Hey everyone welcome back to a new video! Today we take a look at some of the lesser known countries in the Americas!
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Hey guys welcome back to another video. Today I'm gonna be taking a look at some of the lesser known
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countries in the Americas. Both North and South America are pretty well known to everyone so I
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mostly focused on Central America and the Caribbean. These are all somewhat known as well but maybe
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you'll find out something new about these territories. So let's get started. First Belize
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formerly known as British Honduras, is a country in Central America, bordered by Mexico in the north and Guatemala in the west and south
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as well as the Caribbean Sea in the east. Funny enough, it doesn't border the Honduras
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It has about 23,000 square kilometers and a population of only around 390,000 people
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being the least populated and a country with the lowest population density in Central America
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However, this seems to be changing, since the country has a population growth rate of almost 2% a year
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one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. It's a very diverse society
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English is the official language, and Belizean Criollo is the native language
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However, over half of the population speaks Spanish. It started off being occupied by the Mayans, which spread their civilization to Belize around 1500 BC
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During the colonial period, Spain declared it as a Spanish colony but chose not to develop
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it due to the hostile tribes in the region and the lack of resources to compensate any effort
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Then it was colonized by English and Scottish settlers and pirates in 1638
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It was disputed with Spain but became a part of the British Empire officially in 1862, gaining
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its independence in 1981, not being recognized at the time by Guatemala who claimed the territory
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as their own. Moving to the south we have three countries. First, Guiana. Officially the Cooperative
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Republic of Guiana is a country in South America which is however considered part of the Caribbean
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due to its cultural ties. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela. It's the
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third smallest country on mainland South America, with 215,000 square kilometers and around 780,000
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people. Originally inhabited by many indigenous groups, Guiana was settled by the Dutch before
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coming under British rule in the late 18th century. It was governed as British Guiana
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It being part of the British Empire justifies a bit of an odd reality for the region. The largest
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ethnic group is actually Indian, as in from actual India, and the second largest religion
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is Hinduism. It's also the only South American nation in which English is the official language
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Guiana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on the 26th of May of 1966 and became
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a republic on the 23rd of February of 1970, having some territory claimed by their neighbor Venezuela
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Right next to Guyana we have Suriname. Suriname has a similar story to Guyana except it was colonized and ruled by the Dutch
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It was colonized in the 17th century and became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954
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However, in 1975 they left the kingdom to become its own independent republic
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It also considered culturally part of the Caribbean and it the only country outside Europe where Dutch is spoken by a majority of the population At around 165 square kilometers it the smallest country in South America with
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a population of around 560,000 people, most of which live in the capital city of Paramaribo
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Due to Dutch influence and being next to Guyana, most of the population is either Indian, maroon
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which are descendants from African slaves, Creole or Javanese. The last of the Guyanas is French Guiana
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Differently from Guiana and Suriname, French Guiana is still French territory up to today
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being considered an overseas department and region of France. Being so, it's the second largest French region at 83,000 square kilometers and the
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largest outermost region within the EU, which it's technically part of. Over half of the 280,000 people live in the capital of Cayenne
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It was first inhabited by natives, but the French are said to have arrived as early as
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1503, only establishing a colony in 1643. It was a slave colony until the abolition of slavery during the French Revolution
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It was established as a department in 1797 and slowly turned into a penal colony where
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France sent its prisoners. During World War II, its leader was one of the first to side with the Free France resistance
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aiding the Allies in the war efforts. After the war, it was fully integrated into the French state, using the Euro as its currency
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and being the most prosperous territory in South America. Interestingly, it's also an important center and launch location for the European Space
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Agency, despite being in South America. Moving north, we travel to the actual Caribbean, Saint Lucia
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Saint Lucia is an island country, part of the Lesser Antilles, between the island of
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Saint Vincent, Barbados and Martinique. It has an area of 617,000 square kilometers and a population of over 165,000 people with
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its capital in Castries. It was named after Saint Lucie of Syracuse, a supposed Christian martyr who lived in the
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2nd and 3rd centuries. It started as part of the French Empire, who made a deal with the natives
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But several consecutive French-British wars made the island switch owners between the two
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dozens of times. As a joke, it was called the Helen of the West Indies, referring to the character of
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Helen of Troy. In 1814, British forces took definite control of the island
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They got a representative government in around 1840 and finally became independent in 1979
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Today, it keeps close relationships with both France and the UK. Going west, still in the Caribbean, we have the Cayman Islands
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Cayman Islands isn't an independent territory. It's an autonomous British overseas territory
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Being an archipelago, its territory of 264 square kilometers is made up of three islands
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Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brock. It has a population of just over 60,000 people with its capital in Georgetown
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It's considered a major offshore financial haven for international businesses and millionaires
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Unlike many of its neighbors the Cayman Islands have no evidence of ever having a native population only being populated by European colonizers in the 17th century It was colonized by the British along with Jamaica and due to the use of slavery
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at the time, most of the population consisted of African slaves. When slavery was abolished
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and the slaves were freed, the Africans remained on the island, becoming the country's majority
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They were part of the colony of Jamaica until 1962 when they became a separate colony. Travelling
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north in the middle of the Atlantic but somewhat close to the US eastern coast, we have a similar
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situation with Bermuda. Bermuda is also a British overseas territory. However, they are self-governing
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with its own constitution, government and local laws. The UK is only responsible for its defense
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and foreign relations. With a small population of around 65,000 people and its capital of Hamilton
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For most of the 20th century, it had one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, due
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to their activity as an offshore insurance, but that took a hit with the recent financial crisis
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It was discovered in 1505 by the Spanish, but settled only by the British in the 17th century
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Interestingly, the first British coins to have circulated in North America were made
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in Bermuda. It was also the only territory free of the trade ban between the UK and the US during
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the American War of Independence. In 1940 it became under US control because of the destroyers for bases deal between President
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Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, then given back to the British until today
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It's also very known for being one of the corners of the Bermuda Triangle, along with
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Florida and Puerto Rico, a place in the Atlantic Ocean where a lot of ships tend to disappear
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Going back south we have Curaçao. Curaçao is an island off the Venezuelan coast, being part of the Southern Caribbean. It's autonomous but not independent, being a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was formerly part of the Curaçao Independencies Colony from 1815 to 1954, including the main island and the smaller island of Little Curaçao
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Having a population of over 160,000 in an area of 444 square kilometers and its capital in Willemstad
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It was previously the capital of the Netherlands Antilles which was dissolved in 2010
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The natives are known as Otawak but as early as 1499 it was the Europeans who took control
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First the Spanish and then the Dutch in 1634. However, the name of the island was given by the Portuguese
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In the 16th century, sailors on long trips would get scurvy from the lack of vitamin C
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Some sick Portuguese sailors were left at the island, and since the island was so rich in fruit, their scurvy was cured
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and so the island was named Island of Curaçao, Island of Healing in Portuguese
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Another explanation is that the word Curaçao in Portuguese means heart, which could refer to the island as a heart slash center of trade for the region
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The Spanish took the name over and the Dutch kept it. A little to the east, still in the Caribbean, we have Trinidad and Tobago, a sovereign state
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the southernmost nation in the West Indies, also off the coast of Venezuela, with an area
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of just over 5 square kilometers and a population of 1 million with its capital city of Port of Spain It was one of the first Spanish colonies in the Americas since the arrival of Columbus in
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1498. It was under Spanish rule for almost 300 years, until being surrendered to the British fleet
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in 1797. It changed hands between several European powers, like Spain, Britain, France
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the Dutch and interestingly, Kauerland. Kauerland was a small duchy part of the Polish-Lithuanian
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Commonwealth in what is today Latvia. It was the second smallest state to colonize the Americas
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controlling Trinidad and Tobago for a few years during the late 1600s. In fact, these islands were
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the islands of the Caribbeans which most switched rulers throughout their history. They became
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independent in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. In 2015, they had the highest GDP per capita in
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the Americas, only behind the US and Canada. And they're recognized as a high-income economy
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being industrialized unlike many of its Caribbean neighbors and focusing on its exploration of oil
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and natural gas reserves. Finally, and this was at least for me the least known country off the list
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Granada. It's an archipelago consisting of the island of Granada and six smaller islands at the
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southern of the Grenadines Island Chain, just north of Trinidad and Tobago which we just saw
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With only 348.5 square kilometers and just over 100,000 people, its capital is St. George
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The origin of the name Granada is unclear, but most people say it was named from the Spanish
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city of Granada. However, the first name given by Columbus was La Concepcion, in honor of the
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Virgin Mary. Before the Europeans arrived, it was also inhabited by the Arawaks and the island
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Caribs. It was cited by Columbus in 1498 as well, but despite being claimed by Spain, there is no
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evidence that they landed and settled at that time. There were various unsuccessful attempts
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of colonization due to native resistance. However, the French succeeded in 1650. On February
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of 1763, after the Seven Years War, the island was ceded to the British. And then in 1967
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they were granted autonomy over internal affairs, becoming independent in 1974. A period of
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instability followed. First it became a Marxist-Leninist state in 1949 after a revolution, then a
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a military coup took place in 1983, leading to the execution of the former leader, and
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then also in 83, the US, along with Barbados, invaded the island to restore stability and
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democracy. This invasion was highly criticized by Britain, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago
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but was somewhat successful in storing a two-party parliamentary system under a constitutional
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monarchy where the head of state is still the British Queen. In 2004, a hurricane hit the island
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and destroyed 90% of the population's homes, from which they are still recovering today
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So, those are some of the lesser known countries in America. Thank you guys so much for watching
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remember to leave a comment below with any suggestions or corrections, and subscribe if you want to catch future videos. I will see you next time
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