A
constituent country
is a type of country which serves as an administrative division. Constituent countries usually form together to make a larger
sovereign country
(such as the
United Kingdom
, a sovereign territory made up of four countries). Unlike
federal countries
, power between constituent countries may not be spread out evenly, with one of them usually holding the capital and government.
The
United Kingdom
is a sovereign country made of four constituent countries. They are (in order of size)
England
,
Scotland
,
Wales
, and
Northern Ireland
. While all four are often referred to as countries, they are technically
constituent
countries within a
sovereign
country; UK.
[1]
They are also sometimes referred to as regions, provinces, nations, or statelets. However, these titles are problematic and in particular, sensitive in Northern Ireland.
Even though Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been given their own
devolved
assemblies, the UK Government still deals with most nation-wide matters and directly administers England.
England
is the largest and most populous country of the
United Kingdom
. Unlike the other three, it does not have its own government and is directly administered by the
UK Parliament
, which is mostly made up of English politicians. The capital of England (
London
) also serves as the UK capital. The
King of the UK
also primarily lives in England. England united with Wales in
1277
. It later united with Scotland in
1707
and Ireland in
1803
.
Scotland
is the second largest and second most populous of the four UK countries. It has representation in the UK Parliament as well as having its own
legislature
, located in
Edinburgh
. Scotland arguably has the most autonomy out of the four countries. As well as being part of the UK, Scotland has its own distinct culture and language. Scotland and England united in 1707.
Wales
is the third largest country by population and size and it borders England. The
Welsh Parliament
is the devolved assembly which governs Wales. The capital is
Cardiff
. Like Scotland, Wales has kept its distinct culture and language as part of its institutions.
Northern Ireland
is the smallest country by area and population. It has been described by different sources as a country, region or province. The capital is
Belfast
and the legislature is the
Northern Ireland Assembly
.
The
Kingdom of the Netherlands
is made of 4 constituent countries. They are the
Netherlands
proper,
Aruba
,
Curacao
and
Sint Maarten
all in the
Caribbean
.
[2]
The countries of the Kingdom all have high degrees of autonomy, with the European Netherlands only retaining power for defence and international relations. Everyone born in the Kingdom has
Dutch nationality
.
Earlier (before 10 October 2010) it had 3 constituent countries: the Netherlands proper, Aruba and the
Netherlands Antilles
. Before 1975
Suriname
was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The
Netherlands
is the largest country in the Kingdom by size and population. It shares its name with the Kingdom of the Netherlands due to being the oldest part. The capital is
Amsterdam
but most government buildings are in
the Hague
.
Curacao
is the second largest by population. It is an island in the
Caribbean
. The capital is
Willemstad
. The official languages are
English
,
Dutch
and
Papiamento
.
Aruba
is the third largest by population. It is also a
Caribbean
island. The capital is
Oranjestad
.
Sint Maarten
is the smallest by population and size. It is located on half of the Caribbean island
Saint Martin
, the other half being a territory of
France
. This means that Sint Maarten's border with France is the only Dutch-French border. The capital is
Philipsburg
.
The
Kingdom of Denmark
is a
sovereign state
in
Scandinavia
, located in
Europe
. Denmark is made up of three constituent countries:
Denmark
,
Greenland
, and the
Faroe Islands
. Similar to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the countries of the Danish Kingdom are highly autonomous. Denmark retains powers for international representation and defence.
Denmark
is the largest country by population out of the Kingdom's three countries. It shares its name with the Kingdom due to being the sole original part of it. The capital,
Copenhagen
is located here and directly administers Denmark.
Greenland
is the largest of the three countries by size. The capital is
Nuuk
. It is located in the
North American
continent
.
The
Faroe Islands
is the smallest by area. The capital is
Torshavn
.
In
China
there are two
special administrative regions
which are sometimes referred to as countries.
In
Tanzania
,
Zanzibar
has its own government, it is deemed a Federacy and Semi-Autonomous Province which is considered a Constituent Country
Karakalpakstan
is a constituent country of Uzbekistan located in the northwest of the country along the Amu Darya river; it has a degree of autonomy and self-governance as its own republic within
Uzbekistan
.
In Moldova there are two constituent countries:
Countries may be held (usually by force) as part of a larger country or federation of countries. An example of this was the
Soviet Union
, which held various countries in eastern Europe by force for up to 70 years.
Many
dependent territories
exist. They tend to be small countries or islands which larger countries have "collected" in the course of their history. For example,
Niue
is considered to be a country even though its
sovereignty
belongs to
New Zealand
.
The
Channel Islands
are not part of the
United Kingdom
, but are "Crown Dependencies". Sometimes people refer to the Crown Dependencies as countries.
In
Philippines
,
Bangsamoro Autonomous region
is sometimes called a country, because (Bangsa) means nation
- ↑
"British Government website"
. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15
. Retrieved
2008-04-06
.
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cite web
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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- ↑
Netherlands Antilles to cease to exist as a country :: archief nrc.nl