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. Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the
United Nations. 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.
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."
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). The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as
country music or
country living. (Full article...)
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the
Upper Paleolithic, but takes its name from the
Angles, a
Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the
Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The
Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased being a separate
sovereign state on 1 May 1707 when the
Acts of Union put the terms agreed in the
Treaty of Union the previous year into effect; this resulted in a political union with the
Kingdom of Scotland that created the
Kingdom of Great Britain. (Full article...)
Some borders—such as most states' internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the
Schengen Area—are
open and completely unguarded. Most external political borders are partially or fully controlled, and may be crossed legally only at designated
border checkpoints; adjacent
border zones may also be controlled. (Full article...)
The following are images from various country-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Conventions used for the
boundary between Asia and Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. The red line shows the most common modern convention, in use since
c. 1850.
Image 4Comparison map: Greenland, the Faroe Islands (enlarged) and Denmark differ significantly in size. The Danish Realm is spread across the North Atlantic Ocean and
North Sea. (from List of transcontinental countries)
Image 5Surface air temperature change over the past 50 years. (from Developing country)
Image 11A map of World Bank high-income economies in 2019; high-income economies are indicated in blue, while former high-income economies are shown in teal.
Image 13A formation of human chain at India Gate by the women from different walks of life at the launch of a National Campaign on prevention of violence against women, in New Delhi on 2 October 2009 (from Developing country)
Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the
Near East and elsewhere in the
Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible
homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. In 980 BC, the Kingdom of
D'mt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the
Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330, and Islam arrived by the
first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the
Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia until being overthrown by
Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the
Ethiopian Empire and the
Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical
Solomon and
Queen of Sheba under their son
Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire had grown in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the
Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century.
EmperorTewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia. (Full article...)
In the early medieval era,
Christianity,
Islam,
Judaism, and
Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from
Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the
Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of medieval Islam. In the 15th century, the
Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the
Punjab,
Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The
Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture. Gradually expanding
rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its
sovereignty.
British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but
technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947 the British Indian Empire was
partitioned into two independent
dominions, a Hindu-majority
Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority
Dominion of Pakistan, amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. (Full article...)
Image 3
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of
Hispaniola in the
Caribbean Sea, east of
Cuba and
Jamaica, and south of
The Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the
Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi), the third largest country in the
Caribbean, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million,0 making it the most populous Caribbean country. The capital is
Port-au-Prince.
The island was originally inhabited by the
Taíno people. The first Europeans arrived in December 1492 during the
first voyage of
Christopher Columbus. Columbus founded the first European settlement in the Americas,
La Navidad, on what is now the northeastern coast of Haiti. The island was claimed by
Spain, forming part of the
Spanish Empire until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements led to the west of the island being
ceded to France in 1697, which was subsequently named
Saint-Domingue. French colonists established
sugarcaneplantations, worked by enslaved persons brought from Africa, which made the colony one of the world's richest.
In the midst of the
French Revolution, enslaved persons,
maroons, and
free people of color launched the
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), led by a former slave and general of the
French Army,
Toussaint Louverture.
Napoleon's forces were defeated by Louverture's successor,
Jean-Jacques Dessalines (later Emperor Jacques I), who declared Haiti's sovereignty on 1 January 1804, leading to a
massacre of the French. The country became the first independent
nation of the
Caribbean, the second
republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery, and only country established by a
slave revolt. President
Jean-Pierre Boyer decided to
invade and occupy Santo Domingo in February 1822, which eventually led to the long
Haitian–Dominican war. Defeated, Haiti recognized Dominican independence in 1867, following their declaration in 1844. Haiti's first century of independence was characterized by political instability, ostracism by the international community, payment of a
crippling debt to France and the vast cost of the war and the occupation of Santo Domingo. Political volatility and foreign economic influence prompted the US to
occupy the country between 1915 and 1934. The last contingent of US Marines departed on August 15, 1934, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde and Haïti regained its independence.
François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier took power in 1957, ushering in a long period of autocratic rule continued by his son,
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, that lasted until 1986; the period was characterized by state-sanctioned violence against the opposition and civilians, corruption, and economic stagnation. The country endured a
2004 coup d'état, which prompted
U.N. intervention, as well as a
catastrophic earthquake in 2010 that killed over 250,000 people and a
cholera outbreak. Many countries canceled Haiti's debt, including France and the United States. With its deteriorating economic situation, Haiti has experienced
a socioeconomic and political crisis marked by riots and protests, widespread hunger, and increased gang activity. As of February 2023, Haiti has no remaining elected government officials and has been described as a
failed state. (Full article...)
One of the
cradles of civilization, China has been inhabited since the
Paleolithic era, with the earliest
dynasties emerging in the
Yellow River basin before the late second millennium BCE. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the
Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques,
literature,
philosophy, and
historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under
an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the
Qin,
Han,
Tang,
Yuan,
Ming, and
Qing. With the invention of
gunpowder and
paper, the establishment of the
Silk Road, and the building of the
Great Wall,
Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has
heavily influenced East Asia and beyond.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the
market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official
exchange rates. Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the
cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's
currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made based on
purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. Other metrics,
nominal GDP per capita and a corresponding
GDP (PPP) per capita are used for comparing national
standard of living. On the whole, PPP per capita figures are less spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.
The
rankings of national economies over time have changed considerably; the United States surpassed the
British Empire's output around 1916, which in turn had surpassed the
Qing dynasty in aggregate output decades earlier. Since
China's transition to a socialist market economy through controlled privatisation and deregulation, the country has seen its ranking increase from ninth in 1978, to second in 2010; China's economic growth accelerated during this period and its share of global nominal GDP surged from 2% in 1980 to 18% in 2021. Among others, India has also experienced an economic boom since the implementation of
economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. (Full article...)
Need help?
Do you have a question about country-related information that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the
Wikipedia reference desk.
WikiProject
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's country-related articles, see WikiProject Countries.
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. Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the
United Nations. 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.
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."
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). The term "country" is also used as a qualifier descriptively, such as
country music or
country living. (Full article...)
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the
Upper Paleolithic, but takes its name from the
Angles, a
Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the
Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The
Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased being a separate
sovereign state on 1 May 1707 when the
Acts of Union put the terms agreed in the
Treaty of Union the previous year into effect; this resulted in a political union with the
Kingdom of Scotland that created the
Kingdom of Great Britain. (Full article...)
Some borders—such as most states' internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the
Schengen Area—are
open and completely unguarded. Most external political borders are partially or fully controlled, and may be crossed legally only at designated
border checkpoints; adjacent
border zones may also be controlled. (Full article...)
The following are images from various country-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Conventions used for the
boundary between Asia and Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. The red line shows the most common modern convention, in use since
c. 1850.
Image 4Comparison map: Greenland, the Faroe Islands (enlarged) and Denmark differ significantly in size. The Danish Realm is spread across the North Atlantic Ocean and
North Sea. (from List of transcontinental countries)
Image 5Surface air temperature change over the past 50 years. (from Developing country)
Image 11A map of World Bank high-income economies in 2019; high-income economies are indicated in blue, while former high-income economies are shown in teal.
Image 13A formation of human chain at India Gate by the women from different walks of life at the launch of a National Campaign on prevention of violence against women, in New Delhi on 2 October 2009 (from Developing country)
Anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out for the
Near East and elsewhere in the
Middle Paleolithic period. Southwestern Ethiopia has been proposed as a possible
homeland of the Afroasiatic language family. In 980 BC, the Kingdom of
D'mt extended its realm over Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia, while the
Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region for 900 years. Christianity was embraced by the kingdom in 330, and Islam arrived by the
first Hijra in 615. After the collapse of Aksum in 960, the
Zagwe dynasty ruled the north-central parts of Ethiopia until being overthrown by
Yekuno Amlak in 1270, inaugurating the
Ethiopian Empire and the
Solomonic dynasty, claimed descent from the biblical
Solomon and
Queen of Sheba under their son
Menelik I. By the 14th century, the empire had grown in prestige through territorial expansion and fighting against adjacent territories; most notably, the
Ethiopian–Adal War (1529–1543) contributed to fragmentation of the empire, which ultimately fell under a decentralization known as Zemene Mesafint in the mid-18th century.
EmperorTewodros II ended Zemene Mesafint at the beginning of his reign in 1855, marking the reunification and modernization of Ethiopia. (Full article...)
In the early medieval era,
Christianity,
Islam,
Judaism, and
Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from
Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the
Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan
networks of medieval Islam. In the 15th century, the
Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the
Punjab,
Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The
Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture. Gradually expanding
rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its
sovereignty.
British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but
technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947 the British Indian Empire was
partitioned into two independent
dominions, a Hindu-majority
Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority
Dominion of Pakistan, amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. (Full article...)
Image 3
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of
Hispaniola in the
Caribbean Sea, east of
Cuba and
Jamaica, and south of
The Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the
Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi), the third largest country in the
Caribbean, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million,0 making it the most populous Caribbean country. The capital is
Port-au-Prince.
The island was originally inhabited by the
Taíno people. The first Europeans arrived in December 1492 during the
first voyage of
Christopher Columbus. Columbus founded the first European settlement in the Americas,
La Navidad, on what is now the northeastern coast of Haiti. The island was claimed by
Spain, forming part of the
Spanish Empire until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements led to the west of the island being
ceded to France in 1697, which was subsequently named
Saint-Domingue. French colonists established
sugarcaneplantations, worked by enslaved persons brought from Africa, which made the colony one of the world's richest.
In the midst of the
French Revolution, enslaved persons,
maroons, and
free people of color launched the
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), led by a former slave and general of the
French Army,
Toussaint Louverture.
Napoleon's forces were defeated by Louverture's successor,
Jean-Jacques Dessalines (later Emperor Jacques I), who declared Haiti's sovereignty on 1 January 1804, leading to a
massacre of the French. The country became the first independent
nation of the
Caribbean, the second
republic in the Americas, the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery, and only country established by a
slave revolt. President
Jean-Pierre Boyer decided to
invade and occupy Santo Domingo in February 1822, which eventually led to the long
Haitian–Dominican war. Defeated, Haiti recognized Dominican independence in 1867, following their declaration in 1844. Haiti's first century of independence was characterized by political instability, ostracism by the international community, payment of a
crippling debt to France and the vast cost of the war and the occupation of Santo Domingo. Political volatility and foreign economic influence prompted the US to
occupy the country between 1915 and 1934. The last contingent of US Marines departed on August 15, 1934, after a formal transfer of authority to the Garde and Haïti regained its independence.
François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier took power in 1957, ushering in a long period of autocratic rule continued by his son,
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, that lasted until 1986; the period was characterized by state-sanctioned violence against the opposition and civilians, corruption, and economic stagnation. The country endured a
2004 coup d'état, which prompted
U.N. intervention, as well as a
catastrophic earthquake in 2010 that killed over 250,000 people and a
cholera outbreak. Many countries canceled Haiti's debt, including France and the United States. With its deteriorating economic situation, Haiti has experienced
a socioeconomic and political crisis marked by riots and protests, widespread hunger, and increased gang activity. As of February 2023, Haiti has no remaining elected government officials and has been described as a
failed state. (Full article...)
One of the
cradles of civilization, China has been inhabited since the
Paleolithic era, with the earliest
dynasties emerging in the
Yellow River basin before the late second millennium BCE. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the
Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques,
literature,
philosophy, and
historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under
an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the
Qin,
Han,
Tang,
Yuan,
Ming, and
Qing. With the invention of
gunpowder and
paper, the establishment of the
Silk Road, and the building of the
Great Wall,
Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has
heavily influenced East Asia and beyond.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the
market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official
exchange rates. Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the
cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's
currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.
Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made based on
purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. Other metrics,
nominal GDP per capita and a corresponding
GDP (PPP) per capita are used for comparing national
standard of living. On the whole, PPP per capita figures are less spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.
The
rankings of national economies over time have changed considerably; the United States surpassed the
British Empire's output around 1916, which in turn had surpassed the
Qing dynasty in aggregate output decades earlier. Since
China's transition to a socialist market economy through controlled privatisation and deregulation, the country has seen its ranking increase from ninth in 1978, to second in 2010; China's economic growth accelerated during this period and its share of global nominal GDP surged from 2% in 1980 to 18% in 2021. Among others, India has also experienced an economic boom since the implementation of
economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. (Full article...)
Need help?
Do you have a question about country-related information that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the
Wikipedia reference desk.
WikiProject
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's country-related articles, see WikiProject Countries.