Category Geography

               Georgia is located in South-western Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia, with a sliver of land north of the Caucasus extending into Europe. Georgia views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi.

               Georgia declared sovereignty in 1989 and independence in 1991. Georgia is a unitary semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.

               Georgia’s main economic activities include cultivation of agricultural products. The country imports nearly all of its needed supplies of natural gas and oil products.

               Georgia is a member of the UN. Increasing US economic and political influence in the country has long been a source of concern for neighbouring Russia, as have Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO and the EU. Georgian terrain is largely mountainous. More than a third of the country is covered by forest. 

               Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, is an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India. It officially became Sri Lanka in 1972. The capital of the country is Colombo.

               Indo-Aryan emigration from India in the 5th century BC came to form the largest ethnic group on Sri Lanka today-the Sinhalese.

               Tamils, the second-largest ethnic group on the island, were originally from the Tamil region of India and emigrated between the 3rd century BC and AD 1200.

               The British took over in 1796, and Ceylon became an English Crown colony in 1802. On February 4th, 1948, after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders, Ceylon became a self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations.

               Its recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war, which ended decisively when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

               The official languages are Sinhala and Tamil. The currency is the Sri Lankan rupee. 

               Lithuania is an Eastern European country with a coastline at the Baltic Sea in the west. It is the largest, and most populous of the three Baltic States.

               Initially, Lithuania came under the rule of Russian Empire. As World War I neared its end, Lithuania’s Act of Independence was signed on 16th February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania.

               The Lithuanian independence movement re-emerged in 1988. On 11th March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare itself independent.

               Lithuania is a member of the European Union. Its capital city is Vilnius. The official language is Lithuanian. The currency used is the Euro. 

               Latvia is one of the three Baltic States, situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania. The country is also bordered by Russia and Belarus, and it shares maritime border with Sweden.

               Latvia became an independent state in 1918, after gaining its sovereignty from Russia in the aftermath of World War I. Since 21st August 1991, Latvia is a parliamentary republic. Ceremonial Chief of State is the president; he is elected by the parliament. The head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the prime minister, he is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament. The country is a member of the European Union (EU) since May 2004.

               Its capital Riga served as the European capital of culture in 2014. Latvian is the official language. Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two surviving Baltic languages. It’s mostly flat landscape offers a mix of beaches, rivers, lakes, marshes and forests. Since 1st January 2014, it replaced the Latvian lats with the Euro as its currency.

               Togo is a narrow strip of land in Western Africa between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east, bordered in north by Burkina Faso and the Gulf of Guinea in south. Lome, the capital, is situated in the southwest of the country and is the largest city and port.

               In 1884, Germany declared a region including present-day Togo, as a protectorate called Togoland. After World War I, rule over Togo was transferred to France. Togo became an independent state in 1960, after gaining its sovereignty from France.

               The population of Togo is made up of about 30 ethnic groups, many of whom are immigrants from other parts of Africa. The groups indigenous to Togo live in the north. Togo enjoys one of the highest standards of living on the continent, owing to its valuable phosphate deposits and through exporting of agricultural products. The official language is French, and the currency is the West African CFA franc.

               Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country situated in the western Balkan Peninsula of Europe.

               The Bosnian region in the north is mountainous, and covered with thick forests. The Herzegovina region in the south is largely rugged, flat farmland. The capital of the country is Sarajevo.

               The country is home to three main ethnic groups. The Bosniaks are the largest group; the Serbs are second, and the Croats, third. The spoken languages are Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. In the interwar period, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and after World War II, it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

               In 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and asked for recognition by the European Union.

               In a March 1992 referendum, Bosnian voters chose independence. This was followed by Bosnian War, which lasted until 1995.