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For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out there - 12/28/2009 6:54:17 PM   
IrishMist


Posts: 7480
Joined: 11/17/2005
Status: offline 		I have a question for ya'll.

The teenager and I came across this issue a couple nights ago. Her question itself was actually not a hard one ( she asked me how many countries there were in the world ). What BECAME hard in answering this was the fact that no one source seems to be able to settle on a number. The answers...and all of them are legitimate...range from 189 to 196.

What we were actually stumped on though was this.

WHY is it so hard to come up with an accurate number that EVERYONE in the world can agree on?

Someone, please explain this for us because well...it has us scratching our heads in confusion.

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/28/2009 7:04:32 PM   
littlewonder


Posts: 15659
Status: offline 		I think this site explains why it's so difficult to come up with an exact number...
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world.htm


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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/28/2009 7:09:01 PM   
IrishMist


Posts: 7480
Joined: 11/17/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: littlewonder

I think this site explains why it's so difficult to come up with an exact number...
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world.htm



We already looked at that and it really does not explain much at all. I understand the issues of 'shifting political landscapes' and that 'the term countries is defined differently' but...if they can come up with a pretty good guess, why can't they come up with a solid accurate number.

LOL I guess it really comes down to the question of why can't they come up with a 'general' number that is agreed upon by all ( sort of like the arguments we see here all the time about definitions lmao ). It would not even matter if the number shifted each year or so; they still should be able to determine an accurate number.

I would think.

Maybe.



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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/28/2009 7:17:20 PM   
hardbodysub


Posts: 1654
Joined: 8/7/2005
Status: offline 		By the ensuing discussion, I would have to say that her question itself was actually not an easy one.

It does not appear possible to get consensus on the total number of countries. What should be possible is to arrive at a list of countries that virtually nobody disputes, and another list of disputed countries. At least that would give a minimum and maximum.

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/28/2009 7:30:04 PM   
AnimusRex


Posts: 2165
Joined: 5/13/2006
Status: offline 		Ask some of the UK folk here if Northern Ireland counts as a country, or an Israeli if Palestine is a state.

They can probably give you a better idea. The notion of what constitutes a "nation" is a very hotly debated topic.

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 7:42:25 AM   
rockspider


Posts: 633
Joined: 9/26/2009
Status: offline 		The real reason of course is that some countries may be recognised by one state but not another. Always makes the number a little dificult.

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 7:55:42 AM   
LadyEllen


Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline 		At least this one will be settled, should the conspiracy theories about one world government come true.

"ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Fuehrer" sort of thing.

E

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 8:01:45 AM   
Justme696


Posts: 3236
Joined: 1/7/2008
From: Royal kingdom of the Netherlands
Status: offline 		Some countries..are not yet countries. For example those in old yugoslavia. Then you have the old russian states..that are kinda independant...and then again not..depending on the direction of the wind.

We dutch have islands in the carribean. They may look like countries, but are provinces of the NEtherlands. Kinda confusing.

< Message edited by Justme696 -- 12/29/2009 8:03:33 AM >

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 8:01:50 AM   
Hillwilliam


Posts: 19394
Joined: 8/27/2008
Status: offline 		Agrees with Animus.... Also the various countries of the former Soviet Union are problematic as how many "countries" there are depends on who you ask.  One case that comes to mind is that recent state that broke away from Georgia.  russia recognizes it as a country but Georgia feels that it is a rebellious breakaway state.

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 9:22:37 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		...how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

--in the past 20 years- that number would be different then today.   So an old map would be outdated.

The State of Virginia once was the space of 5 states. Counties often broke off.

, in simple terms- there are 2 states.    One where you live- and the other - the summer home. (to go with the Rolls and the Bently.)

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RE: For all you Geography/world politics/etc buffs out ... - 12/29/2009 9:27:55 AM   
SL4V3M4YB3


Posts: 3506
Joined: 12/20/2007
From: S.E. London U.K.
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy
...how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

To answer this question we have to know the following and only then could we give an average number of licks to get to the centre of such an item.

1) Is the person licking an extrovert or an introvert?
2) What is the surface area of their tongue?


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