| Country | Geography - note |
| Canada | second-largest country in world (after Russia); strategic location between Russia and US via north polar route; approximately 90% of the population is concentrated within 160 km of the US border |
| Cape Verde | strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site |
| Cayman Islands | important location between Cuba and Central America |
| Central African Republic | landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa |
| Chad | landlocked; Lake Chad is the most significant water body in the Sahel |
| Chile | strategic location relative to sea lanes between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Atacama Desert is one of world's driest regions |
| China | world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak |
| Christmas Island | located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean |
| Clipperton Island | reef 12 km in circumference |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | islands are thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation |
| Colombia | only South American country with coastlines on both the North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea |
| Comoros | important location at northern end of Mozambique Channel |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the | straddles equator; has narrow strip of land that controls the lower Congo River and is only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean; dense tropical rain forest in central river basin and eastern highlands |
| Congo, Republic of the | about 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them |
| Cook Islands | the northern Cook Islands are seven low-lying, sparsely populated, coral atolls; the southern Cook Islands, where most of the population lives, consist of eight elevated, fertile, volcanic isles, including the largest, Rarotonga, at 67 sq km |
| Coral Sea Islands | important nesting area for birds and turtles |
| Costa Rica | four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated |
| Croatia | controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits; most Adriatic Sea islands lie off the coast of Croatia - some 1,200 islands, islets, ridges, and rocks |
| Cuba | largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles |
| Cyprus | the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia) |
| Czech Republic | landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe |
| Denmark | controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen |
| Dhekelia | British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus; of the Sovereign Base Area land 60% is privately owned and farmed, 20% is owned by the Ministry of Defense, and 20% is SBA Crown land |
| Djibouti | strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa |