In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical territory. A country usually has its own government, administration and laws; and often a constitution, police, military, tax rules, and population, who are one another's countrymen. Compare the concept of nation (a cultural entity), below and state (a political entity).

The entire landmass of the world (excluding Antarctica), along with coastal sea is considered to be divided between countries. A country may be an independent, self-governing state. (Currently, there are 192 states recognized by the United Nations — its 191 members and the Vatican.)

There are dozens of other, non sovereign territories which constitute a geographical country, but are not sovereign states. Several states have overseas dependencies, with territory and citizens separate from their own. These have some features of countries and are sometimes listed as such.

Three of the constituent parts of United Kingdom, which itself may be considered a country in the sense of this article, are also, anomalously, called countries: England, Scotland and Wales, see constituent countries of the United Kingdom. This usage is out of line with the modern concept of countries as nation states, and semi-autonomous geographical subdivisions of other politically-stable nation states (such as the German Lander or US states) are not internationally regarded as countries. Ireland is a geographical country, but is split into one sovereign state (Republic of Ireland), and one province of the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland).

Countries have appeared and disappeared throughout history, and the concept itself changes meanings with time, and between dialects of the English language. The modern concept of countries as nation states arose in the last several centuries[citation needed], as the technological advances since the industrial revolution allowed governments to exercise centralized control and enforce law in extensive territories. At the same time, advances in military technology allowed powerful states to wage war at will, while widespread literacy and mass media gave rise to national awareness. Since the 17th century, through nationalism, revolutions, imperialism, world wars, creation of the League of Nations and then United Nations, and finally through decolonization and the end of the Cold War, modern countries replaced the previously existent complex system of empires and miniature states, whose boundaries were ever-shifting through conquest and marriages of aristocracy.

Comparison with other concepts

The term country is often, erroneously, used synonymously with other terms like state, nation and land.

State and government

State is a territory with a government, usually based on a constitution. In many circumstances, countries are indeed states with governments, and the two are frequently used as synonyms. However, many countries are federations of smaller entities which are in turn also states. In some countries, such as United States, Australia and Germany, these entities are even called states, whilst in others, they are called cantons, republics, etc.

In some internationally-recognized 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 recognized state.

International recognition of a government of a state is not always the same as the recognition of the existence of the state. States can recognize the existence of other states while, at the same time, not recognizing any government of the state or having relations with more than one government in the state.

Many countries are independent and their goverments sovereign on their territory. However, in cases of war and political unrest, countries can be partially or completely occupied by a foreign power or competing governments. Occupied territories are still considered to be that of the now non-independent or non-sovereign country. See occupation and annexation.

Nation

In one, relatively new, sense, a nation is "the body of inhabitants of a country, united under an independent government of their own"[citation needed], not necessarily of a shared ethnic origin or language. In this sense, nation is largely synonymous with country and used in expressions like international relations, United Nations, national institutions, etc. Along the same lines, nationality and national are used as synonyms for citizenship and citizen.

However, another, older, sense of nation is cultural or ethnological. In this sense, nation is synonymous with people or ethnicity.

In many modern countries, there is a rough correspondence between both these senses of nation. However, because of historical and modern migration, no country is ethnically homogenous and many are inhabited by diverse ethnic communities, while numerous ethnicities can be found in many countries. Additionally, many western nations, for example England and Scotland, are not founded on common ethnicity, but on shared insitutions and culture: "civic nations", as opposed to "ethnic nations".

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Land and countryside

Country is frequently used to denote a certain geographical area, regardless of its legal status. In this sense it is synonymous with land.

Another common usage is in expressions like in the country, meaning "non-urbanized areas". In this sense, country is synonymous to rural area and countryside.

Some states consist of non-contiguous parts, separated by land of one or more other states. The Kaliningrad region of Russia is an example of such an exclave; the Oecussi-Ambeno region of East Timor or Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan, are others. The largest was Pakistan from 1947 to 1971 when the nation consisted of two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, geographically separated by over a thousand miles, with India in between. Alaska is a U.S. state separated by about 500 miles (800 kilometers) of Canadian territory from the Continental United States. Uzbekistan has seven small exclaves embedded within neighbouring Kyrgystan in the politically charged Fergana Valley.