Hello to you,
As there is no world authority there is no-one to define a country, only a web of one-to-one recognitions between countries and by various organizations such as the UN or regional bodies like the EU or ASEAN.
So it ends up being subjective, decided by the individual, as is the question of what constitutes a visit.
Personally i don't have a lot of time for the UN's recognition; they're a political compromise pulled in different directions by politicians. Perfectly happy populations are subjected to the care of their decolonisation committee. Border disputes are settled by might not right - if the US have their boots on some turf they aren't kicked off, while a weaker nation gets hassled.
I tend to go with how the natives define themselves. If that is clear cut. Transnistria - I'd call it a country, but few nations recognise it and the UN doesn't. Scotland - if it isn't a country i don't know what it is. Hong Kong - isn't just a bit of China in my book.
On the other hand, Hawaii is just a bit of the USA. Greenland is edging towards greater independence, not sure. Faroes I'd call a country though. British Overseas Territories - not sure: Falklands maybe not, Bermuda maybe, Akrotiro no way, Gib not sure but feels like a small country under UK protection.
Good topic!
I can't remember ever meeting anyone yet who was obsessed with their "countries visited list" who wasn't also a complete dork.
Claiming that Hawaii should be given separate status on their "list" once again confirms my experience to this point...
Cheers,
Terry
I don't worry whether someone has been to 20 or 120 countries, but when they count up and have only visited 5 or 6 then it tells you something about them.
We have quite a few "territories" in our list which aren't UN state countries, but can be considered countries by other measures. These are the ones that really bulk up the list.
This is always a hard thing to decide on, but our leaning is towards adding more rather than less, since people do like to add their specific part of the world. Ie, New Caledonia is an outlying territory of France. But people from New Caledonia would certainly not want to enter France as their country of citizenship. We also have Scotland, England, etc. listed in addition to the UK. Other examples of problematic areas are Palestine and Kosovo for example, which we have both decided to add.
Basically, this is never going to be a perfect list But we also don't include Hawaii as a country. That would just be silly
Yep, like Peter mentions, apart from the 190+ something of independent countries, there several dozens of overseas non-independent 'countries'.
To name just a few: Greenland, Faroer Islands, Pitcairn Islands, French Polynesia, La Reunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana, and probably also Hong Kong and Macau. This adds up to the 247.
You should check websites of those people's clubs, I believe one is TCC (travel century club or something, the one Hasbeen probably refers to), but there is also one of the world's most travelled people (now, there are not, they just collect stamps in the passports) and they have like 600+ countries and terriroties, it is just rediculous and very entertaining.
I am finding it prudent to stay away from tables.
katzgar, whatever you're drinking, please order me a case. Thanks buddy.
Cheers,
Terry
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