Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Montevideo Convention of 1933 defines a state as having four criteria: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the ability to enter into relations with other states. Article 1 of this document declared a state to be a person of international law.
The United Nations recognizes 193 sovereign states. Entities like Taiwan, Kosovo, and the Sahrawi Republic exist in a gray zone of disputed sovereignty that defies simple categorization.
The custom of officially adopting national anthems became popular only in the 19th century. The early version of the Wilhelmus, preserved in a manuscript of 1617, stands as one of the oldest examples of a national anthem.
Low-income economies are defined as countries with a GNI per capita of $1,025 or less in 2018, while high-income economies are those with a GNI per capita of $12,376 or more. These classifications determine a country's eligibility for aid from the International Development Association or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Melissa Lucashenko, an Aboriginal Australian writer, expressed the difficulty of defining Country in a 2005 essay titled Unsettlement. Her work highlights the cultural and spiritual significance of the land.