South America
7. Colombia
Be careful not to confuse Colombia with British Columbia (in Canada)! Colombia is located in northwestern South America, with coastlines on both the Pacific and Caribbean. Many place it too far south, confusing it with Venezuela or Ecuador.
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world (after Brazil) and first for bird species, with over 1,900 species recorded. It is also the world's leading producer of emeralds, supplying roughly 70% of global production.
8. Paraguay
Landlocked between Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia, Paraguay is one of South America's most overlooked countries. Yet its Itaipu Dam, built jointly with Brazil, produces one of the world's largest amounts of hydroelectricity, enough to cover 90% of Paraguay's energy needs and 15% of Brazil's.
Paraguay is also one of the few South American countries where an indigenous language, Guarani, is co-official with Spanish and spoken by about 90% of the population, including non-indigenous people.
9. Suriname
A former Dutch territory, Suriname is the smallest country in South America. Located on the northeast coast between Guyana and French Guiana, it surprises with its official language, Dutch, and tropical forests covering 93% of its territory, making it one of the most forested countries on Earth.
Did you know? Suriname is the only country in South America where Dutch is the official language. Its population is among the most multi-ethnic in the world, with communities of Indian, Javanese, African, Chinese, and Amerindian origin.
Europe
10. Slovakia and Slovenia
These two countries are confused so often that their embassies regularly exchange misdirected mail! Slovakia (capital: Bratislava) borders Austria and Hungary, while Slovenia (capital: Ljubljana) borders Italy and Croatia.
A helpful mnemonic: Slovakia is to the north, Slovenia is to the south with access to the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia has only 47 km of coastline, making it one of the shortest coastlines in Europe.
11. Moldova
Squeezed between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is the least visited country in Europe. A former Soviet republic, it shares its language and much of its culture with Romania. Moldova holds an unusual record: it has the world's largest wine cellar, the Milestii Mici cellars, with over 200 km of underground galleries.
Oceania
12. New Zealand
A victim of the "forgotten on maps" phenomenon (there is even a dedicated subreddit: r/MapsWithoutNZ), New Zealand lies much further east and south than most people imagine, about 2,000 km from Australia. It is closer to Antarctica than to Asia.
New Zealand was the last major habitable landmass discovered by humans, roughly 700 years ago. It was also the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote, in 1893.
13. Tonga
This Polynesian kingdom of 171 islands is often confused with Fiji or Samoa. Tonga has the distinction of being one of the first places in the world to see the sunrise each day, thanks to its proximity to the International Date Line. It is also one of the last active Polynesian monarchies.
Middle East and Central Asia
14. Georgia
No, not the American state! Georgia is a country in the Caucasus, at the border between Europe and Asia, on the shores of the Black Sea. The cradle of winemaking with 8,000 years of viticultural history, making it the oldest wine region in the world, it surprises with its spectacular mountain scenery and rich cuisine.
Georgia has its own unique alphabet, Mkhedruli, with 33 letters that resembles no other writing system in the world. UNESCO has inscribed Georgian script on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
15. Bhutan
Nestled in the Himalayas between India and China, Bhutan is famous for measuring "Gross National Happiness" rather than GDP. This small kingdom is the only country in the world with a negative carbon footprint, absorbing more CO2 than it emits, thanks to forest coverage exceeding 70% of its territory.
Did you know? Bhutan did not allow television until 1999, becoming one of the last countries to adopt it. The sale of tobacco has been banned there since 2004.
