~ Top 10 Countries You Probably Never Heard About ~

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Top 10 Countries You Probably Never Heard About

There are many countries that are just not taught in everyday studies and in reality there are over 258 countries in the world, it is almost impossible to know them all by memory and some are so small you wouldnt even think them to be countries but more of cities. This list will let you know some of the most unknown and give you a little insight to their history and population size, maybe you will want to try to claim your own country there are still some places on earth, even in present times with all of the technological advances that still remain undiscovered. This is actually how some of the countries come into being. Most of the countries on the list are break offs of other larger countries and the majority of the population decided not to be under the rule of their governments and either fought for their piece of land or civilly came to a segregation agreement from there once ruling countries.


1. Palau   



The country of Palau has only had its independence since 1994, it was once part of the United Nations trusteeship but the islanders claimed their own independence from the governing UK rule. Palau is located in the Pacific Ocean and is an island nation with a population of only 20,000 people. It is the youngest country in the world and is made up of around 200 tiny islands. Under the European rule the island archipelago was known as the Carolines and the islands name was spelled "Pelew”. The country lies east of the Philippines, about 500 miles of the other country. The islands have been inhabited for more than 3,000 years and maybe even more, on ancient maps and navigation charts the chain of islands were known as the "The Black Islands”. The islands culture has had many influences in over the centuries and has been bought and sold back and forth to many reigning countries. The British were the last holders of the country before its independence.

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2. Vanuatu   



A tiny island country in the South Pacific is Vanuatu, its total population 243,000 which 90% of the populations make their living from fishing and the marine animal is what makes up most of the inhabitants diets too. There are rural parts of the nation that make their living by farming the fertile land and they mainly eat from their own gardens. The country is widely undeveloped and this is due to its vulnerability to tsunamis and flooding, the nation has been rebuilt several times due to these natural forces. The countrys atmosphere is very calm and slow paced, which is one of its main attractions for tourists, the remarkable natural landscape is one of the attractions along with the pacific waters, where divers gather to explore. Vanuatu has just gained its independence from the British in the 1980s after a ten year movement for independence that started in the 1970s.

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3. Comoros   



Comoros is an African Island Nation sitting just at the end of the Mozambique Channel; the nation has a population close to 800,000 inhabitants. The origin of the first inhabitants of the island are unknown but are believed to be of African descent. Population of the island started in the 6th century as far as history shows and this is based on historic landmarks and sites found on the island. Since then the island has been influenced by many culture of the continent of Africa including Persian, Swahili and those Madagascar, which is just nearby. In early Islamic writings it is believed that a god dropped a jewel into the waters of the island, which brought to life a great volcano that then erupted forming the island of Comoros. It was in fact created by a volcano and in the lands of the island some of the volcanic feature are still well pronounced.

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4. Nauru   



Before its independence from the United Kingdom rule, was known as Pleasant Island. The Island was occupied by many different cultures including the German, British and even the Japanese during WWII and some fortifications of the Japanese can still be found on the island today. The island nation is one of the smallest republics in the world today covering an area of only 8.3 square miles and having only a small population of 9,300 people. The main industry of the island was once the mining of phosphate, which was all mined out by the 1980s but during this time the nation had a high per capita income like any other well off sovereign state of the world. For a brief time in its recent history the island was isolated from the rest of the world as its only airline stopped operations in 2006, a year or two later operations were resumed under a new name and people once again had access to and from the island by air.

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5. Pitcairn Islands   



The Pitcairn Islands are a group of four volcanic volcanically formed islands in the Pacific Ocean. Only one of the four islands is inhabited, it is the second largest island of the group measuring about 2 square miles, not very large at all. The four islands are spread out over a few hundred miles on the Pacific and in total they only have about 18 square miles of total land area. The combined population is only around 48 people, most of which are descendants of the Polynesian people and the Bounty Mutineers. The resident of the islands come from only for families in total and with the four surnames of Brown, Young, Christian and Warren. The Pitcairn Islands are not a sovereign nation of their own as they are still governed by the United Nations but it is the smallest population of any jurisdiction in the world. The islands are beautiful  geographically though and have only quiet places to relax in solitude.

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6. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic   



The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has been heavily disputed over by Armenia and Azerbaijan as to who owns the land since the early 1900s ever since the two countries took their independence from the Russian Empire but for now the country is its own and will likely remain that way since it gained its own independence in the final years of the Soviet Union. From 1991- 1994 the country was the cause of a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan as to who will take the small country as their own, the war was known as the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The country has a presidential leader that holds almost all of the executive power and also has a board of parliament members consisting of 33 figures. The 33 member parliament is made up of three parties the Artsakh Democratic Party which has the majority of members, 18 to be exact, the Free Motherland party having 8 members and the Movement 88 party holding 3 members of the parliament. 

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7. Marshall Islands   



The Marshall Islands have been inhabited since the 2nd millennium, though the early history of the Marshall Islands is really unknown, the only fact known of the early culture is that they travelled between the islands by canoe and used stick navigation to get from one island to another. This was found out by the early European explorers who found remnants of the early population in the 1500s. The first Europeans land in 1526 and were of Spanish descent. Another Spanish explorer came across the islands in 1529 and was attacked by natives who hurled stones at his ship in an attempt to scare him away, he then travelled to another island and stayed for 8 days on land, where he interacted with the natives, exchanging gifts and took on more water rations for him and his crew. In the same year more Spanish vessels started arriving and explored several other Islands in the archipelago, they too had several interactions with natives some good and some bad. The United States tested several nuclear weapons on the islands and it is claimed to be one of the most contaminated places on earth, this has brought rise to much conflict between the U.S. and the ruling authority of the islands.

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8. Tuvalu   



About smack dab in the middle of Australia and Hawaii is the island nation of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean, a Polynesian island. The island archipelago was once known as the Ellice Islands. The islands consist of four reef born islands and five atolls. The first inhabitants of the islands were of true Polynesian descent, later the islands were claimed by the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana as he explored the islands in 1568. Tuvalu is its own sovereign state with a population of around 10,500 people total, it is the 3rd least populated sovereign state on earth. In the 1th century the islands were claimed by the British and then came under British influence until 1974. It was in the year 1974 that the residents of the island voted for a separation from the British rule and they gained their independence. Within four years the nation was fully independent and is now a part of the United Nations.

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9. Guernsey   



The island nation of Guernsey is relatively known but what is not known is that it is not part of the U.K.; many believe that it is part of the United Kingdom but in fact it is its own nation, although it is the responsibility of the crown to protect the small country and has been the responsibility of the neighboring nation to do so for many years. The country is also not part of the European Union either; it is wholly disconnected aside from the European monarchy aside from the defense pact it shares. Guernsey is home to two Neolithic sculptures and these sculptures draw in much archeological interest from around the world. The name Guernsey like that of its neighboring island Jersey is of Norse Descent, which its specific meaning is unknown but many believe it simply to mean "Island”. The nation of Guernsey has much history to discover and has many historic structures to explore.

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10. Tokelau   



Tokelau is made up of three coral atolls and sits in the Pacific Ocean near the Samoan Islands, the islands are sometimes called by their colonial name too, which is "The Union Islands”. The colonial name came about after being explored by a group of European explorers, although the date of the exploration is unknown as it was never recorded. At the moment Tokelau is drafting its own constitution as it doesnt have any specific laws and each village actually imposes their own laws, the system works for now as there is really no serious crimes that take place on the island archipelago but to become a unified country the leading governmental rule is imposing island wide laws that everyone will have to uphold. The de-colonization process is still not agreed upon by the Tokelau leaders and heads of state but is expected to come about in the next couple of years.


Now the relatively unknown will become further known throughout the world and all of the destinations in this list are great to visit as the scenery in each of the countries is more than amazing. They may be small countries that most people dont know even exist but they are some of the nicest places to visit. It is always good to know a little more each day about the world we live in and about our small world neighbours, who even though few in numbers have their own little piece of the earth. Many of these islands have their piece of history that is waiting to be discovered by the world and some have not even been thoroughly explored, in that there may be hidden secrets.