Well there a lot of places where if you ask if they're countries, and the answer is yes, or no, or maybe- depending on who you ask- and every one of those answers is correct.
Let's start with historical "countries" in these positions so that the Americans on this website can relate
America tried to gain Independence from England, and the Confederate states tried to gain Independence from the Union
The USA had the exact same status when fighting for Independence from the UK as the CSA when fighting from Independence from the USA, so in the meanwhile, until the war of Independence (or civil war) was won or lost, the status USA's and CSA's nationhood (respectively) was in limbo
Today that applies to nations such as Kosovo, South Ossetia, and... (I'm not naming every single one of these)
And speaking of England, when counting countries do you count it, Scotland and Wales separately, or as the single nation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? And if the former, do you count Northern Ireland?
And don't forget Northern Cyprus. Is Northern Cyprus (the Turkish part of the island) a country?
Thought that was the end of the complexity? Well you're wrong! You forgot to mention the Cook Islands, French Polynesia (Tahiti) etc.
Cook Islands has its own border control, currency, immigration laws etc., independent to those of New Zealand,but there is no such thing as Cook Islands citizenship or passport- they are citizens and passport holders of New Zealand, as they are sort-of kind a territory of that nation, or sort-of-kind-of an independent nation
French Polynesia (Tahiti) has a similar status with- you guessed it, France. Is French Polynesia independent or part of France?
And there are more examples like this
I almost Hong Kong and Macau. Are they countries?
And those who choose to recognise Taiwan can't (officially) recognise the People's Republic of China, and vice versa. So which is a country? Taiwan or PRC? Both?
What about Greenland?
Is Israel a country? Is Palestine a country? Are they both countries?
Now, back to the past:
Was the USSR a single country? Or was it a collection of countries?
And what about colonies? (Such as the colonies of England, Portugal, Spain, France, The Netherlands, etc.) Were colonies individual countries, or part of their colonisers?
Is West Sahara a country?
North and South Korea do not recognise eachother, so are they countries?
They have a similar status to the historical nations of North and South Vietnam, East and West Germany, etc. Were they countries?
And then you have
Then you have unions like the European Union- and her members
So with so many crazy examples in the real world, where does your NationStates nation stand?
Universally recognised?
Universally unrecognised?
Semi-recognised?
Micronation?
Other?
Australian Republic is a universally recognised nation whose recognition is undisputable
Where does your "nation" stand?
EDIT
At the end of the day, you can call yourself a "country" as much as you want, but you won't actually qualify as one, unless OTHERS also agree with you
