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Photo credits

Every photograph on this site is licensed for publication. These are their authors and licenses.

Cover photograph
Chogolisa in the Karakoram, Pakistan. Photograph by Maqsood aktar, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons. Source
Typefaces
Thmanyah for Arabic. Inter and Barlow Condensed for English, under the SIL Open Font License.
Logo
The logo of the Department of the National Library belongs to the Department, and appears beside the book’s legal deposit number.
Paper and drawings
The paper texture, shapes and marks on this site were made for it.

Country photographs

  1. AfghanistanBand-e Amir: blue lakes at 2,900 metres, held back by limestone walls that the water itself built over thousands of years.Sulaiman Ahmadi, Unsplash License, Source
  2. AlbaniaIn Krujë's old bazaar: a woman hand-stitches lace among red Albanian flags, a craft passed down through families for generations.Klejdi Shtrepi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  3. AlgeriaThe sword dance of the Sebeiba in the oasis of Djanet: two quarters of the oasis compete each year in the month of Muharram.KHALILI PHOTOS, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  4. AndorraAndorra la Vella in its valley, the highest capital city in Europe at 1,023 metres, ringed by the Pyrenees on every side.Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  5. AngolaA street market at dusk in Luanda, where about eight in ten Angolan workers earn their living in the informal economy.Pangou Stephane, CC0, Source
  6. Antigua and BarbudaRestored Georgian buildings frame English Harbour's marina: sailing yachts now moor where the Royal Navy once careened its warships.Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY 4.0, Source
  7. ArgentinaA gaucho drives a herd of cattle through the dust of the Calchaquí Valleys in Salta province on a November morning in 2018.Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  8. ArmeniaYerevan beneath Ararat: the Opera House at the city's heart, and behind it the twin-peaked mountain, inside Turkey since 1921.Սէրուժ Ուրիշեան (Serouj Ourishian), CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  9. AustraliaUluru at sunset from a viewing area in Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park in 2019; its red glow comes from iron oxide on the rock's surface.Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  10. AustriaThe Vienna Opera Ball: some 160 debutante couples take the opera house floor, the young women in white gowns, a tradition dating back to the nineteenth century.Gryffindor, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  11. AzerbaijanOld Baku: the Maiden Tower rising over the domes of a medieval bathhouse, where the city began a thousand years ago.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  12. BahrainA wooden dhow crosses Manama's turquoise water, with the National Museum, the golden roof of the National Theatre and the capital's towers behind.Slywire, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  13. BangladeshSadarghat, Dhaka: dozens of multi-deck river ferries line up on the Buriganga, waiting for thousands of passengers bound for the villages of the south.Shafiul Islam Shaikot, CC BY 4.0, Source
  14. BarbadosBathsheba, a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast, its palms bent by the trade winds.Postdlf, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  15. BelarusIndependence Avenue in Minsk, the wide Stalinist-era boulevard rebuilt almost from nothing after the city was flattened in 1944.Pavel Urusov from Kyiv, Ukraine, CC BY 2.0, Source
  16. BelgiumThe Grand Place on a summer afternoon, its guild houses gilded above a crowd, in a square Victor Hugo once called the world's most beautiful.Sandor Somkuti, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  17. BelizeIn 1971 Jacques Cousteau's research ship Calypso surveyed the hole, and he later named it among the world's finest dive sites.The TerraMar Project, CC BY 2.0, Source
  18. BeninCanoes cross paths on Lake Nokoué near Ganvié, where whole houses stand on wooden stilts above the water.DEGAN Gabin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  19. BhutanThe Thimphu Tshechu: thousands in traditional dress pack the courtyard of Tashichho Dzong while masked dancers whirl in the middle.Cfynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  20. BoliviaWomen in matching pink shawls and bowler hats wait their turn at the Gran Poder festival in La Paz, on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2019.Senorhorst Jahnsen, CC BY 2.0, Source
  21. Bosnia and HerzegovinaDivers leap from Stari Most during Mostar's annual diving competition, formally organised since 1968 and drawing thousands of spectators every summer.Z thomas, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  22. BotswanaThe Okavango Delta from the air in flood, its channels spreading across roughly 15,000 square kilometres of the Kalahari.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  23. BrazilDancers at the Parintins Folklore Festival in Amazonas in 2018, where two rival teams, blue Caprichoso and red Garantido, retell the tale of an ox.Ministério da Cultura, CC BY 2.0, Source
  24. BruneiWater taxis race across the Brunei River towards Kampong Ayer, a village on stilts that is home to about ten thousand people.Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, Source
  25. BulgariaRose season near Kazanlak: grandmothers in embroidered costume while young rose pickers photograph their outfits. Picking starts before sunrise, since the heat of day robs the oil of its scent.Dachegraphy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  26. Burkina FasoRood Woko market in the heart of Ouagadougou, where traders and shoppers gather every morning among motorbikes and parked cars.Sputniktilt, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  27. BurundiBurundian drummers perform the ritual dance of the royal drum, a tradition UNESCO listed as intangible heritage in 2014.Steve Uwimana, CC0, Source
  28. CambodiaMonks in saffron robes cross the courtyard of Ta Prohm, the temple King Jayavarman VII built in 1186 for his mother.Daniel Lautenbacher, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  29. CameroonBafia market in the Centre region: women lay out green plantains each morning, 120 kilometres north of Yaoundé.Bediong, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  30. CanadaDufferin Terrace and the Château Frontenac under a pink winter sky after a day of freezing rain. The hotel opened in 1893, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway to lure travellers onto its trains.Wilfredor, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  31. Cape VerdeThe morning market in Praia, the capital: colour, noise and the produce of the islands piled onto a handful of stalls.Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  32. Central African RepublicWomen of the Legion of Mary gather in red headscarves outside Bangui's Notre-Dame Cathedral before a prayer procession.U.S. Institute of Peace, CC BY 2.0, Source
  33. ChadThe Guelta d'Archei in the Ennedi mountains: hundreds of camels come down with their herders between hundred-metre sandstone walls, to water that never dries even at the heart of the desert.Valerian Guillot, CC BY 2.0, Source
  34. ChileKites drift over Santiago's O'Higgins Park as couples dance the cueca at the Great Military Parade, held here every 19 September for Army Day.SEGEGOB, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  35. ChinaThe Changdian temple fair on Liulichang street in Beijing, on the first day of the Year of the Dragon in 2024: red lanterns and crowds out for Spring Festival.N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  36. ColombiaPedro de Heredia founded Cartagena on 1 June 1533; today wooden balconies and bougainvillea shade the streets of its old town.© Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  37. ComorosNet fishing in the shallows off Anjouan: women, men and children haul the net together through clear water.Sarahmcq, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  38. Costa RicaArenal rises about 1,633 metres over the northern lowlands, its symmetrical cone visible from three provinces on a clear day.Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  39. Côte d'IvoireDancers in raffia costume spin at a festival in Odienné, in Malinké country in the far north.Neverdie225, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  40. CroatiaStradun, Dubrovnik's main street, seen from above, crowded with visitors beneath red-tiled roofs rebuilt after the earthquake of 1667.dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, Source
  41. CubaLimestone hills called mogotes, shaped over millions of years, rise above the fields of the Viñales valley in Pinar del Río province.Michielderoo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  42. CyprusKyrenia's old harbour under the Pentadaktylos range. Just offshore, divers found a merchant ship that sank 2,300 years ago.Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  43. CzechiaOld Town Square in Prague: a crowd waits on the astronomical clock while the towers of Týn Church rise behind a horse-drawn carriage, a scene repeated every hour since 1410.Henry Mühlpfordt, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  44. DenmarkNyhavn in Copenhagen: seventeenth-century townhouses in candy colours line a canal where sailors once drank, and visitors now take their place.Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  45. DjiboutiA village festival in Kontali in 2011: young men in white dance with long sticks while women in bright dresses watch around them.Airman 1st Class Jarad Denton, Public domain, Source
  46. DominicaTrafalgar's twin falls inside Morne Trois Pitons National Park: the taller Father on the left, the smaller Mother on the right.Pabernosmatao, CC0, Source
  47. Dominican RepublicCalle El Conde in the heart of the Colonial Zone, named for a governor who repelled an English attack on the city in 1655.Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  48. DR CongoA women's market near Butembo in the North Kivu highlands, where sellers lay out onions, cabbages and greens on the ground.Myra vah, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  49. EcuadorVicuñas had vanished from Ecuador until 1988, when Chile and Peru sent 200 to Chimborazo's slopes; thousands graze here today.Dabit100 / David Torres Costales Riobamba, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  50. EgyptEid al-Fitr morning in 2023 at El Seddik Mosque in Cairo: thousands of worshippers fill the whole avenue.Ahmed Emad H, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  51. El SalvadorLake Coatepeque, whose waters sometimes turn turquoise.JMRAFFi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  52. Equatorial GuineaDugout fishing canoes rest on the sand at Arena Blanca beach on Bioko, waiting for the next trip out.ColleBlanche, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  53. EritreaThe Monday market in Keren: herders from the Anseba highlands gather to buy and sell camels the way their grandparents did.Mheidegger, CC BY 4.0, Source
  54. EstoniaOld Tallinn at dawn: brick towers and the spire of St Olaf's Church rise through the mist, over a city the Hanseatic merchants built eight centuries ago.Hendrik Mändla, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  55. EswatiniA Swazi wedding procession: the bride's family waits at the homestead gate, singing traditional songs until the groom's family lets them in.Anthonybutz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  56. EthiopiaTimkat: crowds in white follow the priests at Ethiopia's Orthodox Epiphany.Khajitdadddy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  57. FijiBananas, cucumbers, chillies and coconuts at Sigatoka market, much of it from the river valley nicknamed the salad bowl of Fiji, which feeds markets across Viti Levu.Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  58. FinlandKauppatori, Helsinki's harbourside market square, at night during the Baltic Herring Market: old sailing ships and fishing boats moored beside lantern-lit stalls.Halt tone, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  59. FranceThe Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro gardens: 330 metres of latticed iron that Gustave Eiffel built in 1889 as a temporary structure, and it never came down.NonOmnisMoriar, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  60. GabonThe covered market of Nkembo in Libreville, where vendors lay out vegetables and fruit under one roof every morning.Barada-nikto, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  61. GeorgiaOld Tbilisi at dusk: Narikala fortress above the houses with wooden balconies, and the modern city stretching to the horizon.LeontinaVarlamonva, CC0, Source
  62. GermanyBrandenburg Gate on a summer afternoon: visitors from every country cross the line that once split Berlin, under the chariot Napoleon carried off to Paris and Prussia brought back in 1814.Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0, Source
  63. GhanaMakola Market in Accra, one of the capital's busiest markets: bright umbrellas and traders balancing goods on their heads among thousands of shoppers.Benggriff, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  64. GreeceVisitors on the Acropolis rock in the late afternoon sun, above the city of Athens that first grew up around this same hill thousands of years ago.George E. Koronaios, CC0, Source
  65. GrenadaSt. George's two cathedrals, one Catholic and one Anglican, stand only a few streets apart on the hillside.Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  66. GuatemalaLake Atitlán, photographed from a hillside village in Sololá in February 2020, a volcano's cone rising through the afternoon clouds.Bruno Rijsman, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  67. GuineaRendering palm oil in Guinea's forests: the fruit is pounded and boiled for hours until the red oil rises to the surface.Uzabiaga, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  68. Guinea-BissauA market on the outskirts of Bissau, filling every morning with vegetables, fresh fish and bright cloth.R.S. Puijk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  69. GuyanaThe Potaro River pours off a sandstone cliff into a forested gorge; the national park around the falls was created in 1929.Amanda, CC BY 2.0, Source
  70. HaitiThe Citadelle Laferrière on the summit of Bonnet à l'Évêque above Milot, built by people who had won their freedom from slavery.SPC Gibran Torres, United States Army, Public domain, Source
  71. HondurasCopán's ball court, photographed in February 2023: the Maya kings dedicated it to the great macaw deity and lined its sloping walls with 16 stone macaws.Nosferattus, CC0, Source
  72. HungaryThe Hungarian Parliament Building at dusk, its lights spilling across the Danube like a crown laid over the river.Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  73. IcelandReykjavík at sunset: the capital and its suburbs hold about two thirds of Iceland's entire population of just 394,000 people.Europäische Kommission - Audiovisueller Dienst, Halldór Kolbeins, CE - Service audiovisuel, EC - Audiovisual Service, FACTSTORY, CC BY 4.0, Source
  74. IndiaMorning on the ghats of Varanasi: stone steps running down into the Ganges, where pilgrims bathe before the sun grows hot, as they have for centuries.Rickard Törnblad, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  75. IndonesiaThe Lok Baintan floating market in South Kalimantan: women in wooden boats selling vegetables and fruit on the Martapura River from first light.Crisco 1492, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  76. IranMorning in the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz: sunlight through coloured glass spreads every colour of the rainbow across carpets and columns.Ayyoubsabawiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  77. IraqAl-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad: the Arab world's most famous book market, named after the poet in 1932, its books spread on the pavement every Friday.Mondalawy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  78. IrelandA street band in Temple Bar plays beside the old cobblestones, and passers-by stop without planning to.Jonathan Hutchins, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  79. ItalyThe Trevi Fountain in Rome: daily crowds toss coins over their shoulders, and the coins collected from its floor go each day to a charity that feeds the city's poor.Weldon Kennedy from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, Source
  80. JamaicaDunn's River Falls: natural limestone terraces that visitors climb hand in hand almost every day of the year.Breakyunit at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  81. JapanShibuya Crossing in Tokyo: when every light turns green at once, hundreds of people cross in all directions, and nobody bumps into anybody.Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  82. JordanIn front of the Treasury at Petra: camels in bright saddles wait beneath a facade the Nabataeans carved two thousand years ago.Britchi Mirela, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  83. KazakhstanKokpar: riders wrestle over a goat carcass at full gallop, a nomad game still played at every steppe festival.Rustam Uzbekov, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  84. KenyaYoung Maasai men perform the adumu, competing to see who can leap the highest without their feet lingering on the ground.Eastlando, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  85. KiribatiA maneaba on Marakei, in the northern Gilberts: pandanus thatch over a frame of coconut wood.Rafael Ávila Coya, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  86. KosovoMother Teresa Boulevard in Pristina dressed in the colours of the Kosovo flag for the tenth anniversary of independence, crowds passing through like any other afternoon.Albinfo, CC0, Source
  87. KuwaitSouq Al-Mubarakiya in the heart of the capital: a covered lane hung with Kuwaiti and Emirati flags, where white dishdashas pass black abayas.Zairon, CC BY 4.0, Source
  88. KyrgyzstanWhite yurts near Song Kol: herders spend the summer up here with their horses and flocks, close to 3,000 metres above the sea.Kondephy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  89. LaosTak bat in Luang Prabang: barefoot monks pass at dawn, and a kneeling woman drops a pinch of sticky rice into each bowl.Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  90. LatviaThe Song Festival in Riga: some forty thousand singers on one stage, a celebration held every five years and listed by UNESCO as intangible heritage.Laima Gūtmane (simka), CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  91. LebanonThe old souq of Byblos: stone lanes and shopfronts under arches, in a town people have lived in for seven thousand years.Elgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  92. LesothoRound stone houses with thatched roofs in a highland village, ringed by mountains on every side.USAID Africa Bureau, Public domain, Source
  93. LiberiaA crowded market fills a Monrovia street, coloured umbrellas and motorbike taxis packed together in Liberia's capital and largest city.blk24ga, CC BY 3.0, Source
  94. LibyaA spring morning at the vegetable market in Al-Khums: carrots piled on cinder blocks, buyers and sellers moving beneath the awnings.Ahmed alazreg, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  95. LiechtensteinThe Städtle, Vaduz's main pedestrian street: visitors stroll past Bulgari and Hublot boutiques while the prince's castle hides in the trees above.Cbliu, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  96. LithuaniaThe Song Festival in Vilnius: forty thousand singers and dancers gather only once every five years, in a celebration UNESCO has listed as intangible heritage.Szczureq, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  97. LuxembourgFrom the Corniche walkway, once called the most beautiful balcony in Europe by writer Batty Weber, the old Grund quarter sits below the cliff with the glass towers of Kirchberg behind it.Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  98. MadagascarTwo fishermen pull a traditional lakana canoe onto the sand as a sailing vessel crosses the calm water behind them.Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  99. MalawiGranite boulders rise from the clear water of Lake Malawi at Cape Maclear, with green hills stretching behind.Joachim Huber from Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  100. MalaysiaThe Petronas Towers at dusk: 452 metres and 88 floors, the tallest buildings on earth from 1998 until 2004.James Kerwin from Tbilisi, CC BY 2.0, Source
  101. MaldivesMalé from the air: an entire capital on a single island, home with its neighbours to more than 211,000 people.Shahee Ilyas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  102. MaliMonday market in front of the Great Mosque of Djenne, filling the square once a week.Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem, Holland, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  103. MaltaSeen past Valletta's saluting battery, the Three Cities of Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua were the Knights' first stronghold, built before Valletta itself existed.Flixtey, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  104. Marshall IslandsRita, at the eastern end of Majuro's capital district, from the air in 2020: ocean surf on the left, the calm lagoon on the right.Mark Uriona, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  105. MauritaniaThe camel market in Nouakchott: herders in robes and turbans size up hundreds of animals brought in from the desert to the edge of the capital.Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem, Holland, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  106. MauritiusLe Morne Brabant rises above water marked by a dark streak that looks like a sunken waterfall, actually sand sliding off the underwater shelf.Gavish Barosee, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  107. MexicoThe Church of Our Lady of Remedies at Cholula, Puebla, with the snow-capped Popocatépetl volcano behind it.Pedro Lastra peterlaster, CC0, Source
  108. MicronesiaWeno, capital of Chuuk State, counted 13,856 people in 2010; until 1989, maps called it Moen.Motoki Kurabayashi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  109. MoldovaChișinău's Central Market, tax-free when it opened in 1825, fills every morning with vendors and shoppers across 3.5 hectares, the country's largest.Bagriton, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  110. MonacoCrowds pack the balconies and grandstands above the Piscine curve during the Monaco Grand Prix, when the whole city becomes a racetrack every year.Gabriel Hutchinson Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  111. MongoliaA Kazakh eagle hunter in his fur coat in western Mongolia, home to an estimated 80 percent of the world's eagle hunters.Bfreeproductions, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  112. MontenegroFlour Square in Kotor: waiters weave between pavement tables as the Pima Palace, rebuilt after the 1667 earthquake, looks on.Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  113. MoroccoJemaa el-Fna in Marrakech at sunset, the square filling with crowds and food stalls until midnight.Herokk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  114. MozambiqueWomen dance at a community celebration in bright capulana wraps, drums beating as dust rises from the red earth.Albino Mahumana, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  115. MyanmarA fisherman on Inle Lake rows with one leg wrapped around the oar, keeping both hands free for his cone-shaped net.Mark Fischer, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  116. NamibiaDeadvlei: stiffened black camelthorn skeletons stand over cracked white clay ground, in the shadow of towering red dunes.Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  117. NauruA coral reef rings the entire island; at low tide it lies bare, its pinnacles standing like sculptures against the evening sky.Angela Spalding, Australian adviser, CC BY 2.0, Source
  118. NepalYaks haul supplies along a Khumbu trail on the road to Everest, beneath the 6,812-metre peak of Ama Dablam.Sangyam adventurer, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  119. NetherlandsA canal in Amsterdam: bicycles parked on a bridge before the Westerkerk tower, part of a network of 165 canals stretching over 100 kilometres.Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0, Source
  120. New ZealandMilford Sound, Piopiotahi in Māori after the extinct piopio bird, with Mitre Peak rising nearly 1,700 metres almost straight from the water.Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, Source
  121. NicaraguaA family gathers outside their painted house in Granada, where facades run teal, pink and yellow, and a rocking chair is still the favourite evening seat.Dr. Alexey Yakovlev from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  122. NigerWodaabe men at the Gerewol festival near In Gall, in feathers and face paint.Alfred Weidinger from Vienna, Austria, CC BY 2.0, Source
  123. NigeriaDurbar horsemen in Kano, in embroidered robes on decorated horses: a procession held at both Eids, added to UNESCO's heritage list in 2024.DonCamillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  124. North KoreaMirae Scientists Street in Pyongyang: pastel towers opened in 2015 on the bank of the Taedong river, caught in low golden light.Uwe Brodrecht, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  125. North MacedoniaThe Galičnik wedding: a nearly empty mountain village fills every July for a crowd watching one couple marry in full traditional dress.Влада на Република Македонија, Public domain, Source
  126. NorwayConstitution Day in Oslo: tens of thousands fill Karl Johans gate with flags and folk costumes on 17 May, the country's biggest holiday without a single military parade.Premeditated, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  127. OmanFriday morning at the Nizwa goat market: sellers walk their animals round a ring while buyers bid before the sun gets fierce.Andries Oudshoorn, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  128. PakistanLahore's Badshahi Mosque framed by a red sandstone arch: built by the emperor Aurangzeb in 1673, and still full of worshippers and visitors.Fassifarooq, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  129. PalauThe Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge has linked Koror and Babeldaob since 2002, a Japanese grant after the old bridge collapsed in 1996.Luka Peternel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  130. PalestineThe Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Noble Sanctuary: gold over blue tilework, the oldest surviving Islamic building in the world, standing since 691.Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  131. PanamaPanama City at night: the towers of the financial district line the Bay of Panama above lit avenues.Dronepicr, CC BY 3.0, Source
  132. Papua New GuineaFamilies in Port Moresby still live in houses on stilts over the harbour, a coastal way of building far older than the towers climbing the hills behind.gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0, Source
  133. ParaguayItalian Jesuit architect Juan Bautista Primoli designed the great church of the Trinidad mission in Itapúa, raising its walls in red sandstone.P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0, Source
  134. PeruSchoolchildren rehearse a festival dance in Cusco's main square, before a Jesuit church raised on the site of the Inca emperor Huayna Cápac's palace.Konalouisa, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  135. PhilippinesSinulog in Cebu: every January, dancers in glittering costumes take over the streets to honour the Santo Niño, the Holy Child.Jumelito Capilot, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  136. PolandWarsaw's Old Town Square at dusk: every colourful facade here was rebuilt from nothing after German forces destroyed it in 1944.Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  137. PortugalTram 28 climbs the narrow lanes of Lisbon's Alfama, where the houses came first and the tracks had to bend around every corner instead.Sonse, CC BY 2.0, Source
  138. QatarThe falcon souq in Souq Waqif: birds wait on perches above the sand while their owners haggle over prices that can top the cost of a car.Davide Mauro, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  139. Republic of the CongoA neighbourhood market in Brazzaville, coloured umbrellas lined above vegetable stalls and walls painted with graffiti.Xavier Hakiza, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  140. RomaniaYoung riders in traditional dress on Semigreul Românesc horses, Romania's own draught horse breed, along a mountain stream in the Carpathians.ShadowNighy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  141. RussiaSummer on Red Square: visitors pass through the Kremlin's Saint Nicholas Gate, with the domes of Saint Basil's Cathedral glowing behind them.Rakoon, CC0, Source
  142. RwandaUmuganda: everyone between 18 and 65 is expected to take part, from digging ditches to paving roads.Masako Kato, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  143. Saint Kitts and NevisMorning light catches the coast of Saint Kitts as a ship nears the port of Basseterre, much the way sailing vessels have approached it for centuries.Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  144. Saint LuciaTraditional fishing boats share this cove eight kilometres south of Castries with yachts that sail in from across the Atlantic every winter.P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0, Source
  145. Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesThe Tobago Cays from the air: small islets ringed by a horseshoe of coral reef.Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  146. SamoaFamilies sell bananas, papayas, cucumbers and heaps of coconuts at Maketi Fou, the Fugalei market in Apia, open every day.UN WOMEN Pacific, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  147. San MarinoThe stone path linking the first and second towers atop Monte Titano, known as the Witches' Passage, with the plains of Romagna stretching below to the horizon.Terragio67, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  148. São Tomé and PríncipeTwo fishermen push their wooden canoe into the surf at Praia Caixão on Príncipe, below forest-covered hills.César J. Pollo, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  149. Saudi ArabiaPilgrims circling the Kaaba during Hajj: a white sea turning seven times around it in the Grand Mosque of Mecca.Adli Wahid, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  150. SenegalPainted pirogues drawn up on Yoff Beach in Dakar at dusk.jbdodane, CC BY 2.0, Source
  151. SerbiaThe Guča Trumpet Festival in Dragačevo: more than 300,000 visitors arrive each summer for a brass competition that began in 1961, filling the streets with sound.Gumenjak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  152. SeychellesSir Selwyn Clarke Market in Victoria, the capital's main market, where vendors and shoppers meet each morning under colourful awnings.So Seychelles, CC BY 2.0, Source
  153. Sierra LeoneFishing and ferry boats ride at anchor off Tokeh Beach on the Freetown Peninsula, where forest runs down to the sand.Hodroj Houssein, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  154. SingaporeSatay Street at Lau Pa Sat: every evening the road beside this 1894 cast-iron market closes to cars and fills with grills and tables.kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  155. SlovakiaThe Východná folklore festival, Slovakia's largest folk gathering: wooden stands and lookout towers fill every summer with thousands who come for the costumes and the music.PhDr. Pavol Svetoň, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  156. SloveniaCafes along the Ljubljanica river in central Ljubljana, where people linger for a whole hour over a single coffee.Chris Yunker from St. Louis, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  157. Solomon IslandsHeliconias, red ginger and orchids at Honiara Central Market, where around a thousand vendors worked in 2014, some 80 percent of them women.Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, CC BY 2.0, Source
  158. SomaliaLido beach in Mogadishu in 2023: families shelter under bright awnings while fishing boats bob beyond the surf.Dan Sloan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  159. South AfricaA Kaapse Klopse troupe marches through Cape Town on 2 January: once the one day off granted to enslaved workers, now a carnival of brass and colour.Olga Ernst, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  160. South KoreaGyeongbokgung in Seoul: anyone wearing hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, enters the palace free, so its courtyards bloom with colour.Republic of Korea from Seoul, Republic of Korea, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  161. South SudanIn a Mundari cattle camp near Terekeka, smoke from burning cow dung drifts around the long-horned cattle and their herders.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  162. SpainA flamenco performance in Seville: heel striking wood, palms clapping, an art some trace back to old Andalusian music.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  163. Sri LankaStilt fishermen at Koggala near Galle: each man perches on a crossbar above the surf, a method said to date from the 1940s.Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, Source
  164. SudanFriday afternoon at the tomb of Sheikh Hamad al-Nil in Omdurman: crowds from across the city gather for the weekly Sufi dhikr.Nina R from Africa, CC BY 2.0, Source
  165. SurinameWhere the road ends, the upper Suriname River becomes the road, and motorised dugout canoes carry people and supplies to the villages upstream.M M from Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  166. SwedenGamla Stan by night, seen from the Skeppsbron waterfront: the old town's facades glowing over the water of a city built across fourteen islands.Dkganesh, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  167. SwitzerlandA Landsgemeinde in Hundwil, 1963: thousands raise their hands outdoors to pass their canton's laws by a single vote, no ballot box needed.Heinz Baumann, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  168. SyriaThe courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus: sunlit marble crossed by worshippers and visitors since the mosque was completed in 715.Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, Source
  169. TaiwanTaipei at dusk: Taipei 101 rises 508 metres above the capital, with the mountains that ring the city basin behind it.JamesPHR, CC BY 4.0, Source
  170. TajikistanBuzkashi at Nowruz in Dushanbe: riders in padded leather helmets fight over a goat carcass while the crowd roars behind them.Шухрат Саъдиев, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  171. TanzaniaWomen set out to fish on Nungwi beach in northern Zanzibar, where thousands of fishers follow the Indian Ocean's tides every day.Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, Source
  172. ThailandWat Arun at night: the Temple of Dawn glows gold on the Chao Phraya, facing the old royal city on the far bank.Mark Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  173. The BahamasUnderwater sand ridges in the clear water off Eleuthera, photographed from the International Space Station.NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain, Source
  174. The GambiaWomen transplant rice seedlings in the Upper River Region, a family effort that runs from sunrise to sunset.Sheena, Public domain, Source
  175. Timor-LesteTebe dahur in Viqueque: a ring of men and women in tais cloth, arms linked, stamping out the rhythm of their song.David Palazón, Tatoli ba Kultura, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  176. TogoA street in Lomé's Grand Marché beside the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, built by the Germans in 1901 and 1902.Dan Sloan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  177. TongaThe south of Uoleva in the Haʻapai group, an almost uninhabited island with no roads and no phone towers; the islet on the left is Tatafa.dr.scott.mills, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  178. Trinidad and TobagoMaracas Bay from the lookout above it, the crescent of Trinidad's most visited beach framed by the forested peaks of the Northern Range.Grueslayer, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  179. TunisiaCamel racing at the International Festival of the Sahara in Douz: riders in white turbans charge past a packed crowd at the edge of the dunes.McKay Savage, CC BY 2.0, Source
  180. TurkeyA winter morning on the Galata Bridge: dozens of lines dangle over the Golden Horn, with the domes of the New Mosque, finished in 1665, behind.Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  181. TurkmenistanYoung women welcome guests with trays of food at a Novruz celebration near Mary in 2017, in long gowns and silver headdresses.Amustard, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  182. TuvaluPupils of Nauti Primary School on Funafuti perform a traditional dance in layered dance skirts and leaf garlands, welcoming visiting guests in November 2017.總統府, CC BY 2.0, Source
  183. UgandaA market in central Kampala: daily life fills the streets of a capital city that is home to about 1.9 million people.Andrew Regan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  184. UkraineLviv's Market Square at sunset: laid out in the fourteenth century, its current town hall tower rising 65 metres.Paju~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  185. United Arab EmiratesA camel race in Dubai: the rider is a small robot jockey, steered by a trainer from a car running beside the track.Tmsprophoto.photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  186. United KingdomCamden Market, London: stalls under an old iron roof, and crowds of every nationality squeezing between bags and street food seven days a week.Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source
  187. United StatesVisitors paddle the Tidal Basin in Washington in April, beneath cherry trees that began with a gift of 3,020 from Tokyo in 1912.Rachel Hendrix, Public domain, Source
  188. UruguayAt Montevideo's Semana Criolla, held since 1925, riders carry Uruguay's three official flags: Artigas's, the national flag and the Thirty-Three's.Pablo La Rosa / IM, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  189. UzbekistanThe Registan in Samarkand at night: three madrasas built between 1417 and 1660, and people lingering on the square until midnight.Benjamin Goetzinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  190. VanuatuPort Vila's covered market stays open day and night from Monday to Saturday; village women take turns at the stalls, many sleeping beside their produce.Jean Van Jean, CC BY 3.0, Source
  191. Vatican CityPilgrims fill Saint Peter's Square for the weekly general audience, when the square can hold tens of thousands at once.Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz), CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  192. VenezuelaKukenán tepui catches the last light over the Gran Sabana; flat-topped mountains like it cover about 65 percent of Canaima National Park.Paolo Costa Baldi, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  193. VietnamHoi An at dusk: a young couple in traditional red dress among hundreds of silk lanterns, a craft the town has kept for centuries.DEBA PRASAD ROY, CC0, Source
  194. YemenOld Sanaa at dusk: brick tower houses trimmed in white gypsum, ringed by mountains, in a city lived in for more than 2,500 years.Hamza Shiban, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source
  195. ZambiaVictoria Falls from the air: islands of the Zambezi above the lip, and the narrow gorge below.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source
  196. ZimbabweGranite boulders crown the Matobo Hills south of Bulawayo, sculpted by wind and rain over millions of years.ru:User:Digr, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source