When the question arises of how many countries are in the world, it is difficult to answer it unequivocally. First of all, it is necessary to define the subject in question. Very often, especially in public discussions, there is a substitution of concepts. A “country” is identified with a “state”. Of course, at first glance, there is not much difference between them. But this is only at first glance. You don’t have to go far for an example.
Just look at the map of the European state, which is called Spain. And it includes a province called Catalonia. In another way, it is called the "Basque country."
A similar situation takes place in the UK. As part of this state is a country called Scotland. The inhabitants of this country, the Scots, even their clothes are different from other British. Men there wear a kilt, which is an ordinary skirt. And in order to say how many countries are in the world, it is necessary to understand such details and nuances.
At the same time, in order to create a holistic picture of the modern world, other approaches can be used. It is much easier to find out how many states are in the world and to base their research on this indicator.
Everyone knows that the United Nations, which was created after the Second World War, has long existed. The main purpose of its creation is to regulate relations between different states. And it is not so important how many countries are in the world, it is important that relations between them are built according to certain rules. It is no secret that each country has its own individual characteristics. Like individuals, countries can be rich or poor. Such stratification very often leads to conflicts.
Specialists in international relations have developed special criteria by which to determine whether a country belongs to a particular group.
In the media and in official documents that are adopted by government, you can see and hear specific definitions. Some countries belong to the developed group. Others are considered developing. There are those that are called third world countries. From the sum of these components, you can get an approximate result of how many countries are in the world. In addition to the criteria that take into account economic development, others also apply. For example, Russia occupies the largest territory on the planet.
While its neighbor, the People's Republic of China, has a much smaller territory, but its population is five times larger.
The world order on the planet is subject to certain laws. And they are not registered by man, but by nature. In any case, many scientists think so. Of course, people with their own efforts create some states and destroy others. For millennia, the country of Persia has existed. And at a certain moment it began to be called Iran. And the total number of countries in the world may be different. The Kurds still do not have their own state. This people lives in Turkey and Iraq. It is possible that at some point, the Kurdish country will gain state borders.
