Curated category
Landlocked countries
- UzbekistanThe 8th century BC saw Eastern Iranian nomads known as Scythians establish kingdoms across the region now called Uzbekistan.
- Burkina FasoArchaeological excavations in 1973 uncovered scrapers, chisels, and arrowheads dating back to the period between 14,000 BC and 5,000 BC.
- TajikistanThe territory now known as Tajikistan has been home to cultures dating back to the fourth millennium BC. Archaeologists have identified the Bronze Age…
- MoldovaIn 1359, Prince Dragoș established the Principality of Moldavia along the Moldova River. This medieval state became a vassal to the Ottoman Empire in 1538…
- KazakhstanThe Botai culture thrived between 3700 and 3100 BC in the region now known as Kazakhstan. Archaeologists credit this group with the first domestication of…
- LaosIn 2009, archaeologists recovered an anatomically modern human skull from the Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains of northern Laos.
- South OssetiaIn the 13th century, a nomadic Iranian tribe known as the Alans faced destruction from Mongol armies. Survivors fled south across the Caucasus Mountains into…
- Vatican CityThe name Vatican first appeared in the time of the Roman Republic. It described a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber River.
- EthiopiaIn the Awash Valley of the Afar Region, a fossil known as Dinkinesh lies preserved. This specimen, scientifically named Australopithecus afarensis, was…
- AfghanistanHuman habitation in what is now Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era, with archaeological evidence suggesting people lived there at least 50,000…
- AzerbaijanThe name Azerbaijan traces back to Atropates, a Persian satrap under the Achaemenid Empire who was reinstated as the satrap of Media under Alexander the…
- BhutanThe highest unclimbed mountain in the world rises from the northern slopes of Bhutan. Gangkhar Puensum stands at 7,570 meters above sea level within the…
- MongoliaIn 209 BC, Modu Shanyu united the Xiongnu tribes to form a confederation that would challenge the Qin dynasty. This empire stretched across the steppes and…
- NepalThe Indian plate began drifting northeastward 75 million years ago, colliding with the Eurasian Plate to create the Himalayas.
- SwitzerlandThe name Switzerland derives from the canton of Schwyz, a small territory in the central Alps. The word Switzer appeared in English during the 16th century…
- BelarusThe name Belarus appears in German and Latin medieval literature, with the chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mentioning the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke…
- Czech RepublicArchaeologists uncovered the Venus of Dolní Věstonice in 1925, a ceramic figurine dating to approximately 29,000, 25,000 BCE.
- AustriaThe Venus of Willendorf, a 28,000-year-old limestone figurine, stands today in the Museum of Natural History Vienna. This artifact proves that human life…