Every country in our world has many features that make it recognizable among residents of other states. Russia is known for its harsh cold and diverse nature, the DPRK is considered the most closed country in the world, so interest in it will always warm up, in Japan there are hundreds of innovative projects and unique subcultures, and the uniqueness of Scotland, for example, is in its national dress.
However, there are also those countries in the world that are one huge feature, but few people have heard of them. Since millions of tourists from all over the world do not go there, these places are not heard, and beautiful places do not receive their due attention.
Kiribati
The area of Kiribati is 812 square kilometers, but from its easternmost point to the westernmost there is a distance that is as much as 4000 kilometers! The country is located on 33 tiny islands, so only someone who already knows its location can find it on the map. The capital of the archipelago is the city of South Tarawa, which is inhabited by 63,000 people.
The islands are known for the fact that in 1943 one of the bloodiest and most terrible battles of the Second World War took place here. Traces of fierce carnage between the armies of Japan and the United States in the form of destroyed tanks, weapons and equipment are still found on the islands.
Kiribati is the only country in the world that is located on all four hemispheres. Residents of the eastern islands of the country celebrate the New Year before anyone else, because these lands are located at the easternmost point of the +14 time zone. Some islands are so far apart that the difference between them can be equal to 25 hours.
The country itself cannot boast of wealth and popularity among tourists. Moreover, Kiribati risks being flooded in the coming decades. In order not to disappear from the face of the Earth, the leadership of Kiribati has to be cunning. In 2003, the state recognized Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with it: Kiribati received 2 million Australian dollars for a diplomatic move, but the country spoiled relations with mainland China. In 2018, the government of the archipelago reconsidered its decision, and for a civilian Boeing aircraft and several ferries from China, Kiribati withdrew its recognition of Taiwan.
Nauru
Since then, Nauru has repeatedly "sold" its geopolitical position. The PRC paid the dwarf state $ 130 million for Nauru to break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. A couple of years later, the Republic of China bought out its relations with Nauru, and the country again established diplomacy with Taiwan.
You can get around Nauru on foot in just a couple of hours. The country does not have a de facto capital, like Switzerland, but yaren is considered the main city - its population is equal to 750 people. Yaren is home to the country's only airport, desalination plant and power plant. Rivers do not flow through the tiny island, so Nauru has a constant shortage of drinking water. When the rains start, all 10,000 people go outside with banks and collect rainwater. Australia is responsible for Nauru's security, so in dry years it supplies the country with clean water in exchange for a place for refugee camps who wanted to enter Australia illegally. There is no army of its own, but there is a police of a couple of dozen people. Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic.
Guiana
There are no more colonies in the world, but there are overseas departments. Guiana, which is legally considered independent, is in fact a colony of France. The administrative center here acts as the capital, and the chairman of the regional council is the replacement of the governor-general or an analogue of the president. Until 2002, the French franc was used here, and then the euro was introduced. The official language in Guiana is French, which makes it the largest colony of the XXI century: its area is 83,000 square kilometers. km, and the population is 280,000 people.
Despite the fact that Guiana is the only spaceport in France that is used by the whole of Europe, the colony is recognized as one of the poorest territories on the planet. Only employees of the cosmodrome and soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Regiment earn well here - the rest of the Guians receive pennies. There is only one paved road in the country, which runs along the coast. In the depths of the colony you can meet wild tribes that do not come into contact with civilization. Paradoxically, colonial Guiana has real territorial claims to Suriname, an independent South American state.
South Sudan
Nubia is a state that appeared as early as the III millennium BC. It was located on the lands of present-day Sudan, and the country had a near-Egyptian culture, builders erected monumental temples, pyramids and palaces. Later, Nubia would be captured by the Egyptians and so harshly dealt with the disgruntled Nubians that for many centuries none of the inhabitants would even remember that the country was once independent. The soldiers of Egypt killed anyone who refused to bow before the pharaoh, and the number of murders was in the tens of thousands.
Since then, the lands of the Sudan have never been united into one state. Huge densely populated areas for hundreds of years were at the level of development of primitive people. Only in the XIX century, colonialists from Europe laid the foundations of statehood in the region. Gradually, the country developed, which in 1956 gave it the opportunity to gain independence. Sudan became the largest country in Africa, but did not last long in such a composition. Almost immediately, civilian warriors began here, dictatorial regimes and guerrillas appeared – all this again began to destroy the country. After 56 long years of war and discord, Sudan broke up into 2 countries: Sudan and South Sudan. The North and the South had different opinions on politics, economics, religion and culture, so the disintegration of the country was inevitable. By the way, South Sudan is the youngest country recognized by the world community.
