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LEBANON is a small, troubled republic in the eastern Mediterranean. Throughout its long human history, it has seen the rise and fall of many civilisations and empires, and its capital, Beirut (Beyrouth), has come to symbolise all the intricate troubles of the Middle East.
LATVIA, a former constituent republic of the USSR, is a republic in northeastern Europe that shares borders with Estonia, Russia, Belarus, and Lithuania. It is, bounded in the west by the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga, itself a large inlet of the Baltic Sea.
Most of the country consists of a wooded lowland plain with numerous marshy areas and lakes. Inland and eastwards, there is some more hilly, forested country, and towards the eastern border, there are more marshes, woodlands, and lakes.
LAOS is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is ruggedly mountainous apart from the Mekong river plains along its border with Thailand. The Annam Mountains, which reach 2,500 meters or 8,203 feet, form a natural border with Vietnam. Like its neighbor, Myanmar, it has a wealth of plant and animal life.
KYRGYZSTAN is a central Asian republic that has been independent from the former USSR since 1991. It bounded in the southwest by Tajikistan, in the west by Uzbekistan, in the north by Kazakhstan, and in the east and southeast by China. The land consists almost entirely of high, rugged mountains of outstanding natural beauty.
KUWAIT is a tiny Arab Emirate on The Gulf, comprising Kuwait‘s city at the southern entrance of Kuwait Bay, a small desert wedged between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and nine small offshore islands. Most of the land is barren and consists of a gently undulating plain with no natural watercourses.
Desalination plants use seawater from The Gulf to supply Kuwait’s freshwater needs. The climate is hot and humid in summer and cools to mild in winter with a small rainfall.
SOUTH KOREA occupies the southern half of the Korean Peninsula in eastern Asia. The country is bordered in the north by a demilitarized zone, which acts as a buffer between the former South and North Koreas.
The country has a considerable length of coastline bordering the Yellow Sea in the west, the Korea Strait in the south, and Japan’s Sea in the east. Many islands lie off the western and southern coastline, the largest of which is Cheju.
North Korea is located in eastern Asia and occupies the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. The Yalu and Tumen rivers form its northern border with China and Russia. The Korean Bay, an extension of the Yellow Sea, lies to the west, with the Sea of Japan to the east.
The Republic of Korea, formerly South Korea, occupies the southern part of the peninsula and is separated from the north by a buffer, demilitarised zone.
Mountains are the dominant topographical feature of North Korea, occupying the northern part of the country and extending southwards in broadband beside the coast of the Sea of Japan.
KIRIBATI is a republic in Micronesia that comprises three coral atolls, and one isolated volcanic island spread over a vast expanse of the central Pacific. The group includes the former Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands (now Rawaki), and the southern Line Islands. Until independence from Great Britain in 1979, it was named the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
The capital, Bairiki, is located on an atoll, Tarawa, and the most significant island is Kiritimati, formerly known as Christmas Island.
KENYA is a country of moderate size on the eastern side of the African continent. The Indian Ocean is to the southeast, with Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, and Somalia to the east. The equator almost bisects the country in two and provides a dividing line between the deserts in the north and the south’s savannah.
Mountains run north to south through central Kenya and are divided by the steep-sided Great Rift Valley. The highest peak is Mount Kenya at 5,200 meters or 17,000 feet.
KAZAKHSTAN is a vast, central Asian republic, similar in size to India, which is bordered by Russia in the northwest and north, Mongolia (at one point), and China in the east, Kyrgyzstan in the southeast, Uzbekistan in the southwest, and Turkmenistan in the south-southwest. The republic’s western boundary is with the Caspian Sea.
Most of Kazakhstan consists of vast, arid plains or steppes with semidesert or desert characteristics. In the west, the land dips below sea level in the marshes beside the Caspian Sea, and, in the east and southeast, the plains are interrupted by hills and high mountains in Kazakhstan’s border regions.