What makes a country a country?

Trip Start Jun 17, ????
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Flag of United Kingdom  ,
Tuesday, January 1, 1974

Having made the random decision to visit every country in Europe, the first thing I had to do was make a list.  I well remember sitting at my brother's house in NZ with an Atlas on my lap, discovering that instead of the 20-30ish countries that I had thought there might be, there were more like 50.  The exact number though is not so easy to determine.  Two problems immediately appear.  Firstly, what is "Europe" - I'll come to that another day.  Today I'm wondering: "What's a country?"

Identifying what's a country ought to be easy, but it isn't.  In fact, as I commented in my Wales entry, my problems begin before I even leave the British Isles. 

I've always been very clear in my own mind that my country is England.  It is not Britain, the British Isles or the United Kingdom.  (I am not "a Brit"; I am English).  On the other hand, not everything in the United Kingdom is a Country.  So what makes a country a country?  Government?  Legal system?  Language?  History?  More to the point, when can you say "This is not a country, but part of XXX".   The Isle of Wight belongs to England, but the Isle of Man?  Who does that belong to?  It has its own law.  The Channel Islands have their own law too.  Both the IoM and CI are (I think) territories of the UK, but not of England.  So they have a status above a mere adjunct the main land, like the IoW, but they aren't really countries either.  My friend Ben is insistent that the Channel Islands should count as a separate "country" on the basis that I ought to go there.  He thinks that they are sufficinelty different from the reast of the UK to merit a trip.  Mind you, they are (again, I think) split into two Bailiwicks, Guernsey and Jersey, so should that be one "country" or two?  Then you have Northern Ireland.  It has it's own legislature, its own Parliament - but it seems to be a province, rather than a country.
Having grown up in England, UK, I have a "gut feel" as to what I think should be on the list, but it would be useful to have a rule of thumb to help me when I come up against similar sitations in other countries. 
So, at the moment, this is how I'm tackling the UK
England, Scotland, Wales - all countries, no problem
Northern Ireland - Not really a country, but I'm going to count it and make sure I go there.
Isle of Man - Not really a country either and in this case, I'm leavng it at that. 
Channel Islands - Now this is a thorny one.  On the one hand, it's clear that they don't have country status.  However, are they, like NI, a region of sufficient significance that I ought to go there.  If I do allow them in, do I count them as one collective entity, or should each Bailiwick, or even each Island be added?  In the end, I have decided to opt to include them, and to include them as one entity.  I have to admit, that in making this decison, I am influenced by the facts that a) I have been to Herm and Guernsey (both in the Bailiwick of Guernsey) and b) I have not been anywhere in the Bailiwick of Jersey.  (And/or Sark??).  So I can safely include the CI and tick them off.  Sorted.

And now I'm going to actually look a few things up on the net and see how many misconceptions I have about the Kingdom I live in.
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