Hidden among quiet woods of maple trees and poplars boldly illuminated with neon road signs is the Maple Leaf, an outdoor theater that somewhat belies its bucolic name and setting. For this is not the sort of place to find open-air performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream but rather eardrum-rattling screenings of the latest Hollywood blockbuster: yes, it’s a drive-in cinema and is now the first of its kind to provide 3-D movies in China, according to general manager Gu Haiqiong.

We found Gu in braggish form when we went to the Maple to find out more. The US exporters of the screens were surprised at his operation, according to Gu, as “we had a successful outdoor 3-D set-up in Beijing when there isn’t even one back in the US… our 3-D screen is bigger than regular drive-in screens with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and all four of our screens are arc-shaped anyway, meaning the audience gets the best view wherever they’re parked.”

Come wind, rain and virus

The Maple is Beijing’s only all-night long cinema; in fact, the only reason they stop playing movies when the sun comes up is because you can’t watch them properly in daylight. But if they could figure out a solution to remain open constantly, they probably would do because Gu says “though the weather [here] is brutal and changes all the time, the Maple remains opens even in the worst conditions; as long as people are driving in, nothing stops us staying open.”

Owner Wang Qishun is perhaps most proud of his cinema’s stalwart approach to business hours during the 2003 SARS crisis. “99.99 percent of public business places were shut down at the time but the Maple was standing quietly here and greeting audience still. Having a safe open-air environment made us the 0.01 percent still open to entertain the people,” he told Lifestyle, recalling how staff wore masks to sell tickets, such was their passion for cinema. This act of defiance apparently boosted the Maple’s reputation with the authorities. “The necessity of the existence of places like us in Beijing was acknowledged by the government who gave us their support afterwards,” Wang said. Shortly after the cinema became a member of the New Film Association, granting them access to the latest hot tickets. Their 3-D screen is currently showing Avatar (no surprise here) and kung fu flick True Legend with Alice in Wonderland debuting on April 26.

Wei Na

Read more….

This month, outdoor movies will be presented in Shanghai at the Jameson Outdoor Cinema Festival. Ferris Bueller? At the cinema in China? That’s right, Jameson are bringing a whole load of your favorite films including Reservoir Dogs, Cinema Paradiso and Stand By Me to Fuxing Park at the end of this month. Outside. In the warmth. With a Jameson in hand. And all in the comfort of your very own director’s chair.

Down at Whisky Live this weekend we caught up with the man with the outdoor cinema plan the Jameson Brand Ambassador Andrew Mitchell to give us the low down.

Andrew, so what’s this Jameson Outdoor Cinema Festival all about?
It’s very simple, we’re bringing films to the people, to the masses. Jameson, since about 1998, has been really heavily involved with the film industry all over the world and we thought it’s about time we brought it to Shanghai.

So this is the first time in Shanghai?
It’s the first time we’ve done anything film related in this city. If you go down to Sydney, for example, you’ll have Tropfest going on the summer; Jameson’s is heavily involved in that. There’s also Flickerfest going on in Melbourne, you’ve also got Movies on the Square in Dublin and Dublin International Film Festival, plus the Belfast Film Festival and so many others that are going on around the world and we just thought that it was time that we brought it to China as well. So, we’re starting off just with a little outdoor cinema to soak up the rays during the day with outdoor cocktails and popcorn, bob’s your uncle.

Okay, so is this mostly championing international cinema or local cinema?
It’s mostly international cinema for the moment but we hope to expand upon this year after year and we’re, basically, going to grow it and make film our staple diet for the year. So we’re going to start off with international films with the likes of Stand By Me and Reservoir Dogs.

So who decided the final list?
Well, ourselves. We got a little committee together, myself and the PR agency, we thought about our target consumer, who it is we’re looking for, what would they be interested in seeing, something a little bit light-hearted, sometimes a little bit darker, with Reservoir Dogs, for example, something to suit all, but most of all something that isn’t too serious, because that’s really our reflection of the brand. We like to think of ourselves as serious in the making but not so serious in the drinking, so we kept that in mind when we put together the final short list.

Do you imagine this is going to become a regular feature or just a way to dip your toe in the cinema water?
It’s definitely a dip of the toe because it’s small, it’s only going to be over the course of the weekend, which probably makes it that little bit more interesting and exciting, given that it’s a small number of people, we’re looking at about 250 per showing and 6 showings over the course of the 3 nights, so about 1500.

We’re going to get bigger, definitely, we’re going to get better at it, have no doubt we’ll be back next year with something even more interesting and perhaps, with a little bit of a twist, we might bring some more international films, a little bit more underground, the idea being that we, Jameson, traditionally support the film industry from the industry out, rather than from consumer and customers in. So we’ve been a brand that’s been supporting film for almost a decade now, but from the directors, the actors and the producers side rather than from the viewer.

The idea being that we are a creative kind of brand, an outgoing and sociable brand. So for next year we can expect something bigger, something better and perhaps something a little bit more interesting and intriguing in terms of our film list as well.

And the kind of people you want to come and see these films… are you hoping for local people, foreigners or just anyone who wants to go along and watch a movie?
Anyone that wants to come along. We’re looking for a mix, the biggest and best mix that we can. We’re targeting about 10 bars in Shanghai that are going to be running the promotion to actually sell the tickets in the first place, it’s very simple, if you buy two drinks you get a ticket on the promotion night, very simple, very easy. For the moment we’re probably going to be targeting a 50/50 split, but of course as time goes on and as we start to grow we’ll start focusing more and more on the Chinese consumer. The initial idea is that outdoor cinema isn’t something that’s really in the Chinese people’s repertoire, it’s not really something on their mind so we’re going to be targeting Westerners to try and fill in and communicate this through to their Chinese friends over time.

What’s your own favorite movie of all time?
For hard, tense action probably Mississippi Burning, pretty good film. In terms of funny, I think Stand By Me, which is probably one of the reasons that it’s in there. And then…

I said ‘movie’ not ‘movies’ – any Chinese movies?
Infernal Affairs is pretty good, that might even feature next year, you never know. It was on the list but just didn’t quite make the last six.

The Jameson Outdoor Cinema Festival

Where: Fuxing Park (Nanchang Lu & Yandang Lu)
When: May 29-31
2 screenings per night: 7pm / 10pm
What: Friday May 29 – The Commitments / Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Saturday – Moulin Rouge / Reservoir Dogs
Sunday – Cinema Paradiso / Stand By Me
How: Grab a load of friends, go to selected outlets across Shanghai, have a couple of Jameson & Gingers each and get a free cinema ticket! Once you have the golden ticket, simply log onto www.jamesonwhiskey.com and follow the Globe (our events icon) to book the film(s) you want to see. Seats are limited, so be quick!

Excerpt from “Films in the park with Jameson…” by Urbanatomy (with Jack Barry). Read full article at: http://shproto.urbanatomy.com/index.php/i-ahearts-shanghai/85-i-love-shanghai/1459-films-in-the-park-with-jameson.

If you look hard enough, you can find outdoor cinema all over the world. Sometimes you don’t have to look too hard, as with the drive-in theaters that populate US countrysides. Outdoor movies manifest in different ways in different places, from ritzy film festivals in New York and the United Kingdom, to entire villages gathering around a giant inflatable screen in rural Africa. One thing stays the same: the magic and wonder of a movie under the stars. The follow is an excerpt from “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie which captures the thrilling experience of the outdoor movie:

The basketball court turned open-air cinema was crammed with spectators. They were still showing the old North Korean film The Little Flower Seller, which had moved the four sorceresses in the Little Seamstress’s house to tears. It was a bad film, and seeing it a second time was not likely to change our opinion. But that didn’t dampen our spirits. For one thing, we were glad to be in town again, even a town no bigger than a pocket handkerchief. Memories of city life came flooding back and, believe me, even the smell of beef and onions savoured sophistication. What is more, Yong Jing had electricity instead of the oil lamps we were used to. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that our visits to town had become an obsession, but at least having to trudge across the mountain to see a film meant getting four days off from labouring in the fields, from carrying human and animal dung on our backs, or from toiling in the paddy fields with water buffalo whose long tails whacked you across the face.

The other reason for our high spirits was that the Little Seamstress was with us. By the time we arrived the film had already started, and there was only standing room left behind the screen, where everything was in reverse and everyone was left-handed. But the Little Seamstress didn’t want to miss this rare treat. As for us, we were content to watch her lovely face bathed in the luminous colors bouncing off the screen. Now and then everything would go dark and her eyes would shine like spots of phosphorous in the gloom. Then suddenly, when the scene changed, her face would light up, flush with colour, and blossom with wonder. Of all the girls in the audience, and there were at least two thousand, she was certainly the prettiest. A sense of masculine pride stirred deep inside us, surrounded as we were by the jealous looks of the other men in the crowd. About halfway into the film, she turned to me and whispered in my ear. Her words pierced my heart.

“It’s so much better when it’s you telling the story.”

– from Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.

Source: GlobalPost -http://www.globalpost.com/webblog/china-and-its-neighbors/the-basketball-court-turned-open-air-cinema8230.

Photo Credit: sina.com

Jolin Tsai attend the premiere ceremony of a music video for her single “Real Man” in Beijing on Sunday, March 8, 2008. The video premiered on an outdoor LED screen, the largest of its kind in Asia, at Beijing’s The Place shopping mall on Sunday night, drawing hundreds of onlookers.

Taiwan pop diva Jolin Tsai has brought forward a music video for her leading single “Real Man” off forthcoming album “Flower Butterfly”.

Seeing herself singing and dancing on the 250-meter-long, 30 meter-wide outdoor screen, Jolin said “it feels like I have become a giant.”

The production fee for “Flower Butterfly”, Jolin’s first studio album under the label Warner Music, has reached 40 million yuan. Even the ten-minute MV premiere cost nearly 100, 000 yuan, according to the web portal sina.com.

Despite the gloomy economy, there won’t be any recession for Jolin, said Sam Chen, president of the label. The album will be released on March 27.

Source: China Daily: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/showbiz/2009-03/10/content_7563675.htm

A group of aged film buffs brings outdoor cinema to isolated mainland villages, writes Ching-Ching Ni. The movie starts when the day becomes night. Real life continues to drift by. Herds of water buffalo. Men balancing buckets of water across their shoulders. Villagers carrying torches to guide their way home. They march right through the outdoor movies at this ephemeral theater in the middle of jagged mountains and rice paddies, throwing black shadows on a white canvas screen tied to the door of a barn.

About a generation ago, this was how most Chinese watched movies: under the stars, and mostly for free. Now a group of six retired men is trying to revive this Maoist-era tradition. Strapping an old projector and rusty cases of film reels on the back of a motorbike, they’ve been traveling rugged country roads to bring the magic of cinema to remote villages untouched by the marvels of the big screen.

“When I was little, there used to be outdoor movies all the time,” said Zhou Xiulian, 39, who was so excited to see the movie caravan enter the nearby village of Gutong, she didn’t mind what they’d be showing – on this night, a documentary about Mao Tse-tung.

“We like everything. It’s so rare these days for us to see any movie at all,” Zhou said.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema. In 1905, China’s first homemade silent movie is said to have emerged from a Beijing photo studio. By the 1930s, the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai became known as China’s Hollywood.

But it was communism that gave mainland motion pictures a new purpose. The Communist Party relied on revolutionary films to deliver mass entertainment as well as political propaganda. Film brigades became part of the landscape.

Now that China has switched to a bustling market economy, even in the countryside people can watch scratchy television soap operas or a pirated DVD for less than a dollar. Many old cinemas have shuttered their doors. Outdoor theaters are practically unheard of.

“I haven’t been to the movies since I was dating my wife,” said Sun Jian, 45, a local official in Huaxi, a city in south-central Guizhou province with 330,000 residents and only one cinema – and even that is mostly used as a conference hall. “For peasants, it’s next to impossible. They would need to travel from the village to the city and spend money they don’t have.”

Enter the all-senior movie caravan. Since presenting the first free film for nearly 2,000 people three years ago in the middle of a town square, the road show has proved a hit beyond expectation.

“China has 900 million peasants, and they need spiritual nourishment,” said Rao Changdong, 62, one of the founders of the movie caravan, whose volunteers fund the project almost entirely out of their own pockets. “VCDs and DVDs are fine, but they are limited to the small family and small screen. Movies are better because it’s more about community interaction and the big family.”

Li Delong, 71, had just retired from his job as a manager at a government bank. The grandfather of four receives a pension of about US$250 (HK$1,950) a month. That makes him a rich man in Huaxi, where the average person makes a little more than that in a year.

But Li grew up a poor farm boy and wanted to do something nice for the folks back home. He loves movies and thought how great it would be if he could learn to show them in the countryside. But Li knew nothing about the technical aspects of showing a movie.

Then he ran into Rao.

When Rao was a kid, his mother stored a film projector for the village cultural center in their house. He fiddled with it and taught himself how to run it. When there was an opening for a projectionist in the film brigade at his commune, he got the job even though he was just 14.

At 22, he and a few buddies embarked on a cinematic long march. Pushing a flatbed wheelbarrow with their film gear atop, they walked for 70 days straight, resting only to show movies to peasants along the way. They trekked all the way to Mao’s birthplace, where they showed a movie and had their pictures taken with the Great Helmsman’s nephews.

The two men recruited Liu Jingmin, 68, a former party boss with government connections, to help fast-track the permits and cut the red tape required to organize mass movie-watching events. They also brought on Yu Huande, 56, a retired factory worker and member of a seniors’ motorcycle club. His relative youth and familiarity with the local landscape helps them navigate the hilly terrain and dirt roads that form the passage to most rural communities – and his motorbike comes in handy to carry the film. But they needed a real car to ferry the rest of the crew. So Zhang Xiang, a 65-year-old retired teacher, volunteered his son-in-law’s van. When that’s not available, Rao borrows his son’s tiny green hatchback.

Adding to the group’s sense of nostalgia and expertise is Li Zhongming, 65, a retired union worker who was with Rao on his cinematic long march 40 years ago.

Sometimes it rains in the middle of the picture. But they keep the reels turning because the audience refuses to leave.

Over the past three years, they have presented more than 300 shows in 32 villages in Guizhou province and offered special events in a police academy, drug rehab center, army base and elementary schools.

Officials support them because they also show educational documentaries on request. Subjects include how to plant cash crops such as peach, pear and plum trees. Also popular – birth control, crime and drug prevention.

The caravan gets its films from local movie studios that have gone bankrupt. When executives hear that the retirees show outdoor movies for free, they usually cut them a steep discount or give the movies away. Not that there’s any other use for these crusty relics. Titles such as Lenin in 1918, Tunnel Warfare and Hero’s Tiger Guts were once blockbusters. Now they’re lucky to get airtime during national holidays or patriotic campaigns.

But for rural communities, these mostly black-and-white flicks provide a much-appreciated nightlife. In fact, residents often give the film caravan a hero’s welcome at the village entrance with song and dance, even homemade plum wine. On special occasions, especially when the night gets bitingly cold in the winter months, villagers prepare hotpots of spicy pepper stew and gather in front of burning coal stoves to enjoy the show.

Then they watch these grandfather figures transform a corner of their familiar town into a house of magic.

After choosing the largest open space in Baituo – a village of 1,100 people, mostly ethnic Miao – Rao and his buddies get to work.

Rao unfolds a wooden tripod with splintered legs that look like old crutches. He props up “JFK 168,” the caravan’s Chinese-made 16-millimeter projector shaped like a small sewing machine. It was a recent gift from the local government, a welcome addition to the only projector they had. They still use that 30-year-old antique, which Rao fixed up and treats like his baby.

Next they look for electricity. A villager who lives up the hill volunteers the socket in his house. Somebody hikes up with the black cord.

Meanwhile, the young village chief climbs to the top of the barn, helping the septuagenarian Li drape the white canvas over its open door.

With a cigarette always between his fingers and a tiny thermos of hot tea in his pocket, Rao yells out to make sure the speakers are propped up right on the ladder next to the big screen.

Yu opens the metal case holding the reel, checks the film against the fast- fading twilight. Something snaps. He conducts emergency surgery with a nail clipper and clear tape.

The single naked bulb on top of the projector comes on.

Then Rao hears the loud sound of his own scratchy voice bounce back from the speaker.

The night’s feature attraction is a black-and-white movie from the 1960s about a communist James Bond figure.

When gunshots echo around the night sky, a boy darts out from the dark fields and dashes toward the flashing screen, yelling, “War! War!”

Source: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=18&art_id=8593&sid=6043462&con_type=1.

While the newest Harry Potter movie was shown in the most cutting-edge digital theaters around the US, an open-air theater also attracted hundreds of people to a small park in downtown Columbia, South Carolina to watch outdoor movies.

I’m not talking about a drive-in theater, but a “real” outdoor cinema. No roof, no chairs, no lights. Everybody sits on the lawn, facing a medium size screen set up temporarily, with a couple of huge speakers on each of its sides. Every Friday evening, when the last sun light disappears, the outdoor movie starts. The show is free, sponsored by a local church in the summer months, and it has become a favorite Friday night activity since last summer.

Watching outdoor movies used to be popular around China, both in cities and rural villages, at a time when movie theaters were still rare. I remember going to such movies with my parents as a little girl, which were usually shown on an outdoor basketball court in the university campus where my parents worked. The screen was just a huge white cloth, decorated by a few small holes, hung from trees or poles or whatever agents available.

I was too young to understand the movies, but was truly impressed by the crowds. Once the movie was over, people stood up in the bitter darkness, with a small stool—mostly wooden, plastic ones were not widely available yet—in everyone’s hand, grandma or young kid, student or professor. Everyone was surrounded by many others, and it was hard to move. It took a long time for the crowd to disperse to different directions, when everybody finally made the way home.

While outdoor movies were pretty much a cheap entertainment in China, those in today’s United States are more about outdoor fun and family activity, although sometimes such movie shows are as cheap as free. People bring their kids, along with a bunch of lawn chairs, plenty of blankets to sit and lie down on the lawn, and sometimes picnic basket to enjoy a good meal before the movie starts.

The park is beautiful and the air is cool and nice at summer night. But there is one thing troublesome, the weather. Columbia in July and August is constantly under thunderstorm threat and rains often in the evening. One evening the movie just started when it started to down pour. Another day saw people hurry to pack up and leave in the middle of the show because the lightening and thunder were getting closer and closer. There were still other times when we had to give up the plan to go all together simply because we felt tired of guessing the rain chance.

But whenever we went down there, it was always fun and refreshing. I just hope that next week we don’t have to watch the sky all the time.

Once upon a time, when there was no karaoke and air-con, people beat the heat and boredom by going to the movies in a park. They’d grab a chair and fan and off they’d go. Now they’re doing it again, writes Nie Xin.

What could be more perfect on a hot summer weekend night in the city than a free movie in the park? More than 60 parks all over Shanghai are showing what’s hot – comedies, dramas and blockbusters – to beat the heat.

At 7:30pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through September there is a showing of a film in each park. You could catch three free flicks a weekend.

Around 250 films will be shown. It beats paying at least 50 yuan (US$7.30) at the cinema. Some seating will be provided, but spectators should be prepared to stand or bring their own chairs.

For screening schedules, check the Website of the organizer, the Shanghai Greenery Administration Bureau.

Now in its fourth year, movies-in-the-park is a smash hit.

Last Friday night, around 5,000 people watched Wong Kar-wai’s “My Blueberry Nights” in Shanghai Peace Park in Hongkou District; around 3,000 in Everbright Town Park in Zhabei District watched “Assembly.”

The films to be shown include recent releases, such as comedies, martial arts, romance and action thrillers from China, Germany, Russia, the United States and elsewhere.

There was a smaller crowd in Huaihai Park for Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou’s directorial debut, “The Secret That Cannot Be Told,” winner of last year’s Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year.

“It’s the first time I watched an outdoor movie,” says Xiao Chen, 30, a local office worker. “I wanted to know what it’s like to watch a film in an open space because I only saw foreigners doing this in some Western movies.”

Ni Jia, 24, watched with her boyfriend. “We were taking a walk after dinner and saw the outdoor screen. It looked interesting, so we stopped by.”

At first she thought the films must be “very old and boring,” but was pleased to find that many are recent.

If outdoor movies are fresh to many young people, it’s a trip back in time to many older folks.

“We had outdoor films in the park when we were young,” says 72-year-old Zhang. He and his wife took their small, low wooden chairs and cattail-leaf fans to Huaihai Park.

About 50 years ago, watching outdoor films was a big deal since there were not many entertainment choices. “It was more like a family activity: we went to the park after dinner with all the family members. Everybody took his small chair and fan,” says Zhang.

At that time admission was 3 fen (less than 1 US cent) and the park entrance fee was about 5 fen. The average salary then was around 30 yuan (1 yuan equals 100 fen). Sometimes kids climbed trees to get a free look.

Today the screenings are well organized, audiences are well behaved and generally don’t litter.

“Since outdoor screenings started in 2005, it has been a routine for us. We like it after dinner when the temperature has gone down. It’s much better than watching TV at home,” says Zhang’s wife.

“Outdoor movies are intended for locals, including students on summer vacation and the elderly,” says an official surnamed Kuai from the Shanghai Greenery Administration Bureau who is in charge of the outdoor movies.

“It’s also good entertainment for those ‘new Shanghaines’ who move from other cities for work and don’t have family or many friends here. They don’t have many places to go and don’t have a lot of money.”

The bureau covers all the expenses, spending about 1,000 yuan on each movie, half for the film and half for the location,” says Kuai.

This song about the tradition of outdoor movies in China is taken from www.bychinese.com, and offers an insight into the joy that open air cinema has brought to Chinese citizens for decades.

我家 楼下 的 空地 是 一个 电影院

Wǒjiā lóuxià de kòngdì shì yīge diànyǐngyuàn

There is a cinema on the square downstairs of my home

在 夏天 的 夜晚 它 不再 出现

Zài xiàtiān de yèwǎn tā búzài chūxiàn

It never shows up in summer‘s evenings

如今 的 孩子们 已 不 懂得 从前

Rújīn de háizimen yǐ bù dǒngdé cóngqián

The kids nowadays cannot understand that moment.

那时候 的 人们 陶醉 过 的 世界

Nàshíhou de rénmen táozuì guò de shìjiè

(The kids cannot understand) the world in which the people enjoyed that time.

我 长大 时 看着 他们 表演 着 爱情

Wǒ zhǎngdà shí kànzhe tāmen biǎoyǎn zhe àiqing.

When I grows up I watch them acting the love story.

当 他们 接吻 的 时候 我 感到 伤心

Dāng tāmen jiēwěn de shíhou wǒ gǎndào shāngxīn

I felt upset when I saw them kissing

在 银幕 的 下面 孩子们 做着 游戏

Zài yínmù de xiàmian háizimen zuòzhe yóuxì

The kids were playing games under the screen

在 电影 的 里面 有 人 为 她 哭泣

Zài diànyǐng de lǐmian yǒu rén wèi tā kūqì

There is someone crying for her in the movie.

城市 里 再 没有 露天 的 电影院

Chéngshì lǐ zài méiyǒu lùtiān de diànyǐngyuàn

There is no outdoor cinema anymore in the city

我 再也 看不到 银幕 的反面

Wǒ zàiyě kànbuúdào yínmù de fǎnmiàn

I can never see the back of the screen.

你 是不是 还在 做 那时 的 游戏

Nǐ shìbúshì háizài zuò nàshí de yóuxì

Are you still playing that old game?

看着 电影 的 时候 已 看不见 星星

Kànzhe diànyǐng de shíhou yǐ kànbújiàn xīngxing

I cannot see the stars when I‘m watching movies.

Outdoor movies and inflatable movie screens have been appearing in locations all around the world. Over time we will be adding links to articles about outdoor movies and open air cinema events. These articles are listed according to the country where the inflatable movie screen has been set up or the country where the outdoor movie event takes place.

A

• Abkhazia – Republic of Abkhazia
• Afghanistan – Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia – Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK overseas territory)
• Åland – Åland Islands (Autonomous province of Finland)
• Albania – Republic of Albania
• Algeria – People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
• American Samoa – Territory of American Samoa (US territory)
• Andorra – Principality of Andorra
• Angola – Republic of Angola
• Anguilla (UK overseas territory)
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina – Argentine Republic
• Armenia – Republic of Armenia
• Aruba (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
• Ascension Island (Dependency of the UK overseas territory of Saint Helena)
• Australia – Commonwealth of Australia
• Austria – Republic of Austria
• Azerbaijan – Republic of Azerbaijan

B

• Bahamas, The – Commonwealth of The Bahamas
• Bahrain – Kingdom of Bahrain
• Bangladesh – People’s Republic of Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus – Republic of Belarus
• Belgium – Kingdom of Belgium
• Belize
• Benin – Republic of Benin
• Bermuda (UK overseas territory)
• Bhutan – Kingdom of Bhutan
• Bolivia – Republic of Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana – Republic of Botswana
• Brazil – Federative Republic of Brazil
• Brunei – Negara Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria – Republic of Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burma – Union of Myanmar
• Burundi – Republic of Burundi

C

• Cambodia – Kingdom of Cambodia
• Cameroon – Republic of Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde – Republic of Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Central African Republic
• Chad – Republic of Chad
• Chile – Republic of Chile
• China – People’s Republic of China
• For “China, Republic of”, see Taiwan
• Christmas Island – Territory of Christmas Island (Australian overseas territory)
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands – Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australian overseas territory)
• Colombia – Republic of Colombia
• Comoros – Union of the Comoros
• Congo – Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Congo – Republic of the Congo
• Cook Islands (Associated state of New Zealand)
• Costa Rica – Republic of Costa Rica
• Côte d’Ivoire – Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
• Croatia – Republic of Croatia
• Cuba – Republic of Cuba
• Cyprus – Republic of Cyprus
• Czech Republic

D

• Denmark – Kingdom of Denmark
• For “Dhekelia”, see Akrotiri and Dhekelia
• Djibouti – Republic of Djibouti
• Dominica – Commonwealth of Dominica
• Dominican Republic

E

• East Timor – Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
• Ecuador – Republic of Ecuador
• Egypt – Arab Republic of Egypt
• El Salvador – Republic of El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea – Republic of Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea – State of Eritrea
• Estonia – Republic of Estonia
• Ethiopia – Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

F

• Falkland Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Faroe Islands (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of Denmark)
• Fiji – Republic of the Fiji Islands
• Finland – Republic of Finland
• France – French Republic
• French Polynesia (French overseas collectivity)

G

• Gabon – Gabonese Republic
• Gambia, The – Republic of The Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany – Federal Republic of Germany
• Ghana – Republic of Ghana
• Gibraltar (UK overseas territory)
• Greece – Hellenic Republic
• Greenland (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of Denmark)
• Grenada
• Guam – Territory of Guam (US organized territory)
• Guatemala – Republic of Guatemala
• Guernsey – Bailiwick of Guernsey (British Crown dependency)
• Guinea – Republic of Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau – Republic of Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana – Co-operative Republic of Guyana

H

• Haiti – Republic of Haiti
• Honduras – Republic of Honduras
• Hong Kong – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Area of special sovereignty)
• Hungary – Republic of Hungary

I

• Iceland – Republic of Iceland
• India – Republic of India
• Indonesia – Republic of Indonesia
• Iran – Islamic Republic of Iran
• Iraq – Republic of Iraq
• Ireland – Ireland
• Isle of Man (British Crown dependency)
• Israel – State of Israel
• Italy – Italian Republic
• For “Ivory Coast”, see Côte d’Ivoire

J

• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jersey – Bailiwick of Jersey (British Crown dependency)
• Jordan – Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

K

• Kazakhstan – Republic of Kazakhstan
• Kenya – Republic of Kenya
• Kiribati – Republic of Kiribati
• Korea, North – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
• Korea, South – Republic of Korea
• Kosovo – Republic of Kosovo
• Kuwait – State of Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyz Republic

L

• Laos – Lao People’s Democratic Republic
• Latvia – Republic of Latvia
• Lebanon – Republic of Lebanon
• Lesotho – Kingdom of Lesotho
• Liberia – Republic of Liberia
• Libya – Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
• Liechtenstein – Principality of Liechtenstein
• Lithuania – Republic of Lithuania
• Luxembourg – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

M

• Macao – Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Area of special sovereignty)
• Macedonia – Republic of Macedonia
• Madagascar – Republic of Madagascar
• Malawi – Republic of Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives – Republic of Maldives
• Mali – Republic of Mali
• Malta – Republic of Malta
• Marshall Islands – Republic of the Marshall Islands
• Mauritania – Islamic Republic of Mauritania
• Mauritius – Republic of Mauritius
• Mayotte – Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte (French overseas collectivity)
• Mexico – United Mexican States
• Micronesia – Federated States of Micronesia
• Moldova – Republic of Moldova
• Monaco – Principality of Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Montserrat (UK overseas territory)
• Morocco – Kingdom of Morocco
• Mozambique – Republic of Mozambique
• For “Myanmar”, see Burma

N

• Nagorno-Karabakh – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh)
• Namibia – Republic of Namibia
• Nauru – Republic of Nauru
• Nepal – Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
• Netherlands – Kingdom of the Netherlands
• Netherlands Antilles (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
• New Caledonia – Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies (French community sui generis)
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua – Republic of Nicaragua
• Niger – Republic of Niger
• Nigeria – Federal Republic of Nigeria
• Niue (Associated state of New Zealand)
• Norfolk Island – Territory of Norfolk Island (Australian overseas territory)
• Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
• Northern Mariana Islands – Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US commonwealth)
• For “North Korea”, see Korea, North
• Norway – Kingdom of Norway

O

• Oman – Sultanate of Oman

P

• Pakistan – Islamic Republic of Pakistan
• Palau – Republic of Palau
• Palestine – Palestinian Territories
• Panama – Republic of Panama
• Papua New Guinea – Independent State of Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay – Republic of Paraguay
• For “People’s Republic of China”, see China
• Peru – Republic of Peru
• Philippines – Republic of the Philippines
• Pitcairn Islands – Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Poland – Republic of Poland
• Portugal – Portuguese Republic
• For “Pridnestrovie”, see Transnistria
• Puerto Rico – Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (US commonwealth)

Q

• Qatar – State of Qatar

R

• Romania
• Russia – Russian Federation
• Rwanda – Republic of Rwanda

S

• Saint Barthélemy – Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French overseas collectivity)
• Saint Helena (UK overseas territory)
• Saint Kitts and Nevis – Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Martin – Collectivity of Saint Martin (French overseas collectivity)
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon – Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French overseas collectivity)
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa – Independent State of Samoa
• San Marino – Most Serene Republic of San Marino
• São Tomé and Príncipe – Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
• Saudi Arabia – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Senegal – Republic of Senegal
• Serbia – Republic of Serbia
• Seychelles – Republic of Seychelles
• Sierra Leone – Republic of Sierra Leone
• Singapore – Republic of Singapore
• Slovakia – Slovak Republic
• Slovenia – Republic of Slovenia
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia – Somali Republic
• Somaliland – Republic of Somaliland
• South Africa – Republic of South Africa
• For “South Korea”, see Korea, South
• South Ossetia – Republic of South Ossetia
• Spain – Kingdom of Spain
• Sri Lanka – Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
• Sudan – Republic of the Sudan
• Suriname – Republic of Suriname
• Svalbard (Territory of Norway)
• Swaziland – Kingdom of Swaziland
• Sweden – Kingdom of Sweden
• Switzerland – Swiss Confederation
• Syria – Syrian Arab Republic

T

• Taiwan – Republic of China
• Tajikistan – Republic of Tajikistan
• Tanzania – United Republic of Tanzania
• Thailand – Kingdom of Thailand
• For “Timor-Leste”, see East Timor
• Togo – Togolese Republic
• Tokelau (Overseas territory of New Zealand)
• Tonga – Kingdom of Tonga
• Transnistria – Transnistrian Moldovan Republic
• Trinidad and Tobago – Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
• Tristan da Cunha (Dependency of the UK overseas territory of Saint Helena)
• Tunisia – Tunisian Republic
• Turkey – Republic of Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Turks and Caicos Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Tuvalu

U

• Uganda – Republic of Uganda
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• United States – United States of America
• Uruguay – Eastern Republic of Uruguay
• Uzbekistan – Republic of Uzbekistan

V

• Vanuatu – Republic of Vanuatu
• Vatican City – State of the Vatican City
• Venezuela – Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
• Vietnam – Socialist Republic of Vietnam
• Virgin Islands, British – British Virgin Islands (UK overseas territory)
• Virgin Islands, United States – United States Virgin Islands (US organized territory)

W

• Wallis and Futuna – Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands (French overseas collectivity)
• Western Sahara – Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Y

• Yemen – Republic of Yemen

Z

• For “Zaire”, see Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Zambia – Republic of Zambia
• Zimbabwe – Republic of Zimbabwe