Foreign Countries 2024

There are one hundred ninety-five countries in the United Nations (193 full members as well as observers Palestine and Vatican City/Holy See). Moreover, with the arguable exceptions of dual-citizens and jet-setters, human beings on Earth live in only one country at a time. Therefore, every other country in the world is a "foreign" country in relation to where a person lives and/or has citizenship.

What makes foreign countries feel so different?

Many factors influence whether a country feels familiar or different to a visitor. For some people, it's the country's geography, climate, and ecology. For example, Caribbean countries tend to have a tropical island feel, very different from forests and mountains of Eastern Europe or the arid deserts that cover much of the Saharan countries.

Weather can also play a role. For people who live in the Northern Hemisphere (which is a majority of the world's population), a Southern Hemisphere country that is warm in December may feel very foreign indeed.

There are also many cultural influences that can make a country feel foreign. Cuisine, fashion, local customs all have an impact. Language is another major factor. For instance, people from English-speaking countries can instantly tell they're far from home when they enter a country that speaks another native language, such as Arabic, Russian, or an East-Asian language such as Chinese or Japanese. The level of overall development in a country matters too, as low-income countries with a lower Human Development Index tend to feel much different than more technologically advanced countries.

Tourism to foreign countries

Foreign countries are both appealing and fascinating to many people. Tourism—the act of visiting foreign countries (or other parts of one's own country), meeting their residents, and sampling their food, culture, and way of life—is one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

Two of the most important factors that contribute to whether a country is one of the world's most-visited countries or one of the least-visited countries in the world are its climate and the time of year.

• Best Countries to Visit in January
• Best Countries to Visit in February
• Best Countries to Visit in March
• Best Countries to Visit in April
• Best Countries to Visit in May
• Best Countries to Visit in June
• Best Countries to Visit in July
• Best Countries to Visit in August
• Best Countries to Visit in September
• Best Countries to Visit in October
• Best Countries to Visit in November
• Best Countries to Visit in December

On the subject of least-visited countries, two beautiful parts of the world that are less well-known on a global scale are the European country of Andorra and the French territory of New Caledonia.

Andorra

Located on the continent of Europe. Andorra is officially known by two other titles: the Principality of Andorra, and the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra. As the sixth-smallest nation on the European continent, Andorra is also one of the smallest countries in the world, with an approximate area of only one hundred eighty-one square miles.

The capital of Andorra is a city called Andorra la Vella. An interesting fact about Andorra la Vella is that it happens to be located 3,356 feet above sea level, a higher elevation than any other European capital. Most people in Andorra speak the country's official language of Catalan, but other languages spoken include French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Andorra is one of many countries that does not officially acknowledge English as one of its most-recognized languages.

According to a 2019 census, the population of Andorra is approximately 77,054 people, which accounts for approximately 0.001% of the global population. The population density of Andorra, on the other hand, is 470 people for every square kilometer (km²) of land area—more than ten times higher than that of the United States' 37/km². Perhaps unsurprisingly given the country's high population density, most of Andorra's population resides in urban areas.

New Caledonia

As an island nation in the southern Pacific Ocean, the French "overseas collectivity" of New Caledonia consists of Grande Terre—the main island where most of the population lives—the Chesterfield Islands, the Loyalty Islands, a smaller archipelago named Belep, the Isle of Pines, and a handful of smaller, lesser populated islands and islets.

The most commonly spoken language in New Caledonia is French. Other languages spoken by residents in New Caledonia include Drehu, French Nengone, Ajie, and Paici, along with upwards of thirty-five more languages, all belonging to native people and indigenous tribes that continue to populate the island country.

The population of New Caledonia is around 282,831 people, roughly 1/3 of whom live in the capital city of Nouméa. The rest are spread across all its major islands and spanning a total area of 7,058 square miles, for a population density of 16 people per square kilometer (km²).

New Caledonia is said to have the highest ecological diversity per square kilometer in the entire world, with its small size and varied geography combining to create a vast range of ecological niches, many of which are rife with endemic species found nowhere else on Earth.