Abkhazia is a political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus whose status is disputed. It considers itself an independent state (the Republic of Abkhazia). This is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, South Ossetia and Transnistria (the last two are entities with a limited recognition). The Georgian government and the majority of the world’s governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia’s territory.

Rhodesia was an unrecognised state located in Southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965.

Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, located about 200 miles (322 km) northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity. On August 21, 1986, a limnic eruption occurred at Lake Nyos which triggered the sudden release of about 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂; this cloud rose at nearly 100 kilometres (62 mi) per hour. The gas spilled over the northern lip of the lake into a valley running roughly east-west from Cha to Subum, and then rushed down two valleys branching off it to the north, displacing all the air and suffocating some 1,700 people within 25 kilometres (16 mi) of the lake, mostly rural villagers, as well as 3,500 livestock. The worst affected villages were Cha, Nyos, and Subum. Scientists concluded from evidence that a 300-foot (91 m) fountain of water and foam formed at the surface of the lake.

Today Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast is known as an internationally renowned nature reserve, but its history is shrouded in secrecy and tales of military testing.

Cobra Mist, a film by Emily Richardson. Cobra Mist explores the relationship between the landscape of Orford Ness and the physical traces of its unusual military history.

BBC Article

Amazing trees grow on these islands. Socotra is considered the “jewel” of biodiversity in the Arabian sea.

More.

This is the flag of the Sulawesi separatist movement. The shape in the middle is the outline of the island. Can you be more simple than that? On a side note, you can also eat roasted rat on Sulawesi. Here’s a video.

Suriname. An odd mixture of cultures.

Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

More info in Wikipedia.

United States Air Force Lockheed T-33 reconnaissance plane forced down in December, 1957, on display in Gjirokastër, Albania.