Countries and territories in the 195-country catalogue
The playable catalogue follows the 193 United Nations member states plus the Holy See and the State of Palestine. This is a product selection convention, not a political statement. It is distinct from the number of map polygons, ISO codes, or territories in a geographical dataset.
Territories are not extra answers
Where a dependency has an explicit mapping to a catalogue country, selecting it chooses that country. Other unmatched map entities are not selectable. A question’s scope states whether dependencies or overseas geography are included. Unless a clue says otherwise, use the facts of the named sovereign country in the published dataset.
Read the scope, especially for borders
Land borders, mainland-only borders, overseas boundaries, and maritime neighbours are different concepts. A clue specifies its convention. Disputed or ambiguous conditions should not be inferred from the map’s colours. Unresolvable boundary questions stay out of the published pool.
Atlas conventions
The six learning groups follow Natural Earth atlas conventions, with GeoNames groupings for Seychelles and Mauritius (Africa) and Maldives (Asia), which Natural Earth labels as open-ocean entities. Russia is grouped with Europe; Türkiye, Cyprus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan with Asia. A group does not claim that all of a cross-continental country’s territory lies on that continent. Latitude and longitude clues refer explicitly to the stored atlas label point. Recorded-capital spelling clues use the pinned GeoNames entry, which may represent a government seat rather than a country’s only capital.
Names and aliases
Name clues use the displayed English names, ignoring accents and punctuation. Wander accepts documented common aliases. A search result always resolves to a visible country name; ambiguous fragments are not silently accepted. The label shown before you pin is the country that will be submitted.
Projection and small states
The Equal Earth world view is designed for a readable atlas. Tiny countries are also represented by auxiliary markers. The map is a selection interface; it does not decide factual correctness.
See data sources and use the question report form to suggest a documented correction.