# Countries On A Globe Resources

## Knowledge

- [Natural Earth Admin 0 country boundaries](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/)
  Public-domain map data used for country outlines. Use for: country shapes and globe geography.
- [World Atlas TopoJSON](https://github.com/topojson/world-atlas)
  Browser-friendly Natural Earth redistribution with country names in TopoJSON files. Use for: interactive lesson data.
- [United Nations Member States](https://www.un.org/en/about-us/member-states)
  Authoritative list of UN member states. Use for: later cleanup of the "what counts as a country" question.
- [CIA World Factbook: Countries](https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/)
  Broad country reference with maps and facts. Use for: optional follow-up context once location recall is stronger.

## Wisdom (Communities)

- Local library or school geography club
  Use for: testing globe knowledge with real maps, atlases, and other learners.
- [r/geography](https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/)
  General geography community. Use for: map curiosities and real-world questions after the basics are comfortable.

## Gaps

- The first lesson uses Natural Earth map units, which include some territories and disputed areas and may not exactly match a simple "195 countries" classroom list. A later reference should reconcile the practice list with the UN member-state list.