Noun

Wikipedia

Singular country

Plural countries

country (plural countries)

1. A nation state, a political entity asserting ultimate authority over a geographical area.

   Australia is both a country and a continent.

2. A former independent nation state (e.g., England or Scotland).
3. (usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; countryside.

   I come from the country — I'd hate to live in the city now, I'm so used to the woodland and meadows.

   These animals are now found only in the high country.

4. Short for country music, a genre of popular music that has rural Southern roots and embraces numerous subgenres and styles.

Country is a term referring to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. Usually, but not always, a country coincides with a sovereign territory and is associated with a state, nation and government.

In common usage, the term country is used in the sense of both nations and states, with definitions varying. In some cases it is used to refer both to states and to other political entities, while in some occasions it refers only to states It is not uncommon for general information or statistical publications to adopt the wider definition for purposes such as illustration and comparison.

Some entities which constitute cohesive geographical entities, and may be former states, but which are not presently sovereign states are commonly regarded and referred to as countries. The "constituent countries" of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, are one example, and the countries of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were others. Former states such as Bavaria (now part of Germany) and Piedmont (now part of Italy) would not normally be referred to as "countries" in contemporary English. The degree of autonomy of non-state countries varies widely. Some are possessions of states, as several states have overseas dependencies (such as the British Virgin Islands, Netherlands Antilles, and American Samoa), with territory and citizenry distinct from their own. Such dependent territories are sometimes listed together with independent states on lists of countries, and may be treated as a "country of origin" in international trade, as Hong Kong is.