The atlas / Countries
Politics, put into practice.
From ancient empires to modern republics. Explore how states and regimes organize power, shape society, and engage with the world.
204 profiles
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- Current states & regions
Greenland (Denmark)
An autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has its own government and parliament, an Inuit majority, a fishing economy sustained by Danish subsidies, public health and education, a debate over independence and an Arctic contest over minerals and military bases.
- Early modern
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain, especially under Philip II, was a Catholic Counter-Reformation state, marked by the Inquisition, purity-of-blood laws, religious expulsions, and wars defending the faith.
- Middle Ages
Holy Roman Empire (First Reich)
A federation of Central European territories, the Holy Roman Empire gathered principalities and cities under an elected emperor and strong Church influence, marked by fragmented power and the autonomy of its members.
- Current states & regions
Hong Kong (China)
A global financial center, Hong Kong is an autonomous region of strong free-market capitalism and technocratic management, whose broad autonomy has been increasingly restricted by mainland China's political control.
- Current states & regions
Hungary
A parliamentary republic in Eastern Europe, Hungary is governed under so-called illiberal democracy, uniting nationalism, Christian conservatism, sovereignty vis-à-vis the European Union, and strong control of media and institutions.
- Current states & regions
Iceland
A Nordic parliamentary republic, Iceland combines stable democracy, a welfare state, an open market economy, a highly secular and progressive society, strong institutional trust, and a peaceful foreign policy without permanent armed forces.
- Current states & regions
Illinois (United States)
A Midwestern state dominated by Chicago, Illinois combines a Democratic political machine with a history of corruption, strong public-sector unions, a huge pension debt, strict gun laws, liberalized social policy and a conservative agricultural interior.
- Current states & regions
Indonesia
The world's largest Muslim country, Indonesia is a democratic presidential archipelagic republic, with an expanding market economy, great ethnic and religious diversity, and growing regional weight in Southeast Asia.
- Current states & regions
Iran
A theocratic Islamic republic, Iran combines elected institutions with the supreme authority of the clerics, under the rule of the religious jurist, a state-controlled economy, and strong regional projection in the Middle East.
- 20th & 21st centuries
Iran under the Shah
Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after 1953, Iran combined authoritarian monarchy and political repression with industrialization, land reform, and women's rights in the White Revolution. Allied with the US, it funded development with oil until 1979.
- Current states & regions
Ireland
A European parliamentary republic, Ireland combines liberal democracy, an open market economy attractive to multinationals, a tradition of neutrality, and rapid social transformation toward progressive policies.
- Current states & regions
Israel
A parliamentary republic in the Middle East, Israel combines a vibrant democracy, a strong Jewish national identity, an advanced technology economy, and a prolonged conflict with the Palestinians that dominates its politics and security.
- Current states & regions
Italy
A Mediterranean parliamentary republic, Italy unites a long cultural heritage, a diversified market economy, and unstable, fragmented politics, with the recent rise of conservative and nationalist forces.
- Current states & regions
Japan
An Asian parliamentary monarchy, Japan unites tradition and high technology, with an advanced market economy, an aging society, and stable conservative politics, maintaining constitutional pacifism and strong global economic weight.
- 20th & 21st centuries
Kádár's Hungary
Established after the crushing of the 1956 revolution, Kádár's regime combined single-party rule, Soviet alignment, gradual economic liberalization, a small private sector, and consumer welfare.
- 20th & 21st centuries
Khmer Rouge Cambodia (Pol Pot)
A radical regime led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed extreme agrarian communism, emptied the cities, and abolished money and property, causing one of the greatest genocides of the 20th century in Cambodia.
- Middle Ages
Kingdom of Castile
United with León in 1230, Castile expanded across Iberia and later the Americas. The Crown, nobility, and Catholic Church shaped its politics; institutions changed over the nearly five centuries covered here.
- Middle Ages
Kingdom of France
From West Francia to the monarchy’s abolition in 1792, the kingdom moved from feudal rule toward centralized absolutism. The Catholic Church, landed aristocracy, and military expansion shaped much of its history.
- Middle Ages
Kingdom of Hungary
Founded under Stephen I, the kingdom passed through native dynasties, partial Ottoman rule, and Habsburg government. Nobility, Catholicism, and Hungarian autonomy played changing roles across nearly a millennium.
- Antiquity
Kingdom of Israel
Symbolic illustration
A monarchy uniting the Hebrew tribes under Saul, David and Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel concentrated power in a king anointed by a prophet, with Jerusalem and the Temple as its religious center, the law of the Torah, tribal levies and expansion over its neighbors.
- Middle Ages
Kingdom of Jerusalem
A crusader state founded after the First Crusade, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Latin Catholic feudal monarchy, backed by the Templar and Hospitaller military orders, with powerful barons, constant holy war and a Frankish elite over a native majority.
- Early modern
Kingdom of Prussia
A German kingdom with a strong military and administrative tradition, Prussia united monarchy, a disciplined bureaucracy, and a powerful army, leading German unification and embodying the cameralist state and enlightened despotism.
- Current states & regions
Latvia
A Baltic parliamentary republic, Latvia combines the EU, NATO and an open economy with defence of the Latvian language, citizenship withheld from part of the Russian-speaking minority, distrust of Russia and a Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox society that is highly secular.
- Current states & regions
Lebanon
A parliamentary republic in the Middle East, Lebanon divides power among religious communities in a confessional system, with pluralism, a strong service sector, and chronic political and economic instability.
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