Understand what a country is

Each of us lives on a certain piece of land, but very few people seriously questioned what the country is, what it is characteristic of and what factors it describes. Many people confuse this concept with the definition of "state", someone does not have any idea what that term means by itself. Therefore, in order for you to have no doubts on this account, we will understand what the country is, where it came from and how to distinguish it from other public structures.

General information

The main country is the territory, which has certain documented boundaries. 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 may be under the authority of another state. In this case, many laws, views and the type of local government policy are imposed from the dominant party. Nowadays there are more than 250 countries and countries that are diverse in their structure in the world, and all of them have their political, social and economic status.

A more specific description of the state

If a particular state is independent of any other, 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 are under them. Along with this, in the possessions of each country there are internal waters (rivers and lakes) that are located within its borders, and external waters adjacent to the World Ocean. Borders can go by land or by water, and thanks to them all countries are separated from each other.

The geographical position and size of modern states

All the countries of the world that have formed to our days are very different from each other. Mostly they are divided into different categories by their territory and by geographical location. In the world there are great powers, which, of course, have access to the seas and oceans. Among those allocate 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 in a broad sense, it is impossible to omit the religious and cultural aspects. Today every territorial unit, even if it does not have sovereignty, has its own religious orientations, which were founded 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 the 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

With what is a country, we have sorted out more or less, and now we will try to find out why each of them has its own name. For centuries, people have called the territories on which they lived, in accordance with the natural data that they were characteristic of. For example, Argentina received its name due to the large amount of silver in the river 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 mariners who opened them. For example, Barbados in Spanish means "bearded". It was such a presentation of local fig trees to the navigator Pedro Campos.