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Curated playlist

Member states of the European Union

  • LatviaLatvia was occupied three times in a single war. The Baltic country later sang its way back to freedom.
  • MaltaMalta was once handed to a religious order for the rent of one falcon. Emperor Charles V made the deal in 1530.
  • CyprusIn March 2008, a wall that had cut across Ledra Street in the heart of Nicosia was demolished. The wall had stood for decades, and it had come to symbolise a division of the island that lasted 32 years. On the 3rd of April 2008, Ledra…
  • ItalyItaly contains two other countries inside its borders. Vatican City and San Marino are surrounded by Italian land.
  • FinlandIn Finland's far north, the sun does not set for 73 days in summer. In winter it does not rise for 51 days.
  • PortugalPortugal's borders with Spain have barely moved since 1297. They are among the oldest frontiers in the world.
  • SpainSpain's name may once have meant land of rabbits. Roman coins under Hadrian show a woman with a rabbit at her feet.
  • FranceFrance may be named after a tax privilege. One suggestion says only Franks were exempt from taxes.
  • LithuaniaLithuania was once the largest country in Europe. Its grand duchy reached roughly 650,000 square kilometres.
  • DenmarkIn 1658, Swedish armies crossed frozen straits and later besieged Copenhagen for two years.
  • SwedenSweden's southern tip is closer to Rome than to its own Arctic north.
  • GermanyGermany's Swabian Jura cave held the oldest musical instruments ever found.
  • EstoniaEstonia became the first country to allow nationwide binding Internet voting, in 2005.
  • BelgiumBelgium once went 589 days without a formal government, a world record at the time.
  • GreeceIn 508 BC, Cleisthenes set up the world's first democratic government in Athens.
  • PolandPoland vanished from the map for 123 years. Its neighbors partitioned it out of existence, yet it rebuilt.
  • NetherlandsIn the Netherlands, 26% of the country sits below sea level. Dikes, polders and pumping stations keep that land dry.
  • RomaniaA cave in Romania holds the oldest known Homo sapiens remains in Europe.
  • CroatiaIn AD 305, a Roman emperor named Diocletian retired to a palace in Split, Croatia.
  • Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic holds the oldest ceramic figurine ever found, dated to 29,000 to 25,000 BC.
  • SloveniaSlovenia declared independence in 1991, and two days later the Yugoslav army moved in. The Ten-Day War ended in a truce.
  • AustriaAustria's 1938 vote on independence never happened. German troops crossed the border the day before it.
  • Republic of IrelandThe Republic of Ireland covers 26 of the 32 counties on the island of Ireland, and about 5.4 million people live there. Dublin, with over 1.5 million residents, is both its capital and its largest city. Only one land border exists, and it…

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