Country

Edit links
Page semi-protected
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with County. For countryside, see Rural area. For other uses, see Country (disambiguation).

The marked territories on this global map are mostly of countries which are sovereign states with full international recognition (brackets denote the country of a marked territory that is not a sovereign state). Some territories are countries in their own right but are not recognized as such (e.g. Taiwan), and some few marked territories are disputed about which country they belong to (e.g. Kashmir) or if they are countries in their own right (e.g. Western Sahara (territory) or the state known by the same name).

A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, states with limited recognition, constituent country, or a dependent territory.[1][2][3] Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations. 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.[4]

The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and have changed over time. The Economist wrote in 2010 that "any attempt to find a clear definition of a country soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies."[5]

Areas much smaller than a political entity may be referred to as a "country", such as the

country living.[8]

Etymology

The word country comes from

better source needed
]

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 Canada, Sri Lanka, and Yugoslavia, cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz 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."[10]

Areas much smaller than a political state may be referred to as countries, such as the

American West), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions in several sovereign states) and many other terms.[6] The word "country" is also used for the sense of native sovereign territory, such as the widespread use of Indian country in the United States.[11]
The term "country" in English may also be wielded to describe rural areas, or used in the form "countryside." Raymond Williams, a Welsh scholar, wrote in 1975:[12]

'Country' and 'city' are very powerful words, and this is not surprising when we remember how much they seem to stand for in the experience of human communities. In English, 'country' is both a nation and a part of a 'land'; 'the country' can be the whole society or its rural area. In the long history of human settlements, this connection between the land from which directly or indirectly we all get our living and the achievements of human society has been deeply known.

The unclear definition of "country" in modern English was further commented upon by philosopher Simon Keller:[13]

Often, a country is presumed to be identical with a collection of citizens. Sometimes, people say that a country is a project, or an idea, or an ideal. Occasionally, philosophers entertain more metaphysically ambitious pictures, suggesting that a country is an organic entity with its own independent life and character, or that a country is an autonomous agent, just like you or me. Such claims are rarely explained or defended, however, and it is not clear how they should be assessed. We attribute so many different kinds of properties to countries, speaking as though a country can feature wheat fields waving or be girt by sea, can have a founding date and be democratic and free, can be English speaking, culturally diverse, war torn or Islamic.

— New Waves In Political Philosophy, "Making Nonsense of Loyalty to Country", page 96

Melissa Lucashenko, an Aboriginal Australian writer, expressed the difficulty of defining "country" in a 2005 essay, "Unsettlement":[14]

...What is this thing country? What does country mean? ... I spoke with others who said country meant Home, but who added the caveat that Home resided in people rather than places – a kind of portable Country... I tried to tease out some ways in which non-Indigenous people have understood country. I made categories: Country as Economy. Country as Geography. Country as Society. Country as Myth. Country as History. For all that I walked, slept, breathed and dreamed Country, the language still would not come.

Statehood

Main article: Sovereign state
See also: List of sovereign states, List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent, and List of states with limited recognition

When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, states with limited recognition, constituent country, or a dependent territory.[1][2] A sovereign state is a political entity that has supreme legitimate authority over a part of the world.[15] 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.[4] No definition is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood.[16][4] State practice relating to the recognition of a country typically falls somewhere between the declaratory and constitutive approaches.[17][18][19][20][21] International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other states.[22]

  UN member states that at least one other UN member state does not recognise
  Non-UN member states recognised by at least one UN member state
  Non-UN member states recognised only by other non-UN member states

The declarative theory outlined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention describes a state in Article 1 as:[23][24]

  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 still be a sovereign state even if no other countries recognise that it exists.

Badinter Committee,[31] and by Judge Challis Professor, James Crawford.[27]

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.[32] 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.[33] In 1912, L. F. L. Oppenheim said the following, regarding constitutive theory:

International Law does not say that a State is not in existence as long as it is not recognised, but it takes no notice of it before its recognition. Through recognition only and exclusively a State becomes an International Person and a subject of International Law.[34]

In 1976 the Organisation of African Unity define state recognition as:[35]

..the recognition of an independent and sovereign state is an act of sovereignty pertaining each member of the international community, an act to be taken individually, and it is, therefore, up to member states and each OAU power [to decide] whether to recognise or not the newly independent state.

Dependent territories and their sovereign states. All territories are labeled according to ISO 3166-1[note 1] or with numbers.[note 2] Colored areas without labels are integral parts of their respective countries. Antarctica is shown as a condominium instead of individual claims.

Some countries, such as Taiwan, Sahrawi Republic and Kosovo have disputed sovereignty and/or limited recognition among some countries.[36][37] 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 Danish Realm consists of Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland.[38] The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of the Netherlands proper, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.[39] The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.[40]

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, Overseas France, and the Caribbean Netherlands. Some dependent territories are treated as a separate "country of origin" in international trade,[41][42] such as Hong Kong,[43][44][45] Greenland,[46] and Macau.[47]

Identification

Further information: National symbol

Symbols of a country may incorporate cultural, religious or political symbols of any nation that the country includes. Many categories of symbols can be seen in flags, coats of arms, or seals.[48]

Name

See also: List of country-name etymologies
Map of Pacific Island countries identified by their two-letter ISO country codes
A number of non-sovereign entities nevertheless have country codes, such as PF (French Polynesia) and TK (Tokelau)

Most countries have a long name and a short name.[49] 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.[50][51][52][53] The International Organization for Standardization maintains a list of country codes as part of ISO 3166 to designate each country with a two-letter country code.[54] The name of a country can hold cultural and diplomatic significance. Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina Faso to reflect the end of French colonization, and the name of North Macedonia was disputed for years due to a conflict with the similarly named Macedonia region in Greece.[55] The ISO 3166-1 standard currently comprises 249 countries, 193 of which are sovereign states that are members of the United Nations.[56]

Flags

Main article: National flag
See also: List of national flags of sovereign states
Flag of China was drawn mistakenly as a western dragon
.

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.[57] However, these were still mostly used in the context of marine identification.[58]

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

citizens as opposed to subjects under a king, and thus necessitated flags that represented the collective citizenry, not just the power and right of a ruling family.[59][60] With nationalism becoming common across Europe in the 19th century, national flags came to represent most of the states of Europe.[59] Flags also began fostering a sense of unity between different peoples, such as the Union Jack representing a union between England and Scotland, or began to represent unity between nations in a perceived shared struggle, for example, the Pan-Slavic colors or later Pan-Arab colors.[61]

As Europeans

colonized 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 nation-building process.[62] 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.[63] With so many flags being created, interest in these designs began to develop and the study of flags, vexillology, 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.[64]

National anthems

Main article: National anthem
See also: List of national anthems
Early version of the "Wilhelmus" as preserved in a manuscript of 1617 (Brussels, Royal Library, MS 15662, fol. 37v-38r)[65]

A national anthem is a

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 United Kingdom, Russia, and the Soviet Union). These are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states (for example, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is used for Wales, part of the United Kingdom).[67]

Other symbols

Patriotism

Main article: Patriotism
See also: Cultural nationalism

A positive emotional connection to a country a person belongs to is called patriotism. 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 nationalism, mostly civic nationalism and sometimes cultural nationalism.[68][69]

Economy

international dollars
)
  •   >50,000
  •   35,000–50,000
  •   20,000–35,000
  •   10,000–20,000
  •   5,000–10,000
  •   2,000–5,000
  •   <2,000
  •   Data unavailable

Several organizations seek to identify trends to produce economy country classifications. Countries are often distinguished as developing countries or developed countries.[70]

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs annually produces the World Economic Situation and Prospects Report classifies states as developed countries, economies in transition, or developing countries. The report classifies country development based on per capita gross national income (GNI).[71] The UN identifies subgroups within broad categories based on geographical location or ad hoc criteria. The UN outlines the geographical regions for developing economies like Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The 2019 report recognizes only developed countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. The majority of economies in transition and developing countries are found in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.[72]

The World Bank 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..[73]

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.[73]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Each territory in the United States Minor Outlying Islands is labeled UM- followed by the first letter of its name and another unique letter if needed.
  2. ^ The following territories do not have ISO 3166-1 codes:
    1: Akrotiri and Dhekelia
    2: Ashmore and Cartier Islands
    3: Coral Sea Islands

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 145809847
    .
  2. ^ a b "Recognition and its Variants". academic.oup.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  3. ^ Jones, J (1964). "What Makes a Country?". Human Events. 24 (31): 14.
  4. ^ a b c d Seguin, Denis (29 July 2011). "What makes a country?". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  5. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived
    from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8
    .
  7. ^ "Definition of COUNTRY". Merriam-Webster. 29 February 2024. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  8. ^ "country". Cambridge Dictionary. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Definition of COUNTRY". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  10. JSTOR 24590031
    .
  11. ISSN 0883-0568. Archived
    from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  12. OCLC 624711. Archived
    from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  13. OCLC 441874932. Archived
    from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  14. S2CID 143550941
    .
  15. JSTOR 24357595. Archived
    from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  16. ISBN 978-92-3-102716-1
    . Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  17. ISBN 978-0-521-53183-2
    .
  18. S2CID 56273534. Archived
    from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  19. S2CID 147309779. Archived
    from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  20. JSTOR 792830. Archived
    from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Principles of the Recognition of States" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  22. ISBN 978-0-19-923933-7
    .
  23. ^ a b "Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  24. ^ a b "States, Sovereignty, Treaties". Encyclopedia Britannica. 26 July 1999. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  25. ISBN 978-1-136-84999-2
    . Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  26. ISBN 978-0-19-007250-6
    .
  27. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-922842-3
    .
  28. ^ Harris, D.J. (ed) 2004 "Cases and Materials on International Law" 6th Ed. at p. 99. Sweet and Maxwell, London
  29. ISBN 9041114092
    .
  30. ISBN 978-90-411-1409-9
    .
  31. ^ The Badinter Arbitration Committee Archived 18 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine (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. "The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  32. ^ "Statehood and Recognition". academic.oup.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  33. ISBN 978-1-85941-050-9
    .
  34. ISBN 978-1-58477-609-3
    .
  35. ISBN 978-0-19-826573-3
    . Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  36. ISSN 1354-0661
    .
  37. ^ Allcock, John B.; Lampe, John R.; Young, Antonia (20 July 1998). "History, Map, Flag, Population, Languages, & Capital". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  38. ^ "Greenland and the Faroe Islands". The Danish Parliament – EU Information Centre. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  39. ISBN 978-94-6265-527-0
    . Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  40. ISBN 978-1-000-91065-0
    . Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  41. ^ "Canadian Importers Database – Home". 23 November 2021. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  42. ^ "Consolidated federal laws of canada, General Preferential Tariff and Least Developed Country Tariff Rules of Origin Regulations". 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  43. ^ "Made In The British Crown Colony". Thuy-Tien Crampton. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
  44. ^ "Matchbox label, made in Hong Kong". delcampe.net. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014.
  45. ^ "Carrhart Made In Hong Kong?". ContractorTalk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  46. ^ "Product of Greenland Inland Ice Trademark of Inland Ice Denmark ApS. Application Number: 017910465 :: Trademark Elite Trademarks". Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  47. ^ "Hong Kong & Macau". International Trade Administration. 20 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  48. ^ "National symbol(s)". CIA. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  49. ^ "United States Department of State". United States Department of State. 17 January 2024. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  50. ^ "Publications Office – Interinstitutional Style Guide – Annex A5 – List of countries, territories and currencies". publications.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  51. ^ "UNGEGN World Geographical Names". Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  52. ^ "FAO Country Profiles". Food and Agriculture Organization. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  53. ^ "Countries: Designations and abbreviations to use". Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  54. ^ "ISO 3166 – Country Codes". ISO. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  55. ^ Savage, Jonathan (21 January 2018). "Why do names matter so much?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  56. ^ "Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest (SCCAI) 2017". Statistics Canada. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  57. ^ Barraclough 1971, pp. 7–8.
  58. ISBN 978-0-7858-0049-1
    .
  59. ^ a b Nadler 2016.
  60. ^ Inglefield & Mould 1979, p. 48.
  61. ^ Bartlett 2011, p. 31.
  62. ^ Virmani 1999, p. 169.
  63. ^ Inglefield & Mould 1979, p. 50.
  64. ^ Xing 2013, p. 2.
  65. ^ M. de Bruin, "Het Wilhelmus tijdens de Republiek", in: L.P. Grijp (ed.), Nationale hymnen. Het Wilhelmus en zijn buren. Volkskundig bulletin 24 (1998), p. 16-42, 199–200; esp. p. 28 n. 65.
  66. ^ "National anthem – The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  67. ^ Harrison, Ellie (29 November 2022). "The history of the Welsh national anthem that's gripped the world". The Independent. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  68. ISBN 978-0810865488. Archived
    from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  69. ^ "Nationalism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)". Plato.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  70. PMID 32952263
    .
  71. ^ Nations, United (20 September 2020). "What We Do". United Nations. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  72. ^ "UN list of least developed countries". UNCTAD. 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  73. ^ a b "How does the World Bank classify countries?". World Bank Data. 1 July 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2024.

Works cited

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Country&oldid=1283726887"