In
political geography and
international politics, a
country is a
political division of a geographical entity, a
sovereign territory, most commonly associated with the notions of
state or
nation and
government.
In common usage, the term is used casually in the sense of both "
nation" (a cultural entity; see
below) and "state" (a political entity; see
below). Definitions may vary. It is sometimes used to refer to both states and some other political entities.
[1], while in some occasions it refers only to
state.
[2] It is not uncommon for general information or statistical publications to adopt the wider definition for purposes such as illustration and comparison.
[3]
There are dozens of non-
sovereign territories (subnational entities, another form of political division or
Administrative division within the expanse [realm or scope] of a larger nation-state) which constitute cohesive geographical entities, some of which are former countries, but which are not sovereign states. Most of these nowadays even have a great deal of autonomy and local governments but such do not constitute a nation as they are possessions of such states —as several states have
overseas dependencies, with territory and citizenry separate from their own. Such
dependencies are sometimes listed together with states on lists of countries.
[3]
Types
State
A
state is an
independent territory with a
government, a population, and
sovereignty over these. The entire
landmass of the
Earth (excluding
Antarctica), along with
coastal seas is considered to be divided among such countries. There are currently 193 states recognized by the
United Nations — its 192 members and
Vatican City. The
Republic of China (Taiwan) is the only sovereign state that is no longer a member of the United Nations.
[4]
In addition to these, there are other non-
sovereign territories which, under the philosophy of
self-determination, wish to be considered countries in this sense. Some of these have de facto control over their population and territory, such as
Abkhazia, but are not considered states as they are not recognised as having sovereignty. On the other hand, in some internationally-recognised states, there is no functioning central government or there are several de facto states and governments. These are internationally not considered to constitute separate states, but rather to exist on the territory of the internationally recognised state.
Nation
A nation is a 'set of people with a common identity who have formed a nation-state or usually aspire to do so' (Viotti and Kauppi,
2001). In this sense of country, the reference is more likely to be to a group that supposedly shares a common
ethnic origin,
language, religion, or history (real or illusory).
The term has become synonymous with 'country' where nations without sovereignty (that is, nations that are not states) have aimed to identify themselves on the same terms as sovereign states. Others, including
nationalists, may consider their single nation (or country) to be divided between different states.
Nation, country and state: a comparison
The casual use of 'country', 'state' and 'nation' as
synonyms leads to confusion. Confounding this is the often confused official use: for example, the United Nations is actually a body made of 'states'; and the countries constituting the United Kingdom are sometimes called the
home nations.
The United Kingdom is an internationally recognised
sovereign state, which is also referred to as a country and whose inhabitants have British
nationality. The terminology can be further complicated by the use of the word
state to mean a non-sovereign sub-entity of a sovereign state, as is done in the
United States of America and
Australia. In most English-speaking countries when the terms
state,
nation and
country are used internally, they are understood by the context in which they are used and are not controversial. However, when these terms are used to describe the statehood aspirations of a people who do not currently live in the internationally recognised
independent State they would like to dominate, these terms can be controversial and open to misunderstanding.
In reality, there is often a rough correspondence between both senses of country - this is the concept of the
nation-state. It is one that many
governments have attempted to encourage, in order to provide legitimacy to their control over a territory. However, because of historical and modern migration, ethnically homogeneous communities are rare or non-existent -
Iceland and
Japan being the most commonly quoted exceptions (and even this ignores minority aboriginal groups, such as the
Ainu and Ryūkyūans, in the case of Japan.) However, nations may also be defined by culture instead of ethnicity.
See also
References
- Anderson, Benedict; 'Imagined Communities: Reflections On the origin and Spread of Nationalism'; London, Verso; 1991
- Viotti, Paul R. and Kauppi, Mark V.; 'International Relations and World Politics - Security, Economy, Identity'; Second Edition; New Jersey, Prentice Hall; 2001
- Mires, Stuart and Addison-Scott, Alexandra
External links
Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.
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International relations, a branch of political science, is the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and
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A political division is a geographic region accepted to be in the jurisdiction of a particular government entity. On the large scale, a political division is typically a country, while administrative divisions including states, counties, cities, and others can also be defined.
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Sovereignty is the exclusive right to complete political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) control over an area of governance, people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
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A territory (from the word 'terra', meaning 'land') is a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of a person, organization, institution, animal, state or country subdivision.
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A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. It usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that govern the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends in part on
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A nation is a form of cultural or social community. Nationhood is an ethical and philosophical doctrine and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. Members of a "nation" share a common identity, and usually a common origin, in the sense of ancestry, parentage or
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government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
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A nation is a form of cultural or social community. Nationhood is an ethical and philosophical doctrine and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. Members of a "nation" share a common identity, and usually a common origin, in the sense of ancestry, parentage or
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Sovereignty is the exclusive right to complete political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) control over an area of governance, people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
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Administrative division (also known as "Subnational entities") is a generic term for an administrative region within a country or Political division — on an arbitrary level below that of the sovereign state — typically with a local government
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Overseas, meaning literally a place over a sea, is synonymous in some countries with the word international. For example, someone in New York City might consider Toronto overseas, even though they are on the same continent.
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country,
state, and
nation can have various meanings. Therefore, diverse lists of these entities are possible. Wikipedia offers the following lists:
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A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. It usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that govern the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends in part on
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Independence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty.
The term independence is used in contrast to subjugation,
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government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
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Sovereignty is the exclusive right to complete political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) control over an area of governance, people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
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- Not to be confused with land mass.
A
landmass is a large continuous area of land. Although it may be most often written as one word to distinguish it from the usage 'land mass' to mean the measure of a land area, it is also used as two words.
..... Click the link for more information. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001. Their greatest hit, their debut single "time after time", peaked at #13 in the Oricon singles chart.
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Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most twelve nautical miles (but possibly less, at the coastal country's discretion) from the mean low water mark of a littoral state that is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state,
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Headquarters
(and largest city)
Official languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
Membership 192 member states
Leaders
- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Establishment
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Anthem
Inno e Marcia Pontificale (Italian)
Hymn and Pontifical March
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AnthemNational Anthem of the Republic of ChinaCapital Taipei
[1]Largest city Taipei
[1]..... Click the link for more information. Sovereignty is the exclusive right to complete political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) control over an area of governance, people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
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self-determination, often seen as a moral and legal right, is that every nation is entitled to a sovereign territorial state, and that every specifically identifiable population should choose which state it belongs to, often by plebiscite.
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აფხაზეთი
Абхазия
Apsny / Apkhazeti / Abhazia ..... Click the link for more information. A nation is a form of cultural or social community. Nationhood is an ethical and philosophical doctrine and is the starting point for the ideology of nationalism. Members of a "nation" share a common identity, and usually a common origin, in the sense of ancestry, parentage or
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21st century - 22nd century
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ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry.[1] Ethnicity is also defined from the recognition by others as a distinct group[2]
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