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This article describes a type of political entity. Country is also a short form for the countryside or the country music genre.
A country, a land, or a state, is a geographical area and an independent political entity with its own government, administration, laws, often a constitution, police, military, tax rules, and people.
All recognized states follow some degree of international standards in terms of the creation of official national symbols such as flags, and political rights such as citizenship. There are currently 193 countries recognized by the United Nations.
Some countries are nation states – for example, France or Israel. In these nation states one particular nation is dominant. Other states, such as Canada, the People's Republic of China, Spain or the United Kingdom contain several nations (or, at least, some parts of the population call themselves a nation), in spite of some of them considering themselves as nation states.
Sometimes, parts of states with a distinct history or culture are called "lands" or "countries": England, Scotland and Wales – the three nations on the island of Great Britain – are known as countries, even though they are effectively governed as "components" of the British state. Tibet, an autonomous region of China, is similary called a country in everyday speech. Ireland is also sometimes called a country, even though it consists of one nation-state (the Republic of Ireland) and one component of a different state (Northern Ireland).
The terms country, nation, state and land are often used as synonyms, but in a more strict usage they are distinguished:
country is the geographical area
nation designates a people, however national and international both confusingly refer as well to matters pertaining to what are strictly states, as in national capital, international law
state is about government, and an entity in international law
land may be used for "a country and its people" but also thought of as country belonging to a nation or a monarch
Some states consist of non-contiguous parts (an exclave), separated by land of one or more other states. Oecussi-Ambeno region of East Timor is an example of this.
See also
Nation state for the history of the development of the modern nation states
List of countries
Lists by country
Dependent area
List of dependent territories
List of subnational entities
ISO 3166, list of countries and corresponding international standard codes
List of country name etymologies
Enclave, includes a list of enclaves.
Territory
Border
Wilderness
External links
Category:Geography
Category:Politics
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