All countries that start with K: Area, Population & GDP

Explore a comprehensive overview of countries that start with K, including their area, population, and GDP. Discover key statistics and insights about these nations in this informative article with Emily E. Garrison!

Quick answer about countries that start with K

There are 8 all countries that start with K:

Country	Continent	Area	Population	GDP (nominal)
Kazakhstan	Asia	2,724,900 km2	19,944,726	$12,968
Kenya	East Africa	580,367 km2	51,526,000	$2,187
Kiribati	Pacific Ocean	811 km2	121,388	$1,989
North Korea	East Asia	120,540 km2	26,072,217	$640
South Korea	East Asia	100,410 km2	51,966,948	$33,147
Kosovo	Europe	10,887 km2	1,761,985	$5,912
Kuwait	Middle East	17,818 km2	4,294,621	$32,215
Kyrgyzstan	Central Asia	199,951 km2	7,037,590	$1,829

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Detailed information about all countries that start with K

Explore a comprehensive database with detailed information on countries that start with K. Discover key facts, geography, culture, and more about Kazakhstan, Kenya, and other nations in one convenient resource.

Kazakhstan

• Continent: Asia
• Capital: Astana
• National language: Kazakh – Russian
• Religion: 69.3% Islam, 17.2% Christianity, 11.0% No response, 2.3% Atheism, 0.2% Others
• Area: 2,724,900 km2
• Population: 19,944,726
• Currency: Tenge (₸) (KZT)
• GDP (nominal): $12,968 Per capita

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country mostly in Central Asia, with a small part in Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana. Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country by land area and the largest landlocked country in the world. 

It has a population of 19 million people and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per square kilometre (16 people/sq mi). Ethnic Kazakhs constitute a majority of the population, while ethnic Russians form a significant minority. Officially secular, Kazakhstan is a Muslim-majority country, although ethnic Russians in the country form a sizeable Christian community.

The territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic groups and empires. In antiquity, the nomadic Scythians inhabited the land, and the Achaemenid Persian Empire expanded towards the southern region. Turkic nomads have inhabited the country from as early as the 6th century. In the 13th century, the territory was subjugated by the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. 

In the 15th century, as a result of disintegration of the Golden Horde, the Kazakh Khanate was established. By the 18th century, Kazakh Khanate disintegrated into three jüz which were absorbed and conquered by the Russian Empire; by the mid-19th century, the Russians nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire and liberated the slaves of the Kazakhs in 1859.

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution and subsequent Russian Civil War, the territory was reorganized several times. In 1936, it was established as the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991.

Human rights organizations have described the Kazakh government as authoritarian, and regularly describe human rights in Kazakhstan as poor. The country dominates Central Asia economically and politically, generating 60 percent of the region’s GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry; it also has vast mineral resources.

Kazakhstan has the highest Human Development Index ranking in the region. It is de jure a democratic, unitary, constitutional republic; however, it is de facto an authoritarian regime with no free elections. Nevertheless, there have been incremental efforts at democratization and political reform since the 2019 resignation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. 

Kazakhstan is a member state of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Commonwealth of Independent States, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Eurasian Economic Union, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Organization of Turkic States, and International Organization of Turkic Culture.

Kenya

• Continent: East Africa
• Capital: Nairobi
• National language: Swahili – English
• Religion: 85.5% Christianity, 10.9% Islam, 1.6% no religion, 0.7% traditional faiths, 1.3% others
• Area: 580,367 km2
• Population: 51,526,000
• Currency: Kenyan shilling (KES)
• GDP (nominal): $2,187 Per capita

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in East Africa. A member of the Commonwealth with a population of more than 47.6 million in the 2019 census, Kenya is the 28th most populous country in the world and 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya’s capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest and second largest city, which until 1907 was also Kenya’s first capital city, is the coastal city of Mombasa which includes Mombasa Island in the Indian Ocean and the surrounding mainland. 

Kisumu is the third-largest city and also an inland port in the Winam Gulf which, along with its numerous bays and human settlements, is one of the important maritime transport, fishing, farming, commercial, history and tourism hubs on Lake Victoria. As of 2020, Kenya is the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa and hosts the United Nations, UNEP and UN-HABITAT headquarters in Africa. 

Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast and is host to two of the world’s largest Refugee camps at Dadaab and Kakuma. Kenya’s geography, climate and population vary widely, ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops (Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on Mount Kenya) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and further on to dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts (Chalbi Desert and Nyiri Desert).

Kenya, in World War II, sent soldiers to fight in the British Army when the British Empire declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939 and remained an important asset for the Allies until the end of the war in 1945. Kenya got its independence in 1963 and signed an agreement with Britain in 1964 which established BATUK – a permanent British Army Training Unit in Nanyuki which has two support units in Nairobi.

Kenya’s earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, like the present-day Hadza people. According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya’s lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic. Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya’s Nilotic speakers) began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. Bantu people settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD.

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Kiribati

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: South Tarawa
• National language: English – Gilbertese
• Religion: 96.2% Christianity, 2.1% Baháʼí Faith, 1.7% other / none
• Area: 811 km2
• Population: 121,388
• Currency: Australian dollar ($) (AUD)
• GDP (nominal): $1,989 Per capita

Kiribati (/ˌkɪrɪˈbæs/ ⓘ KIRR-ih-BASS), officially the Republic of Kiribati (Gilbertese: [Ribaberiki] Kiribati), is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean.

The islands’ spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W. This brings Kiribati’s easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14.

Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom and the United States, becoming a sovereign state in 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, now the most populated area, consists of a number of islets, connected by a series of causeways. These comprise about half the area of Tarawa Atoll. Prior to its independence, the country had exported phosphate, but those mines are no longer viable with fisheries and export of copra driving much of the economy. Kiribati is one of the least developed countries in the world and is highly dependent on international aid for its economy.

Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Community, Commonwealth of Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999. As an island nation, the islands are vulnerable to climate change and tsunamis. Addressing climate change has been a central part of its international policy, as a member of the Alliance of Small Island States.

North Korea

• Continent: East Asia
• Capital: Pyongyang
• National language: Korean (Munhwaŏ)
• Religion: 73% no religion, 13% Chondoism, 12% Shamanism, 1.5% Buddhism, 0.5% other
• Area: 120,540 km2
• Population: 26,072,217
• Currency: Korean People’s won (₩) (KPW)
• GDP (nominal): $640 Per capita

North Korea,[c] officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. 

North Korea’s border with South Korea is a disputed border as both countries claim the entirety of the Korean Peninsula. The country’s western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.

The history of present-day Korea began with the foundation of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the mythic king Dangun, but no archaeological evidence and writing was found from this period. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Unified Silla in AD 668, Korea was subsequently ruled by the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). In 1897, King Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire, which was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. In 1945, after the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two zones along the 38th parallel, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south occupied by the United States.

In 1948, separate governments were formed in Korea: the socialist and Soviet-aligned Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north, and the capitalist, Western-aligned Republic of Korea in the south. The Korean War began when North Korean forces invaded South Korea in 1950. In 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire and established a demilitarized zone (DMZ), but no formal peace treaty has ever been signed. 

Post-war North Korea benefited greatly from economic aid and expertise provided by other Eastern Bloc countries. However, Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s first leader, later purged both pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese elements from the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and promoting his personal philosophy of Juche as the state ideology. Pyongyang’s international isolation sharply accelerated from the 1980s onwards as the Cold War came to an end. 

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 then brought about a sharp decline to the North Korean economy. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 people, and the population continues to suffer from malnutrition.

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South Korea

• Continent: East Asia
• Capital: Seoul
• National language: Korean (Pyojuneo)
• Religion: 56.1% no religion, 27.6% Christianity, 15.5% Buddhism, 0.8% other
• Area: 100,410 km2
• Population: 51,966,948
• Currency: Korean Republic won (₩) (KRW)
• GDP (nominal): $33,147 Per capita

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The country’s western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. 

South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. It has a population of 51.96 million, of which roughly half live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Other major cities include Incheon, Busan, and Daegu.

The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BCE. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Silla and Balhae in the late 7th century, Korea was ruled by the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). 

The succeeding Korean Empire (1897–1910) was annexed in 1910 into the Empire of Japan. Japanese rule ended following Japan’s surrender in World War II, after which Korea was divided into two zones: a northern zone occupied by the Soviet Union, and a southern zone occupied by the United States. After negotiations on reunification failed, the southern zone became the Republic of Korea in August 1948, while the northern zone became the communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the following month.

In 1950, a North Korean invasion began the Korean War, which ended in 1953 after extensive fighting involving the American-led United Nations Command and the People’s Volunteer Army from China with Soviet assistance. The war left 3 million Koreans dead and the economy in ruins. The authoritarian First Republic of Korea led by Syngman Rhee was overthrown in the April Revolution of 1960. 

However, the Second Republic was incompetent as it couldn’t control the revolutionary fervor. The May 16 coup of 1961 led by Park Chung Hee put an end to the Second Republic, signaling the start of the Third Republic in 1963. South Korea’s devastated economy began to soar under Park’s leadership, recording the fastest rise in average GDP per capita. Despite lacking natural resources, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers based on international trade and economic globalization, integrating itself within the world economy with export-oriented industrialization. 

The Fourth Republic was established after the October Restoration of 1972, in which Park wielded absolute power. The Yushin Constitution declared that the president could suspend basic human rights and appoint a third of the parliament. Suppression of the opposition and human rights abuse by the government became more severe in this period. 

Even after Park’s assassination in 1979, the authoritarian rule continued in the Fifth Republic led by Chun Doo-hwan, which violently seized power by two coups and brutally suppressing the Gwangju Uprising. The June Democratic Struggle of 1987 ended authoritarian rule, forming the current Sixth Republic. The country is now considered among the most advanced democracies in Asia.

Kosovo

• Continent: Europe
• Capital: Pristina
• National language: Albanian – Serbian
• Religion: 93% Islam, 6% Christianity, <1% no religion, <1% others
• Area: 10,887 km2
• Population: 1,761,985
• Currency: Euro (€)b (EUR)
• GDP (nominal): $5,912 Per capita

Kosovo (/ˈkɒsəvoʊ/ KOSS-ə-voh; Albanian: Kosova [kɔˈsɔva]; Serbian Cyrillic: Косово [kôsovo]), officially the Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово, romanized: Republika Kosovo) is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. 

Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west. Most of central Kosovo is dominated by the vast plains and fields of Metohija and the Kosovo field. The Accursed Mountains and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast, respectively. Its capital and largest city is Pristina.

The Dardani tribe emerged in Kosovo and established the Kingdom of Dardania in the 4th century BC. It was later annexed by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. The territory remained in the Byzantine Empire, facing Slavic migrations from the 6th-7th century AD. Control shifted between the Byzantines and the First Bulgarian Empire. 

In the 13th century, Kosovo became integral to the Serbian medieval state and the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Ottoman expansion in the Balkans in the late 14th and 15th century led to the decline and fall of the Serbian Empire; the Battle of Kosovo of 1389 is considered to be one of the defining moments. Serbian dynasties, mainly the Branković, would govern Kosovo for a significant portion of the period following the battle. 

The Ottoman Empire fully conquered Kosovo after the Second Battle of Kosovo, ruling for nearly five centuries until 1912. Kosovo was the center of the Albanian Renaissance and experienced the Albanian revolts of 1910 and 1912. After the Balkan Wars, it was ceded to Serbia and Montenegro and became an Autonomous Province within Yugoslavia. 

Tensions between Kosovo’s Albanian and Serb communities simmered through the 20th century and occasionally erupted into major violence, culminating in the Kosovo War of 1998 and 1999, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.

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Kuwait

• Continent: Middle East
• Capital: Kuwait City
• National language: Arabic
• Religion: 76.7% Islam (official), 17.3% Christianity, 6.0% Others
• Area: 17,818 km2
• Population: 4,294,621
• Currency: Kuwaiti dinar
• GDP (nominal): $32,215 Per capita

Kuwait (/kʊˈweɪt/ ⓘ; Arabic: الكويت al-Kuwayt, Gulf Arabic pronunciation: [ɪl‿ɪkweːt] or [lɪkweːt]), officially the State of Kuwait (Arabic: دولة الكويت Dawlat al-Kuwaytⓘ), is a country in the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south.

Kuwait also shares maritime borders with Iran. Kuwait has a coastal length of approximately 500 km (311 mi). Most of the country’s population reside in the urban agglomeration of the capital and largest city Kuwait City. As of 2022, Kuwait has a population of 4.45 million people of which 1.45 million are Kuwaiti citizens while the remaining 3.00 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries.

Historically, most of present-day Kuwait was part of ancient Mesopotamia. Before the discovery of oil, Kuwait was a strategic trade port between Mesopotamia, Persia and India. Oil reserves were discovered in commercial quantities in 1938. In 1946, crude oil was exported for the first time. From 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization, largely based on income from oil production. 

In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In 1990, after oil production disputes with neighbouring Iraq, Kuwait was invaded, and later annexed into one of Iraq’s governorates by Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi occupation of Kuwait came to an end on February 26, 1991, after military intervention by a military coalition led by the United States and various other countries.

As an Arab state in the Persian Gulf, Kuwait is an emirate. The emir is the head of state and the Al Sabah is the ruling family which dominates the country’s political system. Kuwait’s official state religion is Islam, specifically the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. Kuwait is a developing country with a high-income economy, backed by the world’s sixth largest oil reserves. 

Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of theatre, radio, music, and television soap opera, is regionally influential and exported to neighboring GCC states. In 2009, Kuwait had the highest Human Development Index in the Arab world. Kuwait is a founding member of the GCC and is also a member of the UN, AL, OPEC and the OIC. In July 2022, Kuwait named the emir’s son as the country’s new prime minister to replace caretaker premier Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid, who faced a combative parliament as head of cabinet in a feud hindering fiscal reform.

Kyrgyzstan

• Continent: Central Asia
• Capital: Bishkek
• National language: Kyrgyz – Russian
• Religion: 90% Islam, 7% Christianity, 3% Others
• Area: 199,951 km2
• Population: 7,037,590
• Currency: Kyrgyzstani som (KGS)
• GDP (nominal): $1,829 Per capita

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and largest city of the country. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east and southeast. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country’s seven million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians.

Kyrgyzstan’s history spans a variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road along with other commercial routes. Inhabited by a succession of tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under larger domination, for example the Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states. It was first established as the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate. 

Later, in the 13th century, Kyrgyzstan was conquered by the Mongols; it regained independence, but was later invaded by Dzungar Khanate. After the fall of Dzhungars, Kyrgyz and Kipchaks were an integral part of Kokand Khanate. In 1876, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire, and in 1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was formed to become a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. 

Following Mikhail Gorbachev’s democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the USSR and a democratic government was established. Kyrgyzstan attained sovereignty as a nation state after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

After independence, Kyrgyzstan was officially a unitary presidential republic; after the Tulip Revolution it became a unitary parliamentary republic, although it gradually developed an executive president and was governed as a semi-presidential republic before reverting to a presidential system in 2021. Throughout its existence, the country has continued to endure ethnic conflicts, revolts, economic troubles, transitional governments and political conflict.

Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organisation of Turkic States, the Türksoy community and the United Nations. It is a developing country ranked 118th in the Human Development Index, and is the second poorest country in Central Asia after neighbouring Tajikistan. The country’s transitional economy is heavily dependent on deposits of gold, coal and uranium.

FAQs about countries that start with K

Find answers to your frequently asked questions about countries that start with K. From Kyrgyzstan’s currency to tourism in Kuwait, our FAQs provide valuable insights on these diverse nations.

Which country starts with the letter K has the largest area?

Kazakhstan, a vast and diverse nation located in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, stands out as an exceptional country when it comes to its extensive land area. Among all the countries in the world that bear names beginning with the letter “K”, Kazakhstan claims the title of being the largest, boasting a remarkable expanse of 2,724,900 square kilometers. This enormous territory, which encompasses a broad spectrum of landscapes, from deserts and steppes to mountains and lush forests, reflects the nation’s geographic diversity.

Which country starts with the letter K has the largest population?

South Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea, is a dynamic and culturally rich East Asian nation situated on the Korean Peninsula. Within the category of countries whose names begin with the letter K South Korea stands out as a prominent and populous nation. As of the most recent available data, which may have evolved since my last update in January 2022, South Korea boasted a population of approximately 51,966,948 people. This makes it the most densely populated “K” country in the world.

Which country starts with the letter K has the largest GDP (nominal)?

When examining the group of countries that start with K, it becomes evident that South Korea emerges as a prominent standout. South Korea boasts the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a nominal basis among this category. In fact, the South Korean economy exhibits remarkable strength, with a staggering GDP totaling $33,147 per capita.

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In this article, we’ve delved into the geographical, demographic, and economic aspects of countries that start with K. From Kazakhstan to Kenya, we’ve provided valuable data, shedding light on these diverse nations. Understanding their unique characteristics is vital for anyone interested in global demographics and economies.