INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD TODAY

The separate nationalities grouped under their respective hemispheres and continental divisions. On account of the European war the boundaries and statistics of the nations engaged will, doubtless, be subject to important changes within the next decade.

COUNTRIESPopulationSquare
Miles
CapitalsPresent Official Head
and
Date of Birth
Title and Date
of Accession
Salary
or
Budget
EASTERN HEMISPHERE
(1)Europe
Albania825,00011,000DurazzoEssad Pasha (b. ...)President (1914)...
Andorra6,000175Andorra...Consul...
Austria-Hungary50,000,000260,034ViennaCharles (b.1887)Emperor (1917)$ 4,520,000
Belgium7,571,38711,373BrusselsAlbert (b.1875)King (1909)623,600
Bulgaria4,755,00043,000SofiaFerdinand (b.1861)Czar (1887)250,000
Denmark2,775,07615,388CopenhagenChristian X. (b.1870)King (1912)262,500
France30,601,509207,054ParisRaymond Poincaré (b.1860)President (1913)140,000
German Empire66,715,000208,780BerlinWilliam II. (b.1859)Emperor (1888)3,700,000
King (1888)
Great BritainSee [page 467]......George V. (b.1865)King (1910)2,350,000
Greece5,000,00046,522AthensConstantine (b.1868)King (1913)260,000
Holland or Netherlands6,500,00012,648AmsterdamWilhelmina (b.1880)Queen (1898)250,000
Italy35,240,000110,623RomeVictor Emmanuel III. (b.1869)King (1900)2,650,000
Luxemburg268,000999LuxemburgMarie (b.1894)Grand Duchess (1912)...
Monaco20,0008...Albert (b.1848)Prince (1889)...
Montenegro520,0005,650CettinjeNicholas (b.1841)King (1910)24,000
Norway2,459,000124,129ChristianiaHaakon VII. (b.1872)King (1905)185,000
Poland..................
Portugal5,957,98535,490LisbonDr. Bernardino Machado (b.1850)President (1915)...
Roumania7,600,00054,000BucharestFerdinand (b.1865)King (1914)227,520
Russian Empire171,000,0008,647,657PetrogradNicholas II. (b.1868)Emperor (1894)12,000,000
San Marino10,65538......President (....)...
Servia4,600,00034,000...Peter (b.1844)King (1903)225,000
Spain19,588,688190,050MadridAlfonso XIII. (b.1886)King (1886)1,344,000
Sweden5,476,441172,876StockholmGustaf V. (b.1858)King (1907)416,500
Switzerland3,741,97115,976BerneDr. Shulteis (b. ...)President (1917)3,000
Turkey (Europe)1,892,00011,000ConstantinopleMohammed V. (b.1884)Sultan (1909)7,500,000
(2)Asia
Afghanistan6,000,000250,000KabulHabibulla Khan (b.1872)Ameer (1901)...
Arabia3,500,0001,000,000............
Bhutan250,00020,000Punakha.........
China400,000,0002,169,200PekinLi Yuan Hung (b. ...)President (1916)...
Japan52,985,423147,655TokioYoshihito (b.1879)Emperor (1912)2,250,000
Nepal4,000,00054,000KhatmanduDhiraja Tribhubana Sh’sher Jang (b.1906)Maharaja (1911)...
Oman750,00082,000MuscatSeyyid Taimur bin Turkee (b. ...)Sultan (1913)250,000
Persia9,000,000628,000TeheranAhmed Mirza (b.1897)Shah (1914)...
Siam6,000,000220,000BangkokVagiravudh (b.1880)King (1910)2,000,000
Turkey (Asia)19,382,000699,224............
(3)Africa
Abyssinia8,000,000390,000Adis AbabaLij Ey-assu (b. ...)Emperor (1914)...
Liberia2,060,00041,000MonroviaD. E. Howard (b. ...)President (1912)...
Morocco6,500,000200,000FezMuley Yusoef (b.1875)Sultan (1912)...
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
(1)North America
Costa Rica420,18023,000San JoseAlfredo Gonzalez (b. ...)President (1914)...
Cuba2,383,00044,164HavanaMario G. Menocal (b. ...)President (1913)25,000
Dominican Republic700,00019,325San DomingoRamon Baez (b. ...)President (1914)...
Guatemala2,119,16548,290GuatemalaManuel Estrada Cabrera (b.1856)President (1911)...
Haiti2,000,00010,204Port-au-PrinceGen. Dartiguenave (b. ...)President (1915)24,000
Honduras600,00046,250TegucigalpaDr. Bertrand (b.1867)President (1913)...
Mexico15,063,207765,535City of MexicoVenustiano Carranza (b. ...)President (1915)50,000
Nicaragua500,00049,200ManaguaAdolfo Diaz (b. ...)President (1911)...
Panama427,00032,380PanamaBelisario Porras (b. ...)President (1912)24,000
San Salvador700,0007,325San SalvadorCarlos Melendez (b. ...)President (1913)...
United States112,445,0003,743,312WashingtonWoodrow Wilson (b.1856)President (1913)75,000
(2)South America
Argentina8,000,0001,153,418Buenos AyresVictorino de la Plaza (b. ...)President (1914)36,000
Bolivia2,267,925708,195La PazIsmael Montes (b. ...)President (1913)...
Brazil24,000,0003,292,000Rio de JaneiroW. B. Pereira Gomes (b. ...)President (1914)40,000
Chile5,000,000292,100SantiagoJuan Luis San Fuentes (b. ...)President (1915)7,000
Columbia5,500,000438,000BogataJose Vicente Concha (b. ...)President (....)...
Ecuador1,500,000116,000QuitoLeonidas Plaza (b. ...)President (....)12,000
Paraguay800,000196,000AsuncionEduardo Schaerer (b. ...)President (1912)9,500
Peru4,000,000680,000LimaJose Pardo (b. ...)President (1915)12,000
Uruguay1,300,00072,210MontevideoFeliciano Viera (b. ...)President (1915)36,000
Venezuela3,000,000393,976CaracasJuan Vincente Gomez (b. ...)President (1915)...

WEALTH OF NATIONS

These are the latest estimates: United States, $188,000,000,000; Great Britain and Ireland $85,000,000,000; Canada, $7,000,000,000; India, $15,000,000,000; total British Empire (including possessions not here stated), $130,000,000,000; Germany, $80,000,000,000; France, $50,000,000,000; Russia, $40,000,000,000; Austria-Hungary, $25,000,000,000; Italy, $20,000,000,000; Belgium, $9,000,000,000; Spain, $5,400,000,000; Netherlands, $5,000,000,000; Switzerland, $4,000,000,000; Portugal, $2,500,000,000.

THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE

From its political and historical importance Europe has always been regarded as one of the great divisions of the earth’s surface though it is not a separate and independent mass. It is, rather, a great peninsula of what is sometimes called Eurasia—i.e. the continent of Europe and Asia combined—that extends westward its many arms between the Arctic Ocean on the north, the Atlantic on the west, and the Mediterranean Sea on the south.

Its name seems to have been derived from the Semitic word ereb, meaning “the land of the setting sun,” and came into use among the Greeks and Latins in very early times as Europa.

Outline and Extent. The most striking feature of its outline is that of its great irregularity, the deep inlets and gulfs of the ocean which penetrate its mass, and the peninsulas which run from it.