# Why do people think America is a country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782 "2004-08-20T21:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fc1114](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@fc1114](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fc1114)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/1 "2004-08-20T21:16:40Z")
Why do people think that America is a country??? Or why do people think it is OK to refer to the USA as ‘America’? With all the political ads showing, you hear the candidates saying, America this, America that, America will do this! America is not a country - The \*\*United States of America \*\* _ **IS** _ a country. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/2 "2004-08-20T21:17:40Z")
Tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/3 "2004-08-20T21:22:15Z")
Did you consider consulting a reference before making this claim? > [@](#): > > Main Entry: Amer·i·ca > Pronunciation: &-'mer-&-k& > Usage: geographical name > 1 either continent (N. America or S. America) of the western hemisphere > 2 or the Amer·i·cas /-k&z/ the lands of the western hemisphere including N., Central, & S. America & the W. Indies > **3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA** > **[Definition of AMERICA](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/America)** > > either continent (North America or South America) of the western hemisphere; the lands of the western hemisphere including North, Central, and South America and the West Indies; united states of america… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/4 "2004-08-20T21:28:36Z")
Well, if you called it anything else like “Europe” or “Cocoa” or “Land 'o Maize” you’d sure confuse the hell outta everybody, now wouldn’t you! Point being, people know what you’re talking about. And after Bush puts in a couple more terms of office it’ll all be the USA anyway. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/5 "2004-08-20T21:39:58Z")
The United States of America is the only country in North or South America that has the work America in its name, so I don’t see any chance of confusion by using the short-hand name America. Do you get confused by the ads? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/6 "2004-08-20T21:44:34Z")
People think that America is a country for the same reason they think that Russia is one. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/7 "2004-08-20T22:01:14Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > People think that America is a country for the same reason they think that Russia is one. [Um…](http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html)What’d I miss? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/8 "2004-08-20T22:03:13Z")
Grr…Unless you mean that a Federation is different from a country? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/9 "2004-08-20T22:12:41Z")
Maybe **Tapioca** was asleep during the 1990s. During the Cold War, lots of people referred to the Soviet Union as “Russia.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/10 "2004-08-20T22:14:23Z")
I presume the OP uses the adjective form, “United States of American”, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/11 "2004-08-20T22:14:55Z")
While we’re at it, what about “Canada”? It’s “The Dominion of Canada”, people! Don’t even get me started on “Britain” … 😛 So basically, **fc** , you hate it when people “abbreviate”? So if your full name IRL is “John Joseph Doe” and people call you “John” you get all upset? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/12 "2004-08-20T22:23:16Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > While we’re at it, what about “Canada”? It’s “The Dominion of Canada”, people! Actually, it’s just “Canada”. Not “Dominion of Canada” nor “Federation of Canada” nor “Canada, Land of the Free and some beavers and really good beer”. Just “Canada”. We’re simple like that. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/13 "2004-08-20T22:28:30Z")
\*"Oh [Place In Upper North America with no conventional long form name…\*](http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html) …eh ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/14 "2004-08-20T22:32:02Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > \*"Oh [Place In Upper North America with no conventional long form name…\*](http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html) > …eh Well, shit. I should start a thread complaining about that! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/15 "2004-08-20T22:33:57Z")
Where can I find this “America”? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/16 "2004-08-20T22:46:32Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Well, if you called it anything else like “Europe” or “Cocoa” or “Land 'o Maize” you’d sure confuse the hell outta everybody, now wouldn’t you! Point being, people know what you’re talking about. And after Bush puts in a couple more terms of office it’ll all be the USA anyway. **I** like to call it “Fuzzy Monkey-Kitty-Puppy-Baby Foo-Foo Land”. And then I run for my life, when the bikers try to savagely beat me. I wonder how that works…? ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/17 "2004-08-20T23:08:17Z")
**fc1114** , why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/18 "2004-08-21T00:13:32Z")
This has to be the most pedantic complaint I’ve ever seen on the boards, and that’s REALLY saying something. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/19 "2004-08-21T01:08:38Z")
Well, the country to our south is the _Estados Unidos de Mexico_, yet their inhabitants shamelessly insist on calling themselves “Mexico”. Fie on them! ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782/20 "2004-08-21T01:11:43Z")
It’s even worse than that, **Duke**. It’s actually the [_Estados Unidos Mexicanos_](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mx.html#Govt). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-think-america-is-a-country/260782.md?page=2)