2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
Team Results -- Men 's
Table:
Rank
Country
Team
Time

Kenya
Paul Tergat
Joseph Kimani
David Ruto
3:11:38

Ethiopia
Tesfaye Jifar
Ibrahim Seid
Gemechu Kebede
3:14:45

Belgium
Koen Allaert
Guy Fays
Christian Nemeth
3:18:35

4
Japan
Toshiyuki Hayata
Satoshi Irifune
Jun Shida
3:18:44

5
Italy
Marco Mazza
Migidio Bourifa
Daniele Caimmi
3:19:21

6
Spain
Oscar Fernández
Antonio Peña
Iván Sánchez
3:20:12

7
South Africa
George Mofokeng
Bethuel Netshifhefhe
Motsehi Moeketsane
3:20:28

8
Mexico
Faustino Reynoso
Fidencio Torres
Andrés Espinosa
3:21:12

9
Morocco
El-Arbi Khattabi
Mostafa Errebbah
Rachid Aït Bensalem
3:21:25

10
Algeria
Noureddine Betim
Amar Dahbi
Saïd Belhout
3:21:43

11
Australia
Andrew Letherby
Scott Westcott
Shaun Creighton
3:23:54

12
Colombia
Diego Colorado
Herder Vázquez
Alvaro Neuta
3:24:09

13
United States
Clint Verran
Teddy Mitchell
Todd Reeser
3:25:36

14
France
Mohamed Serbouti
Stéphane Hannot
Brahim El-Ghazali
3:25:42

15
Brazil
José de Souza
Leonardo Guedes
Elisvaldo de Carvalho
3:31:53

16
Belarus
Zarislav Gapeyenko
Vladimir Tsyamchik
Andrey Gordeyev
3:33:30

17
Great Britain
Matthew Vaux-Harvey
Nick Wetheridge
Nick Jones
3:35:43

18
Lesotho
Thabiso Moqhali
Percy Sephoda
Tau Khotso
3:38:22

19
Croatia
Ivica Škopac
Drago Paripović
Nedeljko Ravić
3:41:43

20
Aruba
Kim Reynierse
Freddy Nystad
Richard Rodriguez
3:58:06

Taking into account the following table and the passages listed.

Give the answer to the question: What government did the country that finished fifth at the 2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships establish after abolishing the monarchy ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

Kenya ( /ˈkɛnjə/ ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Kenya ( Swahili : Jamhuri ya Kenya ) , is a country in Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors . At 580,367 square kilometres ( 224,081 sq mi ) , Kenya is the world 's 48th largest country by total area . With a population of more than 47.6 million people , Kenya is the 29th most populous country . Kenya 's capital and largest city is Nairobi , while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa . Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria . Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret . Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest , Ethiopia to the north , Somalia to the east , Uganda to the west , Tanzania to the south , and the Indian Ocean to the southeast . According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material , the Cushites first settled in the lowlands of Kenya between 3,200 and 1,300 BC , a phase referred to as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic . Nilotic-speaking pastoralists ( ancestral to Kenya 's Nilotic speakers ) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC . European colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of the interior . Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony , which began in 1920 . Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution , which began in 1952 , and the subsequent declaration of independence in 1963 .
Paul Kibii Tergat ( born 17 June 1969 ) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner . He became the first Kenyan to set the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007 , with a time of 2:04:55 , and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time . Runnerworld called him the Most comprehensive runner of all time . Towards the end of his career he concentrated exclusively on the marathon . Tergat set several world records and won many titles on the track , in cross country , and on the road . He lives and trains in Eldoret .
Joseph Kimani ( September 1 , 1972 - November 1 , 2012 ) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who competed over 10,000 metres on the track and in road running competitions . In his native country , he was commonly referred to as KK for Kimani Karanja . In other parts of the world , he was king of the road . He was the Superstar of most road races in the 1990s . He won 11 of the 13 road races in one season and finished second in 2 of them .
David Kiptarus Ruto ( born 1980 ) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who competed in road races . He was the team gold medallist at the 2000 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships alongside Paul Tergat and Joseph Kimani , having finished fifth individually . Ruto competed from 2000 to 2009 and his biggest win was at the 2003 Miami Marathon . He also had runner-up finishes at the Three Hearts Marathon , Brussels Marathon and Mumbai Marathon . He ran the marathon in under two hours and ten minutes on two occasions , including 2:09:21 for third at the 2003 Eindhoven Marathon and 2:08:21 hours at the 2003 Paris Marathon .
Ethiopia ( /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ; Amharic : ኢትዮጵያ , ʾĪtyōṗṗyā , listen ( help·info ) , Tigrinya : ኢትዮጵያ , Oromo : Itiyoophiyaa , Somali : Itoobiya , Afar : Itiyoophiyaa ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa . It shares borders with Eritrea to the north , Djibouti to the northeast , Somalia , and the de facto state of Somaliland to the east , Kenya to the south , South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest . With over 109 million inhabitants , Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres ( 420,000 sq mi ) . Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa , which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates . Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia . It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond . According to linguists , the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era . Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE , Ethiopia 's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history . Oral literature tells that the monarchy was founded by the Solomonic dynasty of the Queen of Sheba , under its first king , Menelik I . In the first centuries , the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region , followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137 . During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa , Ethiopia and Liberia were two nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial power and many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colours . However , the country was later occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia ( part of Italian East Africa ) until it was liberated during World War II .
Tesfaye Jifar ( Amharic : ተስፋዬ ጅፋር ) born April 23 , 1976 ) is a male Ethiopian long-distance runner . Jifar won the New York City Marathon in 2001 , his time of 2:07:43 standing as the course record for ten years . The same year he was second at the Tokyo Marathon and won the Saint Silvester Marathon held in Brazil . At the Amsterdam Marathon in 1999 he was second and broke the Ethiopian record held by Belayneh Dinsamo . Jifar 's time of 2:06:49 hours remains his personal record . Tesfaye Jifar is a three-time medalist from IAAF World Half Marathon Championships , he won bronze in 1999 and 2000 and silver in 2001 . At the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton Jifar finished seventh in the marathon race .
Belgium , [ A ] officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a country in Western Europe . It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north , Germany to the east , Luxembourg to the southeast , France to the southwest , and the North Sea to the northwest . It covers an area of 30,689 km2 ( 11,849 sq mi ) and has a population of more than 11.5 million , making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe , with a density of 376 per square kilometre ( 970/sq mi ) . The capital and largest city is Brussels ; other major cities are Antwerp , Ghent , Charleroi and Liège . The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds . It is divided into three highly autonomous regions : the Flemish Region in the north , Wallonia in the south , and the Brussels-Capital Region . Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region , as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita . Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or communities : the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community , which constitutes about 60 percent of the population , and the French-speaking Community , which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians . A small German-speaking Community , numbering around one percent , exists in the East Cantons . The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) , although French is the dominant language . Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
Satoshi Irifune ( 入船 敏 , Irifune Satoshi , born 14 December 1975 ) is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon . In the 10,000 metres he finished 20th at the 1999 World Championships . He finished eighteenth at the 2000 World Half Marathon Championships , and in the marathon he finished 20th at the 2005 World Championships , fourth at the 2006 Asian Games [ citation needed ] and 14th at the 2009 World Championships . His personal best times are 7:56.80 minutes in the 3000 metres , achieved in June 2003 in Kushiro ; 27:53.92 minutes in the 10,000 metres , achieved in May 2001 in Palo Alto ; 1:01:36 hours in the half marathon , achieved in April 2005 in Yamaguchi ; and 2:09:23 hours in the marathon , achieved in December 2008 in the Fukuoka Marathon .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
Marco Mazza ( born 25 June 1977 ) is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and half marathon .
Migidio Bourifa ( born 31 January 1969 at Casablanca ) is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon races .
Daniele Caimmi ( born 17 December 1972 , in Jesi ) is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race . His personal best marathon time is 2:08:59 hours , achieved in December 2002 in Milan .
Spain ( Spanish : España [ esˈpaɲa ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Spain ( Spanish : Reino de España ) , [ a ] [ b ] is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of Spanish territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean . Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula . Its territory also includes two archipelagoes : the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa , and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea . The African enclaves of Ceuta , Melilla , and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country ( Morocco ) . [ h ] Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory . The country 's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar ; to the north and northeast by France , Andorra , and the Bay of Biscay ; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean . With an area of 505,990 km2 ( 195,360 sq mi ) , Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe , the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union , and the fourth largest country in the European continent . By population ( about 47 million ) , Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union . Spain 's capital and largest city is Madrid ; other major urban areas include Barcelona , Valencia , Seville , Zaragoza , Málaga and Bilbao . Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago . Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician , Greek , Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE , after which the region was named Hispania , based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp ( a ) n or Spania . At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe , invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces , including the Suebi , Alans and Vandals .
Óscar Fernández Giralda ( born October 23 , 1974 ) is a retired male long-distance runner from Spain . He set his personal best ( 2:09:59 ) in the marathon on December 12 , 2003 in Fukuoka , Japan . He is currently a coach of a group of athletes belonging to the Isaac Viciosa athletics school . He also runs his own school of athletics in Tudela de Duero ( Valladolid ) , called Santinos .
Iván Sánchez ( born November 19 , 1974 in Móstoles , Madrid , Spain ) is a Spanish actor , model and film producer .
South Africa , officially the Republic of South Africa ( RSA ) , is the southernmost country in Africa . It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres ( 1,739 mi ) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans ; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia , Botswana , and Zimbabwe ; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini ( Swaziland ) ; and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho . South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 24th-largest country in the world by land area and , with over 58 million people , is also the world 's 24th-most populous nation . It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere . About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry , divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages , nine of which have official status . The remaining population consists of Africa 's largest communities of European , Asian ( Indian ) , and multiracial ( Coloured ) ancestry . South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures , languages , and religions . Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution 's recognition of 11 official languages , which is the fourth-highest number in the world . Two of these languages are of European origin : Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most coloured and white South Africans ; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism , and is commonly used in public and commercial life , though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language . The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état , and regular elections have been held for almost a century . However , the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994 . During the 20th century , the black majority sought to claim more rights from the dominant white minority , with this struggle playing a large role in the country 's recent history and politics .
George Mofokeng ( born 19 February 1979 ) is a long-distance runner from South Africa , who twice won the national marathon title in his native country : in 2006 and 2007 .
Mexico ( Spanish : México [ ˈmexiko ] ( listen ) ; Nahuatl languages : Mēxihco ) , officially the United Mexican States ( UMS ; Spanish : Estados Unidos Mexicanos , EUM [ esˈtaðos uˈniðoz mexiˈkanos ] ( listen ) , lit . Mexican United States ) , is a country in the southern portion of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico . Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometers ( 770,000 sq mi ) , the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world . With an estimated population of over 129 million people , Mexico is the tenth most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world , while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states plus Mexico City ( CDMX ) , which is the capital city and its most populous city . Other metropolises in the country include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana , and León . Pre-Columbian Mexico dates to about 8000 BC and is identified as one of six cradles of civilization and was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Olmec , Toltec , Teotihuacan , Zapotec , Maya , and Aztec before first contact with Europeans . In 1521 , the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its politically powerful base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan ( part of Mexico City ) , which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain . The Roman Catholic Church played a powerful role in governing the country as millions were converted to the faith , although King Charles III expelled the Jesuits in the 1770s . The territory became a nation state following its recognition in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence . The post-independence period was tumultuous , characterized by economic inequality and many contrasting political changes .
Andrés Espinosa Pérez ( born 4 February 1963 in Monclova , Coahuila ) is a retired Mexican long-distance runner who specialized in marathon races . Espinosa finished ninth at the 1995 World Championships in 2:16:44 hours . He won the 1993 New York Marathon and achieved his personal best time of 2:07:19 hours at the 1994 Boston Marathon . He set the world masters ( +40 ) record for the marathon in Berlin Marathon 2003 ( 2:08:46 ) , which lasted nearly a dozen years until it was broken by 2 seconds in 2015 by Evergreen Kenneth Mungara . He also won the Lisbon Half Marathon 1994 .
Morocco ( /məˈrɒkoʊ/ ( listen ) ; Arabic : المغرب , romanized : al-maġhrib , lit . 'place the sun sets ; the west ' ; Standard Moroccan Tamazight : ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ , romanized : lmeɣrib ; French : Maroc ) , officially the Kingdom of Morocco ( Arabic : المملكة المغربية , romanized : al-mamlakah al-maghribiyah , lit . 'The Western Kingdom ' ; Standard Moroccan Tamazight : ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ , romanized : tageldit n lmaɣrib ; French : Royaume du Maroc ) , is a country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa . It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west , with land border with Algeria to the east and Western Sahara to the south ( status disputed ) . Morocco also claims the exclaves of Ceuta , Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , all of them under Spanish jurisdiction , as well as several small Spanish-controlled islands of its coast . The capital is Rabat and the largest city is Casablanca . Morocco spans an area of 710,850 km2 ( 274,460 sq mi ) and has a population of over 36 million . Since the foundation of the first Moroccan state by Idris I in 788 AD , the country has been ruled by a series of independent dynasties , reaching its zenith under Almoravid and Almohad rule , when it spanned parts of Iberia and northwestern Africa . The Marinid and Saadi dynasties resisted foreign domination into the 17th century , allowing Morocco to remain the only northwest African country to avoid Ottoman occupation . The Alaouite dynasty , which rules to this day , seized power in 1631 . The country 's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean attracted the interest of Europe , and in 1912 , Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates , with an international zone in Tangier . It regained its independence in 1956 , and has since remained comparatively stable and prosperous by regional standards , with the fifth largest economy in Africa .
Elarbi Khattabi ( Arabic : العربي خطابي ; born 16 May 1967 ) is a Moroccan long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase and cross-country running . He was born in Casablanca . His achievements in the 3000 metres steeplechase on the global level are a tenth place at the 1992 Olympic Games , seventh place at the 1993 World Championships and fifth place at the 1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final , before he competed at the 1995 World Championships without reaching the final . He then finished eleventh at the 1995 Grand Prix Final , the 1997 World Championships and the 1999 World Championships . He then finished eighth at the 1999 Grand Prix Final , and competed at the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2001 World Championships without reaching the final . On the regional level he won the silver medal at the 1994 Jeux de la Francophonie and the gold medal at the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie . With 8:16.63 minutes in 2001 he set a new championship record . He also finished fifth at the 2001 Mediterranean Games and sixth at the 2002 African Championships . His personal best times were 7.43.06 minutes in the 3000 metres , achieved in July 1998 in Paris ; 8.09.03 minutes in the 3000 metres steeplechase , achieved in July 1999 in Rome ; and 13.18.92 minutes in the 5000 metres , achieved in June 1995 in Saint-Denis . At the World Cross Country Championships he recorded many top placements . He finished fourteenth in 1994 , eleventh in 1995 , sixteenth in 1997 , eleventh in 1998 and 27th in 2002 . He won silver medals with the Moroccan team in the team competitions of 1994 , 1995 and 1997 , and bronze team medals in 1998 and 2002 .
Mostafa Errebbah ( born 1 August 1971 in Douar Krazza ) is a Moroccan-born Italian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres .
Algeria ( /ælˈdʒɪəriə/ ( listen ) al-JEER-ee-ə ) is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa . The capital and most populous city is Algiers , located in the far north of the country on the Mediterranean coast . With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres ( 919,595 sq mi ) , Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world , and the largest in the African Union and Arab World . With an estimated population of over 42 million , it is among the ten most populous states in Africa . Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia , to the east by Libya , to the west by Morocco , to the southwest by the Western Saharan territory , Mauritania , and Mali , to the southeast by Niger , and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea . It is a semi-presidential republic consisting of 48 provinces and 1,541 communes ( counties ) . Pre-1962 Algeria has known many empires and dynasties , including ancient Numidians , Phoenicians , Carthaginians , Romans , Vandals , Byzantines , Umayyads , Abbasids , Idrisid , Aghlabid , Rustamid , Fatimids , Zirid , Hammadids , Almoravids , Almohads , Zayyanids , Spaniards , Ottomans and , finally , the French colonial empire . Algeria is a regional and middle power . It has the highest human development index of all non-island African countries and one of the largest economies on the continent , based largely on energy exports . Algeria has the 16th largest oil reserves in the world and the second largest in Africa , while it has the ninth largest reserves of natural gas . Sonatrach , the national oil company , is the largest company in Africa , supplying large amounts of natural gas to Europe . Algeria has one of the largest militaries in Africa and the largest defence budget .
Saïd Belhout ( born 16 April 1975 ) is an Algerian former long-distance runner who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics . He was born in Tiaret .
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country 's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century , who named it New Holland . In 1770 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 , a date which became Australia 's national day . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the time of an 1850s gold rush , most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising six states and ten territories . Australia is the oldest , flattest , and driest inhabited continent , with the least fertile soils . It has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres ( 2,941,300 sq mi ) .
Andrew Letherby ( born 19 September 1973 ) is an Australian former athlete who won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2002 Commonwealth Games .
Scott Westcott ( born 25 September 1975 ) is an Australian runner . Born near Parkes , New South Wales , Westcott was an avid runner as a teenager , winning the 5000 m state championships . [ citation needed ] Westcott came fourth in the 2006 Commonwealth Games marathon with a time of 2:15:32 . He ran a time of 2.11.36 in the Beppu international Marathon Championships in Japan . Westcott is a teacher by profession . In 2011 he was involved in a motorcycle crash that hindered his selection for the 2012 Olympics . His best time in parkrun Australia is 14:23 on 5 October 2013 . His time is the best in Australia for parkrun . For his 40th birthday in 2015 , his family allowed him to enter the Berlin Marathon where he finished in an Olympic qualifying time . He was selected for the 2016 Olympics , his first Olympics , at the age of 40 . Westcott ran a time of 2:22:19 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games . Westcott is married to Jessica and has three children , Noah , Finn and Frankie .
Shaun William Creighton ( born 14 May 1967 in Sydney , New South Wales ) is an Australian retired long-distance runner .
Colombia ( /kəˈlʌmbiə/ ( listen ) kə-LUM-bee-ə , /-ˈlɒm-/ -⁠LOM- ; Spanish : [ koˈlombja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish : República de Colombia ( help·info ) ) , [ Note 1 ] is a country largely situated in the north of South America , with land and territories in North America . Colombia is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea , the northwest by Panama , the south by both Ecuador and Peru , the east by Venezuela , the southeast by Brazil , and the west by the Pacific . It comprises thirty-two departments , with the capital in Bogotá . Colombia is ethnically and linguistically diverse , with its rich cultural heritage reflecting influences by various Amerindian civilizations , European settlement , forced African labor , and immigration from Europe and the greater Middle East . Urban centres are concentrated in the Andean highlands and the Caribbean coast . Colombia has been inhabited by various American Indian peoples since at least 12,000 BCE , including the Muisca , Quimbaya , and the Tairona . Spaniards arrived in 1499 and by the mid-16th century annexed part of the region , establishing the New Kingdom of Granada , with Santafé de Bogotá as its capital . Independence from Spain was achieved in 1819 , but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved , with what is now Colombia and Panama emerging as the Republic of New Granada . The new sovereign state experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation ( 1858 ) , and then the United States of Colombia ( 1863 ) , before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886 . Panama seceded in 1903 , leading to Colombia 's present borders . Beginning in the 1960s , the country suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence , both of which escalated in the 1990s . Since 2005 , there has been significant improvement in security , stability , and rule of law .
Diego Alberto Colorado ( born 31 August 1973 in Jardín , Antioquia ) is a male long-distance runner from Colombia . He represented his country in the marathon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics , taking 32nd place . He has won medals on the track over 10,000 metres , taking bronze at the 2005 South American Championships in Athletics and silver at the 2008 CAC Championships . In October 2011 , he won the silver medal in the men 's marathon event at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara , Mexico , clocking a total time of 2:17:13 , behind Brazil 's Solonei Silva ( 2:16.37 ) and before the bronze winner , fellow Colombian Juan Carlos Cardona ( 2:18:20 ) . He also won the bronze medal in the men 's marathon event at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic , clocking a total time of 2:21.48 , behind Brazil 's Vanderlei de Lima ( 2:19:08 ) and Canada 's Bruce Deacon ( 2:20:35 ) . He was the first South American home at the 2011 Bogota Half Marathon , taking fourth place behind East African opposition .
Herder Herberto Vázquez Corredor ( born 20 June 1967 ) is a Colombian long-distance runner . He competed in the men 's 5000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
Brazil ( Portuguese : Brasil ; Portuguese pronunciation : [ bɾaˈziw ] ) , [ nt 1 ] officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( Portuguese : República Federativa do Brasil , listen ( help·info ) ) , is the largest country in both South America and Latin America . At 8.5 million square kilometers ( 3.2 million square miles ) and with over 211 million people , Brazil is the world 's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous . Its capital is Brasília , and its most populous city is São Paulo . The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states , the Federal District , and the 5,570 municipalities . It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas ; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations , due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world . Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east , Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers ( 4,655 mi ) . It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent 's land area . Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest , home to diverse wildlife , a variety of ecological systems , and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats . This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries , and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection . Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral , who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire . Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 , when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro . In 1815 , the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal , Brazil and the Algarves .
José Teles de Souza ( born 22 April 1971 in Teresina , Piauí ) is a Brazilian long-distance runner . He finished eighteenth in the marathon at the 2007 World Championships .
Belarus ( /bɛləˈruːs/ ; Belarusian : Беларусь , IPA : [ bʲɛlaˈrusʲ ] ) , officially the Republic of Belarus ( Belarusian : Рэспубліка Беларусь , Russian : Республика Беларусь ) , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia ( Russian : Белоруссия ) , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast , Ukraine to the south , Poland to the west , and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest . Its capital and most populous city is Minsk . Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres ( 80,200 sq mi ) is forested . Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing . Until the 20th century , different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus , including the Principality of Polotsk ( 11th to 14th centuries ) , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution , Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People 's Republic , which was conquered by Soviet Russia . The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic ( Byelorussian SSR ) . Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921 . Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 , when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II . During WWII , military operations devastated Belarus , which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources . The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years . In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations , along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .
Lesotho ( /ləˈsuːtuː/ ( listen ) , Sotho pronunciation : [ lɪˈsʊːtʰʊ ] ) , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho ( Sotho : 'Muso oa Lesotho ) , is an enclaved country within the border of South Africa . Along with the Vatican City and San Marino , it is one of only three independent states completely surrounded by the territory of another country , and the only one outside of the Italian peninsula . Lesotho is just over 30,000 km2 ( 11,583 sq mi ) in size and has a population of around 2 million . Its capital and largest city is Maseru . Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland , but it declared independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966 . It is now a fully sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations , the Commonwealth of Nations , and the Southern African Development Community ( SADC ) . The name Lesotho roughly translates to the land of the brown-skinned people .
Thabiso Paul Moqhali ( born 7 December 1967 ) is a retired male marathon runner from Lesotho . He won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur in a time of 2:19:15 hours , the slowest winning time since 1966 . In addition he finished 16th at the 2000 Summer Olympics .
Croatia ( /kroʊˈeɪʃə/ ( listen ) , kroh-AY-shə ; Croatian : Hrvatska , pronounced [ xř̩ʋaːtskaː ] ) , officially the Republic of Croatia ( Croatian : Republika Hrvatska , listen ( help·info ) ) , [ d ] is a country in Southeast Europe . It borders Slovenia to the northwest , Hungary to the northeast , Serbia to the east , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Montenegro to the southeast , sharing a maritime border with Italy . Its capital , Zagreb , forms one of the country 's primary subdivisions , along with twenty counties . Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres ( 21,851 square miles ) and a population of 4.28 million , most of whom are Roman Catholics . Croatia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age . The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century . Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir . Tomislav became the first king by 925 , elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom , which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries . During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended , Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102 . In 1527 , faced with Ottoman conquest , the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne . In October 1918 , in the final days of World War I , the State of Slovenes , Croats and Serbs , independent from Austria-Hungary , was proclaimed in Zagreb , and in December 1918 it was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs , Croats and Slovenes ( renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929 ) . Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 , most of the Croatian territory was incorporated into a Nazi-backed client-state , the Independent State of Croatia .
Aruba ( /əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə , Dutch : [ aːˈrubaː , -ryb- ] ( listen ) , Papiamento : [ aˈruba ] ) is an island and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern Caribbean Sea , located about 1,000 kilometres ( 620 mi ) west of the main part of the Lesser Antilles and 29 kilometres ( 18 mi ) north of the coast of Venezuela . It measures 32 kilometres ( 20 mi ) long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and 10 kilometres ( 6 mi ) across at its widest point . Together with Bonaire and Curaçao , Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands . Collectively , Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean . Aruba is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands , along with the Netherlands , Curaçao , and Sint Maarten ; the citizens of these countries are all Dutch nationals . Aruba has no administrative subdivisions , but , for census purposes , is divided into eight regions . Its capital is Oranjestad . Unlike much of the Caribbean region , Aruba has a dry climate and an arid , cactus-strewn landscape . This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm , sunny weather . It has a land area of 179 km2 ( 69.1 sq mi ) and is densely populated , with a total of 102,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census . Current estimates of the population place it at 116,600 ( July 2018 est . ) It lies outside Hurricane Alley .
Kim Reynierse ( born 10 January 1961 ) is an Aruban former long-distance runner who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics .
Richard Rodriguez ( born 10 December 1969 ) is a former Aruban long-distance runner who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics , running in the marathon competition . He did not finish .