In geography Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.). Four historical traditions in geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and, a country is a geographical region. The term is often applied to a political division or the territory of a sovereign state A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to, or to a smaller, or former, political division A political division is a term of art of geography defining the concept of a geographic region accepted to be in the jurisdiction of a particular government entity. The particular government entity varies as each organizes its operations by further divisions to further its tasks and satisfy its responsibilities of a geographical region. Usually, but not always, a country coincides with a sovereign territory Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The concept has been discussed, debated and questioned throughout history, from the time of the Romans through to the present day, and is associated with a state A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to, nation A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, ethnic origin and language, often possessing or seeking its own government. The development and conceptualization of a nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although or government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects.

In common usage, the term is used 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,^[1][2][3] while in some occasions it refers only to states.^[4] It is not uncommon for general information or statistical publications to adopt the wider definition for purposes such as illustration and comparison.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Some cohesive geographical entities, which were formerly sovereign states, are commonly regarded and referred to still as countries; such as England The area now called England has been settled by people of various cultures for about 35,000 years, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant, Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland and Wales Wales ( /ˈweɪlz/ Welsh: Cymru; pronounced [ˈkəmrɨ] (help·info)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. Wales has a population estimated at three million and is officially bilingual; Welsh and English have equal status, and bilingual signs are the – in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land.^{[11][12][13][14]} Historically, the countries of the former Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (help·info), tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, IPA [sɐˈjʊs sɐˈvʲeʦkʲɪx səʦɪ and Yugoslavia Yugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the western part of Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century were others. Former states such as Bavaria Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈbaɪ.ɐn] ; Alemannic German: Freistaat Bayre; Austro-Bavarian: Freistoot Boarn), is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi), it is by far the largest German state by area, (now part of Germany) and Piedmont Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys. Franco-Provençal is also spoken by another minority in the alpine heights of the (now part of Italy) would not normally be referred to as "countries" in contemporary English.

The degree of autonomy of non-state countries varies widely. Some are possessions of states, as several states have overseas dependencies A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State (such as the British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands , also called the Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. Technically the official name of the Territory is simply the "Virgin Islands& (GBR The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land) and Saint Pierre and Miquelon The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a group of small French islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, the main islands being Saint Pierre and Miquelon, south of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The islands are as close as 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Green Island, part of Newfoundland (FRA France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian,)), with territory and citizenry distinct from their own. Such dependent territories are sometimes listed together with independent states on lists of countries, and may be treated as a "country of origin Country of origin , is the country of manufacture, production, or growth where an article or product comes from. There are differing rules of origin under various national laws and international treaties" in international trade, as Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China; the other is Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million is.

Some countries are divided among several states, such as Korea Korea (Korean: 한국 "Hanguk" [ˌhanˈkuːk—]-South and North Korea, rsp. ) is a territory of East Asia that was formerly unified under one state, but now divided into two separate states and a region in northeastern Asia. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is and Kurdistan Kurdistan ), is a geo-cultural region wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]}

Etymology and usage

The word country has developed from the Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. With the Roman conquest, Latin was spread to countries around the Mediterranean, including a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Aragonese, Corsican, Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Sardinian, Spanish and others, are descended from Latin, while contra meaning "against", used in the sense of "that which lies against, or opposite to, the view", i.e. the landscape spread out to the view. From this came the Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the written Latin of Late Antiquity. The English dictionary definition of Late Latin dates this period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD. extending in Spain to the 7th. This somewhat ambiguously defined period fits between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. Although there is no scholarly certainty when term contrata, which became the modern Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 62 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. It is spoken as a first language by many Italian citizens and immigrants abroad, for a total of approximately 70 million native speakers. In addition, it contrada Contrada is a generic name given to various types of Italian city subdivisions, now unofficial. Depending on the case, a contrada will be a località, a rione, a quartiere (terziere, etc.), a borgo, or even a suburb. The term appears in Middle English Middle English is the name given by historical linguists to the diverse forms of the English language in use between the late 11th century and about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing press into England by William Caxton in the late 1470s from the 13th century, already in several different senses.^[15]

In English the word has increasingly become associated with political divisions, so that one sense, associated with the indefinite article An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the, a, and an. (Some can in certain circumstances function as a plural of a/an.) - "a country" - is now a synonym Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn ("with") and onoma (ὄνομα) ("name"). The words car and automobile are synonyms. Similarly, if we talk about a for state A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to, or a former sovereign state, in the sense of sovereign territory.^[16] Areas much smaller than a political state may be called by names such as the West Country The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire are also often included in England, the Black Country The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. By the late 19th century, this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation. The South Staffordshire coal mines, the coal coking operations, and the iron (a heavily industrialized part of England), "Constable Country" (a part of East Anglia East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of the East Anglian princess Etheldreda, the Isle of painted by John Constable John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821,), the "big country" (used in various contexts of the American West The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time. Prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian), "coal country" (used of parts of the US and elsewhere) and many other terms.^[17]

The equivalent terms in French and Romance languages extinct: Anatolian · Paleo-Balkan (Dacian, (pays and variants) have not carried the process of being identified with political sovereign states as far as the English "country", and in many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the national territory, as in the German Länder Germany is made up of sixteen Länder , generally referred to in English as states. In official English translations, the term "land" is commonly used. A Land (colloquially but rarely in a legal context also called Bundesland, for "federal state") is one of the partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of, 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 The Pays de Bray is a small natural region of France situated to the north-east of Rouen, straddling the French départements of the Seine-Maritime and Oise (hence divided among the official regions of Haute-Normandie and Picardie). The landscape is of bocage, a land use which arises from its clay soil; suited to the development of pasture for the, or reflect old political or economic unities, like the Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire is one of the 26 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre)¹. Other examples of "artificially created" regions include Rhône-Alpes, which. At the same time Wales, the United States, and Brazil are also "pays" in everyday French speech.

A version of "country" can be found in the modern French language as contrée, based on the word cuntrée in Old French Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century. It is a direct descendent of Old Gallo-Romance. It was then known as the langue d'oïl to distinguish it from the langue d'oc (Occitan language,^[17], that is used similarly to the word "pays" to define regions and unities, 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 In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, a ward is an electoral district within a municipality used in local politics. Wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to the area. It is common in or similar small division of a town, or a village or hamlet in the countryside.

See also

• Lists of countries A country or territory is a geographical area, both in the sense of nation and state (a political entity)

References

1. ^ "Acts Interpretation Act 1901 - Sect 22: Meaning of certain words". Australasian Legal Information Institute. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aia1901230/s22.html. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
2. ^ "The Kwet Koe v Minister for Immigration & Ethnic Affairs & Ors [1997] FCA 912 (8 September 1997)". Australasian Legal Information Institute. http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/cases/cth/federal%5fct/1997/912.html. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
3. ^ "U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 2—General" (PDF). United States Department of State. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/84411.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
4. ^ Rosenberg, Matt. "Geography: Country, State, and Nation". http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
5. ^ "Greenland Country Information". Countryreports.org. http://www.countryreports.org/country.aspx?countryid=96&countryName=countryid=96&countryName=Greenland. Retrieved 2008-05-28. "The World Factbook - Rank Order - Exports". Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
6. ^ "Index of Economic Freedom". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/index/countries.cfm. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
7. ^ "Index of Economic Freedom - Top 10 Countries". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/topten.cfm. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
8. ^ "Asia-Pacific (Region A) Economic Information" (PDF). The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/chapters/pdf/index2007_RegionA_Asia-Pacific.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
9. ^ "Subjective well-being in 97 countries" (PDF). University of Michigan. http://umich.edu/news/happy_08/HappyChart.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
10. ^ http://www.mercer.com/costofliving
11. ^ "Legal Research Guide: United Kingdom - Law Library of Congress (Library of Cong". Library of Congress website. Library of Congress The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head of the. 2009-07-23. http://www.loc.gov/law/help/uk.php. Retrieved 2009-09-22. "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the collective name of four countries, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The four separate countries were united under a single Parliament through a series of Acts of Union."
12. ^ "countries within a country:number10.gov.uk". 10 Downing Street website. 10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as “Number 10”, is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster, it is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and officially the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is. 2003-01-10. http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823. Retrieved 2009-09-22. "The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."
13. ^ "Commonwealth Secretariat - Geography". Commonwealth Secretariat website. Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating cooperation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings ; assisting and advising on policy development; and providing assistance to countries. 2009-09-22. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookInternal/139598/geography/. Retrieved 2009-09-22. "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is a union of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."
14. ^ "Travelling Europe - United Kingdom". European Youth Portal. European Commission The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union. 2009-06-29. http://europa.eu/youth/travelling_europe/index_uk_en.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. "The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales."
15. ^ John Simpson, Edmund Weiner, ed. "country". Oxford English Dictionary (1971 compact ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0198611862.
16. ^ OED The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is a dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. As of 10 June 2010)[update], the editors had completed the third edition from M to rococoesque, Country
17. ^ ^{a b} John Simpson, Edmund Weiner, ed. Oxford English Dictionary (1971 compact ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198611862.

Further reading

• Defining what makes a country The Economist

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

Categories: Countries | Human geography

See Also:

What Links Here:

Recently Viewed Pages:

• Home
• Communist Manifesto: Encyclopedia
• Political Platform: Encyclopedia
• Society: Politics: Parties: By Country: Directory
• Society: Politics: Socialism: Social Democracy: Parties: Directory
• Society: Politics: Socialism: Parties: Directory
• Society: Politics: Liberalism: Left Liberalism: Parties: Directory
• Society: Politics: Liberalism: Parties: Directory
• Manifesto: Encyclopedia
• Political Platform: News

Most Popular Pages:

• University of California%C Santa Barbara: Blogs
• Proxy Voting: Answers
• Political Platform: Encyclopedia
• Discussant: Blogs
• 1995: Blogs
• Ticket (Election): Blogs
• Contract With America: Answers
• Society: Politics: Green: Parties: Directory
• Mike Harris: Encyclopedia
• Ballot Box: Blogs

Related 'Countries' Searches: