Curated category
States with limited recognition
- North KoreaThe Korean Peninsula rises like a sea in a heavy gale, according to early European visitors who marveled at its successive mountain ranges.
- AbkhaziaBetween the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the territory of modern Abkhazia formed part of the ancient Kingdom of Colchis. Around the 6th century BC, Greek…
- 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…
- TaiwanThe island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine…
- ChinaIn 221 BCE, King Zheng of Qin conquered six rival states to unify China under the first emperor. This ruler enacted legalist reforms that standardized…
- IsraelThe Merneptah Stele, an ancient Egyptian monument dated to the late 13th century BCE, bears the earliest known archaeological reference to Israel as a…
- South KoreaIn the early seventh century BC, Chinese records noted Gojoseon as the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. This ancient polity expanded to control much of…