đź“ť Beelad Blog
Geography, data standards, culture, and history — articles about countries around the world.
The 10 Smallest Countries in the World, Ranked by Area
The ten smallest countries by area, from Vatican City (0.49 km²) to Malta (316 km²), with UN population, density and why sources disagree.
The Most Spoken Languages in the World: Total vs Native Speakers
The top 10 languages by total speakers per Ethnologue 2026, with native and second-language figures, and why Hindi–Urdu and Arabic counting changes the order.
The Newest Countries in the World: Dates, Votes and UN Seats
South Sudan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Timor-Leste and more: independence dates, referendum results, UN admission dates and how Kosovo's recognition is counted.
ISO 3166 Country Codes Explained: Alpha-2, Alpha-3, Numeric and How They Change
How ISO 3166 country codes work: 249 alpha-2, alpha-3 and numeric codes, where the numbers come from, which codes changed, and why Kosovo uses XK.
International Calling Codes: How E.164 Phone Numbers Work
How E.164 phone numbers work: 1–3 digit country codes, nine numbering zones, shared +1 and +7, exit codes like 011 and 0011, and the Italian zero rule.
Countries With More Than One Capital, and Capitals That Moved
Bolivia, South Africa, the Netherlands and others split their capital; Abuja, Astana and Naypyidaw replaced old ones. Dated guide, as of October 2026.
Official Languages by Country: Who Has the Most, and What 'Official' Means
Bolivia has 37 official languages, Zimbabwe 16, South Africa 12. How India, Switzerland and the US (Executive Order 14224, 2025) define official status.
ISO 4217 Currency Codes Explained: Letters, Numbers, Decimals and Changes
How ISO 4217 currency codes work: letter and numeric codes, X codes, minor units from 0 to 4 decimals, and changes like Bulgaria's euro and Zimbabwe's ZiG.
Census vs Estimate: Why Population Figures Disagree
Why Pakistan has 241.49M in its 2023 census but 247.5M in UN data: census counts, UN WPP 2024 estimates, de jure vs de facto, and old censuses.
Country-Code Domains (ccTLDs): Who Runs Them, Who Can Register, and Who Profits
How ccTLDs like .de, .uk and .ai work: the ISO link and its exceptions, IANA and PTI, registration rules by country, IDN domains and the .ai and .tv windfalls.
Maritime Borders Explained: UNCLOS Zones in Nautical Miles and Kilometers
Territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ and continental shelf: widths in nm and km, what each zone allows, the 10 largest EEZs, and why the US is not a party.
World Time Zones: UTC Offsets, Odd Half-Hours and the Date Line
37 standard UTC offsets are in use in 2026, 11 of them not whole hours. Why Nepal is +5:45, which countries have the most zones, and the day Samoa skipped.
UN M49 Regions Explained: The Codes Behind UN Statistics
How the UN M49 standard groups 248 countries or areas into 5 regions, 17 sub-regions and 8 intermediate regions, with codes, edge cases and Beelad's 6 continents.
Enclaves and Exclaves: Definitions, Baarle, Cooch Behar and Other Border Oddities
Enclave vs exclave vs pene-exclave, Baarle-Hertog's 22 Belgian enclaves, the 2015 India–Bangladesh swap, Kaliningrad, Nakhchivan and three enclaved countries.
Dependent and Autonomous Territories: Who Governs What
The UN's 17 non-self-governing territories, how Greenland, Hong Kong, Ă…land and Puerto Rico are run, and what Gibraltar's 2026 treaty with the EU changed.