Product Code Database
Example Keywords: paint -radiant $93
barcode-scavenger
   » » Wiki: Country
Tag Wiki 'Country'.
Tag
20%

A country is a distinct part of the , such as a state, a , or other . When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a , a state with limited recognition, a constituent country, or a dependent territory. Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the . There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world, since several states have disputed sovereignty status or limited recognition, and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly considered countries.

The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and have changed over time. wrote in 2010 that "any attempt to find a clear definition of a country soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies."

Areas much smaller than a political entity may be referred to as a "country", such as the in England, "big sky country" (used in various contexts of the ), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions), or simply "the country" (used to describe a ). The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as or .


Etymology
The word country comes from contrée, which derives from (terra) contrata ("(land) lying opposite"; "(land) spread before"), derived from contra ("against, opposite"). It most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century.


Definition of a country
In English, the word has increasingly become associated with political divisions, so that one sense, associated with the indefinite article – "a country" – is now frequently applied as a synonym for a state or a former sovereign state. It may also be used as a synonym for "nation". Taking as examples , , and , cultural anthropologist wrote in 1997 that "it is clear that the relationships between 'country' and 'nation' are so different from one place to the next as to be impossible to fold into a dichotomous opposition as they are into a promiscuous fusion."

Areas much smaller than a political state may be referred to as countries, such as the in England, "big sky country" (used in various contexts of the ), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions in several sovereign states) and many other terms. The word "country" is also used for the sense of , such as the widespread use of in the United States. The term "country" in English may also be wielded to describe , or used in the form "countryside." , a Welsh scholar, wrote in 1975:

(1973). 9780195197365, Oxford University Press.

The unclear definition of "country" in modern English was further commented upon by philosopher :

(2025). 9780230234994, Palgrave Macmillan.

Melissa Lucashenko, an Aboriginal Australian writer, expressed the difficulty of defining "country" in a 2005 essay, "Unsettlement":


Statehood
When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a , state with limited recognition, constituent country, or dependent territory. A sovereign state is a that has supreme legitimate authority over a part of the world. There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly called countries. No definition is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood.
(1991). 9789231027161, Springer Netherlands. .
State practice relating to the recognition of a country typically falls somewhere between the declaratory and constitutive approaches.
(2025). 9780521531832, Cambridge University Press. .

[[File:Limited Recognition States.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|

]]

International law defines sovereign states as not under another.

(2015). 9780199239337, Oxford University PressOxford.
The declarative theory outlined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention describes a state in Article 1:
  1. Having a permanent population
  2. Having a defined territory
  3. Having a government
  4. Having the ability to enter into relations with other states
The Montevideo Convention in Article 3 implies that a sovereign state can exist even if no other countries recognise it.
(2025). 9781136849992, Taylor & Francis. .
As a restatement of customary international law, the Montevideo Convention merely codified existing legal norms and its principles,
(2019). 9780190072506, Oxford University Press.
and therefore does not apply merely to the signatories of international organizations (such as the ), but to all subjects of international law as a whole.Harris, D.J. (ed) 2004 "Cases and Materials on International Law" 6th Ed. at p. 99. Sweet and Maxwell, London
(2025). 9789041114099, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. .
A similar opinion has been expressed by the European Economic Community,
(2025). 9789041114099, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. .
reiterated by the , in the principal statement of its Badinter Committee, The Badinter Arbitration Committee (full title), named for its chair, ruled on the question of whether the Republics of Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia, who had formally requested recognition by the members of the European Union and by the EU itself, had met conditions specified by the Council of Ministers of the European Community on 16 December 1991. and by Judge Challis Professor, James Crawford.
(2007). 9780199228423, Oxford University Press.

According to the constitutive theory, a state is a legal entity of international law if, and only if, it is recognised as sovereign by at least one other country. Because of this, new states could not immediately become part of the international community or be bound by international law, and recognised nations did not have to respect international law in their dealings with them.

(1998). 9781859410509, Routledge. .
In 1912, L. F. L. Oppenheim said the following, regarding constitutive theory:

In 1976 the Organisation of African Unity define state recognition as:

(1998). 9780198265733, Clarendon Press. .

Some countries, such as , Sahrawi Republic and , have limited recognition or actively disputed sovereignty from sovereign states. Some sovereign states are unions of separate polities, each of which may also be considered a country in its own right, called constituent countries. The consists of , the , and . The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of the , , Curaçao, and .

(2025). 9789462655270, T.M.C. Asser Press. .
The consists of , , , and .
(2025). 9781000910650, Taylor & Francis. .

Dependent territories are the territories of a sovereign state that are outside of its proper territory. These include the overseas territories of New Zealand, the dependencies of Norway, the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, the territories of the United States, the external territories of Australia, the special administrative regions of China, the autonomous regions of the Danish Realm, Åland, , and the Caribbean Netherlands. Some dependent territories are treated as a separate "country of origin" in international trade, such as , , and .


Identification
Symbols of a country may incorporate , or symbols of any nation that the country includes. Many categories of symbols can be seen in flags, coats of arms, or seals.


Name
Most countries have a long and a short name. The long name is typically used in formal contexts and often describes the country's form of government. The short name is the country's common name by which it is typically identified. Unlike the short name, the long name can change more often when the government changes. For certain states, the long form and the short form are identical.

The name of a country can hold cultural and diplomatic significance. Upper Volta changed its name to to reflect the end of French colonization, and the name of was disputed for years due to a conflict with the similarly named Macedonia region in . Southern Rhodesia changed its name to , Northern Rhodesia to , to , the to and back again to the Congo, to , to Côte d'Ivoire, Swaziland to , Persia to , to and then to , Ceylon to , Siam to , Burma changed its English name to , to Kampuchea and back again to Cambodia, Byelorussia to , Kirghizia to , Moldavia to , or to Türkiye. Timeline of country name changes in HMG use: 1919 to present

The International Organization for Standardization maintains a list of country codes as part of ISO 3166 to designate each country with a . The ISO 3166 standard currently comprises 249 countries, 193 of which are sovereign states that are members of the United Nations.


Flags
Originally, flags representing a country would generally be the personal flag of its rulers; however, over time, the practice of using personal banners as flags of places was abandoned in favor of flags that had some significance to the nation, often its patron saint. Early examples of these were the maritime republics such as Genoa which could be said to have a national flag as early as the 12th century. However, these were still mostly used in the context of marine identification.
(1994). 9780785800491, Chartwell Books.

Although some flags date back earlier, widespread use of flags outside of military or naval context begins only with the rise of the idea of the at the end of the 18th century and particularly are a product of the Age of Revolution. Revolutions such as those in France and America called for people to begin thinking of themselves as as opposed to under a king, and thus necessitated flags that represented the collective citizenry, not just the power and right of a ruling family. With becoming common across Europe in the 19th century, national flags came to represent most of the states of Europe. Flags also began fostering a sense of unity between different peoples, such as the representing a union between and , or began to represent unity between nations in a perceived shared struggle, for example, the Pan-Slavic colors or later .

As Europeans significant portions of the world, they exported ideas of nationhood and national symbols, including flags, with the adoption of a flag becoming seen as integral to the process. Political change, social reform, and revolutions combined with a growing sense of nationhood among ordinary people in the 19th and 20th centuries led to the birth of new nations and flags around the globe. With so many flags being created, interest in these designs began to develop and the study of flags, , at both professional and amateur levels, emerged. After World War II, Western vexillology went through a phase of rapid development, with many research facilities and publications being established.


National anthems
A national anthem is a musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. Though the custom of an officially adopted national anthem became popular only in the 19th century, some national anthems predate this period, often existing as patriotic songs long before designation as national anthem. Several countries remain without an official national anthem. In these cases, there are established anthems played at sporting events or diplomatic receptions. These include the United Kingdom ("God Save the King") and Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria). Some sovereign states that are made up of multiple countries or constituencies have associated musical compositions for each of them (such as with the , , and the ). These are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states (for example, "italic=no" is used for Wales, part of the United Kingdom).


Other symbols


Patriotism
A positive emotional connection to a country a person belongs to is called . Patriotism is a sense of love for, devotion to, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, and language relating to one's homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. It encompasses a set of concepts closely related to , mostly civic nationalism and sometimes cultural nationalism.
(2025). 9780810865488, Scarecrow Press. .


Economy
per capita of 213 "countries" (2020) (Purchasing power parity – international dollars)
]] Several organizations seek to identify trends to produce economy country classifications. Countries are often distinguished as developing countries or developed countries.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs annually produces the World Economic Situation and Prospects Report classifying states as developed countries, economies in transition, or developing countries. The report classifies country development based on per capita gross national income (GNI) and identifies subgroups within broad categories based on geographical location or ad hoc criteria. Geographic regions with developing economies are Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Economies in transition are in the former Soviet Union and South-Eastern Europe. Regions with developed countries are in Northern America, Europe, and Asia and the Pacific. The majority of economies in transition and developing countries are found in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

The also classifies countries based on GNI per capita. The World Bank Atlas method classifies countries as low-income economies, lower-middle-income economies, upper-middle-income economies, or high-income economies. For the 2020 fiscal year, the World Bank defines low-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita of $1,025 or less in 2018; lower-middle-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita between $1,026 and $3,995; upper-middle-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita between $3,996 and $12,375; high-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita of $12,376 or more..

It also identifies regional trends. The World Bank defines its regions as East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Lastly, the World Bank distinguishes countries based on its operational policies. The three categories include International Development Association (IDA) countries, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) countries, and Blend countries.


See also
  • Country (identity)
  • Lists by country
  • List of former sovereign states
  • Lists of sovereign states and dependent territories
  • List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent
  • List of transcontinental countries
  • List of sovereign states


Notes

Works cited


Further reading


External links

Page 1 of 1
1
Post Comment
Font Size...
Font Family...
Font Format...

Page 1 of 1
1

Account

Social:
Pages:  ..   .. 
Items:  .. 

Navigation

General: Atom Feed Atom Feed  .. 
Help:  ..   .. 
Category:  ..   .. 
Media:  ..   .. 
Posts:  ..   ..   .. 

Statistics

Page:  .. 
Summary:  .. 
1 Tags
10/10 Page Rank
5 Page Refs
8s Time