Country lists

Every country that shares a trait, from landlocked to nuclear-armed.

Countries of the former Yugoslavia7 countriesThe seven countries that came out of Yugoslavia: the four republics that left in 1991–92, the two that stayed together until 2006, and Kosovo, which was never a republic at all.
Countries that drive on the left54 countriesMost of them are former parts of the British Empire, but not all. Here are the exceptions, the countries that switched, and why a third of the world keeps left.
Countries with a monarch43 countriesThe kingdoms, emirates, sultanates and principalities, plus the fifteen countries that share a king. From monarchs who rule outright to monarchs who mostly cut ribbons.
Countries with nuclear weapons9 countriesThe nine countries with nuclear weapons: the five the non-proliferation treaty recognises, the four outside it, and the countries that built or inherited weapons and gave them up.
Former Soviet republics15 countriesThe fifteen countries that were republics of the Soviet Union until it broke up in 1991: the Baltic three that led the way out, the Central Asian five that hardly asked to leave, and the countries that were never republics.
Landlocked countries45 countriesThe countries with no coast on the open sea: why they ended up inland, the two that are landlocked twice over, and the Caspian question.
Sahara Desert countries10 countriesThe ten countries with a share of the world's largest hot desert: the North African coast that backs onto it, the countries along its southern rim, and Western Sahara, which is all desert but not on the list.