Which Countries Have the Most Obvious/Well Known History and Which Countries the Most Unknown/Obscure History? (England, general)

[karstic]

I would say Egypt and then China.

[dizzybint]

Greece , Egypt. France

[Ariete]

Originally Posted by karstic

I would say Egypt and then China.

Originally Posted by dizzybint

Greece , Egypt. France

I assume Egypt and Greece are here mentioned as the most known.

Who were the Mamluks?

When did Greece declare independence and how?

Yeah, just as I thought.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by Thepastpresentandfuture

Some people think all African countries have the same exact history but that is not true in reality.

However, I still included only one 1 African country (Gabon) in my top 10 countries with the most unknown/obscure history. Those African countries you mentioned still would probably make my top 15.

What most, though not all African countries have in common is artificial and arbitrary boundaries, and thus no real national identities. Egypt, Tunisia (formerly Carthage) and South Africa are notable exceptions. Thus I consider the "national" histories to be more nonexistant than unknown. Ditto many Asian countries.

Originally Posted by Thepastpresentandfuture

I also agree most Americans seem a bit ignorant in World Geography and World History.

However, there are still some Americans with plenty of knowledge for topics like that, such as me, you, and a few other Americans as well.

I actually can find most countries on the globe and know a bit about many.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by stan4

Well known to who? A bunch of white people?

I think the audience for this question is implicit. City-Data readers. So mainly Americans, Europeans, and Latin Americans who can read and write in English.

[Boompa]

Tannu Tuva started the 20th Century as a small area north of Mongolia, in China that had been used in the building of the Trans Siberian Railway. When Mongolia declared Independence from China, Tannu Tuva became independent by fault. It remained that way until the Russians decided to secure the railway by annexing it. It is too far from anywhere for anyone to care about. It is the farthest point from an ocean in the world

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by Boompa

Tannu Tuva

Bokhara

Khiva

Sikkim

Has anyone been to any of these?
Heard of them?
Tuva is the farthest place from any ocean in the world. It didn't really want independence but when Mongolia became independent, it was left over

[SunGrins]

English history is well know partly because of Shakespeare but also the historical documentation is reasonably complete and accessible.
US history is often the subject of Hollywood movies and the documentation is there but subject to interpretation which is changeable.
Spanish history is pretty well known going back to Rome and the Punic Wars, the Romanized Visigoths, Moorish caliphates, re-conquest and unification, colonial expansion and so on right down to the Spanish Civil War and Franco.


Canadian history is not well known to US citizens. I was surprised that Newfoundland and Labrador were independent for a while and not part of Canada until 1949. Canada was faced with some of the same challenges as the US but found different solutions in many cases.
The history of Central American countries and places like Haiti and Dominican Republic are not well known. The Dominican Republic applied for statehood in the US but was turned down. Haiti invaded and ruled the Dominican Republic for twenty years (still a sore spot). There has been so much foreign intervention in these countries that it's hard to keep it all straight.
Ethiopia has a fascinating culture and history but very long and complicated so only a few topics ever get covered. The rest of sub-Sahara Africa is mostly a blur to Americans who puzzle over why Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are fighting the German Kaiser's gunboat in The African Queen.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by SunGrins

Canadian history is not well known to US citizens. I was surprised that Newfoundland and Labrador were independent for a while and not part of Canada until 1949. Canada was faced with some of the same challenges as the US but found different solutions in many cases.

I am actually extremely familiar with Canadian history. Another little known fact is that Alberta and Saskatchewan were initially to be admitted to the Confederation as one province, "Buffalo" but the existing provinces felt it woiuld be too large and powerful. Another is that most of the provinces' northern portions were part of Hudson's Bay Company, which eventually became known as "Northwest Territories." Eventually much of this land was attached to Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. Modern Alberta and Saskatchewan remained part of the Northwest Territories until 1905. In 1999 the eastern and far northern arctic regions were reconstituted as "Nunavut" with Northwest Territories running from the Alberta and Saskatchewan borders to the Arctic Ocean on the and Yukon Territory on the West. I am uncertain about the details of the separation of Yukon Territories from the Northwest Territories though I'm sure in 1897 this was regretted.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Boompa

Tannu Tuva

Bokhara

Khiva

Sikkim

None of them actually exist as countries. They are either former countries (Sikkim) or parts of countries (Tannu Tuva, which was a "partially recognized independent state"). It's understandable that few people might know about their history.