Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by the United Kingdom during World War I and was declared...

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah...

The Gaza Strip has been under the de facto governing authority of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) since 2007 and...

In 1783, the Sunni AL-KHALIFA family took power in Bahrain. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a...

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created when the Kingdoms of England and Scotland -- which...

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which was the largest and most powerful state...

The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined...

A military power during the 17th century, Sweden maintained a policy of military non-alignment until it applied to join NATO...

Norse explorers may have first discovered the Svalbard archipelago in the 12th century. The islands served as an international whaling...

Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England.  Spain remained...

The Slovene lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the latter's dissolution at the end of World War I....