Country/Catalogs

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Revision as of 11:04, 11 June 2007 by imported>Anthony Argyriou (→‎Other less well recognised countries: close ref. oops!)
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The word country is not defined easily. In its simplest form, a country is just an area of land. However, it is also commonly used to refer to the State that controls the land or to refer to the nation that lives on the land. This is often additionally confused since the territory, state (government) and nation frequently share the same name. So we could consider a country to be the entity that is formed by all three parts, State (government), Nation (people) and territory (land).

However, complications can arise. For example the territory of the islands of Ireland are not coterminous with the territory controlled by a single Irish State. There are clear cultural affinities north and south of a border between two sovereign entities, but almost all the inhabitants of the Irish islands still consider themselves Irish and living in the country of Ireland. In other cases, such as the American aboriginals, the nation remains but has been stripped of its territory. Without territory, it cannot be considered a country.

This list tries to use an inclusive definition. For the most part, it contains internationally recognised countries with a fully autonomous and independent state with recognised territory that is home to the population of that State. However, at the bottom of the page we have also listed some states or territories that are disputed. We have also tried to explain in brief the reason for the dispute.

Some territories, commonly referred to as countries, make up part of a larger State through union. For example Scotland, England and Wales are all commonly known as countries. However, they are not independent of each other. While Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a level of autonomy through recent devolution of powers, they remain a constituent part of the United Kingdom. Other territories display a high level of autonomy but are considered to belong to or be dependant upon a larger state. We have not listed such territories in column 1 of the table but rather listed them as a division of the parent state.


Widely Recognised Countries

NameCapitalCurrencyPopulation 2005
(Thousands)
AfghanistanKabulAfghani

29,863

AlbaniaTiranaLek

3,130

AlgeriaAlgiersAlgerian dinar

32,854

AndorraAndorra la VellaEuro

67

AngolaLuandaKwanza

15,941

Antigua and BarbudaSaint John'sEast Caribbean dollar

81

ArgentinaBuenos AiresArgentine peso

38,747

ArmeniaYerevanArmenian dram

3,016

AustraliaCanberraAustralian dollar

20,155

AustriaViennaEuro

8,189

AzerbaijanBakuAzerbaijani manat

8,411

BahamasNassauBahamian dollar

323

BahrainManamaBahraini dinar

727

BangladeshDhakaTaka

141,822

BarbadosBridgetownBarbadian dollar

270

BelarusMinskBelarusian rouble

9,755

BelgiumBrusselsEuro

10,419

BelizeBelmopanBelizean Dollar

270

BeninPorto Novo (Official)
Cotonou (De facto)
CFA franc

8,439

BhutanThimphuNgultrum

2,163

BoliviaSucre (Judicial)
La Paz (Administrative)
Boliviano

9,182

Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevoconvertible mark

3,907

BotswanaGaboroneBotswana pula

1,765

Brazil Brasilia Brazilian real

186,405

BruneiBandar Seri BegawanBruneian dollar

374

BulgariaSofiaLev

7,726

Burkina FasoOuagadougouCFA franc

13,228

BurundiBujumburaBurundi franc

7,548

CambodiaPhnom PenhCambodian riel

14,071

CameroonYaoundéCFA franc

16,322

CanadaOttawaCanadian dollar

32,623[1]

Cape VerdePraiaCape Verdean escudo

507

Central African RepublicBanguiCFA franc

4,038

ChadN'DjamenaCFA franc

9,749

ChileSantiagoChilean peso

16,295

China, People's Republic of Beijing Renminbi

1,315,844

ColombiaBogotaColombian peso

45,600

ComorosMoroniComorian franc

798

Congo, Democratic Republic of the...KinshasaCongolese franc

57,549

Congo, Republic of theBrazzavilleCFA franc

3,999

Costa RicaSan JoséCosta Rican colón

4,327

Côte d'IvoireYamoussoukro 

18,154

CroatiaZagrebKuna

4,551

CubaHavanaCuban peso

11,269

CyprusNicosiaCypriot pound

835

Czech RepublicPragueCzech koruna

10,220

DenmarkCopenhagenDanish krone

5,431

DjiboutiDjibouti 

793

DominicaRoseau 

79

Dominican RepublicSanto Domingo 

8,895

EcuadorQuito 

13,228

EgyptCairo 

74,033

El SalvadorSan Salvador 

6,881

Equatorial GuineaMalabo 

504

EritreaAsmara 

4,401

EstoniaTallinn 

1,330

EthiopiaAddis Ababa 

77,431

FijiSuva 

848

FinlandHelsinkiEuro

5,249

FranceParisEuro

60,496

GabonLibreville 

1,384

GambiaBanjul 

1,517

GeorgiaTbilisi 

4,474

GermanyBerlinEuro

82,689

GhanaAccra 

22,113

GreeceAthensEuro

11,120

GrenadaSt. George's 

103

GuatemalaGuatemala City 

12,599

GuineaConakry 

9,402

Guinea-BissauBissau 

1,586

GuyanaGeorgetown 

751

HaitiPort-au-Prince 

8,528

Holy SeeVaticanEuro

 

HondurasTegucigalpa 

7,205

HungaryBudapest 

10,098

IcelandReykjavik 

295

IndiaNew Delhi 

1,103,371

IndonesiaJakarta 

222,781

IranTehran 

69,515

IraqBaghdad 

28,807

IrelandDublinEuro

4,240[2]

IsraelJerusalem[3]New (Israeli) Sheqel (NIS)

6,725

Italy Rome Euro

58,093

JamaicaKingstonJamaican dollar

2,651

JapanTokyoYen

128,085

JordanAmman 

5,703

KazakhstanAstana 

14,825

KenyaNairobi 

34,256

KiribatiSouth Tarawa 

99

Korea, Democratic People's Republic ofPyongyang 

22,488

Korea, Republic ofSeoul 

47,817

KuwaitKuwait City 

2,687

KyrgyzstanBishkek 

5,264

LaosVientiane 

5,924

LatviaRiga 

2,307

LebanonBeirut 

3,577

LesothoMaseru 

1,795

LiberiaMonrovia 

3,283

LibyaTripoli 

5,853

LiechtensteinVaduzSwiss Franc

35

LithuaniaVilnius 

3,431

LuxembourgLuxembourgEuro

465

MadagascarAntananarivo 

18,606

MalawiLilongwe 

12,884

MalaysiaKuala Lumpur 

25,347

MaldivesMalé 

329

MaliBamako 

13,518

MaltaValletta 

402

Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic ofSkopje 

2,034

Marshall IslandsMajuro 

62

MauritaniaNouakchott 

3,069

MauritiusPort Louis 

1,245

MexicoMexico City Mexican peso

107,029

Micronesia, Federated States of...Palikir 

110

MoldovaChisinau 

4,206

MonacoMonacoEuro

35

MongoliaUlaanbaatar 

2,646

MontenegroPodgoricaEuro
MoroccoRabat 

31,478

MozambiqueMaputo 

19,792

MyanmarNaypyidaw 

50,519

NamibiaWindhoek 

2,031

Naurunone 

14

NepalKathmandu 

27,133

NetherlandsAmsterdam
The Hague (seat of govt.)
Euro

16,299

New ZealandWellingtonNew Zealand Dollar

4,028

NicaraguaManagua 

5,487

NigerNiamey 

13,957

NigeriaAbuja 

131,530

NorwayOsloNorwegian Krone

4,620

OmanMuscat 

2,567

PakistanIslamabad 

157,935

PalauMelekeok 

20

PanamaPanama City 

3,232

Papua New GuineaPort Moresby 

5,887

ParaguayAsuncionGuarani

6,158

PeruLimaPeruvian sol

27,968

PhilippinesManila 

83,054

PolandWarsaw 

38,530

PortugalLisbonEuro

10,495

QatarDoha 

813

RomaniaBucharest 

21,711

RussiaMoscowRuble

143,202

RwandaKigali 

9,038

Saint Kitts and NevisBasseterre 

43

Saint LuciaCastries 

161

Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesKingstown 

119

SamoaApia 

185

San MarinoSan MarinoEuro

28

Sao Tome and PrincipeSao Tome 

157

Saudi ArabiaRiyadh 

24,573

SenegalDakar 

11,658

SerbiaBelgrade 

10,503

SeychellesVictoria 

81

Sierra LeoneFreetown 

5,525

SingaporeSingapore 

4,326

SlovakiaBratislava 

5,401

SloveniaLjubljanaEuro

1,967

Solomon IslandsHoniara 

478

SomaliaMogadishu 

8,228

South AfricaPretoria (executive)
Cape Town (legislative)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
 

47,432

SpainMadridEuro

43,064

Sri LankaColombo 

20,743

SudanKhartoum 

36,233

SurinameParamaribo 

449

SwazilandMbabane 

1,032

SwedenStockholmSwedish krona

9,041

SwitzerlandBernSwiss Franc

7,252

SyriaDamascus 

19,043

TajikistanDushanbe 

6,507

TanzaniaDodoma 

38,329

ThailandBangkok 

64,233

Timor-LesteDili 

947

TogoLomé 

6,145

TongaNuku'alofa 

102

Trinidad and TobagoPort of Spain 

1,305

TunisiaTunis 

10,102

TurkeyAnkara 

73,193

TurkmenistanAshgabat 

4,833

TuvaluFunafuti 

10

UgandaKampala 

28,816

UkraineKiev 

46,481

United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi 

4,496

United Kingdom London Pound sterling

59,668

United States of America Washington United States dollar

298,213

UruguayMontevideoUruguayan peso

3,463

UzbekistanTashkent 

26,593

VanuatuPort Vila 

211

VenezuelaCaracasVenezuelan bolivar

26,749

Viet NamHa NoiVietnamese dong

84,238

YemenSanaYemeni rial

20,975

ZambiaLusakaZambian kwacha

11,668

ZimbabweHarareZimbabwean dollar

13,010

Other less well recognised countries

Some territories effectively behave as independent countries but have, for one reason or another, not received wide recognition, or they are disputed or claimed by another country.

NameCapitalCurrencyPopulation
PalestineJerusalem (claimed), Ramallah de facto 

 

Kosovo Priština 

 

China, Republic of
[4]
TaipeiTaiwan Dollar

22,858,872[5]

Western Sahara   

 

Northern Cyprus NicosiaTurkish New Lira

 

Notes and References

  • List of recognised counties sourced form UN member states list
  • Population data sourced form [# | Add address here]
  1. Statistics Canada, 2006
  2. Irish Census, 2006
  3. Most countries' embassies are in Tel Aviv because international law does not recognise Jerusalem as the capital. See CIA - The World Factbook - Israel.
  4. The Republic of China is commonly known as Taiwan after the island which comprises the bulk of its territory, to distinguish it from the People's Republic of China.
  5. The World Factbook, Taiwan. C.I.A..