Countries
Some would say they are important
and it's easy to see why
most of us were born into, or even live in a country
according to the United Nations
there are currently 195 countries in the world
with the most recent being South Sudan, established in 2011
but South Sudan will likely not be the last
across the world there are specific situations which may well leas to the creation of new nations
today we look at the most interesting countries that may soon exist
I've been saying for years now that Belgium shouldn't exist
and I think by now most people agree with me
the problem is, the country is divided by it's 2 major regions
Flanders in the north, where people are basically Dutch
their language and culture both mainly Dutch
and Wallonia where people are basically French
few within the country feel a genuine Belgian identity
and for a long time people have been calling for the country to be broken up
if that happens there are two realistic outcomes
either Flanders and Wallonia join their cultural motherlands
or they become two independent countries
Among the smallest countries in the world is Micronesia
a remote island nation, there are four states that make up Micronesia
the biggest and richest of which being Chuuk
half the entire population live in Chuuk,
with people there not happy about subsidizing other parts of Micronesia
many of them feel Chuukese and not Micronesian at all
so for a long time they have been demanding a vote on independence
but since a breakup would be crazy bad for other parts of Micronesia
that vote has been postpones four times
still, it is set to take place next year
in the mid 1800s
Peru and Bolivia were part of the same country
the confederation was short lived, due to many...many many reasons
but memory of that time has lived on
especially in Bolivia, which is now landlocked
many in both countries have long thought they would be stronger together
then in 2011, the president of Peru suggested the union be recreated
it didn't really go anywhere
but it shows the concept of Peru-Bolivia is still alive
the island of New Guinea has long been divided in half
on one half you have the country of Papua New Guinea
on the other is West Papua, a region of Indonesia
the people who live there are not ethnic Indonesians
having much more in common with their Papuan neighbors
but since the region is rich in natural resources
the Indonesian government is desperate not to lose it
for decades, rebel groups in the area have been fighting for independence
but it's unclear how much support they have
the problem is, there are 500 different tribes
many of which hate each other
so it's not clear a new country would even work here
one of the many republics within Russia is Tatarstan, homeland of the Tata people
Russia's second largest ethnic group, the Tatars have always been different
so after the collapse of the Soviet Union
Tatarstan declared itself an independent state
a referendum was held
with 62 percent voting for independence
but courts in Russia overturned the result, calling it illegal
this made locals even more angry than usual
which in Russia means a lot
to avoid war, an agreement was signed to give Tatarstan special autonomy
it worked, but the deal expired in 2017
leaving many Tatars calling for full independence
many believe the countries of Central America should unite as one great nation
it's easy to see why
their linguistic, cultural, and ethnic ties go deep
at one point in the 1800s they actually were part of the same republic
though soon collapsing into civil war
it included Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador
to be honest I don't know the difference between those countries but I assume there is one
multiple attempts have been made to recreate the union
In 1844, 52, 85, 96, and 1921
Bougainville might sound like a small American town
but it's really a pacific island
part of Papua New Guinea, it actually borders the Solomon islands
and is much closer to them than Papua New Guinea
both culturally and geographically
it was an accident of history that Bougainville became part of Papua New Guinea
and in time, armed conflict broke out between separatists and the government
only in 2001 was a peace deal signed
but at the cost of a vote on independence
in 2019 that vote took place
with 98 percent voting to leave
so there's a good chance Bougainville might be the next country to exist
until the year 1990, Yemen was not one country but two
there are various historical reasons for this
all of which too boring for me to mention
South Yemen was a communist state supported by the Soviet Union
while the North was an Islamic state
when the Soviet Union collapsed, South Yemen ran into trouble
and South Yemen united as one state
but the new country was plagued by internal conflict
and 24 years later, a full civil war broke out
now Yemen is once again divided
with the north controlled by rebels
the current division is similar to the former borders
so perhaps Yemen really should be two countries after all
In 2009 the Turkic council was founded
with it's membership being Turkey, Azerbaijan, and most of central Asia
it's like a Turk version of European Union
many similar organizations exist in the world
but the Turkic council is unique
they openly admit their goal is to unify members into one
nation - the united states of the Turkic world
if successful, it would have a population of 150 million
access to a wealth of natural resources
and control of both the Black and Caspian Sea
You might think Greenland is a country already
but no
while being the world's largest island, Greenland is actually an overseas territory of Denmark
it's been ruled by Europeans for over a thousand years
despite being so far away
but less than 8 percent of people in Greenland are Danish
causing a certain level of ethnic tension
so like almost everybody else in the world
many in Greenland are desperate to get away from Denmark