#3 Belize – Capital Belmopan. Facts: The most sparsely populated country in Central America.

1. #1 Mexico – Capital Mexico City. Facts: U.S.-Mexico border Mexico is 1,970 miles long. Mexico City is 3rd largest metro area with over 21,000,000 people.

2. #2 Guatemala – Capital Guatemala City. Facts: Has suffered the scourge of drug violence since Mexico’s crackdown. Home to Antigua (the most beautiful city in The West).

3. #3 Belize – Capital Belmopan. Facts: The most sparsely populated country in Central America.

4. #4 El Salvador – Capital San Salvador. Fact: Had a bloody civil war in the 1980’s; many innocent civilians were killed.

5. #5 Honduras – Capital Tegucigalpa. Facts: Hurricane Mitch decimated the country in 1985 – 75% + of infrastructure lost.

6. #6 Nicaragua – Capital Managua. Easy to remember; country and capital rhyme.

7. #7 Costa Rica – Capital San Jose. Facts: Means “rich coast” Big in tourism.

8. #8 Panama – Capital Panama City. Facts: Canal was completed in 1921.

9. #1 Venezuela – Caracas A country rich in oil. President Nicolas Maduro is a fierce nationalist/socialist dictator who hates the U.S.

10. #2 Guyana – Georgetown. Famous for the Jonestown massacre. “Drank the kool aide.”

11. #3 Surinam – Paramaribo. Formerly Dutch Guyana, it is the smallest country in South America.

12. #4 French Guyana – Cayenne. Considered part of France and The E. U. It was a French prison colony in the 1800’s.

13. #5 Colombia – Bogota. Has had a pervasive drug trafficking/mafia problem. Now emerging as a legitimate economic power.

14. #6 Brazil – Brasilia. World’s fifth largest population. Portuguese speaking.

15. #7 Ecuador – Quito. Was home to the Inca tribe.

16. #8 Peru – Lima. One of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. Home of Machu Picchu, a sacred Incan site in the Andes mountains.

17. #9 Bolivia – La Paz & Sucre. One of only two landlocked countries in South America.

18. #10 Paraguay – Asunción. Landlocked. Means from the great river. The Paraná river is a top producer of hydroelectric power.

19. #11 Chile – Santiago. Tried to annex part of Antarctica but Antarctic Treaty of 1974 nullified it.

20. #12 Argentina – Buenos Aires (the Paris of South America). Well-developed with a high standard of living.

21. #13 Uruguay – Montevideo. Won its independence from Brazil in 1825. Its motto was “liberty or death.” Familiar?

22. #1 Cuba – Havana. A communist country located 90 miles from coast of Florida.

23. #2 Haiti – Port Au Prince. The poorest country in The West. Multilingual nation (English-Spanish-French).

24. #3 The Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo -- the first city established in The Western Hemisphere.

25. #4 Puerto Rico – San Juan. A U.S. Protectorate, not a state. Strategically vital to our military.

26. #5 Jamaica – Kingston. Founded by Columbus but later ceded to Great Britain in 1670.

27. #1 Spain – Madrid. Once inhabited by a tribe called The Iberians. Conquered and held by The Moors (Arabs) from 700-1400. Moors were driven out by The Christians.

28. #2 Portugal – Lisbon. Shares Iberian Peninsula with Spain. Pioneers in solar energy.

29. #3 France - Paris

30. #4 Andorra – Andorra Vela. 3rd smallest nation in the world. Andorrans have the longest life expectancy of any nationality.

31. #5 Morocco – Rabat. Was once a French Protectorate. The only African nation not belonging to the African Union.

32. #6 Algeria – Algiers. Was once a French colony . 2nd largest country in Africa.