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), also officially known as the Russian
Federation[12] (Russian: Росси́йская Федерaция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə
fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a sovereign country in Eurasia.[13] At 17,125,200 square kilometres
(6,612,100 sq mi),[14] Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-
eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area,[15][16][17] and the ninth most populous, with over
144 million people at the end of December 2017 (excluding Crimea) .[7] About 77% of the
population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital Moscow is one of
the largest cities in the world; other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk,
Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven
time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to
southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and
Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk
and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.

The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries
AD.[18] Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the medieval state
of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine
Empire,[19] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture
for the next millennium.[19] Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of
the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic
Golden Horde in the 13th century.[20] The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the
surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde. By the 18th
century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to
become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from
Poland on the west to Alaska on the east.[21][22]
Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the
largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first
constitutionally socialist state.[23] The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in
World War II,[24][25] and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States
during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological
achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the
launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's
second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of
weapons of mass destruction.[26][27][28] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991,
twelve independent republics emerged from the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
the Baltic states regained independence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; the Russian SFSR
reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal
personality and a successor of the Soviet Union.[29] It is governed as a federal semi-presidential
republic.

The Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by
purchasing power parity in 2015.[30] Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the
largest such reserves in the world,[31] making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas
globally.[32][33] The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the
largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[34] Russia is a great power as well as a regional
power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. It is a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the G20, the Council of Europe, the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the World Trade
Organization (WTO), as well as being the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and one of the five members
of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan.

South Korea (  listen), officially the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國;
Daehan Minguk  listen; lit. "The Great Country of the Han People"), is a country in East Asia,
constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and lies east to the Asian mainland.[12] The
name Korea is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages. South Korea lies
in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It comprises an estimated
50 million residents distributed over 99,392 km2 (38,375 sq mi).[13] The capital and largest city is
Seoul, with a population of 10 million.

Archaeology indicates that the Korean Peninsula was already inhabited starting from the Lower
Paleolithic period (2.6 Ma–300 Ka).[14][15] The history of Korea begins with the foundation of
Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun. Following the unification of the Three
Kingdoms of Korea under Unified Silla in AD 668, Korea was subsequently ruled by the Goryeo
Dynasty (918–1392) and the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). It was annexed by the Empire of
Japan in 1910. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S. zones of
occupations. An election was held in the U.S. zone in 1948 which led to the creation of the
Republic of Korea (ROK). Although the United Nations at the time passed a resolution declaring
the ROK to be the only lawful government in Korea,[16] the Soviets set up a rival government in
the North.

The Korean War began in 1950 when forces from the North invaded the South. The war lasted
three years and involved the U.S., China, the Soviet Union, and several other nations. The border
between the two nations remains the most heavily fortified in the world.[17] In the decades that
followed, the South Korean economy grew significantly and the country was transformed into a
G-20 major economy.[18] Civilian government replaced military rule in 1987.

South Korea is a presidential republic consisting of 17 administrative divisions and is a

developed country with the second highest standard of living in Asia, having an HDI of 0.909. It
is Asia's fourth largest economy and the world's 11th (nominal) or 12th (purchasing power
parity) largest economy.[19] The economy is export-driven, with production focusing on
electronics, automobiles, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics. South Korea is a
member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, United Nations, Uniting for Consensus, G20, WTO,
and OECD, and a founding member of APEC and the East Asia Summit.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (abbreviated as DPRK,
DPR Korea or Korea DPR), is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the
Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city. To the north and northwest, the
country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok (known as the Yalu in China) and
Tumen rivers;[14] it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern
counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands.
[15]
Both North Korea and South Korea became members of the United Nations in 1991.[16]

In 1910, Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan. After the Japanese surrender at the end of World
War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union
and the south occupied by the United States. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948,
separate governments were formed: the socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the
north, and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led
to the Korean War (1950–1953). The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire,
but no peace treaty was signed.[17]

North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant, socialist state and formally holds
elections.[18] Various media outlets have called it Stalinist,[27] particularly noting the elaborate cult
of personality around Kim Il-sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), led by a
member of the ruling family,[28] holds power in the state and leads the Democratic Front for the
Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers are required to be members.[29]
Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution in 1972.[30][31]
The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises and collectivized
farms. Most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized
or state-funded.[32] From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the deaths
of between 240,000 and 420,000 people,[33] and the population continues to suffer malnutrition.
North Korea follows Songun, or "military-first" policy.[34] It is the country with the highest
number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve and
paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world,
after China, the United States and India.[35] It possesses nuclear weapons.[36][37]

International organizations have assessed that human rights violations in North Korea are
commonplace and have no parallel in the contemporary world.[38][39][40]

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye [ˈtyɾcije]), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye
Cumhuriyeti [ˈtyɾcije d͡ʒumˈhuɾijeti] (  listen)), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in
Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe.[7]
Turkey is bordered by eight countries with Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia to the
northeast; Armenia, the Azerbaijan and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the south. The
country is encircled by seas on three sides with the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the
north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the
Dardanelles, which together form the Turkish Straits, divide Thrace and Anatolia and separate
Europe and Asia.[8] Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the country's largest city and main
cultural and commercial centre, classified as a leading global city.[9]

Approximately 70–80% of the country's citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks.[10][11] Kurds
are the largest minority at about 20% of the population; other ethnic minorities include
Circassians, Albanians, Arabs, Bosniaks, and Laz people.[11][12][13][14][15] The official language is
Turkish, which is the most widely spoken Turkic language in the world.[16] Minority languages
spoken today in Turkey include Kurmanji, Bosnian, Arabic, Zaza, Kabardian, and several others.
[1]

The area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic age by various ancient Anatolian
civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians, and Armenians.[17][18]
[19][20]
After Alexander the Great conquered these lands, the area was Hellenized, a process which
continued under the Roman Empire and its transition into the Byzantine Empire.[19][21] The Seljuk
Turks began migrating into the area in the 11th century, and their victory over the Byzantines at
the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 symbolizes the start and foundation of Turkey.[22] The Seljuk
Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into
small Turkish principalities.[23]

From the end of the 13th century the Ottomans started uniting these Turkish principalities in
Anatolia and then went on to create an empire that encompassed much of Southeast Europe,
West Asia and North Africa.[24] The Ottoman Empire became a world power beginning with the
reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the early modern period.[25] It remained powerful and
influential for two more centuries, until important setbacks in the 19th and 20th century forced it
to cede strategic territories in Europe, which signalled the loss of its former military strength and
wealth. After the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, which effectively put the country under the control
of the Three Pashas, the Ottoman Empire decided to join the Central Powers during World War
I. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian
and Pontic Greek subjects.[I][26] Following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples
that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states.[27] The
Turkish War of Independence, initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues against
occupying Allies, resulted in the abolition of monarchy in 1922 and the establishment of the
Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Atatürk as its first president.[28] Atatürk enacted numerous
reforms, many of which incorporated various aspects of western thought, philosophy, and
customs into the new form of Turkish government.[29]

Turkey is a charter member of the UN, an early member of NATO, the IMF and the World Bank,
and a founding member of the OECD, OSCE, BSEC, OIC and G-20. After becoming one of the
first members of the Council of Europe in 1949, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC
in 1963, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the
European Union in 2005 which have been effectively stopped by the EU in 2017 due to
"Turkey’s path toward autocratic rule".[30] Turkey's economy and diplomatic initiatives led to its
recognition as a regional power while its location has given it geopolitical and strategic
importance throughout history.[31][32] Turkey is a secular, unitary, parliamentary republic; slated to
transition to a presidential system in 2019, following a 2017 referendum. However, Turkey's
current administration headed by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the AKP has enacted
measures to increase the influence of Islam, reversed and undermined Kemalist policies, and has
reversed earlier reforms such as freedom of the press.[33][34]

Crimea (/kraɪˈmiːə/; Russian: Крым, Krym; Ukrainian: Крим, Krym; Crimean Tatar: Къырым,
translit. Qırım; Turkish: Kırım; Ancient Greek: Κιμμερία/Ταυρική, translit. Kimmería/Taurikḗ) is a
peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe that is almost completely
surrounded by both the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast. It is located
south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, to which it is connected by the Isthmus of Perekop,
and west of the Russian region of Kuban, from which it is separated by the Strait of Kerch
though now linked by the Crimean Bridge. The Arabat Spit is located to the northeast, a narrow
strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Across the
Black Sea to its west is Romania and to its south Turkey.

Crimea (or the Tauric Peninsula, as it was called from antiquity until the early modern period)
has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Its southern fringe was colonised by the Greeks, the Persians, the Romans, the Byzantine
Empire, the Crimean Goths, the Genoese and the Ottoman Empire, while at the same time its
interior was occupied by a changing cast of invading steppe nomads and empires, such as the
Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Alans, Bulgars, Huns, Khazars, Kipchaks, Mongols
and the Golden Horde. Crimea and adjacent territories were united in the Crimean Khanate
during the 15th to 18th century.

In 1783, Crimea became a part of the Russian Empire as the result of Russo-Turkish War (1768–
1774). Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Crimea became an autonomous republic
within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in the USSR. During World War II,
Crimea was downgraded to the Crimean Oblast and then, in 1954, it was transferred to the
Ukrainian SSR from the Russian SFSR by Nikita Khrushchev.[3]

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was formed as an independent state in 1991 and
most of the peninsula was reorganized as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, while the city of
Sevastopol retained its special status within Ukraine. The 1997 Partition Treaty on the Status and
Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet partitioned the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet and allowed
Russia to continue basing its fleet in Crimea: both the Ukrainian Naval Forces and Russian's
Black Sea Fleet were to be headquartered in Sevastopol. Ukraine extended Russia's lease of the
naval facilities under the 2010 Kharkiv Pact in exchange for further discounted natural gas.

In March 2014, following the Ukrainian revolution and subsequent takeover of the territory by
pro-Russian separatists and Russian Armed Forces,[4] a referendum, deemed unconstitutional by
the Ukrainian Constitutional Court,[5][6][7] was held on the issue of "reunification" with Russia; the
official result was that a large majority of Crimeans wished to join with Russia.[8] Russia then
annexed Crimea to incorporate the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol as
federal subjects of Russia.[9] While Russia and ten other UN member states recognize Crimea as
part of the Russian Federation, Ukraine continues to claim Crimea as an integral part of its
territory, supported by most foreign governments and United Nations General Assembly
Resolution 68/262.[10]

Palestine (Arabic: ‫ فلسطين‬Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine[i] (Arabic: ‫ دولة فلسطين‬Dawlat
Filasṭīn), is a de jure sovereign state[16][17] in the Middle East claiming the West Bank (bordering
Israel and Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt)[3] with Jerusalem as the
designated capital, although its administrative center is currently located in Ramallah.[ii][4][5] Most
of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the
consequence of the Six-Day War.[8] The population is 4,550,368 as of 2014, ranked 123rd in the
world.

After World War II, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory
Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an
internationalized Jerusalem.[18] After the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be
known as the State of Israel on 14 May 1948,[19][20][21] neighboring Arab armies invaded the
former British mandate on the next day and fought the Israeli forces.[22][23] Later, the All-Palestine
Government was established by the Arab League on 22 September 1948 to govern the Egyptian-
controlled enclave in Gaza. It was soon recognized by all Arab League members except
Transjordan. Though jurisdiction of the Government was declared to cover the whole of the
former Mandatory Palestine, its effective jurisdiction was limited to the Gaza Strip.[24] Israel later
captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank (including East
Jerusalem) from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria in June 1967 following the Six-Day
War.

Following the withdrawals of Egypt from Sinai and Gaza (1982) and Jordan from the West Bank
(1988), the State of Palestine proclaimed its independence on 15 November 1988 by the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Algiers as a government-in-exile. Since the signing
of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinian National Authority was formed the following year
to govern the areas A and B in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Gaza would later be ruled by
Hamas in 2007 after Israel withdrawal from Gaza two years prior.

The State of Palestine is recognized by 136 UN members and since 2012 has a status of a non-
member observer state in the United Nations – which amounts to a de facto, or implicit,
recognition of statehood.[25][26][27] It is a member of the Arab League, Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation, G77, and the International Olympic Committee.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the
United Kingdom (UK) or, informally, Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying
off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the UK includes the island of Great
Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands.[10] Northern
Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign
state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland.[note 9] Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea
to its south-south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies
between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the
UK is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 21st-most populous country,
with an estimated 65.5 million inhabitants in 2016.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy.[11][12] The monarch is

Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of
state.[13] The UK's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an
urban area population of 10.3 million.[14] Other major urban areas in the UK include the
conurbations centred on Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool. The UK
consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.[15] All but England
have devolved administrations,[16] each with varying powers,[17][18] based in their capitals
Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and
Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British
Government responsible for defence and international representation.[19]

Prior to the creation of the UK, Wales had been conquered and annexed by the Kingdom of
England. This meant that the United Kingdom created in 1707 by the Treaty of Union between
England and Scotland encompassed all of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Ireland merged with
this state in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland
seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.[note 10] There are fourteen British Overseas Territories,[20] the
remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of
the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in
the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies.

The UK is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and
ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a
"very high" Human Development Index, ranking 16th in the world. It was the first industrialised
country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.[21][22] The UK
remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political
influence internationally.[23][24] It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and is sixth in military
expenditure in the world.[25] It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security
Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a leading member state of the European Union
(EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973; however, a
referendum in 2016 resulted in 51.9% of UK voters favouring leaving the EU, and the country's
exit is being negotiated. The UK is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council
of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), Interpol and the World Trade Organization (WTO).