Countries

Stretching 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) north to south, Vietnam occupies the eastern and southern part of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. Borders are with China, Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam has about twice the area of Arizona, but is long and narrow. Its center is not wider than about 40 kilometers (25 miles). Huge river deltas are the Mekong River delta in the south and the Red River delta in the north.

The Southeastern European country consists mainly of fertile black soil steppes. Mountain ranges are the Carpathians in the southwest and the Crimean chain in the south. Ukraine has borders with Belarus, Russia, the Black Sea, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland.

The Russian Federation occupies most of Eastern Europe and north Asia and is the largest of the 21 republics in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It has borders with these countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea.

The Philippine Islands comprise over 7,000 islands lying between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Their land area can be compared to that of Arizona. Only some 7% of these islands have an area greater than one square mile, and two thirds do not have a name. The islands of Luzon and Mindanao make up two-thirds of the land area; another large island is Samar. The islands have been formed by ancient volcanoes' activity, and the larger ones have mountain ranges.

Mexico has borders with the United States, Belize and Guatemala. It is about 20% of the size of the United States. Baja California is an 800-mile (1,287-km) peninsula to the west forming the Gulf of California. In the east is found the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Campeche, which is formed by the Yucatán peninsula. The center of Mexico is a large, high plateau, open towards the north. It has mountain chains on the east and west and ocean-front lowlands.

Latin America comprises the South American Continent, the region of Central America and Mexico as the southernmost country of the North American region.

Guatemala's neighbour countries are Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The country is made up of three main regions - the cool and densely populated highlands, a tropical stretch along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the tropical jungle in the lowlands in the North.

Brazil covers almost 50% of South America, is home to nearly half of the continent's population and has borders with every nation on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Its largest river, the Amazon, is navigable for ocean steamers all the way to Iquitos, Peru, 2,300 mi (3,700 km) upstream.