parent_taxon ficinia
A sovereign state is , in international law , a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralised government that has sovereignty over a geographic ___MASK1___ . International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population , defined territory , one government , and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states . It is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state . Modern humans (" ___MASK4___ sapiens ", primarily ssp . " ___MASK4___ sapiens sapiens ") are the only extant members of Hominina tribe ( or human tribe ), a branch of the tribe Hominini belonging to the family of great apes . They are characterized by erect posture and bipedal locomotion ; manual dexterity and increased tool use , compared to other animals ; and a general trend toward larger , more complex brains and societies . ___MASK92___ spiralis ( pngao , pkao , or golden sand sedge ) is a coastal sedge endemic to New Zealand ( including the Chatham Islands ). Originally widespread , it has suffered severely from competition with introduced marram grass and animal grazing and now has only a patchy distribution . Tasmania ( abbreviated as Tas and known colloquially as " Tassie ") is an island state of the Commonwealth of Australia . It is located to the south of the Australian mainland , separated by Bass Strait . The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania , the 26th - largest island in the world , and the surrounding 334 islands . The state has a population of around 518 , 500 , just over forty percent of which resides in the Greater Hobart precinct , which forms the metropolitan ___MASK1___ of the state capital and largest city , Hobart . Madagascar , officially the Republic of Madagascar , and previously known as the Malagasy Republic , is an island country in the Indian Ocean , off the coast of Southeast Africa . The nation comprises the island of Madagascar ( the fourth - largest island in the world ), and numerous smaller peripheral islands . Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana , Madagascar split from the Indian peninsula around 88 million years ago , allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation . Consequently , Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot ; over 90 % of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth . The island ' s diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing ___MASK20___ population and other environmental threats . Indonesia ( or ; Indonesian : ), officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania . Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans , it is the world ' s largest island country , with more than seventeen thousand islands . At , Indonesia is the world ' s 14th - largest country in terms of land ___MASK1___ and world ' s 7th - largest country in terms of combined sea and land ___MASK1___ . It has an estimated population of over 260 million people and is the world ' s fourth most populous country , the most populous Austronesian nation , as well as the most populous Muslim - majority country . The world ' s most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country ' s population . The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total ___MASK1___ of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface ___MASK1___ . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ". The ___MASK2___ are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges , which superficially resemble grasses and rushes . The family is large , with some 5 , 500 known species described in about 90 genera , the largest being the " Carex " genus of " true sedges " with over 2 , 000 species . These species are widely distributed , with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America . While sedges may be found growing in almost all environments , many are associated with wetlands , or with poor soils . Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as sedgelands . Africa is the world ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface ___MASK1___ and 20 . 4 % of its total land ___MASK1___ . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the world ' s human population . The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north , both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the Indian Ocean to the southeast , and the Atlantic Ocean to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition . Tonga ( or ; Tongan : " Puleanga Fakatui o Tonga "), officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited . The total surface ___MASK1___ is about scattered over of the southern Pacific Ocean . It has a population of 103 , 000 people of whom 70 % reside on the main island of Tongatapu . The ___MASK59___ (" ___MASK5___ leo ") is one of the big cats in the genus " ___MASK5___ " and a member of the family ___MASK66___ . The commonly used term African ___MASK59___ collectively denotes the several subspecies in Africa . With some males exceeding in weight , it is the second - largest living cat after the ___MASK73___ . Wild lions currently exist in sub - Saharan Africa and in India ( where an endangered remnant population resides in Gir Forest National Park ). In ancient historic times , their range was in most of Africa , including North Africa , and across Eurasia from Greece and southeastern Europe to India . In the late Pleistocene , about 10 , 000 years ago , the ___MASK59___ was the most widespread large land mammal after humans : " ___MASK5___ leo spelaea " lived in northern and western Europe and " ___MASK5___ leo atrox " lived in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru . The ___MASK59___ is classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ), having seen a major population decline in its African range of 30  50 % over two decades during the second half of the twentieth century . Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks . Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood , habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes of concern . Within Africa , the West African ___MASK59___ population is particularly endangered . The North Island or Te Ika - a - Mui (" Mori ") is one of the two main islands of New Zealand , separated from the slightly larger but much less populous South Island by Cook Strait . The island ' s ___MASK1___ is , making it the world ' s 14th - largest island . It has a population of ___MASK92___ nodosa , the knotted club - rush or knobby club - rush , is a rhizomatous perennial in the family ___MASK2___ , native to Australia and New Zealand . It grows to between 15 and 100 cm in height . Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . It is the world ' s sixth - largest country by total ___MASK1___ . The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea , Indonesia and East Timor to the north ; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north - east ; and New Zealand to the south - east . Australia ' s capital is Canberra , and its largest urban ___MASK1___ is Sydney . A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth . Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria , up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents . Ordered from largest in size to smallest , they are : Asia , Africa , North America , South America , Antarctica , Europe , and Australia . In geology , ___MASK74___ of continental crust include regions covered with water . Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban ___MASK1___ of New Zealand , with residents . It is at the south - western tip of the North Island , between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range . Wellington is the major population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region , which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa . As the nation ' s capital city , the New Zealand Government and Parliament , Supreme Court and most of the civil service are based in the city . India , officially the Republic of India (" Bhrat Gaarjya "), is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh - largest country by ___MASK1___ , the second - most populous country ( with over 1 . 2 billion people ), and the most populous democracy in the world . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south , the Arabian Sea on the southwest , and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast . It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west ; China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the northeast ; and Myanmar ( Burma ) and Bangladesh to the east . In the Indian Ocean , India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives . India ' s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia . Its capital is New Delhi ; other metropolises include Mumbai , Kolkata , Chennai , Bangalore , Hyderabad and Ahmedabad . Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land ___MASK1___ of . The country ' s capital , Honiara , is located on the island of Guadalcanal . The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago , which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North Solomon Islands ( part of Papua New Guinea ), but excludes outlying islands , such as Rennell and Bellona , and the Santa Cruz Islands . ___MASK92___ is a genus of tufted or rhizotamous sedges . There are around 70 recognised species in Africa , three species ( ___MASK92___ ambigua , ___MASK92___ anomala and ___MASK92___ spiralis ) that occur in New Zealand and a single species ___MASK92___ nodosa that occurs in Australia . Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand . It is the most populous urban ___MASK1___ in the country . Auckland has a population of , which constitutes percent of New Zealand ' s population . It is part of the wider Auckland Region  the ___MASK1___ governed by the Auckland Council  which also includes outlying rural ___MASK74___ and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf , resulting in a total population of . Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world . The Mori language name for Auckland is or , meaning " Tmaki with a hundred lovers ", in reference to the desirability of its fertile land at the hub of waterways in all directions . It has also been called karana , the Mori enunciation of " Auckland ". Afri ( singular " ___MASK64___ ") was a Latin name for the inhabitants of Africa , referring in its widest sense to all the lands south of the Mediterranean ( Ancient Libya ). Latin - speakers at first used " ___MASK64___ " as an adjective , meaning " of Africa ". As a substantive , it denoted a native of " Africa ", i . e ., an African . New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country geographically comprises two main landmasses  that of the North Island , or Te Ika - a - Mui , and the South Island , or Te Waipounamu  and numerous smaller islands . New Zealand is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly south of the Pacific island ___MASK74___ of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal and plant life . The country ' s varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . New Zealand ' s capital city is Wellington , while its most populous city is Auckland . The Sinai Peninsula or simply Sinai ('; ', ; "") is a peninsula in Egypt , situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south , serving as a land bridge between Asia and Africa . It is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia . Sinai has a land ___MASK1___ of about and a population of approximately 1 , 400 , 000 people . The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypt ' s 27 governorates ( with three more straddling the Suez Canal ___MASK1___ ).