country

1. an area of land with fixed borders that has full or limited control over its own government and laws: What is the largest country in the world? Wales is the only country in the world with a footpath spanning its entire coastline. The climate is cooler in the east of the country. native country Sri Lanka is my native country, but I've been living in Belgium for the past five years.

2. the country all the people who live in a country: The whole country celebrated the signing of the peace treaty.

3. land that is not in towns, cities, or industrial areas and is either used for farming or left in its natural condition: in the country He lives out in the country somewhere. Would you prefer to live in the country instead of a town? [ before noun ] Country life isn't always as peaceful as city dwellers think.

4. an area of land considered in relation to a particular feature: Stratford-upon-Avon is the capital of Shakespeare country. The empty roads make this area good cycling country.

5. short form of country music

1. an area of land that forms an independent political unit with its own government; a nation considered esp. as a place: Cuba is my native country, but I now live in Florida.

2. land that is not in towns, cities, or industrial areas and is either used for farming or left in its natural condition: I’m spending next weekend in the country with a friend.

1. a state or nation. What European countries have you visited?

2. the territory of a nation. The country is about 150 miles long.

3. the people of a district, state, or nation. The whole country backed the president in his decision.

4. the land of one's birth or citizenship. Do I need to return to my country to apply for a student visa?

5. the country, rural districts, including farmland, parkland, and other sparsely populated areas, as opposed to cities or towns. Many city dwellers like to spend their vacations in the country.

6. any considerable territory demarcated by topographical conditions, by a distinctive population, etc.. The mountainous country around here is beautiful. The book takes place in the Amish country of Pennsylvania.

7. land considered apart from any geographical or political limits. This urban population is packed into a relatively small patch of country.

8. Law. the public at large, as represented by a jury.

9. country music.

1. of, from, or characteristic of the country; rural. They lived on a winding country road.

2. of, relating to, or associated with country music. That Nashville station plays country records all day long.

3. rude; unpolished; rustic. He was scorned for his country manners.

4. of, from, or relating to a particular nation or area; national. Each team will display their country flag during the opening ceremony.

5. Obsolete. of one's own country.

1. go to the country, to dissolve a Parliament and call for an election after members have cast a majority vote expressing a lack of confidence in the prime minister and cabinet. Also appeal to the country.

2. put oneself upon the / one's country, to present one's cause formally before a jury.

1. a territory distinguished by its people, culture, language, geography, etc

2. an area of land distinguished by its political autonomy; state

3. the people of a territory or state the whole country rebelled

4. an area associated with a particular person Burns country

5. the part of the land that is away from cities or industrial areas; rural districts ( as modifier ) country cottage ( in combination ) a countryman

6. short for country music

7. archaic a particular locality or district

8. away from the coast or the capital

9. one's native land or nation of citizenship

10. informal the outlying area or area furthest from the finish of a sports ground or racecourse

11. (modifier) rough; uncouth; rustic country manners

12. not keeping to roads, etc

13. to dissolve Parliament and hold an election

14. an unfamiliar topic, place, matter, etc

1. The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc. [from 14th c.] 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court: 1986 April 15, Michael Parenti, 02:53 from the start, in U.S. interventionism, the Third World, and the USSR‎[1], Boulder, Colorado: 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 3: 2010, The Economist, 3 Feb 2011: 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist‎[2], volume 407, number 8841, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, page 68: 2024 July 4, Lilit Marcus, “This country has a national happiness index. But what is it really like to live there?”, in CNN‎[3], archived from the original on 24 July 2024:

2. A large area regarded as distinct from other areas, e.g. because it is inhabited by a specific group of people

3. (especially UK, uncountable, countable) An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district. [from 13th c.] 2010 March 7, David Vann, The Observer: (uncountable, countable) An area of land of indefinite extent or of more or less definite extent in relation to human occupation, especially characterized by its particular physical features, or its suitability for a particular activity or connected with its population (by race, dialect, culture, etc.) or a person, especially a writer, or their works. 2007 February 17, Chris Moss, The Guardian:

4. (uncountable, usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside. [from 16th c.] 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC: 1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Dead Man's Eleven”, in Midsomer Murders: 2000 March 4, Alexander Chancellor, The Guardian: 2006 May, James B. Weld, Difficulties in Learning English as a Second or Foreign Language‎[4], Regis University, page 37:

5. The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public. [from ca. 1300] c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 1, sourced from Open Source Shakespeare, line 2344:

6. (Australia, usually capitalised) Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values. 1842 February 16, The Inquirer, Perth, page 5, column 2: 1945 September 27, The Chronicle, Adelaide, page 35, column 4: 2008 July 23, The Torres News, page 5, column 1: 2015 March 11, Calla Wahlquist, “Of three remote communities here, why are only the two Aboriginal ones under threat?”, in The Guardian‎[5], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 October 2022: 2021 July 8, The Air Force News, page 16, column 2:

7. Ellipsis of country music. [from 20th c.]

8. (informal) The spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways.

9. (mining) The rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs.

1. From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

2. Of or connected to country music.

3. (India) Originating in India rather than being imported from abroad. 1872, Silk in India, page 16: 1884, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, page 185: 1937, Brigadier-General H. A. Young, The East India Company’s Arsenals & Manufactories:

1. rural, pastoral Synonyms : agrarian, bucolic, homey, provincial, rustic, arcadian, agrestic, campestral, countrified, georgic, out-country, outland, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, unsophisticated Antonyms : metropolitan, city, urban

1. political territory; nation Synonyms : community, land, people, public, region, society, state, citizenry, citizens, commonwealth, constituents, electors, homeland, inhabitants, kingdom, polity, populace, realm, soil, terrain, voters, grassroots, native land, patria, sovereign state Antonyms : city, metropolis, urbanity

2. rural area; area away from city Synonyms : province, backwoods, boondocks, bush, countryside, farmland, farms, forests, hinterland, outback, outdoors, sticks, wilderness, wilds, woodlands, woods, back country, boonies, cow country, green belt, middle of nowhere, up country, wide open space Antonyms : city, metropolis, urbanity

mid-13c., "(one's) native land;" c. 1300, "any geographic area," sometimes with implications of political organization, from Old French contree, cuntrede "region, district, country," from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata "(land) lying opposite," or "(land) spread before one," in Medieval Latin "country, region," from Latin contra "opposite, against" (see contra-). The native word is land. Also from c. 1300 as "area surrounding a walled city or town; the open country." By early 16c. the word was applied mostly to rural areas, as opposed to towns and cities. Meaning "inhabitants of a country, the people" is from c. 1300. INTERVIEWER [Steve Rossi]: "Would you say you're the best fighter in the country? PUNCH-DRUNK BOXER [Marty Allen]: "Yeah, but in the city they murder me." As an adjective from late 14c., "peculiar to one's own country (obsolete); by 1520s as "pertaining to or belonging to the rural parts of a region," typically with implications of "rude, unpolished." Country air "fresh air" is from 1630s. First record of country-and-western as a music style is by 1942, American English. Country music is by 1968. Country club "recreational and social club, typically exclusive, located in or near the country" is by 1886. Country mile "a long way" is from 1915, American English. Country-mouse is from 1580s; the fable of the mouse cousins is as old as Aesop. Country road "road through rural regions" is from 1873. also from mid-13c.

The term country refers to a political entity or its territory in the world. They function as sovereign states, unrecognized states, constituent countries, or dependent territories. A country may consist of multiple nations, a structure known as a multinational state. Countries are often distinguished as developing countries or developed countries. There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world. This ambiguity is a result of several countries not being recognized as sovereign states by the UN system, but are recognized by at least one UN member, known as "diplomatic recognition". These countries often have disputed territories and have only partial recognition. A number of entities without recognition are also commonly considered a country.

Areas other 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), cottage country 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.

The definition and usage of the word "country" has fluctuated and 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."

In English, the word has increasingly become associated with political divisions, so that one sense, associated with the indefinite article – "a country" – is now frequently applied as a synonym for a state or a former sovereign state. It may also be used as a synonym for "nation." Taking as examples Canada, Sri Lanka, and Yugoslavia, cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz wrote in 1997 that "it is clear that the relationships between 'country' and 'nation' are so different from one [place] to the next as to be impossible to fold into a dichotomous opposition as they are into a promiscuous fusion."

Areas much smaller than a political state may be referred to as countries, 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 in several sovereign states) and many other terms. The word "country" is also used for the sense of native sovereign territory, such as the widespread use of Indian country in the United States. The term "country" in English may also be wielded to describe rural areas, or used in the form "countryside." Raymond Williams, a Welsh scholar, wrote in 1975:

The unclear definition of "country" in modern English was further commented upon by philosopher Simon Keller:

Melissa Lucashenko, an Aboriginal Australian writer, expressed the difficulty of defining "Country" in a 2005 essay, "Unsettlement":

When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" can refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country and dependent territory. A sovereign state is a political entity that has supreme legitimate authority over a part of the world. There is no universal agreement on the number of "countries" in the world since several states have disputed sovereignty status, and a number of non-sovereign entities are commonly called countries.

Some countries, such as Taiwan, Sahrawi Republic and Kosovo, have limited recognition or actively disputed sovereignty from sovereign states. Breakaway states, such as Transnistria have no recognition.

Other sovereign states are unions of separate polities, each of which may also be considered a country in its own right, called constituent countries. The Danish Realm consists of Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of the Netherlands proper, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Some dependent territories of sovereign states are sometimes referred to as "countries" due to their autonomous administrative divisions. These include the overseas territories of New Zealand, the dependencies of Norway, the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, the territories of the United States, the external territories of Australia, the special administrative regions of China, the autonomous regions of the Danish Realm, Åland, Overseas France, and the Caribbean Netherlands.

A few dependent territories are treated as a separate "country of origin" in international trade, such as Hong Kong, Greenland, and Macau.

There are debates over whether states can exist as a fact independent of recognition or whether recognition is one of the facts necessary to bring states into being. Although international law defines "sovereignty" as not under another, no definition is binding for members of the United Nations on the criteria for statehood. State practice relating to the recognition of a country typically falls somewhere between the declaratory and constitutive approaches.

The declarative theory outlined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention describes a "state as a person of international law" in Article 1:

- Having a permanent population - Having a defined territory - Having a government - Having the ability to enter into relations with other states

The Montevideo Convention in Article 3 implies that a sovereign state can exist even if no other countries recognise it. As a restatement of customary international law, the Montevideo Convention merely codified existing legal norms and its principles, and therefore does not apply merely to the signatories of international organizations (such as the United Nations), but to all subjects of international law as a whole. A similar opinion has been expressed by the European Economic Community, reiterated by the European Union, in the principal statement of its Badinter Committee, and by Judge Challis Professor, James Crawford.

According to the constitutive theory, a state is a legal entity of international law if, and only if, it is recognised as sovereign by at least one other country. Because of this, new states could not immediately become part of the international community or be bound by international law, and recognised nations did not have to respect international law in their dealings with them. In 1912, L. F. L. Oppenheim said the following, regarding constitutive theory:

In 1976 the Organisation of African Unity define state recognition as:

Symbols of a country may incorporate cultural, religious or political symbols of any nation that the country includes. Many categories of symbols can be seen in flags, coats of arms, or seals.

Most countries have a long name and a short name. The long name is typically used in formal contexts and often describes the country's form of government. The short name is the country's common name by which it is typically identified. Unlike the short name, the long name can change more often when the government changes. For certain states, the long form and the short form are identical.

The name of a country can hold cultural and diplomatic significance. Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina Faso to reflect the end of French colonization, and the name of North Macedonia was disputed for years due to a conflict with the similarly named Macedonia region in Greece. Southern Rhodesia changed its name to Zimbabwe, Northern Rhodesia to Zambia, Bechuanaland to Botswana, the Congo to Zaire and back again to the Congo, Dahomey to Benin, Ivory Coast to Côte d'Ivoire, Swaziland to Eswatini, Persia to Iran, East Pakistan to East Bengal and then to Bangladesh, Ceylon to Sri Lanka, Siam to Thailand, Burma changed its English name to Myanmar, Cambodia to Kampuchea and back again to Cambodia, Byelorussia to Belarus, Kirghizia to Kyrgyzstan, Moldavia to Moldova, or Turkey to Türkiye.

The International Organization for Standardization maintains a list of country codes as part of ISO 3166 to designate each country with a country code. The ISO 3166 standard currently comprises 249 countries, 193 of which are sovereign states that are members of the United Nations.

Originally, flags representing a country would generally be the personal flag of its rulers; however, over time, the practice of using personal banners as flags of places was abandoned in favor of flags that had some significance to the nation, often its patron saint. Early examples of these were the maritime republics such as Genoa which could be said to have a national flag as early as the 12th century. However, these were still mostly used in the context of marine identification.

Although some flags date back earlier, widespread use of flags outside of military or naval context begins only with the rise of the idea of the nation state at the end of the 18th century and particularly are a product of the Age of Revolution. Revolutions such as those in France and America called for people to begin thinking of themselves as citizens as opposed to subjects under a king, and thus necessitated flags that represented the collective citizenry, not just the power and right of a ruling family. With nationalism becoming common across Europe in the 19th century, national flags came to represent most of the states of Europe. Flags also began fostering a sense of unity between different peoples, such as the Union Jack representing a union between England and Scotland, or began to represent unity between nations in a perceived shared struggle, for example, the Pan-Slavic colors or later Pan-Arab colors.

As Europeans colonized significant portions of the world, they exported ideas of nationhood and national symbols, including flags, with the adoption of a flag becoming seen as integral to the nation-building process. Political change, social reform, and revolutions combined with a growing sense of nationhood among ordinary people in the 19th and 20th centuries led to the birth of new nations and flags around the globe. With so many flags being created, interest in these designs began to develop and the study of flags, vexillology, at both professional and amateur levels, emerged. After World War II, Western vexillology went through a phase of rapid development, with many research facilities and publications being established.

A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. Though the custom of an officially adopted national anthem became popular only in the 19th century, some national anthems predate this period, often existing as patriotic songs long before designation as national anthem.[citation needed] Several countries remain without an official national anthem. In these cases, there are established de facto anthems played at sporting events or diplomatic receptions. These include the United Kingdom ("God Save the King") and Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria). Some sovereign states that are made up of multiple countries or constituencies have associated musical compositions for each of them (such as with the United Kingdom, Russia, and the Soviet Union). These are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states (for example, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is used for Wales, part of the United Kingdom).

- Coats of arms or national emblems - Seals or stamps - National mottos - National colors

A positive emotional connection to a country a person belongs to is called patriotism. Patriotism is a sense of love for, devotion to, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, and language relating to one's homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. It encompasses a set of concepts closely related to nationalism, mostly civic nationalism and sometimes cultural nationalism.

Several organizations seek to identify trends to produce economy country classifications. Countries are often distinguished as developing countries or developed countries.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs annually produces the World Economic Situation and Prospects Report classifying states as developed countries, economies in transition, or developing countries. The report classifies country development based on per capita gross national income (GNI) and identifies subgroups within broad categories based on geographical location or ad hoc criteria. Geographic regions with developing economies are Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Economies in transition are in the former Soviet Union and South-Eastern Europe. Regions with developed countries are in Northern America, Europe, and Asia and the Pacific. The majority of economies in transition and developing countries are found in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

The World Bank also classifies countries based on GNI per capita. The World Bank Atlas method classifies countries as low-income economies, lower-middle-income economies, upper-middle-income economies, or high-income economies. For the 2020 fiscal year, the World Bank defines low-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita of $1,025 or less in 2018; lower-middle-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita between $1,026 and $3,995; upper-middle-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita between $3,996 and $12,375; high-income economies as countries with a GNI per capita of $12,376 or more.

It also identifies regional trends. The World Bank defines its regions as East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Lastly, the World Bank distinguishes countries based on its operational policies. The three categories include International Development Association (IDA) countries, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) countries, and Blend countries.