Search for Posts, Maps, and Topics
There are nine countries on three continents that have names starting with the letter L. Most of the 'L' countries are in Europe, and there are four of them. Africa has three 'L' countries and Asia has two.
The A to Z categories are based on the English language and inadvertently might not include all native country names.
Countries in Africa (3): LESOTHO is a small, mountainous country in Southern Africa, completely surrounded by South Africa. In fact, it is one of the highest countries above sea level because its lowest elevation (more than 4,000 feet) is the highest in the world! Compared to other African countries, LIBERIA obtained independence really early (1800s). It is found beside and north of the Atlantic Ocean in Western Africa, west of Côte d'Ivoire, south of Guinea, and southeast of Sierra Leone. LIBYA is a large, petroleum-producing country in North Africa. Unrest and political instability leave Libya's future unpredictable. The country is east of Algeria and Tunisia, north of Chad and Niger, west of Egypt, south of the Mediterranean Sea, and northwest of Sudan.
Countries in Asia (2): LAOS is a landlocked Indochina country with a Communist government. The Mekong River is important for the country's transportation and hydroelectric power. It is north of Cambodia, south of China, east of Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, and west of Vietnam. LEBANON is a Middle Eastern country situated east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is affected by the unrest in the Middle East. It is located east of the island country Cyprus, north of Israel, and east of Syria.
Countries in Europe (4): LATVIA is an Eastern European country located east of the Baltic Sea. It is also northwest of Belarus, south of Estonia, north of Lithuania, and west of Russia. LIECHTENSTEIN is a very tiny country in the Alps mountain range of South-Central Europe. It borders two well-known countries, being west of Austria and east of Switzerland. Like Latvia, LITHUANIA is another Eastern European country east of the Baltic Sea. It is also west of Belarus, northeast of Kaliningrad (Russia's exclave), south of Latvia, and northeast of Poland. Finally, LUXEMBOURG is a small and extremely wealthy country in Western Europe. The country is found east of Belgium, northeast of France, and west of Germany. It is considered one of the Benelux Countries, the others being Belgium and the Netherlands.
GeoFact of the Day Blog Post Links
Africa: Lesotho — Liberia — Libya
Asia: Laos — Lebanon
Europe: Latvia — Lithuania — Liechtenstein — Luxembourg
The South Pacific Ocean country of FIJI boasts a reputation for being a beautiful destination for tourism and vacationers, having many splendid islands. By far the largest island is Viti Levu, one of the westernmost islands in Fiji. The capital, Suva, is located on the southeast shore of this island. Found northeast of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu is the second largest island. The Yasawa Group of islands, including Matacawa Levu, Naviti, Viwa, Waya, and Yasawa, is north of the largest island and west of Vanua Levu. The Koro Sea is the center of Fiji, and the previously-mentioned islands and islands like Gau, Kadavu, Koro, Nairai, and Solo are situated to the west of the water body. Taveuni is north of the Koro Sea, while the Exploring Isles, Lau (Eastern) Group (with islands like Lakeba, Olorua, and Vanua Balavu), and Ringgold Isles are east of the Koro Sea. Learn more about Fiji!
The previous Indiana counties with mosquitoes that tested positive for the West Nile Virus are Adams, Allen, Clinton, Grant, Hamilton, Jefferson, Knox, Kosciusko, Montgomery, Starke, Vanderburgh, and Vigo. Ripley County is the first and so far the only county with a confirmed human infection. As of this post, there are four more counties with West Nile Virus in some mosquitoes. They are DeKalb, Steuben, Sullivan, and Tippecanoe. To be reassuring, most of the mosquitoes in these counties do not have the WNV. As with previous posts, I suggest you visit the arboviral disease map from the Indiana State Department of Health, the original info source for the map I made.
You can also find a map of West Nile Virus activity on the All About Indiana page, accessed with the tab in the navigation bar above.
Tarawa, the capital of the Pacific Ocean country of KIRIBATI, is situated on a small, highly-populated area of land. The capital is on an island with the same name, obviously called Tarawa island. The island is part of a V-shaped string of islands including Abaokoro, Bonriki, Buariki, Eita, and Marenanuka, among others. Tarawa and the other aforementioned islands are part of the Gilbert Islands' northern fringe.
The Indiana State Department of Health confirmed with its Arboviral Disease Map there is now a person infected with the West Nile Virus. The county in which this occurred is Ripley County, located in Southeastern Indiana not too far from Cincinnati, Ohio. Nine counties previously reported West Nile Virus, but the WNV was in mosquitoes and have not been transferred to humans. The All About Indiana page will always feature the latest West Nile Virus updates.
You may have noticed that there are multiple examples of Caribbean Sea islands that have the word 'saint' in their names. The three island countries that fit this description are SAINT KITTS and NEVIS (capital: Basseterre), SAINT LUCIA (capital: Castries), and SAINT VINCENT and the GRENADINES (capital: Kingstown). Other island entities that are not countries are Saint Barthélemy (capital: Gustavia), also known as Saint Barts, and Saint Martin. Saint Barts is a collectivity belonging to France, while the island of Saint Martin is shared by France and the Netherlands. Saint Martin's northern section (Saint-Martin) belongs to France while the southern section belongs to the Netherlands (Sint Maarten, a constituent 'country' that was part of the no-longer-existing entity called the Netherlands Antilles).
There are other islands with 'saint' in their names and are part of larger entities. For example, the three largest islands of the United States Virgin Islands are Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas. To learn more about the islands and island countries in this post, click on their names (the ones that are dark blue) to bring up their posts!
Another Link: Caribbean Sea label in the Posts by Topic sidebar widget
While a vast majority of the United States' drive-in movie theaters have closed, there are still hundreds that are operating. Indiana has around two dozen drive-in movie theaters scattered around the state in 21 counties. There are five areas in which bordering counties have these iconic theaters. For the future, drive-in theaters have the financial challenge of converting the process of using film to play movies into an all-digital format as the major movie companies support the newer method. The Tri-Way Theater of Plymouth is conducting fundraisers to help cover the costs associated with converting the theater's four projectors to digital. The counties on the map with drive-in theaters are colored in dark blue. Info that helped me make the map is thanks to www.driveinmovie.com/IN.htm. Below is the list of Hoosier counties with drive-in theaters in 3 geographic regions:
Northern: Cass, DeKalb, Huntington, Marshall, Porter, Starke, Wabash, and White
Central: Clinton, Delaware, Henry, Marion, Morgan, Randolph, and Shelby
Southern: Floyd, Lawrence, Monroe, Owen, Ripley, and Spencer
While the country of GUINEA-BISSAU in Western Africa is quite small and sometimes hard-to-find on maps, it does possess many offshore islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands of the country are grouped in an archipelago named Arquipélago dos Bijagós in Guinea-Bissau's official language, Portuguese. Also, the archipelago is called Bijagós Islands and Bijagós Archipelago in English. The largest island of Guinea-Bissau and the archipelago is Orango (Ilha de Orango in Portuguese). Other islands include Bolama, Bubaque, Caravela, Formosa, Jeta, Roxa, and Uno. There are no people living on some of Guinea-Bissau's smallest islands. Learn more about Guinea-Bissau!
Eight countries in the world have names starting with the letter K in the English language. The most "K" countries are in Asia; there are five of them. There is also one "K" country in Africa, Europe, and Oceania (a region of islands and island countries in the Pacific Ocean).
The A to Z categories are based on the English language and inadvertently might not include all native country names.
Country in Africa: KENYA is an East African country south of Ethiopia, west of the Indian Ocean, southwest of Somalia, southeast of South Sudan, north of Tanzania, and east of Uganda; its capital is Nairobi.
Country in Europe: KOSOVO is a new country located in Eastern Europe that achieved independence in 2008, although not all countries recognize its independence. The capital is Pristina (with accent on the 's': Priština).
Countries in Asia (5): KAZAKHSTAN, a former-Soviet country located in Central Asia (capital: Nursultan, previously known as Astana); N. KOREA, a Communist country on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia (capital: Pyongyang); S. KOREA, a highly-developed country also on the Korean Peninsula (capital: Seoul); KUWAIT, a small petroleum-producing country in the Middle East (capital: Kuwait City); and KYRGYZSTAN, a former-Soviet country located among the Tien Shan mountains in Central Asia (capital: Bishkek).
Country in Oceania: KIRIBATI is a collection of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean and can be found south of Hawaii; Kiribati's capital is Tarawa.
GeoFact of the Day Blog Post Links
Africa: Kenya
Asia: Kazakhstan — North Korea — South Korea — Kuwait — Kyrgyzstan
Europe: Kosovo
Oceania: Kiribati
On Earth and specifically in the English language, there are only three countries with names starting with the letter J. Two of them are in Asia — one is in the Middle East (Western Asia) while the other is in East Asia. The third is an island country in the Caribbean Sea of North America.
The A to Z categories are based on the English language and inadvertently might not include all native country names.
JAMAICA: Like many other islands and island countries in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica boasts a successful tourism industry due to its resorts and idyllically beautiful beaches, harbors, and more. This island country is found south of Cuba and west of Hispaniola island (the island occupied by Haiti in the west and the Dominican Republic in the east) and Navassa Island (very small island belonging to the United States but claimed by Haiti). Located along the coastline in the southeastern part of Jamaica, the capital is Kingston.
JAPAN: A highly developed and wealthy country in East Asia, Japan is a collection of large and small islands. The largest island in Japan and seventh largest in the world is Honshu, where major cities like Tokyo (Japan's capital) are located. The next three largest islands are Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Japan is west of the Pacific Ocean and east of the Sea of Japan (also called the East Sea) and the Korean Peninsula (with North Korea and South Korea). The Ryukyu Islands of Southern Japan are east of the East China Sea, which separates the islands from China in the west. Hokkaido island is east of Russia while being south of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Russian island of Sakhalin.
JORDAN: This country in the Middle East would be landlocked if it did not have a 13-mile coastline in the southern part. It is mainly desert land, particularly noticeable since there are many dried up riverbeds in Eastern Jordan. In relation to its bordering countries, Jordan is west of Iraq, east of Israel, northwest of Saudi Arabia, and south of Syria. It is also south of Golan Heights - the region being disputed by Israel and Syria - and east of the very salty Dead Sea. Jordan's capital, Amman, is located in Northern Jordan and is the largest city.
Click on the countries' bolded names above to open their individual posts!
The country of ECUADOR, located on the northwestern coast of South America, has islands that are near its coastline and some that are more farther west in the Pacific Ocean. Most of the islands near the coast are found in the Daule River and Guayas River delta. The largest island of these is Isla Puná, located east of the Gulf of Guayaquil. The smaller islands have villages and plots of farmland. The Galapagos Islands, located about 600 miles west of Ecuador, are well-known for a vast species diversity within its ecosystems. Charles Darwin is known for his research, particularly about the variety of finches that live on the islands. In fact, one of the northernmost islands in the group honors his work since it is named Darwin. The largest island of the Galapagos Islands and of Ecuador in general is Isabela; other islands include Fernandina, San Salvador, and Santa Cruz.
Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, France's only overseas territory that is located on the continent of South America. The city is found along the Atlantic Ocean coast (south of the ocean). Learn more by visiting my French Guiana post!
A small petroleum-exporting country in the Middle East and Western Asia, KUWAIT is fortunate to have access to water for transporting its natural resources to other countries as exports. Kuwait is situated by the Persian Gulf, a saltwater body also bordering the countries of Bahrain (country comprised of more than 30 islands in the gulf), Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. There are two bays within the larger Persian Gulf that are off of the coast of Kuwait: they are Jūn al Kuwayt (Kuwait Bay) and Khawr 'Abd Allāh. Jūn al Kuwayt is the larger of the two water bodies and is located north of Kuwait's capital, Kuwait City. It is also west of several small islands, the largest being Faylakah. Khawr 'Abd Allāh is east of Kuwait's largest island, Būbiyān, and south of extreme eastern Iraq.
Peninsula Week Post #6
ITALY is world famous for having a characteristic boot shape, and some of the credit goes to peninsulas around the southern part of the country! The peninsulas that help form Italy’s boot shape are Calabria, Gargano, and Salentina.
Calabria
Both a region and peninsula, this is the toe of the boot. Calabria is east of the large island Sicily (and the city of Messina on Sicily), the Aeolian Islands (Lipari Islands), and Tyrrhenian Sea. The peninsula is also east of Golfo di Taranto (Gulf of Taranto) and north and west of the Ionian Sea. Cities on the peninsula include Catanzaro, Melito de Porto Salvo, Palmi, Reggio di Calabria, and Taurianova.
Gargano
You can say that Italy has a spur on the right side of the boot! That spur is Gargano (also called Promontorio del Gargano), located southwest of the Adriatic Sea and north of Golfo di Manfredonia. The peninsula is mountainous and has lakes. The two most prominent lakes are Lago di Lesina and Lago di Varano, and communities on the peninsula include Manfredonia and Vieste.
Salentina Peninsula
Lastly, this peninsula forms the heel of the boot. It juts out into the water in a southeasterly direction. The peninsula is north of the Golfo di Taranto and Ionian Sea, while being south of the Adriatic Sea. The Strait of Otranto, separating Salentina from the country Albania, is east of the peninsula and forms the geographical ‘separation’ between Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Communities include Gallipoli, Lecce, and Taranto.
Another Post to Check Out: Italy
Peninsula Week Post #5
Located in Southern Africa, the Masoala Peninsula sticks out southward into the Indian Ocean. It is found on the eastern coast of MADAGASCAR, an island country located east of mainland Africa (specifically east of the countries Comoros and Mozambique) and east of the Mozambique Channel. The Masoala Peninsula is east of the Antongil Bay and less than 150 miles northeast of Analamaitso Plateau. Tanjon'i Masoala is at the tip of the peninsula. If you were wondering, tanjon'i and other variants like tanjona mean cape. Planning to learn Malagasy? You now know a word! Finally, communities on the peninsula include Ampanavoana and Vinanivao.
Another Post to Check Out: Madagascar
These are some/all tornadoes that occurred on July 10th.
After 1 P.M. Eastern Time on July 10th, a tornado surprisingly touched down in the town of Peru, the county seat of Miami County, Indiana. The tornado traveled along a path of more than three miles and was ranked EF1 (Enhanced Fujita scale), according to the National Weather Service of Northern Indiana. There is catastrophic, severe damage to mainly the southern portions of the city and there were some injuries, but fortunately no one died.
Ohio and Pennsylvania Tornadoes
According to the NWS of Cleveland, three tornadoes touched down on July 10th in four counties within the weather office's Northern Ohio region. An EF0 tornado touched down in Ashland County, near the community of Rowsburg in the eastern part of the county. Another EF0 tornado touched down in Sandusky County. That tornado occurred in the southwest part of the city of Bellevue (SE part of the county). An EF1 tornado touched down in Northeast Seneca County, between the towns of Republic and Reedtown. It then traveled into Northwest Huron County. All four counties border each other in North-Central Ohio. The NWS of Pittsburgh confirmed an EF1 tornado in Tuscarawas County (towns of Bolivar and Mineral City) in Eastern Ohio that traveled east to Carroll County (town of Dellroy). Also in Carroll County, an EF1 touched down near Kilgore. Over in Pennsylvania, an EF1 tornado was confirmed near Moravia in Lawrence County. Fortunately, no one died or suffered major injuries from these tornadoes.
Connecticut Tornado
Lastly on July 10th, the NWS of Taunton, Massachusetts confirmed an EF1 tornado touching down in Southern Tolland County of Connecticut, near the communities of Andover, Coventry, and Mansfield. Like the previously mentioned tornadoes, there were no fatalities and no serious injuries. My thoughts and prayers are with the people who have been devastated by destruction from recent tornadoes.
Summary of July 10th Tornado Touchdowns: Miami County, IN; Ashland, Carroll, Huron, Sandusky, Seneca, and Tuscarawas Counties, OH; Lawrence County, PA; and Tolland County, CT
Peninsula Week Post #4
The Musandam Peninsula sticks out northward into the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, in the Middle East. This peninsula is interesting because it is basically an exclave of OMAN. This means that the peninsula is part of Oman, but geographically separated from the rest of the country because of the United Arab Emirates. The U.A.E. is a wealthy country located south of Musandam Peninsula. Standing at over 6,800 feet (over 2,000 meters), Jabal al Harim is the highest point in the peninsula's area. Communities on the peninsula include Al Khaşab, Kamzar, and Sha'am.
Other Posts to Check Out: Oman — United Arab Emirates
Peninsula Week Post #3
The island of Celebes in INDONESIA has its share of peninsulas. The most remarkable peninsula, since it is extremely long and relatively thin, is Minahasa Peninsula. A vertical extension of the peninsula is attached to the northern part of the island. It then veers off to the right, and this part of the peninsula is almost 400 miles long. Minahasa Peninsula separates the Molucca Sea (southeast of the peninsula) from the Celebes Sea that is located north of the peninsula. Other surrounding bodies of water include Gulf of Tomini (south) and Makassar Strait (west). Cities located on Minahasa Peninsula include Atinggola, Bitung, Gorontalo, Manado, and Tondano.
Peninsula Week Post #2
Located at the northeast end of the island country CYPRUS is the Karpass Peninsula. It juts out into the Mediterranean Sea in a northeasterly direction. Cape Apostolos Andreas is at the northeastern tip of the peninsula. Communities on the peninsula include Rizokarpasso and Yalousa. Cyprus received independence in 1960, but Turkey now claims northern areas of Cyprus.
Peninsula Week Post #1
Being notorious as a dangerous peninsula for sailors and explorers to sail near, the Cape of Good Hope is a peninsula (land surrounded by water on three sides) in SOUTH AFRICA. It juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and is at the tip of the more generalized Cape Peninsula. The name of this peninsula is self-evident that seafarers need hope and luck to battle with oftentimes choppy waves and other obstacles! Valsbaai (False Bay) is to the right of Cape of Good Hope and left of Kaap Hangklip, another peninsula. South Africa's legislative capital, Cape Town, and communities like Grassy Park, Simonstown, and Vishoek are north of Cape of Good Hope.
Two counties in the state of INDIANA recently confirmed the presence of mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. The latest lab-confirmed case of West Nile Virus amongst a small batch of mosquitoes occurred in Hamilton County, which is in Central Indiana and north of Indianapolis. The online map from the ISDH was updated on July 5th (yesterday) at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Adams County, located in Eastern Indiana and south of Fort Wayne, was the first county with reports of WNV activity. Fortunately, the number of people confirmed to have WNV is currently zero — this is shown by the WNV Human Disease Cases feature in the left sidebar on the map. The United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a nationwide map of WNV activity. As of this posting according to the map, the states of California, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas actually have cases of human WNV infections.
The A to Z categories are based on the English language and inadvertently might not include all native country names.
There are eight countries in the world whose names start with the letter I, and they are only on the continents of Asia and Europe. Three 'I' countries are in Europe, while five are in Asia. The European countries are ICELAND (capital: Reykjavik), IRELAND (capital: Dublin), and ITALY (capital: Rome). The Asian countries are INDIA (capital: New Delhi), INDONESIA (capital: Jakarta), IRAN (capital: Tehran), IRAQ (capital: Baghdad), and ISRAEL (capital: Jerusalem). COTE D'IVOIRE is technically another 'I' country, if you prefer using the English name IVORY COAST.
Discover more about the eight countries by clicking their individual post links below!
Europe: Iceland — Ireland — Italy
Asia: India — Indonesia — Iran — Iraq — Israel
The A to Z categories are based on the English language and inadvertently might not include all native country names.
There are only three countries in the world whose names start with the letter H in the English language, and North America actually has two out of three. The two countries in North America are HAITI, the impoverished country in the Caribbean Sea that unfortunately experienced a major earthquake (and multiple aftershocks from the earthquake) in 2010, and HONDURAS, a Central American country located northeast of El Salvador, east of Guatemala, and north and northwest of Nicaragua. The capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince, and it is on the western side of Hispaniola island (the eastern part being Dominican Republic). Honduras' capital is Tegucigalpa. The last 'H' country is HUNGARY, an Eastern European country surrounded by seven countries (Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine). Hungary's capital, situated in the north-central part of the country, is Budapest. The native name of Croatia is HRVATSKA, so that would be another legitimate 'H' country to add to this post.
Learn more about
Haiti,
Honduras, and
Hungary by reading my GeoFact of the Day Blog posts devoted to those three countries!
South of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East, the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Most of the wealth is thanks to its oil industry, and the United Arab Emirates is a member of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). The capital, Abu Dhabi, is not the city with the highest population. Dubai, home of modern buildings and a rapidly growing population, has that distinction. The World archipelago and the Palm Islands are artificial islands off the coast of Dubai. Most inhabitants in the U.A.E. were not born there, but are foreigners who came for employment and other reasons. Areas along and near the Persian Gulf coastline are populated with cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while the arid southern part of the country is sparsely populated.
Blog Content
● Content and graphics are created by me (pseudonym: Wonderful World), except when I credit other sources.
● I do not copy and paste from other websites. Therefore, all posts are original but may sometimes include information, links, and/or images from credited external sources. To use a GeoFact of the Day Blog image for your website or project, write a comment below a post — then I may approve your request.
● Feel free to offer comments, suggestions, and compliments on any post or page! You can be anonymous. Spam comments with non-relevant links will be deleted.
● Thanks for your loyal readership on the educational and reliable GeoFact of the Day Blog, in existence since 2008!
