country

a politically organized body of people under a single government

"the state has elected a new president"

"African nations"

"students who had come to the nation's capitol"

"the country's largest manufacturer"

"an industrialized land" the territory occupied by a nation

"he returned to the land of his birth"

"he visited several European countries" the people who live in a nation or country

"a statement that sums up the nation's mood"

"the news was announced to the nation"

"the whole country worshipped him" an area outside of cities and towns

"his poetry celebrated the slower pace of life in the country" a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography)

"it was a mountainous area"

"Bible country"

: ''This article describes a type of political entity. Country is also a short form for the countryside or the country music genre.''A country, a land, is a geographygeographical area that connotes an independent politicspolitical entity, with its own government, administration, laws, often a constitution, police, military, tax rules, and population, who are one another's ''countrymen''. "Country" is the English equivalent of French ''pays,'' Compare the concept of ''nation'', below.A country may be an independent, self-governing state. All internationally recognized states follow to some degree international standards in terms of the creation of official national symbols such as flags, and political rights such as citizenship. There are currently 192 countries or states recognized by the United Nations, a figure that includes the 191 member nations and the Observer State, Vatican City.Sometimes, parts of states with a distinct history or culture are called "lands" or "countries": England, Scotland and Wales – the three Constituent Countries (United Kingdom)constituent countries on the island of Great Britain – are often simply known as countries, even though they are effectively governed as "components" of the United KingdomBritish state. The better view is, perhaps, that these constituent parts are not in fact "countries" since they do not exercise full autonomy; their status as "recognised exceptions" to the general rule that a country should have political autonomy points to the conclusion that they only retain the status of "country" to avoid upsetting the national pride of the people who live there. The reality is that the UK is the "country", while England, Scotland and Wales as constituent parts are no more "countries" than Bavaria or New York State (and arguably, the latter "non-country" examples have more political autonomy). Ireland is also sometimes called a country, even though it consists of one nation-state (the Republic of Ireland) and one component of a different state (Northern Ireland).Other times, it is more loosely utilised by nationalists, or by those that sympathise with that nationalist cause, to refer to parts of states with a distinct history, culture, or political view. Thus, Tibet, an autonomous region of China, is described as a 'country' by those that support Tibetan self-government or independence. Northern Ireland, although officially a province of the UK, is also sometimes refered to as a country as the former term can cause offence to supporters of a united Ireland. The term is often used in such situations by those supporting greater autonomy, believing that its use would justify further autonomy. As such, such non-prescriptive use can be an irritation for those that do not subscribe to that nationalist view."State" as a synonym for "country" tends to cause confusions for citizens of federated or otherwise regionally divided countries, where a state (law) is a sub-national entity distinguishable from a "province".Some countries are nation-states – for example, France or Israel. In these nation states one particular nation is dominant. Within France, however the BrittanyBreton nation represent a proud and cohesive unity, a folk with their own specific heritage. Other states, such as Canada, the People's Republic of China, Spain or the United Kingdom contain several such nations.The terms country, nation, state and land are casually used as synonyms, but in a more strict usage they are distinguished:

''nation'' designates a nationpeople, however ''national'' and ''international'' both confusingly refer as well to matters pertaining to what are strictly ''states'', as in ''national capital'', ''international law''

''state'' designates a government that exercises full autonomy, and an entity in international law

''land'' designates the geographical area governed by a state

''country'' designates a singular unit consisting a state, its people, and its land (although note that the so-called "constituent countries" of the UK do not meet this definition since they are not states)Some states consist of non-contiguous parts, separated by land of one or more other states. The Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad region of Russia is an example of such an ''exclave''; the Oecussi-Ambeno region of East Timor or Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan, are others. The largest was Pakistan from 1947 to 1971 when the nation consisted of two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, geographically separated by over a thousand miles, with India in between. Alaska is a U.S. state separated by about 500 miles (800 kilometers) of CanadaCanadian territory from the Continental United States. Uzbekistan has seven small "islands" embedded within neighbouring Kyrgystan in the politically charged Fergana Valley.

See also -

Nation-state for the history of the development of the modern nation states

List of countries

Lists by country

Constituent Countries

Dependent area

List of dependent territories

List of subnational entities

ISO 3166, list of countries and corresponding international standard codes

List of country name etymologies

Enclave, includes a list of enclaves.

Territory

Border

Wilderness

External links -

cia.gov - The CIA World Factbook

state.gov - The US Department of State ''Background notes'' on countries the US has relations with

lonelyplanet.com - Lonely Planet Clickable map and information on the world's countries

nationmaster.com - Nationmaster.com Allows sorting countries on all kinds of statistics

populationdata.net - PopulationData.net

unstats.un.org - United Nations statistics devision

worldbank.org - The World Bank Group Includes worldbank.org - railway !statisticsCategory:Countries ast:Paísbg:Държав аzh-min-nan:Kok-kabn:দে� �ca:Estatda:Landde:Landes:Paí seo:Ŝtatofr:Paysfy:Steatga:T� �rko:나라he:מדינהhi:द ेशhu:Országmi:Rārangi? !whenuanah:Altepetlna:Ebnl:Land nds:Landja:国家ru:Стран аsimple:Countrysl:Državasr:� �ржаваth:ประเท� ��vi:Quốc? giatr:Ülkezh:国家

Urban Zombie - Clothing For The Wicked
Urban Zombie - Go Undead - Horror Punk & Psychobilly Clothing, Accessoires, Platten, Fanzines, Armbänder, Gürtelschnallen, Gürtel, Badmerch, ...
http://www.wickedclothing.de/

World Travel Tips
A resource for general information, top destinations, and informative tips for travel to countries around the world, where members can also share and discuss their own world travels.
http://www.worldtraveltips.net/

Tourismus Tourist Info Country Koi Hotels
Info about countrys and hotels
http://www.touri.de

Christi Bauerlee Music
Christi delivers a sound the crosses several of her influences.... Beth Hart, Bonnie Riatt, Loretta Lynn, Aretha Franklin, Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash, Shania Twaine, Faith Hill, Martina McBride and several others. She has the Country sound with an edgy delivery, and there are times when she delivers her songs with a delicate touch. Best known for her theme song on the CBS show Family Law for a few years, she has an album out and released a single that played on radio through out the country. Her single Working Girls Dream hit the Music Row charts, which was a great start for an independent artist. She is an advocate for many Causes, but her main is Brain Inury Awarness... for more information, you can go to her website, www.christibauerlee.com.
http://www.christibauerlee.com/

Russell Walker
Country music band from Louisiana
http://www.russellwalker.net/

The wed2music directory
Wed2music is the definitive free UK directory of wedding musicians and entertainers. Our directory gives you free and direct access to wedding entertainers websites and contact details. We have everything from medieval musicians, to dj's to cocktail pianists. Come and explore and contact the bands and dj's directly! If you are a wedding entertainer then log on now and get yourself registered. We always welcome new acts to our directory.
http://wed2music.co.uk/

Accommodations Villa in Tuscany Landscape
Accommodations in countryhouse in Tuscany, rents apartments in a residence in the Chianti for vacations in Italy, around Florence, Arezzo, Siena near Cavriglia, Valdarno Villa Fabry s house Tuscany country house
http://www.fabryshouse.com/

The Road Hammers
Website of award-winning country-rock group The Road Hammers.
http://www.theroadhammers.com

June Simon
Classic music
http://www.junesimon.com

Happy Country Dancin'
Country Western Dance or line dance information in Japan
http://www.country-dance.com/

Sunrise Cottages & The Breakfast Shed
The friendliness of a B&B with the privacy of your own cottage. Breakfast is served in the Shed overlooking the farm pond. Each cottage accommodates 2, sitting area, gas Jotul stove, cozy and classy. Bikes and kayaks available for our guests. Town landing at Smith's cove is 1.5 miles away. Miles of backroads past ocean and farms for biking and hiking. Close to Blue Hill and Deer Isle for art galleries, crafts, antiques, music, fine dining.
http://www.sunrisecottages.com/

Partners For Architecture
A vigilent full service Architecture, Planning & Interior Design Firm with focus on sustainable and energy-efficient design.
http://www.pfarch.net/

Radio Patjane
La puerta grande de entrada a México
http://www.radiopatjane.com/

Ridin' High Band
Ridin' High Country Western Band from Truckee, CA. Family Band. Country, Country Rock, Rockabilly, Rock, Originals
http://www.ridinhighband.com

cdstudio.pl - CDs & Records
Shop offers everything, what ever issued
http://www.cdstudio.pl/

www.infobici.com
Web de la Comunidad de Mountain Bike Infobici. Foro muy activo, salidas organizadas, rutas, agenda, concursos, artículos, fotos y toda la información sobre el mundo de la bicicleta y el cicloturismo
http://www.infobici.com/

EileensEshop
Looking for a gift that will be teasured for a lifetime? Gifts and home decor for discerning buyers.
http://www.eileenseshop.com

Enterto Music
We are Entertomusic Team that is building an ultimate online place for musicians. We provide the space where any musician finds the answers to his needs and is presented to global music community. You can create here your own world - world of your music, creative ideas, and communication with the rest of world music community, learn and explore new possibilities, make a new friends. With us, you can feel confident that you will receive solid services with the customer service you expect and deserve. We are ready to help you with any questions and Our main goal is to have great community of musicians from all over the world and high quality services, creating individual pages that will introduce you to the global music community. We are constantly improving the site adding more futures in order to make your presence at EntertoMusic pleasant and effective. You feed back is highly appreciated - it will help us to serve members more effectively. We understand that everybody wishes to have the most inexpensive services possible. But in order to run this web site we still charge you some fees to be able to provide such a services. When EntertoMusic will gain its profit ability, we will definitely lower our fees. When your product sells from your web site or EntertoMusic shop you’ll be charged a 10% fee based on the sale price of your item. When you receive a payment, the 10 % fee will be automatically deducted from the final sales price of your product. There are no extra charges - you run your web site for Free!. We hope that you will enjoy being at EntertoMusic! Thank you for supporting Global Artist Community!
http://www.entertomusic.com/

DanceMakers of Texas
We are Fort Worth's premier school of social and competition dance. We focus on private lessons where you learn fundamental dancing skills along with leading and following, and the technique to dance your favorite dances with confidence and style. We teach all partner dances including social and competitive country western, ballroom, latin, jitterbug, salsa, tango and much more! Our Friday night party is open to the public and includes a free half hour group class in a diferent style each week. Join us 8:30pm to 11:00pm Fridays. $7 cover charge, no smoking, byob. Our beautiful ballroom is also available for weddings and parties. We are located on the west side of Fort Worth on the corner of Camp Bowie and Las Vegas Trail. Any questions? call 817-244-8500
http://www.dancemakers.com/

Sue Merchant - Indie Singer-Songwriter
Official website of Sue Merchant, offers her biography, news, photos, and free music. Listen to songs & purchase Sue's new CD, Songs from the Edge.
http://www.suemerchant.net

RockTimes
German Online Rockmagazin with concert reviews, CD, DVD and Book reviews, concert photos etc.
http://www.rocktimes.de/

Jason McCoy
Website of award-winning Canadian country music star Jason McCoy
http://www.jasonmccoy.com

Radio 19/4 - Jazz, Pop, Noize
Radio 19/4 for more than eleven Years on Antenne Muenster's Open Channel, Ukw 95,4 mhz. 4. Monday/Month + Specials. Length: one hour. Profile: Jazz, Pop, Noise - no Mainstream - Music somewhat alternartive. Range: 80km around Muenster City + Promotion via Website-reviews.
http://www.radio19-4.de/

Urlaub auf dem Land in Norddeutschland
Idyllisch gelegener Resthof mit Reetdach. Sehr ruhig, Kinderfreundlich. Grosser parkähnlicher Garten. Wir vermieten eine Ferienwohnung und ein Ferienhaus für je maximal 5 Personen (plus Kinderbett)
http://www.landurlaub-online.de/

Christian Moms of Many Blessings
Our goal is to encourage and strengthen Christian stay at home moms, particularly those with many blessings (children) in their day to day walk. Our desire is that we will all submit, obey, and grow closer to our Lord Jesus Christ so He may say, Well done good and faithful servant. And as scripture says, we need to be like iron sharpening iron. Whether you have one or 21 children, we warmly welcome you! Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5
http://www.cmomb.com/

Encore Recordings
music in all formats: CD, LP, 7, 78 rpm, 16 rpm, Tape, Reel-To-Reel, Cylinders, Piano Rolls, Sheet Music, Books on Music & Musicians, Music Memorabilia bought, sold and traded!
http://www.encorerecordings.com/

Shilo
High Energy, Hard Drivin', Country Music.
http://www.shiloband.com/

Vocke und Haagen Musikagentur
Hier finden Sie Künstlervermittlung, individuelle Spezialprogramme und Infotainmentshows budgetgerecht und zielorientiert.
http://www.vocke-haagen-musikagentur.com

VESLARI (THE ROWERS)
The official site of the oldest country music band in Slovakia
http://www.veslari.sk/

William P. Gottlieb Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz
The William P. Gottlieb Collection comprises of over 1600 photographs of celebrated American jazz artists.
http://memory.loc.gov//ammem/wghtml/wghome.html

CMT
Music network offers headlines, features, concert listings, reviews, history, interactive chats and merchandise.
http://www.cmt.com

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Official site links to each directorate as well as to attorney employment, listserv signup, FAQ, a virtual tour, the CIA Museum, press releases and reports, and reference pages on world geography, history, politics and chiefs of state. Alphabetical site index, site map, search, and a special section on terrorism.
http://www.cia.gov/

Horse Country
JrRiders Journal and Web Forum, Cyberbarn Games, Young Entry Activity Pages and International Pen Pals.
http://www.horse-country.com/

CountryWatch.com:Website to The World
Country Information: including current political, historical, economic, environemental, demographic data.
http://www.countrywatch.com/