The 25 least visited countries in the world. Been to any? Want to?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s a list of the 25 least visited countries in the world, not a slideshow.

http://www.garfors.com/2015/07/the-25-least-visited-countries-in-whole.html

Have you been to any of these countries? Would you want to?

I’m not surprised to see some of the tiny Pacific Island nations on there. That’s a very remote part of the world and those islands are just too small to support a tourist infrastructure.

Some of the African countries also make sense, not only are some of them fairly remote and involved in civil wars, but some have insanely difficult visa requirements to meet.

I was surprised to see Liechtenstein on the list. I figured by virtue of location it would end up with a decent number of tourists, none of the other European microstates are on the list.

2

I’ve seen Dominica, does that count?

3

I’ve been to East Timor, #25, both pre- and post-independence. Beautiful! I loved the mountain town of Kefamenanu (nicknamed Kefa), I hired a pony for the day and rode through the casuarina forests.

4

In the Science building of my local community college, on the Oceanography floor, there was a huge map on the wall. One day I closed my eyes and cautiously walked forward until my outstretched finger contacted a point somewhere in the Pacific. I opened my eyes and found the nearest piece on land to that spot on the map was Nauru Atoll.

Ever since then Nauru has occupied a niche on my mental shelf reserved for “place I’d like to visit some day just to say I’d done it”. It was cool to see it number one on the linked list.

5

I’ve been to Pohnpei, Micronesia, so there’s that.

6

Been to Liechtenstein. It’s a pretty little town in the Alps. Not much else to see or do except brag about actually having been to Liechtenstein.

7

I lived in the Federated States of Micronesia for 3 years (on Pohnpei), and during that time visited the Marshall Islands a few times.

The FSM was fantastic. I would go back in a heartbeat.

8

I was in #21 Liechtenstein in 1994.

Earlier this month I was in #15 Federated States of Micronesia and #4 Marshall Islands

9

The plane I was in landed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on its way to St. Lucia. I wouldn’t mind going there, eventually. I have a goal of visiting all the Caribbean islands and countries, at least once, during my lifetime. It’s my region, and In my very biased opinion, the most beautiful place there is.

10

Tonga looks cool. Always wondered about it since that’s were Haku comes from.

Many others would be disasters as I would be held hostage, robbed, or killed.

11

I’ve *heard *of each of these countries, does that count for anything?

And I’m fascinated that Kiribati is pronounced Kiribass. Good to know.
mmm

12

I’ve always wanted to visit Tonga.

13

I spent a week diving in Chuuk, which is part of the Federated States of Micronesia (#16).

14

Many of these are tiny island nations. With climate change and rising sea levels, they may soon sink beneath the waves. Better hurry!

15

I’d like to visit Tonga if I could get to only one Pacific nation. When I was younger, in 1968, I read an article about the coronation of it’s (then) king. The Tongans sounded like wonderful people to a kid like me, and the country a stable and beautiful one.

In the same National Geographic magazine that had the article about the Tongan coronation there was an article about the fantastic and splendid ceremonies that surround the coronation of the Shah of Iran. Lots of display of jewels and power.

And which country still had a king?

16

Next best thing would be Los Angeles or San Francisco. Sometimes it seems like half of Tonga has moved to one or the other, courtesy of the Mormon Church.

17

Well, I’ve been through Turkmenistan and Liechtenstein by car, but never properly visited either. (The detour into Turkmenistan was while being driven from Khiva to Bukhara in Uzbekistan–the route took us briefly in and out of Turkmenistan.) Liechtenstein I just made a brief detour through to nominally say I’ve been there when we drove from Salzburg to Lucerne.

18

Went there on a lark and got stuck in the worst traffic jam of my life! All I wanted to do was get the hell out and back to Switzerland.

Been to SVatG once.

19

Not me, but I did have a friend who spent time in Equatorial Guinea on a research trip.

20

I had never even heard of The Comoros before, though I had heard of the island the chain claims, Mayotte. And, truth be told, I don’t believe I had any idea that there was a place called Dominica, either, but it sounds really familiar because I’m confusing it with the Dominican Republic.