In the fun game of collecting countries visited, should divided countries count as two? Example Cyprus is North and South divided by a UN border. Also the Uk, is four countries [ England, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland ] etc.
Collecting Countries.
There are other issues, too. For example, I've been to Yugoslavia when it was Yugoslavia and I've also been to Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia since Yugoslavia split up. Is that 6 countries or 7?
i put into the internet , Countries of Europe, and it came up with 51 countries.. The old Yugslavia countries were seperate. You could stretch it to 7 !.
[ Edit: Edited on 16-Jul-2020, 12:38 GMT by alectrevor ]
Yes this is an argument that comes up again and again.
It's clearly very subject to interpretation. Mostly I think the UN countries list is good, but there are some exceptions. Scotland and England were countries before they became united under one King, and then they continued for a hundred years more before uniting politically. I don't know what you would call each of them if not a country. And then there are many gradual shades of independence and connectedness - France with its overseas departments, former British colonies which have some antonomy but still some connection. Why, Hong Kong's supreme court is still comprised of British judges, so by that measure do we call HK still a part of Britain? All very complex.
Suggest you consider joining NomadMania, which I did earlier this year. It has 1,301 global regions. So far I've visited 545, including 133 U.N. member states (159, if territories are included). It took me a lot of years to compile those numbers. Will I make it to all 1,301 regions? Doubtful, considering my age. Plus, I seem to return to destinations that I like. My current focus is to travel to remote places while I'm physically fit.
Pause and reflect on how fortunate we all are to have more than 1 country on our list. I don't collect countries since we tend to return to places we like but just the fact that we are able to go where we like is an amazing privilege and one I'm not taking so lightly since this nasty virus has grounded us.
I wonder how many versions of 'Countries of the world' exist - this debate certainly seems to surface here from time to time. I definitely count any North/South pairing as separate countries if they have separate governments, e.g. North Korea (which couldn't be any more separate from the South despite having a common border!)
Since I'm pretty sure I will never visit every country in the world, despite travelling to many, I'm content to count how many I personally have visited as a total rather than a percentage of the whole, and thus the distinctions only matter to me if they affect my total. The Yugoslavia debate is a good one - when I went it was one country but if I mark all the places I've been on a present-day map it counts Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina as two. On the other hand, I went to East Germany when it was a separate country from the West, but if I check that on a list or map today it won't distinguish it from my visits to cities in the west such as Cologne - all will constitute one country as far as present-day computations are concerned.
I don't keep close count - I have been to around 100 countries but the actual total doesn't matter to me. Although I am happy that I've been able to see quite a lot of the world's sights, and hope to continue doing so once normal times resume.
I think a country count only really matters if yours is a very low number. I know Brits who have only been to perhaps Spain or Cyprus or Florida on a sunshine holiday. Whilst we're all different, I think that is a shame. It does you good to see some variety - an Asian night market, icebergs floating in the Arctic, volcanoes and jagged mountains and snorkelling with tropical fish around you. I feel a bit sorry for the people who never discovered "travel".
I find that groups such as NomadMania and the Travelers' Century Club help spur travel to destinations that otherwise might be overlooked. There are private Facebook groups, too, that also provide timely and useful travel information.
I do count countries but only for my own personal information, not as some sort of badge to wear. I love looking at the maps and seeing all the places I have visited and count my blessings. As for the UK argument I personally count Scotland, Wales, and England as three countries. But that's just for my personal impression looking at my travel map. I also count the states I have visited in US and although I am a citizen here I am always impressed at travelers for other destinations who have seen more states than me.