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European topographical map

Same map as above, but showing countries instead of topographies

In geography and politics, a country (IPA: /ˈkən-trē/^[1]) is a political division of a geographical entity. Frequently, but not always, a country is considered a Sovereign territory and is associated with the notations of State, Nation and Government. Formal recognition as a state requires the fulfillment of the constitutive theory of statehood, which requires that for a state to be to be recognized as a sovereign state, it must receive recognition from other states, which, in turn, are themselves recognized by other states.

In common usage, the term country is widely in the sense of both nations and states, with definitions varying. In some cases it is used to refer both to states and to other political entities,^[2][3][4] while in some occasions it refers only to states^[5] It is not uncommon for general information or statistical publications to adopt the wider definition for purposes such as illustration and comparison.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Many entities which constitute cohesive geographical entities, some of which are former states, but which are not presently sovereign states (such as England, Scotland and Wales), are commonly regarded and referred to as countries. The degree of autonomy of such countries varies widely. Some are possessions of states, as several states have overseas dependencies (such as the British Virgin Islands, Netherlands Antilles, and American Samoa), with territory and citizenry distinct from their own. Such dependent territories are sometimes listed together with independent states on lists of countries.

In ancient history, civilizations did not have definite boundaries as countries have today, and their borders could be more accurately described as frontiers. Early dynastic Sumer, and early dynastic Egypt were the first civilizations to define their borders.

[edit] Criteria

[edit] Constitutive theory of statehood

Main article: Constitutive theory of statehood

The constitutive theory was developed in the 19th century to define what is and is not a State. With this theory, the obligation to obey international law depends on a entities recognition by Countries. Because of this, new States could not immediately become part of the international community or be bound by international law and recognized nations did not have to respect international law in their dealings with them.^[11]

One of the major criticisms of this law is the confusion caused when some States recognize a new State, but other States do not, a situation the theory does not deal with. Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the theory's main proponents, suggested that it is a State's duty to grant recognition as a possible solution. However, a State may use any criteria when judging if they should give recognition and they have no obligation to use such criteria. Many countries may only recognize a State if it is to their advantage.^[11]

[edit] Montevideo Convention

Main article: Montevideo Convention

One of the criteria most commonly cited by micronations in regards to difficulty getting international recognition is the Montevideo Convention. The Montevideo Convention was signed on December 26 1933 by the United States, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Cuba but it never received international consensus.^[12] The Montevideo Convention has four conditions that an entity must meet to become a country, a country must possess:

• a permanent population
• defined territory
• Government
• capacity to enter into relations with other states

Because of these easy to meet criteria, the Montevideo Convention was never accepted by the international community and most countries instead use the constitutive theory of statehood as a benchmark.^[13]

[edit] History

[edit] Ancient

Main article: Ancient history

Boundaries of the Roman Empire

The first countries of sorts, was those of early dynastic Sumer, and early dynastic Egypt, which arose from the Uruk period and Predynastic Egypt respectively at approximately 3000BC.^[14] Early dynastic Egypt was based around the Nile River in the north-east parts of Africa, the country's boundaries were based around the Nile and other places where oases existed.^[15] Early dynastic Sumer was located in southern Mesopotamia with its borders extending from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.^[14]

By 2500 BCE the Indian civilization, located in the Indus Valley had formed. This basic country extended 600KM inland from the Arabian Sea.^[16] 336 BCE saw the rise of Alexander the Great, who created an empire from Greece to India, the boundaries of which, extended hundreds of kilometers.^[17] The Roman Empire (509 BCE-476 CE) was the first civilization to define their borders, although they could be more accurately described as a frontier;^[18] instead of the empire defining its borders with precision, the borders were allowed to trail off and were, in many cases, indirectly ruled by others.^[19]

In 500 CE, the Roman forces withdrew from the British Isles, leaving the Angles and Saxons to form their own country over the Isles. The amount of countries in existence in that time varied, with up to seven at any time. This empire has lasted the centuries, maintaining much of its territory to later become the separate States of the United Kingdom.^[20] In 527, the Byzantine Empire arose in Eastern Europe and Egypt, this empire and its corresponding country remained until 1453.^[21]

[edit] Middle ages

Main article: Middle ages

The Tang dynasty in 700 CE

China entered the Sui Dynasty,^[22] this saw a change in government and an expansion in the country's borders as the many separate bureaucracies unified under one banner.^[23] This evolved into the the Tang Dynasty when Li Yuan took control of China in 626.^[24] By now, the Chinese borders had expanded from eastern China, up north into the Tang Empire.^[25] The Tang Empire fell apart in 907 and split into ten regional kingdoms and five dynasties with vague borders.^[26] 53 years after the separation of the Tang Empire, China entered the Song Dynasty under the rule of Chao K'uang, although the borders of this country expanded, they were never as large as those of the Tang dynasty and were constantly being redefined due to attacks from the neighboring Tartar people known is the Khitan tribes.^[27]

In Western Europe, briefly mostly united into a single state under Charlemagne around 800, a few countries, including England, Scotland, Iceland and Norway, had already effectively become nation states by 1,000, with a kingdom largely co-terminous with a people mostly sharing a language and culture. For most of the continent, the peoples were emerging around ethnic, linguistic and geographical groups, but this was not reflected in political entities. In particular, France, Italy and Germany, though recognised by other nations as countries where the French, Italians and Germans lived, did not exist as states largely matching the countries for centuries, and struggles to form and define the borders of them as states were a major cause of wars in Europe until the 20th century. In the course of this process, some countries, such as Poland under the Partitions and France in the High Middle Ages, almost ceased to exist as states for periods. The Low Countries, in the Middle Ages as distinct a country as France, became permanently divided, today into Belgium and the Netherlands. Spain was formed as a nation state by the dynastic union of small Christian kingdoms, augmented by the final campaigns of the Reconquista against Al-Andaluz, the vanished country of Islamic Iberia.

In 1299 CE,^[28] the Aztec empire arose in lower Mexico, this empire lasted over 500 years and at their prime, held over 5,000 square kilometers of land.^[29][30] 200 years after the Aztec and Toltec empires began, northern Asia saw the rise of the Mongol empire, by the late 13th century, the Empire stretched from the borders of Hungary to the Sea of Japan. In 1299, the Ottomans entered the scene, exploiting the current chaos in Europe, these Turkish nomads took control of much of central Europe over a period of 370 years.

While Europe and Central Asia were experiencing takeovers, Russia took control of their land in 1613, after many years of control by the Tartars. After gaining independence, Russia began to expand their borders under the leadership of many tsars. Notably, Catherine the Great seized the vast western part of Ukraine from the Polish, expanding Russia's size massively, it grew to lengths close to its size today.

[edit] See also

• List of countries
• Constituent country

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The CIA World Factbook
• Country Portals from the United States Department of State, including Background Notes
• Country Profiles from BBC News
• Country Studies from the United States Library of Congress
• Foreign Information by Country and Country & Territory Guides from GovPubs at UCB Libraries
• PopulationData.net
• United Nations statistics division
• Average Latitude & Longitude of Countries