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

Explore countries that start with N and discover their area, population, and GDP. Dive into comprehensive data, comparing nations beginning with the letter N to gain insights into their economic and demographic landscapes with Emily E. Garrison!

Quick answer about countries that start with N

There are 14 all countries that start with N:

Country	Continent	Area	Population	GDP (nominal)
Namibia	Southern Africa	825,615 km2	2,777,232	N/A
Nauru	Central Pacific	21 km2	10,834	$10,125
Nepal	South Asia	147,516 km2	30,666,598	$1,352
Netherlands	Europe	41,865 km2	17,958,700	$61,769
New Caledonia (collectivity of France)	Pacific Ocean	18,576 km2	271,407	$34,780
New Zealand	Pacific Ocean	268,021 km2	5,252,560	$48,071
Nicaragua	Central America	130,375 km2	6,359,689	$2,599
Niger	West Africa	1,267,000 km2	25,396,840	$630
Nigeria	West Africa	923,769 km2	230,842,743	$1,755
Niue (department of New Zealand)	Pacific Ocean	261.46 km2	1,937	N/A
Norfolk Island (territory of Australia)	Pacific Ocean	34.6 km2	2,188	N/A
North Macedonia	Southeast Europe	25,713 km2	1,836,713	$7,672
Northern Mariana Islands (US territory)	Pacific Ocean	464 km2	55,650	$21,239
Norway	Europe	385,207 km2	5,488,984	$99,266

> Related post: All countries that start with L: Area, Population & GDP

Detailed information about all countries that start with N

Explore a comprehensive repository of information on countries that start with N. From historical insights to current demographics, find detailed data on the diverse nations, cultures, and landscapes within this group. Discover unique facts, travel tips, and more, all in one place for a comprehensive understanding of countries that start with N.

Namibia

• Continent: Southern Africa
• Capital: Windhoek
• National language: English
• Religion: 87.9% Christianity, 10.2% traditional faiths, 1.6% no religion, 0.3% others
• Area: 825,615 km2
• Population: 2,777,232
• Currency: Namibian dollar (NAD)
• GDP (nominal): N/A

Namibia (/nəˈmɪbiə/ ⓘ, /næˈ-/), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek.

The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since then, the Bantu groups, the largest being the Ovambo, have dominated the population of the country; since the late 19th century, they have constituted a majority. With a population of an estimated 2.77 million people today, Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.

In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory, forming a colony known as German South West Africa. Between 1904 and 1908, German troops participated in a punitive campaign against the Herero and Namaqua, leaving many casualties. German rule ended during the First World War with a 1915 defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of the war, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. 

From 1948, with the National Party elected to power, this included South Africa applying apartheid to what was then known as South West Africa. In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation by native African political activists seeking independence resulted in the United Nations assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but the country of South Africa maintained de facto rule. 

In 1973, the UN recognized the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as the official representative of the Namibian people. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994.

Namibia is a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver and base metals – form the basis of its economy, while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Nauru

• Continent: Central Pacific
• Capital: Yaren
• National language: Nauruan
• Area: 21 km2
• Population: 10,834
• Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)
• GDP (nominal): $10,125 Per capita

Nauru (/nɑːˈuːruː/ nah-OO-roo or /ˈnaʊruː/ NOW-roo; Nauruan: Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru (Nauruan: Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Micronesia, part of Oceania in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba of Kiribati, about 300 km (190 mi) to the east. 

It lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With an area of only 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi), Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic and island nation. Its population of about 10,800 is the world’s second-smallest (not including colonies or overseas territories) after Vatican City. 

Settled by people from Micronesia circa 1000 BCE, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops, and was bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, the country entered into United Nations trusteeship. Nauru gained its independence in 1968.

Nauru is a phosphate-rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allowed easy strip mining operations for over a century. However, this has seriously harmed the country’s environment, causing the island nation to suffer from what is often referred to as the “resource curse”. The phosphate was exhausted in the 1990s, and the remaining reserves are not economically viable for extraction.

A trust established to manage the island’s accumulated mining wealth, set up for the day the reserves would be exhausted, has diminished in value. To earn income, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. At various points since 2001, it has accepted aid from the Australian Government in exchange for hosting the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, a controversial offshore Australian immigration detention facility. 

As a result of heavy dependence on Australia, some sources have identified Nauru as a client state of Australia. The sovereign state is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States.

> Related post: All countries that start with M: Area, Population & GDP

Nepal

• Continent: South Asia
• Capital: Kathmandu
• National language: Nepali
• Religion: 81.19% Hinduism, 8.21% Buddhism, 5.09% Islam, 3.17% Kirant, 1.76% Christianity, 0.35% Prakriti, 0.23 Bon, 0.01 Jainism
• Area: 147,516 km2
• Population: 30,666,598
• Currency: Nepalese rupee (Rs, रू) (NPR)
• GDP (nominal): $1,352 Per capita

Nepal (English: /nɪˈpɔːl/, /-ˈpɑːl/ nih-PAWL, -⁠PAHL; Nepali: नेपाल [nepal]) is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. 

Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.

The name “Nepal” is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. 

The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley’s traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. 

The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world’s last Hindu monarchy.

The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a secular federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. 

Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. The Nepalese Armed Forces are the fifth-largest in South Asia; and are notable for their Gurkha history, particularly during the world wars, and has been a significant contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Netherlands

• Continent: Europe
• Capital: Amsterdam
• National language: Dutch
• Religion: 55.4% no religion, 37.5% Christianity, 5.2% Islam, 1.8% other
• Area: 41,865 km2
• Population: 17,958,700
• Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
• GDP (nominal): $61,769 Per capita

The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ⓘ), informally Holland, is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. 

It also has a border with France on the split island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories.

Netherlands literally means “lower countries” in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with nearly 26% falling below sea level. Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders, are the result of land reclamation that began in the 14th century.

In the Republican period, which began in 1588, the Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among the most powerful and influential in Europe and the world; this period is known as the Dutch Golden Age. During this time, its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, established colonies and trading posts all over the world.

With a population of 17.9 million people, all living within a total area of 41,850 km2 (16,160 sq mi)—of which the land area is 33,500 km2 (12,900 sq mi)—the Netherlands is the 16th most densely populated country, with a density of 535 people per square kilometre (1,390 people/sq mi). 

Nevertheless, it is the world’s second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture, and inventiveness. The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Amsterdam is the country’s most populous city and the nominal capital.

The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands allowed women’s suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.

Its mixed-market advanced economy has the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in Europe. 

The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centred in The Hague.

New Caledonia (collectivity of France)

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: Nouméa
• National language: French
• Area: 18,576 km2
• Population: 271,407
• Currency: CFP franc (₣) (XPF)
• GDP (nominal): $34,780 Per capita

New Caledonia (/ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/ KAL-ih-DOH-nee-ə; French: Nouvelle-Calédonie [nuvɛl kaledɔni] ⓘ) is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. 

The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre “Le Caillou” (“the pebble”).

New Caledonia has a land area of 18,576 km2 (7,172 sq mi) divided into three provinces. The North and South Provinces are on the New Caledonian mainland, while the Loyalty Islands Province is a series of three islands off the east coast of mainland. 

New Caledonia’s population of 271,407 (October 2019 census) is of diverse origins and varies by geography; in the North and Loyalty Islands Provinces, the indigenous Kanak people predominate, while the wealthy South Province contains significant populations of European (Caldoches and Metropolitan French), Kanak, and Polynesian (mostly Wallisian) origin, as well as smaller groups of Southeast Asian, Pied-Noir, and North African heritage. The capital of New Caledonia is Nouméa.

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

New Zealand

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: Wellington
• National language: English
• Religion: 48.6% no religion, 37.3% Christianity, 2.7% Hinduism, 1.3% Islam, 1.1% Buddhism, 2.3% other, 6.7% unanswered
• Area: 268,021 km2
• Population: 5,252,560
• Currency: New Zealand dollar ($) (NZD)
• GDP (nominal): $48,071 Per capita

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. 

It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country’s varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.

The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. 

In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which in its English version declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire. Subsequently, a series of conflicts between the colonial government and Māori tribes resulted in the alienation and confiscation of large amounts of Māori land. New Zealand became a dominion in 1907; it gained full statutory independence in 1947, retaining the monarch as head of state. 

Today, the majority of New Zealand’s population of 5.1 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand’s culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening of culture arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, with the local dialect of English being dominant.

A developed country, it was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote. It ranks highly in international measures of quality of life, human rights, and it has low levels of perceived corruption. It retains visible levels of inequality, having structural disparities between its Māori and European populations. 

New Zealand underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture; international tourism is also a significant source of revenue.

Nicaragua

• Continent: Central America
• Capital: Managua
• National language: Spanish
• Religion: 84.4% Christianity, 14.7% no religion, 0.9% other
• Area: 130,375 km2
• Population: 6,359,689
• Currency: Córdoba (NIO)
• GDP (nominal): $2,599 Per capita

Nicaragua (/ˌnɪkəˈrɑːɡwə, -ˈræɡ-, -ɡjuə/ ⓘ; Spanish: [nikaˈɾaɣwa] ⓘ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (Spanish: República de Nicaraguaⓘ), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the country’s capital and largest city. 

As of 2015, it was estimated to be the third largest city in Central America. Nicaragua’s multiethnic population of six million includes people of mestizo, Indigenous, European and African heritage. The main language is Spanish. Indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English.

Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the region was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, being colonized by the English in the 17th century and later coming under British rule. 

It became an autonomous territory of Nicaragua in 1860 and its northernmost part was transferred to Honduras in 1960. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, occupation and fiscal crisis, including the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the Contra War of the 1980s.

The mixture of cultural traditions has generated substantial diversity in folklore, cuisine, music, and literature, particularly the latter, given the literary contributions of Nicaraguan poets and writers such as Rubén Darío. Known as the “land of lakes and volcanoes”, Nicaragua is also home to the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, the second-largest rainforest of the Americas. 

The biological diversity, warm tropical climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination. Nicaragua co-founded the United Nations and is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of American States, Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Niger

• Continent: West Africa
• Capital: Niamey
• National language: French
• Religion: 99.3% Islam
• Area: 1,267,000 km2
• Population: 25,396,840
• Currency: West African CFA franc (XOF)
• GDP (nominal): $630 Per capita

Niger or the Niger (/niːˈʒɛər, ˈnaɪdʒər/ nee-ZHAIR, NY-jər, French: [niʒɛʁ]), officially the Republic of the Niger (French: République du Niger; Hausa: Jamhuriyar Nijar), is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. 

It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger’s southwest corner.

Following the spread of Islam to the region, Niger was on the fringes of some states, including the Kanem–Bornu Empire and the Mali Empire before more significant parts of its territory became included in states such as the Sultanate of Agadez and the Songhai Empire. It was colonized by France during the Scramble for Africa as part of French West Africa, becoming a distinct colony in 1922. 

Since obtaining independence in 1960, Niger has experienced five coups d’état and four periods of military rule. Niger’s seventh and most recent constitution was enacted in 2010, establishing a multiparty, unitary semi-presidential system. Following the most recent coup in 2023, the country is once again under a military junta.

Its society reflects a diversity drawn from the independent histories of some ethnic groups and regions and their period living in a single state. The Hausa are the country’s largest ethnic group, making up more than half the population. French is the country’s official language, and ten indigenous languages have the status of national language.

According to the UN’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report of 2023, Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Some non-desert portions of the country undergo periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence agriculture, with some export agriculture in the less arid south, and the export of raw materials, including uranium ore. It faces challenges to development due to its landlocked position, desert terrain, low literacy rate, jihadist insurgencies, and the world’s highest fertility rates due to birth control not being used and the resulting rapid population growth.

> Related post: All countries that start with J: Area, Population & GDP

Nigeria

• Continent: West Africa
• Capital: Abuja
• National language: English
• Area: 923,769 km2
• Population: 230,842,743
• Currency: Naira (₦) (NGN)
• GDP (nominal): $1,755 Per capita

Nigeria (/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/ ⓘ ny-JEER-ee-ə), officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 sq mi), and with a population of over 230 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world’s sixth-most populous country. 

Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa.

Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC marking the first internal unification in the country. The modern state originated with British colonialization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria 

Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914 by Lord Lugard. The British set up administrative and legal structures while practising indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms in the Nigeria region. Nigeria became a formally independent federation on 1 October 1960. It experienced a civil war from 1967 to 1970, followed by a succession of military dictatorships and democratically elected civilian governments until achieving a stable democracy in the 1999 presidential election. The 2015 general election was the first time an incumbent president failed to be re-elected.

Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with a wide variety of cultures. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa in the north, Yoruba in the west, and Igbo in the east, together constituting over 60% of the total population.

The official language is English, chosen to facilitate linguistic unity at the national level. Nigeria’s constitution ensures de jure freedom of religion and it is home to some of the world’s largest Muslim and Christian populations. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the north, and Christians, who live mostly in the south; indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, are in the minority.

Nigeria is a regional power in Africa and a middle and emerging power in international affairs. Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa, the 39th-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and 27th-largest by PPP. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa owing to its large population and economy and is considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank. 

Nigeria is a founding member of the African Union and a member of many international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, NAM, the Economic Community of West African States, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. It is also a member of the informal MINT group of countries and is one of the Next Eleven economies.

Niue (department of New Zealand)

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: Alofi
• National language: English
• Religion: 96.4% Christianity, 3.3% None, 0.3% Others
• Area: 261.46 km2
• Population: 1,937
• Currency: New Zealand dollar (NZD)
• GDP (nominal): N/A

Niue (/ˈnjuːeɪ/, /niːˈjuːeɪ/; Niuean: Niuē) is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. The island is commonly referred to as “The Rock”, which comes from the traditional name “Rock of Polynesia”.

Niue is located in a triangle between Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. It is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) northeast of New Zealand, and 604 kilometres (375 mi) northeast of Tonga. Niue’s land area is about 261.46 square kilometres (100.95 sq mi) and its population was 1,689 at the Census in 2022. Niue is one of the world’s largest coral islands. The terrain of the island has two noticeable levels. The higher level is made up of a limestone cliff running along the coast, with a plateau in the centre of the island reaching approximately 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level. 

The lower level is a coastal terrace approximately 0.5 km (0.3 miles) wide and about 25–27 metres (80–90 feet) high, which slopes down and meets the sea in small cliffs. A coral reef surrounds the island, with the only major break in the reef being in the central western coast, close to the capital, Alofi. Niue is subdivided into 14 villages (municipalities). Each village has a council that elects its chairperson. The villages are at the same time electoral districts; each village sends an assemblyperson to the Niue Assembly (parliament).

As part of the Realm of New Zealand, New Zealand conducts most diplomatic relations on behalf of Niue. Niueans are citizens of New Zealand and Charles III is Niue’s head of state in his capacity as King of New Zealand. Between 90% and 95% of Niuean people live in New Zealand, along with about 70% of the speakers of the Niuean language. Niue is a bilingual country, with 30% of the population speaking both Niuean and English. The percentage of monolingual English-speaking people is only 11%, while 46% are monolingual Niuean speakers.

A small and democratic nation, Niueans hold Niue legislative elections every three years. Niue is not a member of the United Nations (UN), but UN organisations have accepted its status as a freely associated state as equivalent to independence for the purposes of international law. As such, Niue is a member of some UN specialised agencies (such as UNESCO and the WHO), and is invited, alongside the other non-UN member state, the Cook Islands, to attend United Nations conferences open to “all states”. Niue has been a member of the Pacific Community since 1980.

Norfolk Island (territory of Australia)

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: Kingston
• National language: English – Norfuk
• Religion: Christianity (56%), Irreligion (35.7%)
• Area: 34.6 km2
• Population: 2,188
• Currency: Australian dollar (AU$) (AUD)

Norfolk Island (/ˈnɔːrfək/, locally /ˈnɔːrfoʊk/; Norfuk: Norf’k Ailen) is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, 1,412 kilometres (877 mi) directly east of Australia’s Evans Head and about 900 kilometres (560 mi) from Lord Howe Island. Together with the neighbouring Phillip Island and Nepean Island, the three islands collectively form the Territory of Norfolk Island. At the 2021 census, it had 2,188 inhabitants living on a total area of about 35 km2 (14 sq mi). Its capital is Kingston.

Norfolk Island is the main island in a group comprising the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island, situated in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand approximately 692 km (430 mi) south of New Caledonia.

The first known settlers in Norfolk Island were East Polynesians but they had already departed when Great Britain settled it as part of its 1788 settlement of Australia. The island served as a convict penal settlement from 6 March 1788 until 5 May 1855, except for an 11-year hiatus between 15 February 1814 and 6 June 1825, when it lay abandoned. On 8 June 1856, permanent civilian residence on the island began when descendants of the Bounty mutineers were relocated from Pitcairn Island. In 1914, the UK handed Norfolk Island over to Australia to administer as an external territory.

Native to the island, the evergreen Norfolk Island pine is a symbol of the island and is pictured on its flag. The pine is a key export for Norfolk Island, being a popular ornamental tree in Australia (where two related species grow), and also worldwide.

> Related post: All countries that start with I: Area, Population & GDP

North Macedonia

• Continent: Southeast Europe
• Capital: Skopje
• National language: Macedonian
• Religion: 60.4% Christianity, 32.2% Islam, 0.5% No religion
• Area: 25,713 km2
• Population: 1,836,713
• Currency: Macedonian denar (MKD)
• GDP (nominal): $7,672 Per capita

North Macedonia (/ˌmæsəˈdoʊniə/ MASS-ə-DOH-nee-ə), officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. It constitutes approximately the northern third of the larger geographical region of Macedonia. 

Skopje, the capital and largest city, is home to a quarter of the country’s 1.83 million people. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25%, followed by Turks, Roma, Serbs, Bosniaks, Aromanians and a few other minorities.

The region’s history begins with the kingdom of Paeonia, a mixed Thraco-Illyrian polity. In the late sixth century BC, the area was subjugated by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, then incorporated into the Kingdom of Macedonia in the fourth century BC. The Roman Republic conquered the region in the second century BC and made it part of the larger province of Macedonia. 

The area remained part of the Byzantine Empire, but was often raided and settled by Slavic tribes beginning in the sixth century of the Christian era. Following centuries of contention between the Bulgarian, Byzantine, and Serbian Empires, it was part of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-14th until the early 20th century, when, following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, the modern territory of North Macedonia came under Serbian rule.

During the First World War, the territory was ruled by Bulgaria, but after the end of the war it returned to Serbian rule as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During the Second World War, it was again ruled by Bulgaria; and in 1945 it was established as a constituent state of communist Yugoslavia, which it remained until its peaceful secession in 1991. 

The country became a member of the United Nations in 1993, but as a result of a dispute with Greece over the name “Macedonia”, it was admitted under the provisional description “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (abbreviated as “FYR Macedonia” or “FYROM”). In 2018, Macedonia and Greece resolved the dispute with an agreement that the country should rename itself “Republic of North Macedonia”. This renaming came into effect in early 2019.

A unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, North Macedonia is a member of the UN, NATO, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, OSCE, CEFTA, BSEC and the WTO. Since 2005, it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union. North Macedonia is an upper-middle-income country according to the World Bank’s definitions and has undergone considerable economic reform since its independence in developing an open economy. It is a developing country, ranked 82nd on the Human Development Index; and provides social security, a universal health care system, and free primary and secondary education to its citizens.

Northern Mariana Islands (US territory)

• Continent: Pacific Ocean
• Capital: Saipan
• National language: English – Chamorro
• Religion: 81.3% Christianity, 10.6% Buddhism, 5.3% folk religions, 1.0% no religion, 0.7% Islam, 1.1% other
• Area: 464 km2
• Population: 55,650
• Currency: United States dollar (US$) (USD)
• GDP (nominal): $21,239 Per capita

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; Chamorro: Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; Carolinian: Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory until 1990.

The Northern Marianas were part of the United Nations trust territories after World War II under American administration, while previously they had been under the control of the Spanish (1500s–1899), the Germans (1899–1914), and the Japanese (1914–1944). In the late 20th century they eventually settled on joining the United States. 

This process was completed in the late 20th century and recognized internationally, and the people of the Northern Marianas became United States citizens by their choice in 1986. They have one federal representative in Congress. The other U.S. Pacific territories with significant populations are Guam, American Samoa, and Hawaii. The population of the Northern Marianas is several times smaller than the U.S. states, so its representation is handled differently, in that they have more autonomy with a governor and in Congress, but less participation in the federal government. 

They are U.S. citizens with free movement around the United States and have access to many federal programs, but do not pay federal income tax. The Northern Marianas are near to but separate from Guam which became a part of the USA since 1898. Together Guam, CNMI, American Samoa, and Hawaii represent Pacific peoples of the United States tying together many assets such as marine reserves, atolls, and islands dotting the Pacific.

The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles (475.26 km2). According to the 2020 United States Census, 47,329 people were living in the CNMI at that time. The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The other islands of the Northern Marianas are sparsely inhabited; the most notable among these is Pagan, which was left largely uninhabted since a 1981 volanic eruption. 

The total area of the island chain makes it bigger than American Samoa or U.S. Virgin Islands, but as an island chain the distance between the northernmost island and southernmost, Rota, is roughly over 300 miles (around 500 km) which is nearly 1/3 the length of California, for example (which is over 1000 miles from North to South). 

The main islands of northern Marianas are, from north to south are: Farallon de Pajaros (or Uracus), Maug Islands (actually three islands), Asuncion Island, Agrihan, Pagan, Alamagan, Guguan, Sarigan, Anatahan, Farallon de Medinilla, Saipan, Tinian, Aguijan, and Rota (aka Luta). Of these, most live on Saipan; Tinian and Rota also have populations. The highest point on Saipan is Mount Tapochau on, at 474 m (1,555 ft) while the highest point in the Northern Mariana islands is Agrihan at 977 meters, 3204 feet (on Agrihan island).

Pagan is home to an active volcano, which had a fairly large eruption in 1981, and had had activity as recently as 2021. The bottom three islands Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are mostly limestone, but the northern islands are volcanic. To the east of the islands in the Mariana Trench lies some of the deepest ocean on the planet.

Norway

• Continent: Europe
• Capital: Oslo
• National language: Norwegian
• Religion: 74.9% Christianity, 21.2% no religion, 3.1% Islam, 0.8% other
• Area: 385,207 km2
• Population: 5,488,984
• Currency: Norwegian krone (NOK)
• GDP (nominal): $99,266 Per capita

Norway (Bokmål: Norge, Nynorsk: Noreg), formally the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.

Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi) and had a population of 5,488,984 in January 2023. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden. It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south. Norway has an extensive coastline facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King. Jonas Gahr Støre has been Prime Minister since 2021. 

As a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the parliament, the cabinet, and the supreme court, as determined by the 1814 constitution. The unified kingdom of Norway was established in 872 as a merger of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for 1150–151 years. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was part of Denmark–Norway, and, from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War, and in the Second World War until April 1940 when it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of the war.

Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States. 

Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Free Trade Association, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty, and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD; and a part of the Schengen Area. The Norwegian languages share mutual intelligibility with Danish and Swedish.

Norway maintains the Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, and its values are rooted in egalitarian ideals. The Norwegian state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, having extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, and fresh water. 

The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). On a per-capita basis, Norway is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East. The country has the fourth-highest per-capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. It has the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with a value of US$1.3 trillion.

> Related post: All countries that start with F: Area, Population & GDP

FAQs about countries that start with N

Have questions about countries that start with N? Our FAQs provide quick answers to common queries, offering insights into their economies, traditions, and attractions. Whether you’re planning a trip or just curious, get concise and reliable information about the countries that start with N. Clear your doubts and enhance your knowledge with our informative FAQs.

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

Nigeria, standing out prominently among nations whose names commence with the letter N, boasts the distinction of possessing the largest geographical expanse within this category. Spanning an expansive 1,267,000 square kilometers, Nigeria’s territory is a vast and diverse landscape that encompasses a myriad of geographical features.

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

Out of all the nations around the world whose names commence with the letter ‘N,’ Nigeria stands out as the most populous, boasting a substantial population of 230,842,743 individuals. This West African nation, situated on the Gulf of Guinea, has not only become a demographic giant but also holds a diverse tapestry of ethnicities, cultures, and traditions within its borders. 

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

When considering nations whose names commence with the letter “N,” Norway emerges as the country boasting the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a nominal basis. As of the latest available data, Norway’s GDP stands impressively at $99,266 per capita, reflecting the economic prosperity and affluence enjoyed by its citizens. 

Uncover the unique characteristics of countries that start with N, from their geographical expanse to the size of their populations and economic prowess. This in-depth exploration provides a valuable snapshot of these nations’ key metrics, facilitating a deeper understanding of their global significance.