MapGEOMapGE

What made Libya's flag from 1977 to 2011 unique in the world?

It was a single plain green rectangle

It was a plain green field with no emblem, charge or second colour: the only national flag of a single solid colour. Libya returned to the earlier red, black and green tricolour in 2011.

Which is the largest country in Africa by area?

Algeria

Algeria is about 2.38 million km2, having become the largest when Sudan split in 2011. Roughly 80 percent of it is Sahara.

What lies beneath much of the eastern Sahara?

Fossil groundwater

The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System holds water that fell tens of thousands of years ago when the region was wet. Libya's Great Man-Made River pipes it to the coast.

Roughly how many countries have no permanent rivers at all?

About twenty

Around twenty, mostly desert states and small islands including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, the Maldives and Malta. Some have wadis that flow only after rain.

Which country has the longest official name?

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

At 45 characters it is among the longest in English, though Libya's official name under Gaddafi was longer still, and Thailand's Bangkok holds the place-name record.