Commons talk:Territorial division of the World

This page holds a draft policy to be discussed before it can become an official guideline. It is made by one user and there is not yet an agreement on the issue. I will add comments and corrections in the upcoming period. Electionworld 11:09, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Rename page

I think the page name doesn't say much. I propose to rename the page into commons:Categorization guidelines for geographical entities. Electionworld 11:35, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree to rename the page, but I don't like this proposal. The page regards mainly major geographical entities. --Juiced lemon 15:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

But it gives and can give more information also on subdivisions. Electionworld 17:26, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

List of countries

I do not agree with the limitation of the list of countries. I support the list of countries in Wikipedia, which includes more entities. The definition of country doesn't exclude more entities than presently in the list.

A nonlimitative list would be useless. The list of “countries” is a list of independant states, because:

In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical entity, a territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation. (w:country)

where in this definition is the word independent? (Electionworld 17:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC))

Dividing the World in political entities is political geography, and that's we are doing when we categorize files. So, we have to follow the “political geography” meaning of the word “country” (see The Number of Countries in the World, on About.com:Geography).

why? (Electionworld 17:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC))

Therefore, the correct reference for the Commons list of countries is the article w:list of states, and not the article w:list of countries, which is badly named.

""why? (Electionworld 17:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC))

We need also a list of other geographical entities, in particular for the “by continent” categorization, but there is no reason to call “country” these entities (like Category:Saint Pierre and Miquelon or Category:French Guiana).

Notice also that w:List of countries contains Saint Pierre and Miquelon (242 km²), but not French Guiana (83,534 km²). --Juiced lemon 15:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

That is logical, since French Guinea as an overseas department is part of the motherland France, SPM isn't.

Wrong. Saint Pierre and Miquelon has a special status, as a Territorial Collectivity, but it is part of the French Republic. The reason to put Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the list and not French Guiana is unclear.

Do you suggest to categorize France:

• in Africa, due to Réunion?
• in North America, due to Guadeloupe (and Martinique)?
• in South America, due to French Guiana?

Otherwise, we must keep:

• Réunion in the Africa list
• Guadeloupe and Martinique in the North America list
• French Guiana in the South America list

--Juiced lemon 18:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

In this page, the Jersey Citizens Advice Bureau declares:

13. There is no such thing as a 'Jersey passport' (in the sense that you have French, German, Swedish passports), the passports issued in Jersey are British passports, they have Jersey printed on the cover to show that they were issued in Jersey.

I think it's clear enough: Jersey (as England or Scotland) is not a political entity like France, Germany, or Swede. There are no advantages to mix so different political entities in Commons. --Juiced lemon 16:32, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Why are passports essential? Electionworld 17:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Main options

Continents of the World

We must define the different continents of the World in order to make consistent the categories structures in Commons, in particular those of the “by continent” subcategories. You'll find some basic knowledge in this section.

• North America - South America - Antarctica - Africa - Europe - Asia - Oceania
  This is my proposal, based on the 7-continents model. This is the most common model: more, the division of America in North America and South America is unambiguous (and justified by geology), and it's clearer to categorize in the greater number of continents. Oceania, instead of Australia, is also clearer as in the United Nations Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications. --Juiced lemon 08:42, 2 June 2007 (UTC)