The emirates that currently comprise the UAE were known as the Trucial States in the 19th century as a result of a series of agreements with Great Britain. In 1971, six of these states merged to form the UAE; a seventh joined in 1972.

Located in Southeast Asia, India sits on a peninsula that extends between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The country, the birthplace of Hinduism and Buddhism, is the world’s second most-populous nation after China, and has roughly one-sixth of the world’s population

For many years of its long history, India faced incursions from the north by Turks, Arabs, Persians and others. By the 19th century, Great Britain became the dominant power on the subcontinent. After years of nonviolent struggle against British rule, India gained its independence in 1947.

The scale of Russia is difficult to imagine. It is the world’s largest country by land mass – nearly twice as big asCanada, the world’s second-largest nation – and covers all of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe. It shares land borders with more than a dozen countries, and shares sea borders with Japan and the United States.

Located in southeastern Europe, Greece as an independent nation is young, existing since the 19th century. Its civilization, however, is one of history’s oldest and most influential, credited with creating the concept of democracy as well as the ancient Olympic Games, and laying Western foundations in science, the arts and philosophy.

Occupying half of South America’s land mass, Brazil is the giant of the continent – both in size and in population. Brazil’s history is filled with economic turmoil, veering from boom to bust, and its culture is a melting pot that has traditionally welcomed the world.

Brazil is one of the world’s top tourist destinations. However, the country in the 21st century confronts serious questions touching on poverty, inequality, governance and the environment.

Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs. The country has a strong economy, landmarks of significance to several religions and strained relationships with many of its Arab neighbors.

Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on its West and the Gulf of Mexico to its East, Mexico is the third-largest country in Latin America and has the second-largest economy. The nation is one of contrasts, with terrain encompassing arid lands and Caribbean coastlines and a society that has extremes of wealth and poverty.

Once home of the Maya, Aztec and other ancient civilizations, Mexico was ruled by Spain starting in the early 16th century. Administered by Spain for three centuries, the country achieved independence early in the 19th century, first as a short-lived empire and then as a republic in 1824.

Poland is a medium-sized nation located in central Europe with a history and culture shaped by a millennium of conflict across the European continent.

The Christian Kingdom of Poland was formally created in 1025 and by the mid-16th century the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was one of the largest countries on the continent. Partitioned by neighboring countries in the late 18th century, Poland briefly regained its independence following World War I. Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union invaded the country in 1939, marking the beginning of World War II.

The Czech Republic may have been born in 1993, but the nation’s history goes back more than 1,000 years. Its location in the heart of Central Europe has nurtured a rich culture yet provided its people with a reserve born from interference and invasions from larger powers. Perhaps due to the country’s history, the people are among the least religious in the world.

The Czech Republic’s modern history began at the end of World War I, when Czechs and Slovaks, formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, created Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany occupied the Czech lands during World War II, and following the war, the newly reformed Czechoslovakia fell under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence. The “Velvet Revolution” of 1989 pushed the Communist Party from power and returned democracy to the country. On Jan. 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved and two separate nations formed, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic today is a parliamentary democracy.

The Czech Republic is considered an advanced economy with high living standards. The country compares favorably to the rest of the world for inequality-adjusted human development, according to the United Nations. Machinery, engineering, electronics, automobile manufacturing and brewing are major industries while tourism and agriculture are also industrially significant.

[Explore the top universities in the Czech Republic.]

Czechs are the country’s largest ethnic group, and Moravians, Slovaks and Poles are other significant groups. While Czechs don't tend to be particularly religious, Roman Catholicism is the most popular faith among religious citizens. Like other developed societies, the Czech Republic has an aging population. A significant proportion of children are born outside of marriage, according to the government’s Statistical Office.

Culturally, the Czech Republic has a rich history in music, literature, visual arts and decorative glass and crystal. Notable classical composers include Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana, while notable writers have included Franz Kafka and the late Vaclav Havel – the author and political dissident who served as the country’s first president following the downfall of communism.

The Czech Republic is a member of major international organizations such as the United Nations, and regional groupings such as the European Union, NATO and the Council of Europe.

Located in two separate regions in the South China Sea, Malaysia is a small country with a fast-growing economy. Once a British colony, the country is home to about 29 million people, many of whom live in or near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

Located on an ocean trade route, Malaysia came under the influence of China, India, the Middle East and eventually Great Britain in the late 18th century. The Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1948 by the unification of former British-ruled territories along the Malay Peninsula. In 1963, the former British colonies of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, joined the Federation, thereafter known simply as Malaysia. The first few years were marked by a communist uprising, confrontation with Indonesia and the withdrawal of Singapore in 1965. 

Qatar is located on a small desert peninsula that extends northward into the Persian Gulf from the Arabian Peninsula.

Qatar became subject to the Islamic caliphate after the rise of Islam in 628 A.D. and was subsequently ruled by a number of local and foreign powers. Since the mid-1800s, the country has been ruled by the Al Thani family.

Saudi Arabia is the giant of the Middle East, with both the vast majority of land and wealth of the Arabian Peninsula falling within its borders.

Millions of devout Muslims from around the world participate in a pilgrimage to Mecca each year, believed to be the birthplace of the Muslim prophet Mohammed and the cradle of Islam. A fierce religious identity dominates the Sunni-majority nation, with principles of the Koran, conservative Sunni teachings known as Wahhabism and strict Islamic Shariah law present in all aspects of life.

South Africa is located on the southern tip of Africa, with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa’s third-largest economy behind Nigeria and Egypt, South Africa draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year eager to see its impressive terrain, wildlife and cultural diversity.

Although South Africa has come a long way since the end of apartheid in 1994, it remains a country of vast inequality and high crime. While the country is dotted with world-class dining, trendy shops, sprawling vineyards and upscale safari lodges, townships lacking basic infrastructure are often only a short distance away.

Argentina, the birthplace of tango, has experienced its share of tragedy and hardship since it became an independent nation in the early 19th century. During the 20th century, Argentina tilted between democracy and authoritarian rule, marked by the 1976-1983 “Dirty War” launched against political opponents of the country’s military government. Estimates of the number of people who disappeared during this period range from 7,000 to 30,000. Democracy returned to Argentina in 1983.

The overwhelming majority of its citizens are ethnically European or partially European, reflecting the country’s 16th-century Spanish colonization and the waves of 19th and early 20th century immigration that flowed from Europe – particularly Spain and Italy. While the majority of Argentines are Catholic, the nation is home to many other religions, including substantial Jewish and Muslim communities.

The World Bank classifies Argentina as a high-income nation. The country’s economy is driven by manufacturing, agricultural exports, natural resources and the services industry, which includes a thriving tourism industry.

[Explore the top universities in Argentina.]

Peru is a nation whose history is as diverse as the peaks and valleys of its terrain. A strip of the Andes mountains separates a stretch of coastal plains from the dense Amazon jungle that covers more than half of the country. It is the third-largest country in South America, linking Ecuador and Chile along the west coast and bordering Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia inland.

Military rule led the nation through its formative years after independence from Spain in 1821, traces of which could be found in the authoritarian rule of the transformative 1980s. Today, though recovering from human-rights abuses and tensions with radical guerrilla groups, democratic support and power is building steadily. The Republic of Peru is governed by a constitution with a president as chief of state.

The ancient empire of the Incas was centered in Peru, leaving remnants of an expansive kingdom in its wake. A bite of the indigenous coca leaf can help to settle altitude sickness for those who climb the majestic Incan citadel of Machu Picchu.

The plant is also the main component of cocaine, for which Peru rivals Colombia for the top spot in production. It draws a significant portion of its gross domestic product from the narcotics trade and other organized crime, including illegal mining. Much of the world’s copper, silver and gold come from Peru, and the country has benefited tremendously from high international prices for these goods. Recent stimulus packages have aimed to improve infrastructure, invest in education and reduce informal taxation.

While the economy grows exponentially, heavy pollution affects rain forest ecosystems and contaminates drinking water, and demand for workers brings about one-third of the nation’s children into the labor force. Poverty levels have been halved since the beginning of the century, but, at 30 percent, are still high, especially in rural areas. Peru is a middle-income country facing many of the same problems of a low-income country, without the eligibility or attention for assistance.

Peru is a member of key international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States, APEC and the World Bank.

Located in the heart of Central America, Costa Rica has  been one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Central America since its birth in the 19th century The nation compares favorably to its regional neighbors in areas of human development, and it has used its landscapes of jungles, forests and coastlines to develop an international reputation for ecotourism.

Costa Rica’s constitution was adopted in 1949, and has since been amended to declare the nation as multicultural and multiethnic. The overwhelming majority of Costa Rica’s population is either white or mestizo – a combination of European and Amerindian descent. The population also includes indigenous, African and mixed descent groups. Like other former Spanish colonies across the Americas, Costa Rica’s official language is Spanish and the most commonly practiced religion is Roman Catholicism. However, a significant percentage of the population identifies with other religions, such as Evangelical Christianity and Jehovah’s Witness.

The Dominican Republic, the land of merengue and baseball, occupies two-thirds of the island Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. It was the site of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, as well the first toehold for European settlement. The country’s history reflects many of the historical challenges that the rest of Latin America has faced: civil disorder, ethnic tensions, authoritarian rule and economic upheaval.

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy, with a multi-party political system and traditional separations of government power falling on executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Panama is a Central American nation that connects Costa Rica and South America by way of Colombia. Much of the country’s narrative is tied to a connector of another kind: the Panama Canal, a hub of global trade and transportation that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Caribbean Sea.

Construction of the canal began immediately after Panama’s secession from Colombia at the turn of the 20th century. The two nations, along with Ecuador and Venezuela initially, claimed joint independence fromSpain in 1821. The massive project was financed and built by the United States in return for a claim to sovereignty over land on either side of it, effectively splitting Panama in half.

Thousands of islands in the South China Sea comprise the tropical nation of the Philippines. The land of beautiful beaches and abundant biodiversity has long been plagued by political instability, but its resilient economy continues to improve and push ahead of others in the region.

The Republic of the Philippines claimed independence fromJapan after World War II in 1946 with assistance from theUnited States, which had exercised colonial rule over the nation earlier in the century. American influence and ties remain prevalent in the Filipino society, although the relationship has become more strained since the 2016 election of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Citizens have led two revolutionary movements - in 1986, and again in 2001 - against corrupt leadership, leading to the exile and impeachment of two presidents. Though shaky, republican ideals have again taken hold. Recent government actions have boosted social spending in an effort to battle high unemployment and manage a rapidly growing population, a quarter of which lives below the poverty line.

Threats to national order also come from separatist groups primarily based in the southern part of the country.

Croatia has found itself at the crossroads of major historical movements, both East and West. These political shifts have uniquely shaped its present-day borders, which curve around Bosnia and Herzegovina in central Europe and stretch along the Adriatic Sea opposite Italy. The nation’s stunning Mediterranean coastline eases into the rugged Dinaric Alps and, continuing northeast, the fertile plains of the Danube River.

After World War I, the Croat, Serb and Slovene ethnic tribes joined to form what would become Yugoslavia. The Croats declared independence from the then-Communist state in 1991, and their new nation was thrown into years of territorial war and authoritarian rule. In 2009, ongoing border disputes with neighboring Slovenia were resolved and Slovenia lifted its objections to Croatia’s European Union membership.

Slovenia is a small country located in southern Central Europe, bordered by Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Italy and the Adriatic Sea.

Slovenia had been ruled by many larger states dating to the Roman Empire and later the Habsburgs of Austria. Following World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slovenia achieved self-determination, eventually merging with Croatia and Serbia to first form a Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, Slovenia was part of a reformed socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. It declared independence in 1991 from the former Yugoslavia and today the country has a parliamentary democracy form of government.

Colombia is located in the northwest corner of South America and is the continent’s most populous Spanish-speaking nation. Roughly twice the geographic size ofFrance, Colombia is bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as well as Panama, Venezuela, Brazil,Peru and Ecuador.

Colombia won independence from Spain in the early 19th century, and was one of three countries that formed out of the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia – the other two nations being Ecuador and Venezuela. Today the country is a democratic republic with universal suffrage, with separate executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.

When Kenya claimed its independence from the U.K. in 1963, leaders of the newly formed republic promoted a sense of national unity using the motto “harambee,” Swahili for ‘pulling together.’ The sentiment holds true today in a country that blends the rich culture and traditions of dozens of varied groups that call it home.

Scientists have called the East African nation, situated along the equator, the cradle of humankind. Some of the oldest and most complete human remains have been found along the Great Rift Valley, a volcano-lined trench that runs through western Kenya.

On the edge of eastern Europe, Latvia sits nestled between Estonia and Lithuania. The trio form the Baltic states and share roots in early tribal settlers as well as similarly strategic locations along the Baltic Sea that have led to various coinciding conquests of their land throughout history.

Latvia is among the larger European countries in terms of landmass, but low population density has allowed more than half of the country’s geography to remain as natural ecosystems. There is great geographic diversity within the country’s borders, too, from Ventas Rumba, Europe’s widest waterfall, to the towering pines of Gauja National Park and the crystalline Baltic waters along the resort town of Jurmala.

Named for its proximity to the Earth’s equator, the South American nation of Ecuador is home to a more dynamic society than its straightforward name may suggest. Tremendous culture is packed within a nation a quarter the size of its neighbors, Colombia and Peru.

Once part of the Inca Empire, Ecuador won independence from Spain in the early 1800s and was one of three countries that emerged from the 19th-century collapse of Gran Colombia. Its current population -- largely of mixed indigenous and European descent -- is a clear manifestation of these distinctive roots. Spanish is the official language, and Incan Quechua is used in formal intercultural relations.

Off the east coast of Saudi Arabia, a collection of a few dozen small islands comprise the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is one of seven Arab states that border the Persian Gulf and, with the exception of Iraq, belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a political and economic union in the region.

Much of Bahrain’s identity stems from its relationship with the water surrounding it; translated from Arabic, its name means “the two seas.” In 1932, it was the first to discover oil off of its shores in the Persian Gulf. While its petroleum industry has not matched the same production level or profitability as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirateshave achieved, its central location to oil transit gives Bahrain a strategic advantage and an important role in foreign relations.

Tanzania is an East African country home to the continent’s highest mountain – Kilimanjaro – and the world’s second-deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika. It also includes the Zanzibar Archipelago, several islands – sometimes called the “spice islands” – in the Indian Ocean.

In the 1800s, present-day Tanzania drew the colonial interests of the Germans and the British. The separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar gained independence from Britain in the early 1960s, and merged to form the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. In 2015, Tanzania held general elections for the fifth time since it transitioned to a multiparty democracy in 1992.

The history of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is marked by ethnic violence and widespread impoverishment as it has convulsed between democratic freedom and brutal authoritarian rule. The country, a medium-sized nation in Southeast Asia that borders Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand, is populated by several ethnic groups, with the Burmese dominating the population, politics, economy and society.

City states began emerging in the second century, B.C. and lasted into the 11^th century, before one of those states, Bagan, established the first kingdom to unify lands that what would become modern-day Myanmar. Following the kingdom’s toppling by Mongol invasions, various ethnic kingdoms and city-states ruled until Britain conquered Burma in the 19^th century.

The former Gold Coast, named for its rich deposits of the precious metal, became the Republic of Ghana in 1957 when it gained independence from British colonial rule.

An ancient trade route once ran through west Africa, crossing through Ghana and neighbors Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. The discovery of gold made Ghana one of the first places in sub-Saharan Africa to attract European traders; it was also the first nation in the region to break colonial rule.

Carved out of Russia’s east border, Belarus sits among a group of post-Soviet states in East Europe to the north of Ukraine. The nation claimed its independence in 1991 after seven decades under the USSR. Though landlocked, more than 11,000 lakes and ancient, enchanting woodlands cover the flat landscape.

Despite operating under an autonomous government, Belarus maintains extremely close political and economic ties with Russia. The two countries agreed to create a two-state union in 1999, but the treaty has not yet been seriously implemented. Isolationist trade policies are fueled by priority access to cheap oil from Russia, a relationship that has been called into question more than once in the last decade.

The oldest independent state in the Arab world, Oman is located on the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.

The country was always of interest to foreign powers due to its strategic position for Indian Ocean trade. Controlled by the Portuguese in the 1500s and later the Persians, the country eventually formed close ties with Britain in the late 19th century, though it never became a colony. During the 1800s, Oman profited greatly from the slave trade, cultivating colonies in modern-day Kenya, Tanzania andPakistan.

Lebanon is a Levantine country in the northern Arabian Peninsula, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered by Syria to its north and east, and Israel to its south. Its location at the crossroads of Asia and Europe gave birth to early kingdoms and has put it in the center of political and religious upheavals throughout history.

Signs of civilization in Lebanon date more than 7,000 ago. The land eventually came under rule of the Roman Empire and then the Ottomans. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Lebanon was brought into French administrative rule until it gained its independence in 1943. Since then, Lebanon has swayed between periods of political stability and economic prosperity to violent sectarianism, marked by the 1975-1990 civil war that claimed an estimated 120,000 lives.

Serbia is a small country in central-southeast Europe whose history is a timeline of European wars dating to the Middle Ages. Contemporary Serbia reflects the ambiguities and contradictions of modern Europe – culturally rich, comparatively developed economically yet driven by regional rivalries and ethnic tensions.

In 2006, neighboring Montenegro voted to withdraw from a union with Serbia, leaving Belgrade the capital of a small country that once was the center of the larger six-republic Yugoslavia (the name literally translates as “The Land of the South Slavs”), a socialist federation that formed six decades earlier, at the end of World War II.

The Republic of Angola is an oil-rich nation in southern Africa, bordered by Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Atlantic Ocean. It's shimmering shores rise to a high plateau with both desert and rainforest terrain.

Originally colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, the Portuguese withdrew from Angola in 1975, and the newly independent nation was thrown into a decades-long civil war between rival independence movements. The nation’s people and economy are still recovering from the conflict that killed thousands and displaced millions before peace was reached in 2002.