Not to be confused with County.For countryside, see Rural area. For other uses, see Country (disambiguation).
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, states with limited recognition, constituent country, or a dependent territory.[1][2][3][4] Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations.[5] There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, limited recognition and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly called countries.[6][5]
The definition and usage of the word "country" are flexible and has changed over time. The Economist wrote in 2010 that "any attempt to find a clear definition of a country soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies."[7]
Areas much smaller than a political entity may be referred to as a "country", such as the West Country in England, "big sky country" (used in various contexts of the American West), "coal country" (used to describe coal-mining regions), or simply "the country" (used to describe a rural area).[8][9] The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as country music or country living.[10]
^Cite error: The named reference Fowler Bunck 1996 pp. 381–404 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference World Population by Country 2024 (Live) 1945 w673 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference academic.oup.com i784 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Jones, J (1964). "What Makes a Country?". Human Events. 24 (31): 14.
^ abCite error: The named reference World Population by Country 2024 (Live) z997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Seguin 2011 f032 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"In quite a state". The Economist. 8 April 2010. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference oed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Definition of COUNTRY". Merriam-Webster. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
^"country". Cambridge Dictionary. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
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