1. Canada
   Morocco
2. Portugal
   Costa Rica

Canada's maple leaf flag is one of the most recognizable in the world, but it's not that old. Canada had yet to choose a national flag by 1964 when then-Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a task force to finally resolve the issue and pick a flag.

1. India
   China
2. Russia
   Brazil

With a population of 1.43 billion people, China dwarfs nearly every other nation on Earth. India is the second-most-populous nation, with about 1.36 billion meaning that, between them, they account for about a third of the entire world's population of 7.7 billion people.

1. The United Kingdom
   The United States
2. Brazil
   Australia

The red and white stripes of the United States flag represent the original 13 colonies, but the red specifically was picked to represent both hardiness and valor, at least in the Great Seal of the United States. The original flag from 1777 didn't have any meaning attached to the colors.

1. Germany
   Austria
2. Russia
   Poland

Austria, at least as a country that used that name, dates all the way back to the year 996. It's perhaps no surprise then that such an old country has some pretty old landmarks in it like the world's oldest zoo. Located in Vienna, it was opened in 1752.

1. Bhutan
   Vietnam
2. Nepal
   Cambodia

The highest mountain on Earth, Mt. Everest, is located in Nepal though it shares some space with China and you can actually ascend in one country and descend in the other. If you try, make sure you're well-prepared as more than 300 people have died on Everest and most of them are still up there.

1. Greece
   Latvia
2. Romania
   Turkey

Istanbul's Great Bazaar in Turkey was established back in 1455. It's one of the world's most incredible shopping experiences and covers about 61 streets and over 3,000 different shops at this point.

1. Kenya
   North Macedonia
2. Yemen
   Lesotho

Though Greece sometimes claims him as a son, North Macedonia is considered the birthplace of Alexander the Great who for a time had effectively conquered the entire world ... as much of it as was known, anyway.

1. Myanmar
   Indonesia
2. Laos
   Mongolia

It took Genghis Khan 25 years to unite the nomadic Asian tribes and conquer an empire larger than the one the Romans had spent 400 years establishing. Today there's a massive 131-foot-tall statue of him in Mongolia to commemorate what he did.

1. Finland
   Iceland
2. Denmark
   Switzerland

You may not have thought about it before, but the flag of Switzerland is a perfect square. It's one of only two countries in the world to adopt a square flag, the other being Vatican City. There is a civil and state ensign, used on ships and non-government buildings, which is rectangular.

1. Bolivia
   Libera
2. Tunisia
   Costa Rica

Tunisia is located in Northern Africa, and aside from its incredible historical significance, it is most widely known in a pop-culture context these days for being the place where the Tatooine desert scenes were filmed in the "Star Wars" movies.

1. Finland
   Ireland
2. Denmark
   Turkey

Denmark has been flying the same flag since 1219, making it hands down the oldest flag on any flagpole out there. The origins of the flag in 1219 are mostly the stuff of legend, however, and involved a mysterious flag with a white cross miraculously falling from the sky and inspiring the Danes to victory in a battle.

1. Norway
   Morocco
2. Monaco
   Latvia

Monaco is a city-state which is incredibly small, only 0.78 square miles in total area, which makes it smaller than New York's Central Park. With a population of around 40,000, it's also one of the most densely packed as well

1. Taiwan
   Vietnam
2. Laos
   Thailand

Vietnam was actually a region of China for over a thousand years. It was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century and stayed under the country's control until 1945, although from 1940 on the French government "co-existed" with the Japanese invaders.

1. Chile
   Haiti
2. Albania
   Lebanon

Albania's flag features a red field that represents bravery, strength and valor while the double-headed eagle in the center represents the nation itself. The first established land that would one day become Albania was called the Principality of Arbanon and it dates back to the year 1190.

1. Norway
   Finland
2. Iceland
   Scotland

Norway is home to the Laerdal Tunnel, which connects the community of Laerdal to Aurland. It cost about $113 million US to build the tunnel and it spans a distance of 15 miles. Hope you're not claustrophobic.

1. Portugal
   Spain
2. Greece
   Italy

Portugal is one of the oldest countries in the world, having established the borders of the Kingdom of Portugal all the way back in 1139. It also used to be one of the biggest empires in the world ruling over nations in South America, Africa, and Asia.

1. Indonesia
   Singapore
2. Cambodia
   Myanmar

Like Monaco and Vatican City, Singapore is a city and a country at the same time. It gets its name from a prince named Sang Nila Utama who called the place by the Sanskrit word "Singapura" which means lion. The prince claimed to have seen a lion there even though lions have never existed in this part of the world.

1. Chile
   Grenada
2. Uruguary
   Peru

The ancient city of Caral was located in Peru and it's believed to be the oldest city in all of either North or South America, dating back at least to the 26th century BCE, making it nearly 5,000 years old at this point.

1. Malaysia
   Thailand
2. Indonesia
   Mongolia

Malaysia has one of the world's more curious governmental systems. The head of state, called the king, is one of 9 ethnic Malay state rulers and they will take turns being king for a 5-year term before another takes over. This is mostly ceremonial though, like the British queen, as the real power is in the elected government run by the House of Representatives, the Senate, and a prime minister

1. Cuba
   Trinidad and Tobago
2. Lithuania
   New Zealand

You may not think of asphalt when you think of an island nation like Trinidad and Tobago, but the country is home to The Pitch Lake which is a 99-acre deposit of the stuff. It's also home to one of the largest leatherback turtle nesting sites in the world.

1. Montenegro
   Liberia
2. Turkmenistan
   Laos

You know trees can get old, but did you know that an olive tree can live for over 2,000 years? The famed tree in Montenegro is at least 2,000 years old and is a bit of a tourist attraction. It's also half-burned but the reason for the damage has never been fully explained. It could have been lightning or an accidental fire resulting from people camping out under it.

1. Armenia
   Antigua
2. Maldives
   St. Kitts

The Maldives islands are made up of well over 1,000 tiny coral islands but principally it is 26 larger atolls. It's the most widespread country in the world and also the smallest nation in all of Asia. The highest point in the country is only 7 feet, 7 inches above sea level.

1. Honduras
   Tunisia
2. Morocco
   Kosovo

The city of Fez in Morocco is where you'll find al-Qarawiyin university, which was founded back in the year 859. The school is still in use to this day and focuses mainly on Islamic religious and legal sciences.

1. Madagascar
   Indonesia
2. Samoa
   Vanuatu

Samoa is famous for its tattooing history which dates back centuries. Traditional Samoan tattoos are done with bones, tusks and shark teeth and can take a couple of weeks to be painfully applied across much of the body.

1. Belarus
   Macedonia
2. Senegal
   Poland

Belarus is a nature lover's paradise thanks to the Bialowieza forest, nearly 550 square miles of primeval European forest which is home to a massive herd of European bison and many other species.

1. Lichtenstein
   Georgia
2. Monaco
   Latvia

Georgia is called Sakartvelo by its native population, but the English-speaking world still uses Georgia. Why Georgia? That's a good question and there's literally no good answer. Some think it comes from the Persian word "gurğān" for the people of the region, others think it had something to do with St. Georgia. There's no definitive answer, though.

1. Burundi
   Togo
2. Timor Leste
   Myanmar

Timor Leste used to be known as East Timor. It's just as well that they changed it because the word "timor" actually means east, so for a good deal of time he country was calling itself East East.

1. Malawi
   Eswatini
2. Eritrea
   Gabon

Eswatini was always known as Eswatini by its people but it formally made the name change in 2018 for the rest of the world to recognize.The longest reigning monarch in history was King Sobhuza II, who ruled this country for almost 83 years from 1899 to 1982.

1. Mauritius
   Togo
2. Lagos
   Eritrea

Eritrea gets its name from the Greek name for the Red Sea and is one of the most historically significant areas of Africa. While many people consider Egypt the hub of archaeology in the area. Eritrea has over 80,000 archaeological sites as well.

1. Angola
   Bhutan
2. Sierra Leone
   Chad

Angola has a fast-growing economy thanks to the oil and diamond industry, but few of the residents of the country see any benefit from that. The standard of living in Angola is quite low and the country has the highest infant mortality rate in the world.

1. Seychelles
   Aruba
2. Malta
   Vanuatu

Malta is only about 122 square miles in area, which makes it slightly larger than the New York borough of Queens. One of the Maltese islands called Comino has one hotel on it and pretty much nothing else

1. Romania
   Green
2. Spain
   Serbia

From the 3rd to the 4th century, 18 Roman emperors were born where Serbia now stands. Now that the Roman empire is gone, instead of exporting rulers, the country exports 95% of the world's raspberries.

1. Slovakia
   Czech Republic
2. Hungary
   Romania

Slovakia has a population of about 5.6 million people, but it also is home to 180 castles and 425 chateaux. What's a chateau, exactly? In terms of Slovakian architecture, it's basically a small castle or mansion, small being a very relative term.

1. Laos
   Micronesia
2. Jordan
   Bahrain

Bahrain is a very old country though it didn't always have that name and was part of the First Persian Empire over 2000 years ago. It's also histrically famous for its pearl fishing industry, and the pearls it produced were some of the most coveted in the world.

1. Kazakhstan
   Pakistan
2. Kyrgyzstan
   Mongolia

The symbol in the center of the Kyrgyzstan flag is a 40-ray sun. The Kyrgyz culture was once made up of 40 different tribes before Russia and then the Soviet Union took over the region.

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina
   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
2. Turks and Caicos
   Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda are the main islands in this nation, though there are several smaller islands included as well. The islands are famed as Caribbean getaways, and Antigua alone features about 365 beaches.

1. Romania
   Uzbekistan
2. Estonia
   Latvia

Latvian women have an average height of 5'6.9," which doesn't seem super tall, but we're talking averages here. American women are 5'4" on average, so there's a decent distance between the two there.

1. Principe
   Kiribati
2. Fiji
   Tonga

Tonga is actually made up of 169 different islands though only 36 are populated. Bats native to the island are under the protection of the monarchy and it's against the law to harm a bat if you're in the country.

1. Kiribati
   Vanuatu
2. Fiji
   Eritrea

Kiribati is an island nation in the central Pacific. Climate change is a massive concern for this nation as rising sea levels could potentially submerge all the islands and wipe the whole country off the map.

1. Malawi
   Senegal
2. The Ivory Coast
   Madagascar

If you go to Malawi, you should check out the massive, 350-mile-long Lake Malawi. It's the ninth-largest lake in the world but more important is that there are more types of fish in this lake than any other lake in the world. There are 700 kinds of cichlids alone.