I’d say it’s a capital of a Western European nation that is in South America, but, as long as we’re consistent, I don’t care.
So, which of those real countries are part of a larger country? And, if Scotland is a country, why did Scots recently vote to not be a country?
At least for typical US colloquial usage IMO this is 100% wrong. In that usage “country” exactly equals “independent sovereign state.”
IOW, in that usage “country” is defined by governance. Not by ethnicity, language, culture, etc.
Oh god what have you done 
They didn’t. They voted not to be an independent nation-state. Many of the people who voted ‘no’ still regard Scotland as a country/nation, which forms a larger nation-state along with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Following the treaty of 1706/7, Scotland is the same as whatever England is. So if you think Scotland is not a country, then fine, but you are also saying that England is not a country. However within the UK constitution (which is not as unwritten as some people think), both Scotland and England are called “countries”.
If you’re comparing Scotland with North American states or provinces, you have to bear in mind that unlike any of them Scotland fought and won a war of independence, had its own king for nearly 800 years, founded a unique official religion etc, etc. It still has its own legal system, which is more different from the rest of the UK than states or provinces are from their respective federations. There was nothing in the Treaty of Union that demanded that Scotland (or England) stop being ‘countries’.
You might argue that it’s impossible for a constituent part of a nation-state to be a country. That’s fine, as long as you regard England as also being a not-country of some description (but if you’re being that picky you must never, ever use the phrase “the Queen of England” to refer to anyone who has reigned since 1707). On the other hand, the fact that there might be no other examples in the world of what Scotland and England are does not in itself prevent other people from stating that they are in fact countries in their own right.
No one seriously considers Scotland or England or Wales or N Ireland to be a nation state which is what most people mean when they say “country”. Sure they might once have been countries in their own right, but they are not anymore and have not been for centuries.
None of the Home Nations have diplomatic representation overseas, are not members of the UN, do not control their internal or external borders, have an armed forces, leevy customs tarriffs, the ability to conclude trade agreements, signs treaties, declare war, in all of those things, that is handled by the British Government. They are not countries.
Compare that with the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland, which can do all that; these counties were also once part of the United Kingdom. If Scotland leaves/is given the old heave ho then you can call it a country.
I agree with AK84. The only exception i could find is Ukraine and Byelorussia being recognized as seperate the price for the USSR being admitted to the UN.
‘as the price’…
Scotland totally is a country guys…
Here’s a quiz question that could easily be asked, "What are the individual “X”'s that make up the UK? "
Now what word would you use instead of X?
I’m English and I’d describe England as a country, same for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is no “official” definition of a country, they are what we say they are and pretty much everyone I know would describe those individual regions as “countries”.
Wikipedia is not totally authoritative but is a good enough source for common usage.
Which is pretty much in line with my own understanding.
British Exceptionalism!! 
nm
Possibly - normally I scoff at the idea, but maybe this is one case where it’s justified!
Of course no one thinks that Scotland or England are ‘nation-states’ - that’s because the term was formulated to distinguish sovereign nation-states from other meanings of ‘country’ or ‘nation’. However, tens of millions of people throughout the UK see Scotland and England as being nations. Also, millions of people regard Italy and Germany as both being nations long before either of them became nation-states in 1871.
Are you seriously suggesting that no one in Ireland sees Ireland as having been a ‘nation’ or a ‘country’ before 1922?
If someone there wants to travel elsewhere, whose passport do they have to use?
Country /= sovereign nation-state. FFS, this isn’t hard.
ISTM your formulation is very, very clear to UK people.
And is simultaneously utterly *not *how the rest of the English-speaking world parses those terms.
That’s OK; we’ll grant you your local eccentricities. They’re well-earned. Y’all also spell tyres and colours phunny. 
Not my experience. Greenland, for instance, is usually called a “country” when I talk to people here in the US. Same with Aruba. Do you really not refer to those two as countries? That would be surprising to me.
Japan has an army and independent foreign relations. They spend somewhere between what Germany and France spend on their military.
Officially they don’t have an army, since their constitution explicitly forbids it: