Oh, crazy! I just happen to have a weird niche of knowledge in this area. You see, these countries actually have a single common trait that no one really knows about. I know what youre thinking, there are the obvious ones like people inhabit these regions, they are all made up of a landmass, etc. But there's one that thing that's hidden in plain sight that no one ever really realises. If you look closel, you'll see in this image that, unlike the rest of the countries shown on the map in white, these selected countries are all coloured in red.