20 definition by Ben E. Hama

a nation in northern africa along the medditeranian. most of its people live along the coast, as the interior is as a barren desert. inhabited by people of berber decent, it had a history of piracy (the barbary coast). in the 1800s, the french colonized this place and a very very bloody war for independence occured in the 1950s. the democratic government has had problems since then, including assassinations, coups, single party rule, and terrorism. while the nation currently elects its leaders in what are considered free elections, its an open secret that politicians are subsurviant to miliatry leaders.

yemen is a middle eastern nation that isn't wealthy because it lacks oil. the nation was once part of the old ottoman empire. after wwi, the the northern part became an independent faux republic, while the south remained a british colony. south yemen became independent in the '60s as a communist state. they united in 1990 and have been a country filled with drought, civil war, and political corruption ever since. its close distance to africa has lead to vicitms of wars in both the mid east and africa fleeing back and forth between the 2 continents through yemen.

palau is a tiny island nation in the pacific, with a population of only about 20,000 people. it was colonized by various powers between the 1600s and late 20th century, including the Spanish, Germans, British, Japanese, and Americans. however, no foreign power really did anything to help or harm the region. a huge WWII battle occured here, and following the end of the war, the US was put in charge of the region. palau refused to join the country of micronesia when it was formed in the 1970s. after political chaos, it finally became independent in 1994.

a country that is not named burma, regardless of what some nations say. myanmar was originally burma, a once proud kingdom that fell to the british and was a colony til the wwii era. it experimented with democracy, but american actions in vietnam drove this country toward communism in the 1970s, which evolved in the 1990s into a corporatist military junta. myanmar is a very efficient military state that has fended off countless coups. however, it is one of the world's 2 'secret societies,' along with north korea. foreigners are rarely admitted and no one really knows the power structure of the gov't.

once the home of a great african empire, and later a french colony, mali is a west african nation. it was a single party state for many years, walking an interesting but disasterous line between marxism and islamic fundamentalism. it's a very poor nation, with no economic activities in the barren interior.

a very wealthy middle eastern nation that is rolling in oil and banking dough. a former british colony, it is made up of 7 emirs, or provinces ruled by sultans. the nation usually known as the uae is the most liberal mid eastern nation, with western culture and products circulating throughout. however, the nation is still for the most part a kingdom. the country's claims to fame are a company from the city of dubai attempting to buy US ports, the comic strip character garfield's constant attempts to send his cousin nermal to the city of abi daubi, and human rights violations of foreign workers and the poor.

commonly known as PNG, papua new guinea is an island nation in oceania, consisting of part of the huge island of new guinea, which it shares with indonesia. once a portuguese, and later german and then australian territory, it became independent in the 1970s. it is currently the most rural country in the world, with most people outside of the capital of port mosebly either working as subsistant farmers or living in traditional tribes.