By Felipe Sali

It is not an easy task to state exactly how many countries there are in the world. This is because some territories consider themselves countries, but are not recognized internationally or by the United Nations (UN). For example, Taiwan declares it is a country, while the Chinese government claims that the region is a part of China.

Intrigued by this, the writer Guilherme Canever travelled the world between 2009 and 2014 visiting countries that were not recognized by the UN. He decided to talk about the experience in Uma Viagem Pelos Países Que Não Existem (A Journey Through Countries That Do Not Exist), a book that was launched in Brazil in 2018 and that has just come out as an E-book in English.

“The idea of writing the book came up when I visited Somaliland, a region that declares itself independent from Somalia, in West Africa,” Guilherme told Joca. “I was impressed with the fact that, despite not being recognized by any other country, Somaliland has its own president, currency and even requires a visa (a kind of permission to enter the country). It was like a parallel universe existed, ” he explained.

Guilherme travelled through 16 “non-countries” like Transnistria, Kosovo and Northern Cyprus. He talked to residents, visited tourist attractions, and studied the history of how they came to think of themselves as nations, without being officially recognized as such. Usually, this has occurred due to political conflicts with other countries, factors tied to cultural identity, or even wars.

How does a territory become a country?

To be recognized by the UN, a country needs to get at least nine votes (and no vetoes) from the organization’s Security Council, which is made up of 15 nations. It also needs to fulfill some prerequisites, such as having a defined territory and its own political system. Currently, the UN recognizes the existence of 193 countries.

Questions

1) When did Guilherme Canever get the idea to write a book?

a) While researching online
b) During a visit to Kosovo
c) While he was in Somaliland
d) He had dreamt of it from the time he was a child.

2) After reading the article, were you curious about some of the places mentioned by Guilherme? Why?

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