Marcus Kane

A volcanic island the size of Rhode Island, with a dead bird on its coat of arms and one of the most multicultural societies on Earth.

A country three quarters covered by the Sahara, with libraries in the desert, a coastline full of fish, and a train so long it bends the horizon.

A country where the land barely shows up on maps but the ocean does the talking. Coral rings, navigation charts made of sticks, and a strange American history.

A country smaller than Philadelphia, packed with prehistoric temples, knights, fortified cities, and one of the most layered histories in the Mediterranean.

Mali is a landlocked Sahel country with a past so wealthy it crashed Egypt's economy, and a present built around the Niger River, mud architecture, and some of the best music on Earth.

The Maldives is the flattest country on Earth. Most of it sits less than a meter above sea level, and that one number explains almost everything about the place.

Malaysia is a country split in two by 400 miles of open sea, where rainforests older than the Amazon meet a skyline that once held the tallest building on Earth.

A narrow country wrapped around a freshwater lake the size of a small sea, with more fish species than all of Europe and a nickname that actually fits.

An island that broke off from Africa, drifted into the Indian Ocean, and spent 88 million years inventing its own animals. Madagascar makes no sense by mainland rules.

A country smaller than Rhode Island, with three official languages, free buses, and the highest GDP per capita in the world. Luxembourg shouldn't make sense, and yet.

Lithuania is a small Baltic country that once ran the largest state in Europe, sang itself free of the Soviet Union, and treats basketball like a second religion.

Libya is 90 percent Sahara, fronted by some of the best Roman ruins in the world, and home to the largest irrigation project ever built. Most people picture none of that.