Four-Letter Countries 2022

Presently, 195 nations are recognised by the United Nations (193 UN member states and 2 observer states, plus dozens of territories and other not-quite-country locations). The FIFA World Cup and other groups are much more so.

The number of nations in the globe, the variety of those countries, or even the number of letters in the names of those countries are all filters, groups, and organisations that may be applied to the world’s countries.

In general, smaller nations have shorter names than larger ones. For instance, just 10 (or maybe eleven) of the almost 200 UN member states have four-letter names:

Those countries have four-letter names:

1. Chad
2. Cuba
3. Fiji
4. Iran
5. Iraq
6. Laos
7. Mali
8. Niue (freely associated territory)
9. Oman
10. Peru
11. Togo

To be clear, these are not the official names of the nations, but rather their more popular informal names. Among the many examples, I could give you are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Almost every nation also has a more formal name, although these are usually cumbersome and are only used in formal contexts like court procedures and specialised rituals.

Are there ten four-letter countries or eleven?

While the first 10 nations on the list are without question qualified, the eleventh, Niue, is more of a grey area. Despite its four-character moniker, the United Nations recognises Niue just as a territory of New Zealand rather than a sovereign state.

Niue, on the other hand, is not a heavily dependent territory; rather, it is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand that is recognised as such by international law.

As a result, Niue is often included in compilations of four-letter nations. Those looking for absolute technical correctness may choose to skip over it, but we’ve placed it here for completeness’s sake.

Country profiles of four-letter countries

Chad

Almost dead centre in Africa, straddling the equator between the northern and eastern halves of the continent.

Located in central Africa, the countries of Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger surround the landlocked country of Chad, which goes by the name the Republic of Chad.

The landmass of Chad makes it the twenty-first biggest nation in the world (twentieth if Greenland is included) and the fifth largest in Africa.

North of Chad is sandy deserts, whereas the south is lush savannahs. The nation is home to a wide variety of exotic animals, including elephants, lions, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, and more; nevertheless, poaching elephants (for their ivory tusks) is a serious issue there.

On the United Nations Human Development Index, the African nation of Chad ranks at number nine among the world’s poorest nations.

Cuba

Located in the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Mexico and the south of Florida and the Bahamas in the United States is this island nation of Latin America.

Cuba is a well-known tourist hotspot due to its unique blend of musical and cultural traditions as well as its delicious cuisine and luscious landscapes.

Even though sugar, tobacco, coffee, and skilled labour all play important roles in Cuba’s export economy, tourism accounts for the vast majority of the country’s earnings.

Many people struggle in Cuba, despite the country’s natural beauty. The nation is governed by an autocratic administration that only allows for elections to be held inside the party in power, criminalises political dissent, restricts freedom of the press, and ranks low on most freedom indexes.

Fiji

The Republic of Fiji, an island republic in the South Pacific, is geographically located between Oceania and Melanesia, the latter of which also comprises island states such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Fiji is home to around 0.01% of the world’s population or 917,983 people. About half of Fijians call major metropolitan centres like the capital city of Siva home, while the other half live in smaller urban centres, suburbs, and rural regions (including the country’s mountainous interior).

With its tropical environment, Fiji has become a significant tourist destination for people from all around the South Pacific.

Iran

The oil-rich desert country of Iran (formerly known as Persia) was the birthplace of one of the world’s first civilizations, the Achaemenid Empire, also known as the first Persian Empire. Iran is a key player in Middle Eastern affairs and one of Asia’s biggest nations.

Bears, cheetahs, wild pigs, gazelles, wolves, and panthers are just a few of the animals that call Iran home because of the country’s incredibly diversified landscape, which also supports a broad variety of temperature types.

The government in Iran is repressive and has a track record of violating human rights.

Iraq

People have been living in what is now Iraq and neighbouring Iran since at least 6,000 BCE, and approximately 3500-3000 BCE, they developed one of the first known types of writing.

Mountainous forests, salt marshes, and deserts are only a few of the dry and subtropical ecosystems that may be found in Iraq.

Iraq, like Iran, relies heavily on oil exports to finance its economy. However, the nation also benefits from tourism because of its abundance of significant archaeological sites like the Ziggurat, Ishtar Gate, and the ancient towns of Ur and Nineveh.

Laos

Laos is the only landlocked nation in Southeast Asia, located between China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Although it has no coastline, the nation makes up for it with an abundance of rivers that it uses to generate hydroelectric electricity that it sells to its neighbours.

Laos has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, thanks to its exports of electricity as well as other industries like mining and burgeoning tourist industry.

Laos has a mostly tropical savannah climate, with a pronounced monsoon season between May and October.

There is evidence of an agrarian culture in Laos dating back to at least 4000 BCE, and in 2009, a 46,000-year-old cranium was discovered in a cave in the highlands of northern Laos, making it the oldest human fossil yet unearthed.

Mali

Northern Mali is dominated by the harsh Sahara Desert, whereas the southern, more moderate, and populous Sudanean savannah is shaped by the Niger and Senegal rivers. More than 90% of Mali’s exports are gold, making mining a crucial part of the country’s economy.

Limestone, phosphates, salt, and uranium are also exported from the country’s mines. Another significant sector is farming, especially cotton farming.

African bush elephants, giraffes, wild dogs, antelopes, African buffaloes, and big cats including cheetahs, lions, and leopards all have small but stable populations in Mali’s savannah area.

Niue

Less than 2,000 people call this small Polynesian island nation home. The whole country has a surface area of about 261 km2 (101 mi2). Niue is a territory in free association with New Zealand, a nation to which it has strong links but which is often thought of as autonomous.

Since the vast majority of individuals of Niuean ancestry now call New Zealand home and several Niueans are now citizens of New Zealand, it is regularly called upon to represent Niue on the national stage.

Niue’s economy relies heavily on fishing, farming, and tourism. The most important agricultural products of the nation include taro, noni, vanilla, tapioca, bananas, yams, coconut meat, passionfruit, and limes, in no particular order.

Niue’s tropical climate, beaches, whale-watching opportunities, and astronomy (the island will be the world’s first “black sky country” in 2020, making it an excellent stargazing destination) all draw visitors.

Oman

Oman, the oldest Arab kingdom, is situated on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Most of Oman’s 3.7 million inhabitants reside in and around the Al Hagar chain on the country’s northeastern border and the Dhofar mountains on its southern border since the interior is mostly desert.

Oil exports are the backbone of Oman’s economy, but the tourist industry is growing rapidly. The seas of Oman are frequented by whale-watchers due to the presence of sperm whales, pygmy blue whales, and the Arabian humpback whale, the world’s only resident population of this species.

Peru

Peru, the third-largest nation in South America, stretches like a spine along the western border of the continent, from its southernmost point (not far from the Antarctic Circle) to its northernmost point, where it almost reaches the equator. Peru’s great variation in latitude results in a wide diversity of climates.

While the Amazon rainforest covers the majority of the northern half of the nation, hot, arid deserts run along the western coast, and the middle longitudes have everything from snowy mountains to mild temperate zones to dry arctic tundra.

As could be expected, Peru is likewise a megadiverse nation, with more than 21,000 species of plants and animals.

Peru was home to several ancient civilizations. As early as 12,500 BCE, people were living in the Huaca Prieta community. Circa 3500 BCE, the Norte Chico civilisation emerged as one of the first communities in the Americas.

The great Inca Empire eventually died out, but not before leaving behind archaeological marvels like Machu Picchu and Sacsayhuamán.

Also See: Foreign Countries 2022

Togo

Togo, located in western Africa between the larger nations of Ghana and Benin, is both one of the smallest (57,000 km2/22,008 mi2) and narrowest (115 km/71 mi) in Africa and the globe.

Cocoa beans, coffee, peanuts, cotton (a key cash crop), cassava, maize, millet, and rice all thrive in the subtropical to tropical environment found there. With abundant reserves of phosphate, limestone, marble, and salt, mining is also significant in the area.

Rapid population growth in Togo has brought problems including deforestation and the disappearance of animal habitats. The natural flora and wildlife, which includes giraffes, lions, hyenas, cape buffalo, cranes, storks, and a few remnant elephants, have been given safe shelter in several national parks.