Countries

Australia has a lot of bests--world bests, that is. It has some of the best natural scenery, the weirdest wildlife, the most brilliant scuba diving and snorkeling, the best beaches (shut up, California), the oldest rainforest (110 million years and counting), the oldest human civilization (some archaeologists say 40,000 years, some say 120,000; whatever--it's old), the best wines (come see what we mean), the best weather (give or take the odd Wet season in the north), the most innovative East-meets-West-meets-someplace-else cuisine -- all bathed in sunlight that brings everything up in Technicolor.

"Best" means different things to different people, but scarcely a visitor lands on these shores without having the Great Barrier Reef at the top of the "Things to See" list. So they should, because it really is a glorious natural masterpiece. Also high on most folks' lists is Ayers Rock. This monolith must have some kind of magnet inside it designed to attract planeloads of tourists. We're not saying the Rock isn't special, but we think the vast Australian desert all around it is even more so. The third attraction on most visitors' lists is Sydney, the Emerald City that glitters in the antipodean sunshine on--here we go with the "bests" again--the best harbor, spanned by the best bridge in the world (yes it is, San Francisco).

New Zealand is a country of incredible beauty, with stunning landscapes and rare ecological and environmental treasures. When you visit you will understand why its pure and unspoilt scenery was used in all its glory in the Lord of the Rings movies as it's a country where there are no artificial special effects–just raw natural beauty. Discover a land of towering glaciers, awesome volcanoes, spectacular geysers, geo-thermal treasures, majestic mountains and turquoise seas lapping enticing beaches… perfection.

Discover the beauty of the North Island with its thermal wonders and volcanic plateau. The region around Tongaririo National Park and Rotorua is full of fabulous volcanic sites and sulphuric features.
The treasures of the South Island are legendary–from the immense glaciers of the Western Coast to the mountainous scenery of Mount Cook and Queenstown's Remarkables.

South Africa is one of the most geographically varied countries of the African continent, comprising territory that ranges from the rolling, fertile plains of the highveld and the wide open savanna of the Eastern Transvaal to the Kalahari desert and the peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains. While all of its diverse regions offer ample opportunities for adventure travel, the focus in South Africa--as in much of sub-Saharan Africa--is the safari. In addition to possessing two of the world's most renowned wildlife reserves, the Kruger and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks, the country contains over a dozen smaller regional parks and reserves. In addition, with its excellent road and rail systems, its abundance of top-rated accommodations, and its bountiful farmlands and vineyards, South Africa allows you ample opportunity for more luxurious comfort along with adventuresome excitement.

Canada is the world's second-largest country, stretching north to Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island, south to Lake Erie, and across six time zones from Newfoundland to the Pacific seaboard. The interior lowlands around Hudson Bay make up 80% of Canada's land area and include the vast Canadian Shield, with the plains of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the Rocky Mountains to the west. The St. Lawrence, Yukon, Mackenzie, and Fraser Rivers are among the world's 40 largest. The Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River lowlands are the most populous areas. An Inuit homeland, Nunavut, formerly the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, was created in 1999, covering nearly a quarter of Canada's land area. French-speaking relationship with the rest of the country causes recurring constitutional arguments.

Brazil shares a border with almost every other country in South America--only Chile and Ecuador are untouched--and covers almost half the continent. It is the fifth largest country in the world, behind Russia, Canada, China, and the U.S.A., with an area of eight and a half million square kilometers.Almost half of Brazil's territory is covered by the basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries, a region that is one of the world's largest rainforest ecologies.Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of this area has suffered the effects of modernization in recent years. From the Amazon's mouth on the Pacific to Manaus, the region's bustling main city, the river is heavily traveled, and wildlife is scarce. Away from the cities and the main course of the Amazon, however, smaller tributaries lead past unspoiled habitat and traditional villages.

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and one federal district. The country is situated almost entirely in the western hemisphere: its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie in central North America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south; the state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent with Canada to its east, and the state of Hawaii is in the mid-Pacific. The United States also possesses fourteen territories, or insular areas, that are scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific.

American cultural icons: apple pie, baseball, and the American flagMainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Fried chicken, which combines Scottish and African American culinary traditions, is a national favorite. Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various European immigrants. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Americans' daily caloric intake rose 24 percent,as the share from food consumed outside the home went from 18 to 32 percent.Frequent dining at fast food outlets such as McDonald's is closely associated with what government researchers call the American "obesity epidemic."The popularity of well-promoted diets such as the Atkins Nutritional Approach has sent sales of "carb-conscious" processed food soaring.

Japan is an island country located in the Pacific Ocean, east of China and Korea, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. It is composed of over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and many are volcanic; the highest peak is Mount Fuji.

Japan is the world's second-largest economy and one of the world's leading industrialized countries. It is a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament, called the Diet, which is one of the oldest legislatures in Asia. Despite its rugged terrain, Japan is one of the most populous—and one of the most densely populated—countries in the world. Greater Tokyo, with over 30 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area in the world.

Japan's name in the kanji writing system is often translated as "Land of the Rising Sun", and comes from the country's location on the east coast of Asia。