countries
A country is a territory characterized by
a
unit, which can be political, social, historical, cultural or economic. It
is delimited by borders and is equipped with
a Sovereign state; its inhabitants have a nationality.
HOW MUCH Y Does It Have COUNTRY IN The
WORLD?
The number of the countries in the world varies according to the selected definition.
United Nations (UNO) regularly publishes the "list of the
territories": it includes/understands the list of the
192 countries of the world members
of UNO, and those of "Non-Self-Governing territories" (the
Sahara-Westerner for example) and of "not car-controlled territories"
(France of overseas for example).
THE COUNTRIES ARE LIMITED BETWEEN THEM
BY BORDERS
The borders are artificial
limits decided by the men. For
example, France divides borders with Belgium and Luxembourg in North, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy in the East, Spain in the South: they are the
frontier countries of France.
To draw the borders
On the
charts, the borders are materialized by
continuous features which draw the shape of the countries.
On the
ground, they are generally marked by the presence of terminals
and
customs houses, sometimes by
a fence.
The idea that a border must obligatorily
trace a continuous line on a chart is a relatively recent idea. Formerly, only
the geographical obstacles constituted real borders. Then, as governments were
constituted and started to worry about the integrity of their territory, they
undertook to build fortified towns and border posts with the
"borders" of the country. The border was gradually drawn on the
charts like an imaginary line connecting
the border posts the ones to the others.
? Sometimes two countries decided that the
border which separates them follows a natural geographical element: it is
the case of the Rhine, which forms part of the border between France and
Germany, while the peak of the tops of the Pyrenees draws that which separates
France from Spain.
? Sometimes the border is traced in straight
line, in a completely artificial way: it is the case between certain
countries of Africa.
? The
borders are sometimes disputed, each of the two countries asserting the
same territory. On the charts, the disputed borders and territories are
generally represented by the features in dotted lines and/or of the hatchings
of particular color.
Conflicts around the river and maritime
borders
If it is relatively easy to materialize a
border on the ground, the river and maritime borders pose problems and are
often sources of conflicts:
? when two countries share the same river,
the border is located theoretically at the medium, and the
resources must be shared. But in the
areas where water represents a
vital stake (as in the Middle East), the conflicts concerning the
exploitation of these resources are extremely frequent;
? the difficulties are even more
significant with regard to the maritime borders. Each country
asserts a certain sovereignty on water which
surrounds its grounds directly (i.e. he wants to have a certain part of the sea
or ocean, as well as he has his terrestrial territory); in the same way, each
country asserts to be able to exploit the maritime resources (fishing,
resources of the basement like oil) of the water located near its territory. In
practice, to trace clear limits is difficult and this question is a constant
source of conflicts in the world.
The borders have a history
The current layout of the borders such as
one can see them on a chart results from a history. Besides it is enough to
look at charts of the world going back to various periods to realize it.
? For certain countries, the constitution
of the own territory (and thus delimitation of the borders) were done according
to a
natural process: it is in particular the case of the islands.
? In other areas of the world on the other
hand, the relatively complex layout of the borders is the result of a
historical construction: it is the case in Europe in particular, where each
country fought to establish its own territory. The drawing of France, for
example, varied much during its history.
? For other countries, the layout of the
border does not result from a historical construction, but from an
external decision. It is the case of many countries of Africa, which kept
the borders traced "with the rule" by the European colonial powers
to the
xix E century; it is also the case of the old Soviet
republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Bielorussia, etc), which preserved the borders
decided by the old USSR (today Russia). This situation, which does not respect
the will of self-determination of the people, is also a source of conflicts.
? Lastly, of alliances as the European
Union allow to soften the concept of
border: the European citizens have the right to move and remain freely on
the territory of the Member States.
TO GO FURTHER
? the State-nation
? continents
? Europe of the nations to the xix E century
? European construction
