Countries That Start With R

Sovereign countries (3)

Three sovereign UN member states have English names beginning with R: Romania, Russia, and Rwanda. Each occupies a different continent and represents a different scale of statehood — from the largest country in the world by land area to a small, densely populated nation in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Romania

Bucharest · Europe

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Russia

Moscow · Europe / Asia

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Rwanda

Kigali · Africa

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Territories and other entities (1)

One inhabited territory whose English name also begins with R. It is not a sovereign UN member state but has its own distinct administrative status.

Réunion

French overseas department in the Indian Ocean

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Browsing the alphabet is a popular way to teach geography. Try the neighbouring letters:

Countries That Start With Q — Just one country — Qatar.
Countries That Start With S — Twenty-five nations from Saint Kitts and Nevis to Syria.
Countries That Start With O — Just one country — Oman.

Quick answer for skimmers

Q: How many countries start with R?
A: Three sovereign UN member states — Romania, Russia, and Rwanda. The French overseas department of Réunion also begins with R, although it is a fully integrated part of France rather than an independent country.

Q: Is Russia in Europe or Asia?
A: Both. Russia spans 11 time zones across Europe and Asia, with most of the population in the European portion west of the Ural Mountains. By land area it is the world’s largest country, although the bulk of that territory lies in Asia (Siberia and the Russian Far East).

Q: What is Réunion?
A: A French overseas department in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, fully part of France. It uses the euro, sends representatives to the French National Assembly, and is part of the European Union — despite sitting roughly 9,000 kilometres from Paris.

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