A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated peoples with distinct political characteristics. Regardless of the physical geography, in the modern internationally accepted legal definition as defined by the League of Nations in 1937 and reaffirmed by the United Nations in 1945, a resident of a country is subject to the independent exercise of legal jurisdiction.
Sometimes the word country is used to refer both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. 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".
Read more about Country: Etymology and Usage, Sovereignty Status
Other articles related to "country":
... of the Jews in Malaysia Although Malaysia presently has no Jewish population, the country has reportedly become an example of a phenomenon called “Anti-Semitism ... the pro-Jewish people will have their best opportunity to interfere in any Islamic country," the newspaper said ... in their mission of controlling this country." Prime Minister Najib Razak's office susbsequently issued a statement late Monday saying Utusan's claim did "not reflect the views of the ...
... See also List of sovereign states The term "country" is commonly used to refer to sovereign states ... together with sovereign states on lists of countries, and may be treated as a "country of origin" in international trade, as Hong Kong is ...
... Best Female Country Vocal Performance Faith Hill for "Cry" Best Male Country Vocal Performance Johnny Cash for "Give My Love to Rose" Best Country Performance by a Duo ...
... Skaters may represent a country of which they are not yet a citizen in most competitions, except the Olympics which require citizenship ... Each country may send one to a maximum of three entries per event, thus, even if a skater has a high season's best, he or she may not be sent to major events if their country has many good ... circumvent this by switching to another country ...
... (Mongolian Монгол улс, literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia ... The country came under strong Russian and Soviet influence in 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was declared, and Mongolian politics began to follow the ... is the 19th largest and the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, with a population of around 2.75 million people ...
Famous quotes containing the word country:
“In our country today, very few children are raised to believe that their principal destiny is to serve their family, their country, or God.”
—Benjamin Spock (b. 1903)
“Four or five whippoorwills
Have come down from their native ledge
To the open country edge
To give us a piece of their bills.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“There is a cannibalism that’s loose in our society in which public figures such as the Clintons could try to come into this town and do something good for this country and then they get hammered away even though they’re trying to do the right thing.”
—David R. Gergen (b. 1942)