1. Germany: a country in the North Central Europe on the North and Baltic seas. It was divided (1945) into four zones of occupation, administered respectively by France, Great Britain, the USA and the USSR, and partitioned (1949) into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It had won its reunification by the end of the last century. The web sites http://www.germany-info.org/ and http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/brd.html will provide you with more details.
2. Malaysia: a country in Southeast Asia, a union (1963) of the former Federation of Malaya. It is a member of the Commonwealth. Try the web sites http://www.orean.com and http://www.newmalaysia.com for more information.
3. Pakistan: officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a republic in southern Asia, bounded on the north and northwest by Afghanistan, on the northeast by Jammu and Kashmir, on the east and southeast by India, on the south by the Arabian Sea, and on the west by Iran. The status of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan. Until December 1971 Pakistan included the province of East Pakistan; at that time, however, East Pakistan seceded from Pakistan and assumed the name Bangladesh. The area of Pakistan is 796,095 square kilometers (307,374 sq mi), not including the section of Jammu and Kashmir under its control. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad; the largest city of the country is Karachi. More information about the country is available at the web site http://www.pak.gov.pk/.
4. Costa Rica: a republic in southern Central America, bounded on the north by Nicaragua, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by Panama, and on the southwest and west by the Pacific Ocean. The uninhabited and densely wooded tropical Cocos Island, about 480 km (about 300 mi) to the southwest in the Pacific Ocean, is under Costa Rican sovereignty. The total area of Costa Rica is 51,060 square kilometers (19,714 sq mi). The country’s capital is San José. Please visit the web site http://www.tourism-costarica.com to get more information.
5. Chile: a republic in southwestern South America, bounded on the north by Peru, on the east by Bolivia and Argentina, and on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. It has an extreme northern-southern length of approximately 4,270 kilometers (about 2,650 mi), but its average width is less than 180 kilometers (110 mi). Archipelagoes extend along the southern Chilean coast from Chiloé Island to Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the South American continent. Among these are the Chonos Archipelago, Wellington Island, and the western portion of Tierra del Fuego. Other islands belonging to Chile include the Juan Fernández Islands, Easter Island, and Salay Gómez, all of which lie in the South Pacific. The country has a total area of 756,626 square kilometers (292,135 sq mi). Chile also claims a section of Antarctica. The country’s capital and largest city is Santiago. More information is available at the web sites http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html and http://www.chip.cl/.
6. Thailand: officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Prathet Thai, or “Land of the Free”), a country in Southeast Asia. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been occupied by any European or other foreign power, except in war. The country was an absolute monarchy from 1782 until 1932, when rebels seized power in a coup and established a constitutional monarchy. Since then, Thailand has come under the rule of many governments, both civil and military. The country was known as Siam until 1939 (when it was renamed Thailand), and again for a few years in the late 1940s. In 1949 the name Thailand was adopted a second time. The web site http://sunsite.au.ac.th/thailand/ provides you with more information about the country.
