Burkina Faso renamed itself to mean "land of upright people," hosts Africa's biggest film festival, and builds mosques out of mud that have stood for centuries.

Bulgaria invented the alphabet most of Eastern Europe still uses, grows most of the world's rose oil, and sits on gold older than the pyramids.

Brunei is small, rich, and quietly old. A sultanate that has outlasted empires while sitting on a chunk of one of the wildest islands left.

Brazil is bigger than the contiguous U.S., older than you think, and more layered than the postcards let on. Here's what stuck with me.

Botswana has a delta that flows inland, more elephants than any other country, and a stretch of desert that turns green when the rain finally comes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has three presidents, four official names on its passport, and a sense of humor that survived a siege. Here is what makes the country tick.

Bolivia has two capitals, the highest navigable lake in the world, and a navy that still trains for a sea it lost in 1884. Here is what makes the country tick.

Bhutan is a small Himalayan kingdom that opened to tourism in 1974, measures Gross National Happiness, and is the only country on Earth that absorbs more carbon than it emits.

A sliver of West Africa with a giant cultural footprint: Benin gave the world Vodun, hosted one of Africa's most powerful kingdoms, and still has a town built on water.

Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language, and it sits next to a barrier reef so big it can be seen from space.

Belgium is small, dense, and unreasonably influential, with three official languages, hundreds of breweries, and a national identity built around chocolate, comics, and quiet pride.

Belarus sits in the middle of Europe under a canopy of forest, with thousands of lakes, two official languages, and a wild bison brought back from the edge of extinction.