Each of us lives on a certain piece of land, but few people seriously wondered what a country is, what it is characterized by and what factors describe it. Many people confuse this concept with the definition of "state", someone has no idea at all what this term means. Therefore, in order for you to have no doubts about this, let's figure out what a country is, where it came from and how to distinguish it from other public structures.
General information
Mainly a country is a territory that has documented borders. This is a peculiar structure of society, which includes a single language, religion, traditions and history. Each country can have its own sovereignty. In this case, it receives the status of an independent state, that is, existing and functioning strictly according to its own laws. Also, each country, due to historical events, can be under the rule of another state. In this case, many laws, views and types of local government policies are imposed from the dominant side. Now inThe world has over 250 states and countries of the most diverse structure, and all of them have their own political, social and economic situation.
A more specific description of the state
If a particular state is independent of any other, then sovereignty extends strictly within its borders. Similarly, laws and moral principles function in the country, which are determined by its head. The composition of states necessarily includes the lands covered by its borders, as well as the subsoil that is under them. Along with this, each country owns internal waters (rivers and lakes), which are located within its borders, and external waters adjacent to the World Ocean. Borders can be on land or on water, and thanks to them, all countries are separated from each other.
Geographical position and size of modern states
All the countries of the world that have formed to our days are quite different from each other. They are mainly divided into different categories according to their territory and geographic location. There are big powers in the world, which, of course, have access to the seas and oceans. Among those are Russia, China, USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and India. Smaller states, which, however, have access to several seas at once, are territories that occupy large islands and peninsulas. The first category includes New Zealand, Cuba, Great Britain and Ireland. In the second group - Italy, Norway, Portugal, India.
Other characteristics of the countries of the world
Speaking about what a country is in a broad sense, it is impossible to omit the religious and cultural aspects. Today, each territorial unit, even if it does not have sovereignty, has its own religious orientations, which were based here historically. Most states profess one of the three world religions - Christianity, Buddhism or Islam. Smaller countries and provinces have their own local religious characteristics and rules by which they live. Also, despite the political and social situation of each country, it has its own history and cultural heritage.
Where did the names of states come from
We have more or less figured out what a country is, and now we will try to find out why each of them has its own name. For centuries, people have named the territories in which they lived, in accordance with the natural data that were characteristic of them. For example, Argentina gets its name from the high silver content of the Rio de la Plata. In science, this metal is called Argentum, which gave the name to this southern country. Also, the name of the countries was often invented by the navigators who discovered them. For example, Barbados is translated from Spanish as "bearded". This is how the local fig trees presented themselves to the navigator Pedro Campos.
