10 countries you probably never heard about
- 65
- Jun 2, 2010
- strange news, top list
You really have to be a geography freak to know about these countries from the list. It’s irrelevant to us how recognized they are as countries but they surely look at themselves like that. Of course a special thanks to Wikipedia for the article’s research.
10. Vanuatu, 90% of Vanuatu people household and consume fish, and 80% are living in rural, isolated villages with their own gardens and food supplies. Scuba diving is a very popular tourist attraction here. Tsunamis are not a rare thing in Vanuatu, and earthquakes have a negative affect on the country’s economy.
9. Nauru, a former German Empire colony is also known as Pleasant Island of the South Pacific. The people of Nauru are collecting rain water during monsoon rains between November and February because they are very limited on natural fresh water. The most popular sport in this country is Australian rules football, and they have football league with seven teams.
8. Tuvalu, is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. They don’t have regular military forces, and spend no money on defense. Tuvalu is the 4th smallest country in the world. The first inhabitants of the country were Polynesian people.
7. Comoros is African island nation in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. The island is an old French colony, and today there is about 300 000 Comorians living in France. 98% of the population is Islamic.
6. Guernsey is under the responsibility of the United Kingdom but they don’t count as a part of the U.K, as well as the European Union. Guernsey is located in the English Channel on the coast of Normandy. They have complete autonomy over internal affairs, and they are discussing total independence from the British Crown.
5. Isle of Man, also known as Mann, is self-governing British Crown Dependency, with a location in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. They are not a part of the European Union. Isle of Man economy is based on offshore banking and tourism. The island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC.
4. Tokelau, is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand that consists of three islands. The name Tokelau is a Polynesian word that means “north wind”. The island has the smallest economy of any country in the world that makes them almost completely dependent on subsidies from New Zealand. 96% of the population is Christians and 57% of these are women.
3. Cook Islands, are a self-governing parliamentary democracy. With over 90 000 tourists per year, tourism is their far best industry and their leading element of the island economy, far ahead of offshore banking, marine, pearls and fruit exports. Cook Islands got named by the British navigator Captain James Cook when he arrived the islands in 1773.
2. Pitcairn Islands, officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands that are formerly a British colony, the last remaining in the Pacific. The population’s language is a mix of English and Tahitian. In recent years the church has been closed because only 8 islanders have been visiting it regularly. There is only one Café and Bar on the island, and the Government Store is selling alcohol and cigarettes. They used to have moral strict laws which prohibited dancing, smoking and consummation of alcohol.
1. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the independent republic located between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Nagorno Karabakh is one of the most heavily mined regions of the former Soviet Union because of the 1991-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh War. They are still not recognized by any state, including Armenia. 95% of the population is Armenian, and the rest are Greeks and Kurds. Their tourism are basically directed to Armenians that live in Western countries.
Aw i can’t believe you put Guernsey and not Jersey! I come from Jersey and its so much more unbelievably awesome that Guernsey and just as well unknown! (plus we’re bigger and make better milk)
Jun 2, 2010I’ve heard none of the above coutries.. except for number 1 ;d
Jun 3, 2010Nice list, only heard of like 4 of them, though it would be nice of a world map with their location would be nice…considering this is for the geographically-challenged.
Jun 3, 2010I’ve only heard of Cook Islands. Because the domain on Google is http://www.google.co.ck LOL
Jun 5, 2010Wow, I’d heard of all of those BUT three… I guess it comes from living close to most of them. Though all I knew about Pitcairn was that a) it had 50 people, and b) about the sexual abuse allegations. Our government had to deal with the most recent of those…
Jun 5, 2010Most Americans haven’t heard of any country outside of their own.
Jun 5, 2010“10 countries you probably never heard about” or in other words, if this applies to you, you’re probably American.
Jun 10, 2010Pitcairn Islands: Settled by mutineers from the british ship HMS Bounty (see film: mutiny on the bounty).
Jun 10, 2010Couple of years ago several men from there were tried for rape, there was a big legal case were they tried to prove, as descendants of deserters, that they were immune to british law.
Geat real! Buy some books and you know all the places in the world…. BTW I knew all the places shown above, no surprice to me, digg harder.
Jun 11, 2010Pretty cool list. I’ve heard of all of those places (even been to two – Guernsey and the Isle of Man).
Jun 12, 2010How about this, Åland Islands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85land_Islands
Jun 13, 2010“consummation of alcohol”? I believe the word you’re looking for is “consumption”.
Jun 13, 2010I think the last one is not a country. Also, Cook didn’t name the islands after himself, someone else did that for him, how nice!
Jun 14, 2010Andorra……?????????
Jun 14, 2010lol i heared about every one of them except for “Tokelau”
have you ever heared of “Faeroe Isl.” “Aland Isl.”,Tonga,Gambia,Lesotho or let’s say Mauritius?
Jun 15, 2010i’ve only heard of #5 (isle of man)
Jun 16, 2010only Comoros, Pitcairn Islands, Guernsey, & Nagorno-Karabakh Republic that i never heard of~
Jun 17, 2010I heard of 6 out of 10.
Jun 17, 2010nice
Jun 17, 2010I know all of them except 3
what about Niue, Sap Tome & Principe
you did tuvalu but not kiribati… and what about iceland???
Jun 18, 2010anyway its true about americans. Sarah Palin actually thought Europe was just like the US with states and such… i mean, you were actually considering that woman for presidential election. And another thing, i bet that more than 70% of americans believe that the us is the best country to live in. seriously, someone should do a test or something coz i really think it might be above 70, 60 at least
Kristinn
Jun 20, 2010Dude I’ll wager that 70% the population of any country believes that their country is “best”…WTF?Just because Sarah Palin is a daft bint ,does not translate to all Americans being quite so uninformed as you would have us believe. Oh and by the by, she was running for vice president,not president. If you are to be so damned flip about what you say, how do you expect to be taken with any degee of seriousness . Try to get your facts in order!
You all forgot about Sealand!
Jun 21, 2010http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
I love how people always make grand assumptions bout Americans and in doing so broadcast their own ignorance. Who are you to determine what knowledge is important to know and what worth you are if you don’t know it?
Lets say you do find a random American that doesn’t know these countries, what grand knowledge do you possess that makes your worth greater than his or hers?
Can you name the address of each of your own country’s own embassies in foreign lands in the southern hemisphere? or can you name every current prime minister’s or president’s parents from every country in the northern hemisphere? Didn’t think so.
Did you know that many people would think that is far more important knowledge than the name of minor nations that don’t make enough news in a decade to remind the public that they still exist.
See… people like Mark and Kristinn are internet revolutionaries hypocritically secretly suckling from the teat of American influence while trying to claim that they have successfully removed themselves from all things American.
You are so far removed from common sense it is hilarious. Thank you for playing the game of life; you lose, please try again
Jun 23, 2010Well, I’ve heard of all of these excluding Guernsey. But most of these are not countries. They’re dependencies. There’s a difference.
Jun 25, 2010where’s maldives? could have been on this list a few years ago
Jul 4, 2010Also, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has the best flag..
Jul 4, 2010I’m not sure where the American bashing is coming from. Personally, I’d heard of nearly every one of these nations. Frankly, I felt misled by the article’s title.
Jul 4, 2010Nagorno-karabakh or Garabagh is militarized conflict zone and is not a republic nor a state. It is not recognized by any country in the world. Just like in Georgia (Abkhazia and South-Osetia) and in Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) these regions are occupied by Russian military and is ment to destabilise the Caucasus.
Jul 4, 2010this is some amazing piece of info. i am nigerian were we have 140,000,000 people never thought 50 people can make a country.
i guess i want to start my own country…can anyone suggest a name for me.
Jul 5, 2010I’ve heard of all of these except number one, and I’m 15. Shame on all of you.
Jul 6, 2010Hope that one day I will be able to visit some of these magnificent places !
Jul 9, 2010American’s, the only places they know are the one’s that they have invaded. Most do not even own a passport.
They are the only country that holds World sporting competitions with only them entering.
Jul 9, 2010….ahuh i only knew five of them,,,countries 10-5..
Jul 13, 2010Actually Tuvalu is making lots of money because by designation they own the dot.tv internet domain
Jul 13, 2010ummm… Tokelau is the only one I havn’t heard about, and I don’t think dependancies (i.e. Pitcairn) or semi-autonomous republics or countries not fully recognized by the U.N. (i.e. Nagarno-Karabakh) count either.
Jul 14, 2010oh i know about only 5 among them well i think i am better than poor americans who don’t know about any 1 of these.
Jul 14, 2010Lol. Im kenyan and i have heard of all of them. Emeka, how about the trusty old Emeka Islands if you start an island country. If not an island, Emekaland. Kinda has a ring to it!
Jul 18, 2010i think people have lot of other fruitful things to do in their neighbour than to snooping into the net for some tenuously located islands.
Jul 19, 2010I reckon there might have more unknown countries but we don’t know. The countries that noone heard about it, it’s not on the list and it will never be.
Jul 20, 2010Hey what about Seychelles 83,000 population, a group of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean
Jul 21, 2010I’ve heard about all of these countries before. Comoros, Cook Islands and Isle of Man is actually quite well known
Jul 21, 2010Very good and informative list.
Jul 22, 2010Thanks,
Soendoro Soetanto
As an American living in Vanuatu I was aware of most of these little countries/places. We are not all entirely ignorant of geography.
Jul 23, 2010@Kristinn – seriously?? Iceland??? You actually think nobody’s heard of ICELAND???
Bloody hell.
I’ve heard of all, except 1 and 7.
Jul 24, 2010Just when I thought I’d learn something new!
I’ve heard of ALL these- and it isn’t a feat.
Am surprised you included some; Comoros, Cook, isle of Man? come on!
Some of them (as pointed out before) are not really countries, in that they are not recognised by the UN and I could add a handful off my head to this list: Western Sahara Republic, South Osetia,Greenland, Somaliland Republic, Sealand, sao Tome, Kiribati, East Timor, e.t.c and this doesn’t necessarily mean am better or brighter than people who don’t know them. It just shows my interest in Geo-politics.
Now, one thing I appreciate is that many people are not good with geography, so please for all you out there that think Europe/Africa/Asia is one big country e.t.c (The truth is that Americans have made quite a reputation of themselves in this regard, with their leadership often callously showing ignorance that is almost criminal!) please stop displaying your ignorance and know that there’s a whole world outside your cocoon!
Jul 26, 2010And for the record, I have nothing against Americans(I know many are actually nice people!) and believe they have a right to elect whoever they think befits the oval office,however ignorant, its their right. But the truth gotta be said!
Jul 26, 2010What about somaliland.
Jul 27, 2010have you heard about Transdnistrian Moldavian Republic (also called Transdnistria) that is a part of the former Moldavian Soviet Republic? the population is about 700,000 or so and it is sandwiched between Ukraine and Republic of Moldova (it claims that TMR belongs to it but has no control on it), it has never been recognized by any country except South Osetia. There are three state languages there (Moldavian, Russian, Ukranian), it has its own money, president, parliament, police, armed forces, ets…
Jul 29, 2010How about this, Åland Islands.
Aug 4, 2010Most of those countries are under British colony and look at their flags,brits eh?
Aug 5, 2010I think there are a lot bigger and more populated ‘real’ countries that are less known! Uzbekistan, Kyrkystan, Turkmenistan, even Kazakstan which is a huge country!
Aug 7, 2010I think everybody has heard of Isle of man, Comoros and some of the others.
Having a Union Jack on a flag doesn’t make them British, it means they were once colonies of the British, sadly the commonwealth is essentially no more.
As for the American bashing, the country is huge. It appears ignorant because the huge amount of people. I’m sure there are many many people in India or China who also know nothing about foreign countries. America simply has the publicity.
On a side note, I knew about all but one of those countries. I am however from New Zealand and thus most of them are in my backyard, so to speak.
Aug 9, 2010wanted to tour one of them so i can say i have been in another World.
Aug 18, 2010ayanle – somaliland? Do you mean Somalia?
Aug 18, 2010Surely even Americans have heard of that place!
It’s where some tin-pot tribal war-lord whipped the much vaunted American armed forces when they tried to kill him!
I take a great deal of offense to those of you who have so rudely labeled Americans as ignorant! How absolutely narrow minded, erroneous and bigoted can you be? Sounds to me like sour grapes!
Aug 22, 2010It is obvious you all have never spent any appreciable amount of time in our country. First of all, we are an absolute melting pot of nationalities, ethnicities and religions so are you insinuating that every one in America is ignorant or are you suggesting that only native born U.S. citizens are neanderthals ? Before you decide to label a whole nation why don’t you take the time to learn something about us??? If our country is so backward and repulsive then why do so many people want to emigrate here?? Why is it that people are willing to illegally cross our southern border at the risk of life and limb??
Oh, and as an aside, I have heard of all but two of the locales mentioned…Nauru and Tokelau… And I happen to possess a Masters Degree in History from a very well respected University in the U.S.
Aug 22, 2010I know this is outside the scope of this article, but it is a question in response to one of the comments here. Why would an American buy a passport if they’ll never get the chance to use or have the need of one? They might travel for over 4,000km in a straight line and still be in their own country. Many EU countries are roughly one-quarter of that (of course there are exceptions, but for an average – 1,000km is a good rough number). Even if Americans travelled to neighboring countries as is more common in the EU, it was not until just a year ago (June 2009) that passports were even required for the most part. Something else to consider, rather than per capita, let us compare by percentages of the populations as to how many are well-traveled, knowledgeable about countries other than those that are in the vicinity of their own, etc. As another comment gave the direction to… How many people (what percentage) in China (a very large country in geographical size and population)have international passports or have good knowledge of many other countries that are not immediately around their own? How many actually might have a chance to go? That might be a poor comparison because of how restrictive their government is. Perhaps we might consider how many people in any country rarely travel very far from their place of birth. I am not saying they never do, but what percentage of the people that you grew up with have traveled over 4,000km away from where they live? Have your grandparents or parents? If they have, also consider how frequently it does occur. I am sorry the question is so long, but it is something to think about.
Aug 22, 2010Anyone that has learned so much as the people who have commented here, I consider them above average. Finding this article and being interested in it already sets you apart.
Aug 22, 2010I think there are a lot bigger and more populated ‘real’ countries that are less known! Uzbekistan, Kyrkystan, Turkmenistan, even Kazakstan which is a huge country!
Aug 24, 2010I think everybody has heard of Isle of man, Comoros and some of the others except american uneducated idiots,even people with university degrees behave like primitives and ignorants,shame on them,some dont know where is certain countries in Europe,so it´useless even to speak about it..
cant believe this!!!!!
Aug 24, 2010some of these places are new to me and some are not….but one thing is sure, these places are cool!!!!
Aug 28, 2010In my opinion as a citizen of the United States, We (Americans)left and struck out on our own so that we could have a chance at establishing our own religion. I don’t see what knowing anything about geography has to do with how much value a persons life holds. If I had to be stuck on one of these beautiful islands with one person I would chose a Doctor or a surgeon, considering that they would be better use to me than a 2 bit has been who has gotten an A in Geography in high school! If America the free is such a bad country then why the hell does everyone want to come live here????? There are almost more immigrants here than actual Americans!!! We are gonna have to start deporting some of them so that we can actually flourish and grow ourselves. I by no means think that America is better than any other country, We have a decently high crime rate and people still go penniless and suffer from disease and famine, and our government is not the very best it could possibly be but, as individuals, even though we struggle and scrape sometimes to get by we always know that we have the right to choose our own paths in life and we can help where help is needed. Isn’t that the Golden rule of life anyways? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Sep 1, 2010Dear Carla,
That attitude is not new, but in 1914 a little country named Serbia (near those “unknown” countries above) initiated an action which launched World War I, II and the Cold War. The fallout continues. It’s not about being a better person, but knowing how the activities in other parts of the world have an impact on your daily living.
Sep 3, 2010You can tell this was aimed at Americans!! Jeez! Don’t they have geography on the US curriculum? Please don’t tell me Americans are THAT ignorant.
Sep 5, 2010americans are arrogant by nature because whole world is witnessing what she is doing with iraq and afghanistan….reason behind …nothing..a day wil come when u the americans wil hav to pay off…and i m scared of that day
Sep 7, 2010Leave a Reply