Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Driving Directions Bosnia and Herzegovina

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, more commonly known as Bosnia, declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992 and became the scene of bitter ethnic fighting in the years that followed. Densely forested and deeply cut by rivers flowing northwards to join the River Sava, the Dinaric Alps are the principal topographical feature in the west and south.

The limestone plateau further to the east and the north is a second prominent feature, while the northern strip of the coun­try is lower-lying and densely forested and includes part of the Dinaric Alps. Half the country is forested, and timber is an important product of the northern areas. One-quarter of the land cultivated, corn, wheat, and flax are the north’s principal products.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Bolivia

Driving Directions Bolivia

BOLIVIA is one of only two South American countries surround­ed by land on all sides, having lost its Pacific coastline to Peru and Chile in the late 1800s. The dominant topographical feature is the Andes mountain chain. This forms two main ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental running from north to south in the southwest­ern third of the country. Lying in between them is a high, fairly barren, treeless plateau called the Altiplano, where most Bolivians live. Lake Titicaca, which straddles the border with Peru, is in the northern part of the Altiplano. The country’s administrative capital and largest city, La Paz, lies just to the south and the east of Lake Titicaca and is the high­est capital city in the world, built 3,612 meters or 11,850 feet above sea level.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Bhutan

Driving Directions Bhutan

India surrounds BHUTAN to the south and China to the north. It rises from foothills overlooking the Brahmaputra river to the southern slopes of the Himalayas. The Himalayas, which rise to over 7,500 meters or 24,608 feet in Bhutan, make up most countries. Bhutan can be divided into three topographical regions: the high Himalayas; the middle Himalayas, where the mountains are lower and are dissected by fertile valleys occupied by rivers which are main tributaries of India’s Brahmaputra river; and the foothills and plains of a region called the Duars, the southern part of which is used for agriculture.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Bermuda

Driving Directions Bermuda

BERMUDA consists of a group of 150 small islands in the western Atlantic Ocean. It lies about 920 kilometers or 572 miles east of Cape Hatteras on the coast of the USA. The hilly limestone islands are the caps of ancient volcanoes rising from the sea bed. The main island, Great Bermuda, is linked to the other islands by bridges and causeways.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Benin

Driving Directions Benin

BENIN, a republic on the southern coast of West Africa, was formerly called Dahomey after the African kingdom, which dominated the region between the 17th and 19th centuries. In the south, it has a very short coastline on the Bight of Benin, and the coastal region is sandy with many lagoons. Inland, the ground rises to a fertile plain and then to a plateau. In the far northwest, the Atakora Mountains rise from the plateau in the region of the Niger/Nigeria border.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Belize

Driving Directions Belize

BELIZE is a small Central American country on the southeast of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. Its coastline on the Gulf of Honduras approached through some 550 kilometers or 342 miles of coral reefs and keys (cayo). The coastal area and north of the country are low-lying and swampy with dense forests inland. In the south, the Maya Mountains rise to 1,100 meters or 3,609 feet.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Belgium

Driving Directions Belgium

BELGIUM is a highly industrialized, relatively small country in northwest Europe with a short coastline on the North Sea. It has three topographical regions: the elevated and forested Ardennes plateau, situated in the southeast near the border with France, Luxembourg, and Germany; the rolling, central fertile plains; and the North Sea coastal plain. The Ardennes plateau is an area of moorland, woodlands, and forests, valued for recreational purposes and forestry. The central plains are a fertile agricultural region crossed by Belgium’s principal rivers, the Schelde and Meuse. The coastal plain is low-lying, reaching only about 20 meters or 65 feet above sea level at its highest point.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Belarus

Driving Directions Belarus

BELARUS (Belorussia, Byelorussia), a republic of the former USSR, declared itself independent in 1991. It borders Poland to the west, Ukraine to the south, Latvia and Lithuania to the north, and Russia to the east. The country consists mainly of a low-lying plain, and forests cover approximately one-third of the country.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Barbados

Driving Directions Barbados

BARBADOS is the most easterly island of the West Indies and lies well outside the islands that make up the Lesser Antilles. Mainly surrounded by coral reefs, most of the island is low-lying, and only in the north does it rise to 336 meters or 1,104 feet at Mount 4 Hillaby.

Read more

Google Maps™ Driving Directions (Home) » Glossary » Driving Directions » Page 40

Bangladesh

Driving Directions Bangladesh

BANGLADESH, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, was formerly the Eastern Province of Pakistan and is the world’s eighth-most populated country. It is an extremely low-lying country in southeast Asia, surrounded in the west, north, and east by India. It has a border with Myanmar (Burma) in the extreme southeast, and it has a stretch of coastline along the Bay of Bengal in the south. Only about 20 percent of its people inhabit the cities and urban areas, with the vast majority living in rural villages.

Read more