After all these hype about those issues I have been facing at work, the reason I am still staying is because despite everything, the company encourages staff to upgrade and allows the employees to take up courses, be it in-house or after work. Quite a number of the employees are taking up courses from the Singapore Association of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, as well as from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Some are pursuing post-graduate studies from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, as well as other kinds of business, management and computer courses in other institutes. Whereas for me, well, I am doing something unrelated, but that is not to say it will be totally useless where my work is concerned.
Not only that, I get to learn a lot in this company, which I have never been able to learn in law firms or other legal organisations. The reason being due to the kind of work we do and the industry we are in, we get exposed to international issues, like how feasible it is to develop projects in certain countries, what are the laws and legal implications, financing and taxation issues, currency conversion issues.
All these were never really factors when we first started certain things, resulting in lots of problems in the initial stages. But we all learn from mistakes, and henceforth, we are more wary on what to do and what is expected, so we adapt and learn from there. Which is why it can be rather interesting, albeit challenging. But what is life without challenges?
After a couple of bad days, yesterday was really good. We were in the midst of figuring out where else to branch into, so I had to do up a list consisting of all the countries, sorted according to continents in alphabetical order. So I got to research on the geography and historical background of the various countries, and did up a list consisting of all the countries in the world.
I actually got to do research at work! And on areas I am really interested in, like geography, demography, history, culture and politics! (I shall remain silent on the economics part.) Now, what can be better than that? Doing what you enjoy doing while working, that is the best deal there is!
Thus, I managed to find out all the list of countries in the world. My own world map is so outdated! There are now countries and little principalities that sprouted out which I have no idea about! My geography has really increased twofold after all these research! So in order to keep myself updated, I am going to put up the entire list of countries, although I believe in a little while it is going to be revised again, since the world is always changing.
Apparently, there are sixty-one countries and regions in Africa, sixty in Asia (especially after the breaking out of various countries from the former Soviet Union, and other regions that managed to gain independence), sixty-four in Europe (especially after the former Yugoslavia broke into various countries, and the former Czechoslovakia split up), thirty-three in Oceania, forty-three in North America, and fourteen in South America.
Continent : Africa
1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Benin (I never knew this is a country!)
4. Botswana
5. Burkina Faso (I heard of this, but always thought it is one of those islands somewhere!)
6. Burundi
7. Cameroon
8. Canary Islands (I never knew these belong to Africa!)
9. Cape Verde
10. Central African Republic
11. Ceuta (This is actually an autonomous region of Spain, a little province just below the main country of Spain. However, Africa claims it as it is in the Straits of Gibraltar, and what separates Europe from Africa is the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.)
12. Chad
13. Comoros
14. Cote d'Ivoire
15. Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire)
16. Djibouti
17. Egypt (part of it belongs to Asia apparently)
18. Equatorial Guinea
19. Eritrea
20. Ethiopia
21. Gabon
22. Gambia
23. Ghana
24. Guinea
25. Guinea-Bissau
26. Kenya
27. Lesotho
28. Liberia
29. Libya
30. Madagascar
31. Madeira (a group of islands off the coast of Portugal, an autonomous region of the country. Again, Africa claims it as its geographical location is nearer to the African continent than Europe.)
32. Malawi
33. Mali
34. Mauritania
35. Mauritius
36. Mayotte
37. Melilla (another Spanish autonomous province in the Straits of Gibraltar.)
38. Morocco
39. Mozambique
40. Namibia
41. Niger
42. Nigeria
43. Republic of the Congo (I never knew there are two parts to Congo!)
44. Reunion (group of islands south of Mauritius)
45. Rwanda
46. Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (commonly known as Western Sahara)
47. Saint Helena
48. Sao Tome and Principe
49. Senegal
50. Seychelles
51. Sierra Leone
52. Somalia
53. South Africa
54. Sudan
55. Swaziland
56. Tanzania
57. Togo
58. Tunisia
59. Uganda
60. Zambia
61. Zimbabwe
Continent : Asia
1. Abkhazia (never heard of this, but apparently it is a de facto independent republic and disputed territory between Asia and Europe. Its location is around the north of Georgia. The distinction between Asia and Europe is between the Ural Mountains, Ural River and Caspian Sea, so apparently, there are several countries that are both Europe and Asia.)
2. Afghanistan
3. Akrotiri and Dhekelia (two British administered regions in Cyprus)
4. Armenia
5. Azerbaijan
6. Bahrain
7. Bangladesh
8. Bhutan
9. British Indian Ocean Territory (a group of islands between Africa and Indonesia, consisting of the Chagos Archipelago of atolls, including Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island, Peros Banhos, Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Danger Island, Egmont Islands and Diego Garcia)
10. Brunei
11. Cambodia
12. People's Republic of China
13. Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan)
14. Christmas Island
15. Cocos (Keeling) Islands
16. Cyprus
17. Egypt (distinction between Asia and Africa is the Suez Canal)
18. Georgia
19. Hong Kong
20. India
21. Indonesia
22. Iran
23. Iraq
24. Israel
25. Japan
26. Jordan
27. Kazakhstan
28. North Korea
29. South Korea
30. Kuwait
31. Kyrgyzstan
32. Laos
33. Lebanon
34. Macau
35. Malaysia
36. Maldives
37. Mongolia
38. Myanmar
39. Nagorno-Karabakh (never heard of this as well, but it is an independent region right smack in Azerbaijan)
40. Nepal
41. Oman
42. Pakistan
43. Palestine
44. Philippines
45. Qatar
46. Russia
47. Saudi Arabia
48. Singapore
49. Sri Lanka
50. South Ossetia (also a de facto independent region from Georgia)
51. Syria
52. Tajikistan
53. Thailand
54. Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor)
55. Turkey
56. Turkish Republic of North Cyprus
57. Turkmenistan
58. United Arab Emirates
59. Uzbekistan
60. Yemen
Continent : Europe
1. Abkhazia
2. Akrotiri and Dhekelia
3. Aland (a region off Sweden)
4. Albania
5. Andorra
6. Armenia
7. Austria
8. Azerbaijan
9. Belarus
10. Belgium
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. Bulgaria
13. Croatia
14. Cyprus
15. Czech Republic
16. Denmark
17. Estonia
18. Faroe Islands (a group of islands in Northern Europe, autonomous region of Denmark)
19. Finland
20. France
21. Georgia
22. Germany
23. Gibraltar
24. Greece
25. Greenland
26. Guernsey (part of the Channel Islands between France and England)
27. Hungary
28. Iceland
29. Ireland
30. Isle of Man
31. Italy
32. Jersey (also part of the Channel Islands)
33. Kazakhstan
34. Kosovo (middle of the Balkans, bordering Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia)
35. Latvia
36. Liechtenstein
37. Lithuania
38. Luxembourg
39. Macedonia
40. Malta
41. Moldova
42. Monaco
43. Montenegro
44. Nagorno-Karabakh
45. Netherlands
46. Norway
47. Poland
48. Portugal
49. Romania
50. Russia
51. San Marino
52. Serbia
53. Slovakia
54. Slovenia
55. South Ossetia
56. Spain
57. Sweden
58. Switzerland
59. Transnistria (autonomous republic that broke away from Moldova)
60. Turkey
61. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
62. Ukraine
63. United Kingdom
64. Vatican City (Holy See)
Continent : Oceania
1. American Samoa
2. Ashmore and Cartier Islands (islands in the Indian Ocean, north-west of Australia and south of Indonesian island of Roti)
3. Australia
4. Cook Islands
5. Coral Sea Islands
6. Easter Island
7. Fiji
8. French Polynesia (including Tahiti)
9. Guam
10. Hawaii (part of the United States, but geographical location makes it a region in Oceania)
11. Indonesia
12. Kiribati
13. Marshall Islands
14. Federated States of Micronesia
15. Nauru
16. New Caledonia
17. New Zealand
18. Niue (island nation in the South Pacific Ocean)
19. Norfolk Island
20. Northern Mariana Islands
21. Ogaswara Islands of Japan (consisting of Bonin Islands, Marcus Island, Okino-tori-shima and Volcano Islands which include Iwo Jima)
22. Palau
23. Papua New Guinea
24. Pitcairn Islands
25. Samoa
26. Solomon Islands
27. Timor Leste
28. Tokelau
29. Tonga
30. Tuvalu
31. United States Minor Outlying Islands (consisting of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmrya Atoll and Wake Island)
32. Vanuatu
33. Wallis and Futuna
Continent : North America (includes Central America and the Caribbean islands)
1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Aruba
4. Bahamas
5. Barbados
6. Belize
7. Bermuda
8. British Virgin Islands
9. Canada
10. Cayman Islands
11. Clipperton Island
12. Costa Rica
13. Cuba
14. Dominica
15. Dominican Republic
16. El Salvador
17. Greenland (geographical location in the North Atlantic makes it part of North America as well)
18. Grenada
19. Guadeloupe
20. Guatemala
21. Haiti
22. Honduras
23. Isla Aves
24. Jamaica
25. Martinique
26. Mexico
27. Montserrat
28. Navassa Island
29. Netherlands Antilles
30. Nicaragua
31. Panama
32. Puerto Rico
33. Saint Barthelemy
34. Saint Kitts and Nevis
35. Saint Lucia
36. Saint-Martin
37. Saint Pierre and Miquelon
38. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
39. San Andres y Providencia
40. Trinidad and Tobago
41. Turks and Caicos Islands
42. United States of America (Happy Independence Day by the way!)
43. United States Virgin Islands
Continent : South America
1. Argentina
2. Bolivia
3. Brazil
4. Chile
5. Colombia
6. Ecuador
7. Falkland Islands
8. French Guiana
9. Guyana
10. Paraguay
11. Peru
12. Suriname
13. Uruguay
14. Venezuela
Whew! It is amazing how people in the past managed to discover those little islands and claimed them. But then again, sea travel has this advantage - you get to sight land and before you know it, you may discover a new place! Only thing missing from my list is the Antarctic continent. That consists of many islands which most people have never heard of!
Some are pursuing post-graduate studies from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, as well as other kinds of business, management and computer courses in other institutes. Whereas for me, well, I am doing something unrelated, but that is not to say it will be totally useless where my work is concerned.
Not only that, I get to learn a lot in this company, which I have never been able to learn in law firms or other legal organisations. The reason being due to the kind of work we do and the industry we are in, we get exposed to international issues, like how feasible it is to develop projects in certain countries, what are the laws and legal implications, financing and taxation issues, currency conversion issues.
All these were never really factors when we first started certain things, resulting in lots of problems in the initial stages. But we all learn from mistakes, and henceforth, we are more wary on what to do and what is expected, so we adapt and learn from there. Which is why it can be rather interesting, albeit challenging. But what is life without challenges?
After a couple of bad days, yesterday was really good. We were in the midst of figuring out where else to branch into, so I had to do up a list consisting of all the countries, sorted according to continents in alphabetical order. So I got to research on the geography and historical background of the various countries, and did up a list consisting of all the countries in the world.
I actually got to do research at work! And on areas I am really interested in, like geography, demography, history, culture and politics! (I shall remain silent on the economics part.) Now, what can be better than that? Doing what you enjoy doing while working, that is the best deal there is!
Thus, I managed to find out all the list of countries in the world. My own world map is so outdated! There are now countries and little principalities that sprouted out which I have no idea about! My geography has really increased twofold after all these research! So in order to keep myself updated, I am going to put up the entire list of countries, although I believe in a little while it is going to be revised again, since the world is always changing.
Apparently, there are sixty-one countries and regions in Africa, sixty in Asia (especially after the breaking out of various countries from the former Soviet Union, and other regions that managed to gain independence), sixty-four in Europe (especially after the former Yugoslavia broke into various countries, and the former Czechoslovakia split up), thirty-three in Oceania, forty-three in North America, and fourteen in South America.
Continent : Africa
1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. Benin (I never knew this is a country!)
4. Botswana
5. Burkina Faso (I heard of this, but always thought it is one of those islands somewhere!)
6. Burundi
7. Cameroon
8. Canary Islands (I never knew these belong to Africa!)
9. Cape Verde
10. Central African Republic
11. Ceuta (This is actually an autonomous region of Spain, a little province just below the main country of Spain. However, Africa claims it as it is in the Straits of Gibraltar, and what separates Europe from Africa is the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.)
12. Chad
13. Comoros
14. Cote d'Ivoire
15. Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire)
16. Djibouti
17. Egypt (part of it belongs to Asia apparently)
18. Equatorial Guinea
19. Eritrea
20. Ethiopia
21. Gabon
22. Gambia
23. Ghana
24. Guinea
25. Guinea-Bissau
26. Kenya
27. Lesotho
28. Liberia
29. Libya
30. Madagascar
31. Madeira (a group of islands off the coast of Portugal, an autonomous region of the country. Again, Africa claims it as its geographical location is nearer to the African continent than Europe.)
32. Malawi
33. Mali
34. Mauritania
35. Mauritius
36. Mayotte
37. Melilla (another Spanish autonomous province in the Straits of Gibraltar.)
38. Morocco
39. Mozambique
40. Namibia
41. Niger
42. Nigeria
43. Republic of the Congo (I never knew there are two parts to Congo!)
44. Reunion (group of islands south of Mauritius)
45. Rwanda
46. Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (commonly known as Western Sahara)
47. Saint Helena
48. Sao Tome and Principe
49. Senegal
50. Seychelles
51. Sierra Leone
52. Somalia
53. South Africa
54. Sudan
55. Swaziland
56. Tanzania
57. Togo
58. Tunisia
59. Uganda
60. Zambia
61. Zimbabwe
Continent : Asia
1. Abkhazia (never heard of this, but apparently it is a de facto independent republic and disputed territory between Asia and Europe. Its location is around the north of Georgia. The distinction between Asia and Europe is between the Ural Mountains, Ural River and Caspian Sea, so apparently, there are several countries that are both Europe and Asia.)
2. Afghanistan
3. Akrotiri and Dhekelia (two British administered regions in Cyprus)
4. Armenia
5. Azerbaijan
6. Bahrain
7. Bangladesh
8. Bhutan
9. British Indian Ocean Territory (a group of islands between Africa and Indonesia, consisting of the Chagos Archipelago of atolls, including Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island, Peros Banhos, Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Danger Island, Egmont Islands and Diego Garcia)
10. Brunei
11. Cambodia
12. People's Republic of China
13. Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan)
14. Christmas Island
15. Cocos (Keeling) Islands
16. Cyprus
17. Egypt (distinction between Asia and Africa is the Suez Canal)
18. Georgia
19. Hong Kong
20. India
21. Indonesia
22. Iran
23. Iraq
24. Israel
25. Japan
26. Jordan
27. Kazakhstan
28. North Korea
29. South Korea
30. Kuwait
31. Kyrgyzstan
32. Laos
33. Lebanon
34. Macau
35. Malaysia
36. Maldives
37. Mongolia
38. Myanmar
39. Nagorno-Karabakh (never heard of this as well, but it is an independent region right smack in Azerbaijan)
40. Nepal
41. Oman
42. Pakistan
43. Palestine
44. Philippines
45. Qatar
46. Russia
47. Saudi Arabia
48. Singapore
49. Sri Lanka
50. South Ossetia (also a de facto independent region from Georgia)
51. Syria
52. Tajikistan
53. Thailand
54. Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor)
55. Turkey
56. Turkish Republic of North Cyprus
57. Turkmenistan
58. United Arab Emirates
59. Uzbekistan
60. Yemen
Continent : Europe
1. Abkhazia
2. Akrotiri and Dhekelia
3. Aland (a region off Sweden)
4. Albania
5. Andorra
6. Armenia
7. Austria
8. Azerbaijan
9. Belarus
10. Belgium
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. Bulgaria
13. Croatia
14. Cyprus
15. Czech Republic
16. Denmark
17. Estonia
18. Faroe Islands (a group of islands in Northern Europe, autonomous region of Denmark)
19. Finland
20. France
21. Georgia
22. Germany
23. Gibraltar
24. Greece
25. Greenland
26. Guernsey (part of the Channel Islands between France and England)
27. Hungary
28. Iceland
29. Ireland
30. Isle of Man
31. Italy
32. Jersey (also part of the Channel Islands)
33. Kazakhstan
34. Kosovo (middle of the Balkans, bordering Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia)
35. Latvia
36. Liechtenstein
37. Lithuania
38. Luxembourg
39. Macedonia
40. Malta
41. Moldova
42. Monaco
43. Montenegro
44. Nagorno-Karabakh
45. Netherlands
46. Norway
47. Poland
48. Portugal
49. Romania
50. Russia
51. San Marino
52. Serbia
53. Slovakia
54. Slovenia
55. South Ossetia
56. Spain
57. Sweden
58. Switzerland
59. Transnistria (autonomous republic that broke away from Moldova)
60. Turkey
61. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
62. Ukraine
63. United Kingdom
64. Vatican City (Holy See)
Continent : Oceania
1. American Samoa
2. Ashmore and Cartier Islands (islands in the Indian Ocean, north-west of Australia and south of Indonesian island of Roti)
3. Australia
4. Cook Islands
5. Coral Sea Islands
6. Easter Island
7. Fiji
8. French Polynesia (including Tahiti)
9. Guam
10. Hawaii (part of the United States, but geographical location makes it a region in Oceania)
11. Indonesia
12. Kiribati
13. Marshall Islands
14. Federated States of Micronesia
15. Nauru
16. New Caledonia
17. New Zealand
18. Niue (island nation in the South Pacific Ocean)
19. Norfolk Island
20. Northern Mariana Islands
21. Ogaswara Islands of Japan (consisting of Bonin Islands, Marcus Island, Okino-tori-shima and Volcano Islands which include Iwo Jima)
22. Palau
23. Papua New Guinea
24. Pitcairn Islands
25. Samoa
26. Solomon Islands
27. Timor Leste
28. Tokelau
29. Tonga
30. Tuvalu
31. United States Minor Outlying Islands (consisting of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmrya Atoll and Wake Island)
32. Vanuatu
33. Wallis and Futuna
Continent : North America (includes Central America and the Caribbean islands)
1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Aruba
4. Bahamas
5. Barbados
6. Belize
7. Bermuda
8. British Virgin Islands
9. Canada
10. Cayman Islands
11. Clipperton Island
12. Costa Rica
13. Cuba
14. Dominica
15. Dominican Republic
16. El Salvador
17. Greenland (geographical location in the North Atlantic makes it part of North America as well)
18. Grenada
19. Guadeloupe
20. Guatemala
21. Haiti
22. Honduras
23. Isla Aves
24. Jamaica
25. Martinique
26. Mexico
27. Montserrat
28. Navassa Island
29. Netherlands Antilles
30. Nicaragua
31. Panama
32. Puerto Rico
33. Saint Barthelemy
34. Saint Kitts and Nevis
35. Saint Lucia
36. Saint-Martin
37. Saint Pierre and Miquelon
38. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
39. San Andres y Providencia
40. Trinidad and Tobago
41. Turks and Caicos Islands
42. United States of America (Happy Independence Day by the way!)
43. United States Virgin Islands
Continent : South America
1. Argentina
2. Bolivia
3. Brazil
4. Chile
5. Colombia
6. Ecuador
7. Falkland Islands
8. French Guiana
9. Guyana
10. Paraguay
11. Peru
12. Suriname
13. Uruguay
14. Venezuela
Whew! It is amazing how people in the past managed to discover those little islands and claimed them. But then again, sea travel has this advantage - you get to sight land and before you know it, you may discover a new place! Only thing missing from my list is the Antarctic continent. That consists of many islands which most people have never heard of!
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