Beyond the touristy town of Punta Cana in the southeast, the country becomes a vast natural landscape of vibrant greens and blues, unmarred by large-scale tourism or commercial hotels.

BBC: Lodges Robinson Crusoe would love

Adding to the chaos are separatist Tuareg rebels who capitalized on the post-coup disorder and captured large areas of Mali's vast Sahara region in the north.

CNN: Mali's president steps down

More than one-third are sprinkled across the southeast, with the vast majority living in Florida and in large urban cities like New York, Chicago and Boston.

NPR: Haitian Expatriates Eager to Vote on Future

Even if the task of re-establishing the rule of law is vast, he must show businesses and the public at large that his government is moving decisively in the right direction.

ECONOMIST: Gus Dur��s last chance

Judge James Russell found the defendants to have orchestrated large-scale and sophisticated counterfeit manufacturing operations in China and to have imported vast amounts of counterfeit products into Canada with the intent of selling them nationwide in stores, at gift shows and online.

FORBES: Louis Vuitton, Burberry Win Millions in Landmark Canadian Counterfeit Suit

San Antonio has boomed thanks to the presence of three large military bases, and the well-managed closure of a fourth in 2001 has created a vast new air- and rail-distribution port, mainly serving Mexico.

ECONOMIST: Beyond oil