GoodDay the countries category is called just that not Independant countries Wales Scotland and England are countries NI is not but thats another matter As they are countries they belong in the countries category perfectly logically In any case this has been discussed repeatedly and the consensus is  as if we needed to be told  that they are countries Despite my opposition to the inclusion of the Six Counties  English Wikipedia has followed the political line of the New Labour UK government a lie line which is contrary to the Belfast Agreement  I am tempted to agree with the compromise CategoryCountries of the United Kingdom but would like to hear other peoples opinion as well Its disappointing and somewhat surprising that such a significant change has attracted so little comment Perhaps what we really need here in the long term is a clearer practical distinction between the terms country and sovereign state BritishWatcher says above that he supported and accepted the fact England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland should be called countries but opposes them appearing on lists of countries where only sovereign states are listed Therein lies the nub of the problem  the argument that although E S and W are in fact countries they should not be listed as countries talk about Alice in Wonderland