
Countries and Sovereign States

The term "country" can refer to a sovereign state or a geographical region which is identified as a distinct entity for political and sovereign purposes. According to modern definitions, there is no hard and fast definition of what regions are countries and which are not. From this perspective, a country may be an independent sovereign state, a political entity or an autonomous part of a larger state. For example, the CIA World Factbook uses the word in its "Country name" field to refer to "a wide variety of dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabited islands, and other entities in addition to the traditional countries or independent states.”
The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely. Some are possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories (such as French Polynesia or the British Virgin Islands), with citizenry at times identical and at times distinct from their own. Such territories, with the exception of distinct dependent territories, are usually listed together with sovereign states on lists of countries, but may nonetheless be treated as a separate "country of origin" in international trade, as Hong Kong is.
Because of such fluid definition of what constitutes a country and disputes over the sovereign status of certain regions in the world, there is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world. According to one estimate, there are 206 sovereign states in the world, Of them 193 states are members of the United Nations, two states (the Holy See and Palestine) have observer status at the U.N. and 11 others do not enjoy any these statuses. South Sudan is the latest proclaimed state in 2011.
Etymology
The word country comes from Old French contrée, which derives from Vulgar Latin (terra) contrata ("(land) lying opposite"; "(land) spread before"), derived from contra ("against, opposite"). It most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century.
In English the word has increasingly become associated with political divisions, so that one sense, associated with the indefinite article – "a country" – through misuse and subsequent conflation is now a synonym for state, or a former sovereign state, in the sense of sovereign territory or "district, native land".[5] Areas much smaller than a political state may be called by names such as the West Country in England, the Black Country (a heavily industrialized part of England), "Constable Country" (a part of East Anglia painted by John Constable), the "big country" (used in various contexts of the American West), "coal country" (used of parts of the US and elsewhere) and many other terms.[6]
The equivalent terms in French and other Romance languages (pays and variants) have not carried the process of being identified with political sovereign states as far as the English "country", instead derived from, pagus, which designated the territory controlled by a medieval count, a title originally granted by the Roman Church. In many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the national territory, as in the German Bundesländer, as well as a less formal term for a sovereign state. France has very many "pays" that are officially recognised at some level, and are either natural regions, like the Pays de Bray, or reflect old political or economic entities, like the Pays de la Loire.
A version of "country" can be found in the modern French language as contrée, based on the word cuntrée in Old French,[6] that is used similarly to the word "pays" to define non-state regions, but can also be used to describe a political state in some particular cases. The modern Italian contrada is a word with its meaning varying locally, but usually meaning a ward or similar small division of a town, or a village or hamlet in the countryside.
UN member states and observer states
The following list shows the geographical entities which are currently considered either independent States or countires1. Some States which are listed here may not have been recognized by all member states and some may have governments in exile or facing territorial dispute with other countries.
- Afghanistan – Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
- Albania – Republic of Albania
- Algeria – People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
- Andorra – Principality of Andorra
- Angola – Republic of Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina – Argentine Republic[g]
- Armenia – Republic of Armenia
- Australia – Commonwealth of Australia
- Austria – Republic of Austria
- Azerbaijan – Republic of Azerbaijan
- Bahamas, The – Commonwealth of The Bahamas[8]
- Bahrain – Kingdom of Bahrain
- Bangladesh – People's Republic of Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus – Republic of Belarus
- Belgium – Kingdom of Belgium
- Belize
- Benin – Republic of Benin
- Bhutan – Kingdom of Bhutan
- Bolivia – Plurinational State of Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana – Republic of Botswana
- Brazil – Federative Republic of Brazil
- Brunei – Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace
- Bulgaria – Republic of Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi – Republic of Burundi
- Cambodia – Kingdom of Cambodia
- Cameroon – Republic of Cameroon
- Canada[h]
- Cape Verde – Republic of Cabo Verde[i]
- Central African Republic
- Chad – Republic of Chad
- Chile – Republic of Chile
- China – People's Republic of China[j]
- Colombia – Republic of Colombia
- Comoros – Union of the Comoros
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the[n]
- Congo, Republic of the[o]
- Costa Rica – Republic of Costa Rica
- Croatia – Republic of Croatia
- Cuba – Republic of Cuba
- Cyprus – Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic[p]
- Denmark – Kingdom of Denmark
- Djibouti – Republic of Djibouti
- Dominica – Commonwealth of Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- East Timor – Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste[r]
- Ecuador – Republic of Ecuador
- Egypt – Arab Republic of Egypt
- El Salvador – Republic of El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea – Republic of Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea – State of Eritrea
- Estonia – Republic of Estonia
- Eswatini – Kingdom of Eswatini[s]
- Ethiopia – Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- Fiji – Republic of Fiji
- Finland – Republic of Finland
- France – French Republic
- Gabon – Gabonese Republic
- Gambia Gambia, The – Republic of The Gambia[17]
- Georgia
- Germany – Federal Republic of Germany
- Ghana – Republic of Ghana
- Greece – Hellenic Republic
- Grenada
- Guatemala – Republic of Guatemala
- Guinea – Republic of Guinea[u]
- Guinea-Bissau – Republic of Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana – Co-operative Republic of Guyana
- Haiti – Republic of Haiti
- Honduras – Republic of Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland[v]
- India – Republic of India
- Indonesia – Republic of Indonesia
- Iran – Islamic Republic of Iran
- Iraq – Republic of Iraq
- Ireland[w]
- Israel – State of Israel
- Italy – Italian Republic
- Ivory Coast – Republic of Côte d'Ivoire[x]
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan – Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- Kazakhstan – Republic of Kazakhstan
- Kenya – Republic of Kenya
- Kiribati – Republic of Kiribati
- Korea, North – Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Korea, South – Republic of Korea
- Kuwait – State of Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyz Republic
- Laos – Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Latvia – Republic of Latvia
- Lebanon – Lebanese Republic
- Lesotho – Kingdom of Lesotho
- Liberia – Republic of Liberia
- Libya – State of Libya
- Liechtenstein – Principality of Liechtenstein
- Lithuania – Republic of Lithuania
- Luxembourg – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
- Madagascar – Republic of Madagascar
- Malawi – Republic of Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives – Republic of Maldives
- Mali – Republic of Mali
- Malta – Republic of Malta
- Marshall Islands – Republic of the Marshall Islands
- Mauritania – Islamic Republic of Mauritania
- Mauritius – Republic of Mauritius
- Mexico – United Mexican States
- Micronesia – Federated States of Micronesia
- Moldova – Republic of Moldova
- Monaco – Principality of Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco – Kingdom of Morocco
- Mozambique – Republic of Mozambique
- Myanmar – Republic of the Union of Myanmar[y]
- Nagorno-Karabakh → Artsakh
- Namibia – Republic of Namibia
- Nauru – Republic of Nauru
- Nepal – Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
- Netherlands – Kingdom of the Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua – Republic of Nicaragua
- Niger – Republic of Niger
- Nigeria – Federal Republic of Nigeria
- North Macedonia – Republic of North Macedonia[aa]
- Norway – Kingdom of Norway
- Oman – Sultanate of Oman
- Pakistan – Islamic Republic of Pakistan
- Palau – Republic of Palau
- Palestine – State of Palestine
- Panama – Republic of Panama
- Papua New Guinea – Independent State of Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay – Republic of Paraguay
- Peru – Republic of Peru
- Philippines – Republic of the Philippines
- Poland – Republic of Poland
- Portugal – Portuguese Republic
- Qatar – State of Qatar
- Romania
- Russia – Russian Federation
- Rwanda – Republic of Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis – Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa – Independent State of Samoa
- San Marino – Republic of San Marino
- São Tomé and Príncipe – Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Saudi Arabia – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Senegal – Republic of Senegal
- Serbia – Republic of Serbia
- Seychelles – Republic of Seychelles
- Sierra Leone – Republic of Sierra Leone
- Singapore – Republic of Singapore
- Slovakia – Slovak Republic
- Slovenia – Republic of Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia – Federal Republic of Somalia
- South Africa – Republic of South Africa
- South Sudan – Republic of South Sudan
- Spain – Kingdom of Spain
- Sri Lanka – Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka[ab]
- Sudan – Republic of the Sudan
- Suriname – Republic of Suriname
- Sweden – Kingdom of Sweden
- Switzerland – Swiss Confederation
- Syria – Syrian Arab Republic
- Tajikistan – Republic of Tajikistan
- Tanzania – United Republic of Tanzania
- Thailand – Kingdom of Thailand
- Togo – Togolese Republic
- Tonga – Kingdom of Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago – Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia – Republic of Tunisia
- Turkey – Republic of Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda – Republic of Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- United States – United States of America
- Uruguay – Oriental Republic of Uruguay
- Uzbekistan – Republic of Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu – Republic of Vanuatu
- Vatican City – Vatican City State
- Venezuela – Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
- Vietnam – Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Yemen – Republic of Yemen
- Zambia – Republic of Zambia
- Zimbabwe – Republic of Zimbabwe
Other states
- Abkhazia – Republic of Abkhazia
- Artsakh – Republic of Artsakh[ac]
- Cook Islands
- Kosovo – Republic of Kosovo
- Niue
- Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Somaliland – Republic of Somaliland
- South Ossetia – Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania
- Taiwan – Republic of China[j]
- Transnistria – Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
The World Factbook - List of Countries and their Info
Posted below are links to the Central Intelligence Agency's most popular publication -- The World FactbookThe World Factbook, which provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
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1 Disclaimer: The list of countries shown above is for information purposes and does not constitute final. Some of them may be under dispute or not fully recognized by all member countries of UNO. Nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information. Although we have taken every care in preparing it, we cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here.
Attribution: Part of this information has been taken from Wikipedia's article "List of sovereign states" under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License