Name: 世界上有幾個國家？台灣算是嗎？ (How many countries are there in the world?)
Uploaded: 2016-10-16T11:05:04.000Z
Duration: 15 min 11 s

Have you ever wondered how many countries there are in the world?

你曾想過世界上有幾個國家嗎？

情態助動詞 B1

While it may seem like a fairly straightforward question, it's actually quite complicated.

這聽起來是個一翻兩瞪眼的問題，可事實上卻相當複雜

The problem is - it depends on who you ask as to what answer you get and

問不同的人會得到不同的答案，

there is no one generally accepted answer. Also, the word 'country' has no official meaning.

而且沒有一個答案是所有人都接受的。再說，「國家」這個詞也沒有標準的定義。

A good place to start might be an organisation that knows what they're talking about - the United Nations.

從聯合國開始找答案也許會是個好的開始

There are currently 193 members of the UN.

This is why this is the lowest number you'll ever hear to how many countries there are.

這也就是為什麼當有人問「世界上有幾個國家」時，你會聽到的答案至少是193以上

Along with the 193 members, the UN also has two permanent non-member observer states -

除了這193個會員國外，聯合國還有兩個常任非會員觀察國

the Holy See (representing the Vatican City State), and the State of Palestine.

教廷（代表梵蒂岡）、以及巴勒斯坦國

Despite not being a member, the Vatican City is a country and is recognised by everyone as such.

雖然梵蒂岡不是成員國，但是它被所有成員國承認是個國家

Despite being a country within a city within a country and small not only by country or

儘管梵蒂岡是一個在其他國家（義大利）裡的一個城市（羅馬）裡的國家，而且不管以國家或者

city standards but more comparable in size to that of a small village with a population of around 800

城市的角度來看，都是一個相當小的地方，跟一個小村莊差不多大，人口也只有大約800人

and a land area of less than half a square kilometre. It is officially the smallest country in the world

土地則不到0.5平方公里。它是世界上面積最小的國家

and compared to the largest country, it is 38 million times smaller than Russia.

而且比世界上面積最大的國家俄羅斯比還要小3億8百萬倍

But size doesn't matter and the fact of the matter is the Vatican City is a country.

不過反正大小不重要，重要的是梵蒂岡是個國家

So... logic would dictate that the State of Palestine is also a country then, right?

所以，邏輯上來說，巴勒斯坦也是個國家，對嗎？

The State of Palestine wants to be a full member of the UN and submitted an application is November of 2011.

巴勒斯坦想要成為聯合國的會員國，且早就在2011年11月提交申請

However, the only reason the Holy See isn't a full simply because...

而教廷不是會員國的理由只有一個，就是...

it doesn't want to be. Possibly because it wants to remain neutral.

它不想成為會員國。可能是因為它想要保持中立

It seems unlikely that Palestine will gain full membership for one reason -

巴勒斯坦不太可能成為會員國的原因在於——

the United States of America. If you're unaware of the situation in the Middle East,

美國。以防你不清楚中東的狀況，我來做個說明

the Palestinians and the Israelis have waging war on and off for decades.

巴勒斯坦和以色列幾十年來戰火不斷

And with Israel being of close ally of the United States, who often provide financial

而以色列是美國交好的盟國，美國常常提供財務

and military assistance to Israel, the US has always voted against Palestine.

和軍事上的協助給以色列，而且永遠會在投票表决上為難巴勒斯坦

This is despite president Obama saying he does want a sovereign Palestinian state.

儘管美國總統歐巴馬說他支持巴勒斯坦建國

The US didn't want Palestine to even become an observer state, but they still won an overwhelming majority.

美國甚至不想讓巴勒斯坦成為聯合國觀察員，但巴勒斯坦在此取得壓倒性的勝利

However, in order to gain full membership, the decision lies with the UN Security Council.

然而，若巴勒斯坦想取得會員國的資格，則必須依賴聯合國安全理事會的決議

The Security Council is made of 15 members - 5 permanent members (also known as The Big Five),

安全理事會由15個國家組成，5個常任理事國

and 10 non-permanent members who serve for 2 years.

以及10個任期為2年的非常任理事國。

To become a full member of the UN a country must obtain a two-thirds majority vote.

想要成為聯合國會員國，必須取得2/3的多數同意

The Big Five consists of - China, Russia, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom,

5個常任理事國為 - 中國、俄羅斯、法國、美國，以及英國

all of whom has what's known as 'veto power' in which they can veto any UN resolution

他們全部都可以行使否決權，也就是說他們可以否決掉任何決議案

and it won't get passed, even if all other 14 members are in favour of it. Therefore,

即便其他14個理事國都同意的情況下，他們仍能讓案子無法通過。因此，

the US can veto any membership application made by the State of Palestine.

美國可以否決掉任何巴勒斯坦提出的成員國申請

The UN aside, there are others reasons why you might hesitate to call Palestine a country.

撇開聯合國不談，還有許多原因讓你無法毫不遲疑地稱巴勒斯坦為國家

First of all, they don't actually have any legally defined borders and

首先，他們沒有明確合法的國界

the lines used to outline their claimed territories of the West Bank and the Gaza strip

他們所聲稱的領土以約旦河西岸與加薩走廊為界

are actually lines created in 1949 as part of an armistice agreement to end of the violence of the Arab-Israeli

這界線其實是來自1949年的停戰協議，當時是為了終止以阿戰爭所帶來的暴力

war and were never intended to be used as internal borders.

但這界線從來都沒有打算被用來當作內部的國界

On top of this, the Israeli army control huge parts of their land,

除此之外，以色列軍隊控制了這塊土地當中很大的部分

although this is widely considered by the entire international community as a breach of international law.

儘管國際上大都認為以色列這麼做是違反國際法的

Moving on, the US Department of State list 195 independent countries, and these are...

繼續，美國國務院列了195個獨立國家，這些是

the 193 members of the UN, the previously discussed Vatican City, as well as...

193個聯合國會員國，以及剛剛說的梵蒂岡，除此之外還有

the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo is a partially recognised country in

科索沃共和國。科索沃是一個被部分認可的東歐國家

Eastern Europe that declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.

它在2008年宣布從塞爾維亞獨立。

However, Serbia rejects their independence and claims that Kosovo is a province of Serbia.

然而，塞爾維亞拒絕承認科索沃的獨立，並主張科索沃是塞爾維亞的一個省

Currently, 100 out of the 193 UN members recognise Kosovo as a country according to kosovothanksyou.com,

目前，聯合國193個成員國中，100個承認科索沃是個國家，這是根據kosovothanksyou.com的資料

a website that thanks every country for recognising them in their native language.

這個網站用那些國家的母語來謝謝每個支持科索沃的國家

Kosovo hasn't made an application for UN membership. This is because the UN Security Council is

科索沃還沒有申請成為聯合國的會員國。這是因為聯合國安全理事會

split on the issue of Kosovo independence. While the UK, the US and France all recogsnise Kosovo

在科索沃的議題上看法分歧。英國、美國，與法國都認可科索沃，

and have diplomatic relations with them, Russia and China do not.

並與其保持外交關係，而俄羅斯與中國則否。

If all five were asked 'is Kosovo a country?', you would get a variety of different responses

如果這5個國家都被問「科索沃是個國家嗎？」，則你會得到不一樣的答案

but suffice to say the resolution would not get passed. Now, according to a website I use quite a lot,

但我們可以說結果就是無法通過。現在，根據一個我常使用的網站

about.com, there are 196 countries. They list the same 195 as the US Department of State,

about.com，上面有196個國家。他們列了195個和美國國務院相同的國家

plus one more - Taiwan. The situation with Taiwan is an incredibly complex one

再加上一個 - 台灣。台灣的狀況複雜得難以置信

that basically boils down to whether Taiwan is its own country, or part of China.

簡單來說，就是台灣到底是一個國家，還是中國的一部份？

While it is officially considered part of China by the UN,

雖然這官方上被聯合國認為台灣是中國的一部份

it effectively operates as its own country and China have no jurisdiction on Taiwan.

但台灣實際上以一個國家的形式運作著，而中國在這座島上則沒有任何管轄權

Taiwan's official name, by the way, is the Republic of China,

順帶一提，台灣的官方名字是中華民國，

not to be confused with the PEOPLE'S Republic of China, or as they're more commonly know, well... China.

不要和中華人民共和國搞混了，或者它更為人所知的名稱...中國

To fully understand the situation we need to go all the way back to 1895

要全然地瞭解這個議題必須回到1895年，

when the Japanese Empire took control of the island of Taiwan from Qing Dynasty.

日本帝國從清朝手上得到台灣的管轄權

After the fall of the Dynasty in the early 20th century, the Republic of China was established in 1912

在20世紀初期，清朝衰弱之後，中華民國在1912年建立

and the Nationalist Party were elected government.

In 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded with very different ideological views,

在1921年，意識形態相當不同的中國共產黨成立

and in 1927 the Chinese Civil War began between the Nationalists and the Communists.

Japan took the civil war as an opportunity to invade China in 1931.

日本把國共內戰看成一個入侵中國的好機會，因此在1931年入侵中國

For years the civil war continued until 1937 when Japan began a full-scale invasion of China and took control of the city of Beijing.

國共內戰打了好多年，直到1937年，日本展開全面性對中國的侵略，並控制了北京

The civil war were temporarily put on hold so China could defend its land from the Japanese.

為了打退日本，國共內戰才暫時的停止

causing immediate declaration of war on Japan by the United States

and began their involvement in World War II. In August 1945, the United States dropped

開始加入第二次世界大戰的戰局。1945年八月，美國在

atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Allied Forces then issued Japan a surrender ultimatum: the Potsdam Declaration.

之後同盟國給日本下最後通牒：波茨坦公告

The agreement stated, among other things, that Japan must relinquish control of land that they had acquired via force,

這份公告表示，日本得放棄所有他們以武力得來的土地

and this included the island of Taiwan obtained 50 years previously from the Qing Dynasty.

包括從清朝接手，統治了50年的台灣

The Allies gave two choices to Japan - an

unconditional surrender, or face (and I quote) "prompt and utter destruction".

1.無條件投降，否則的話，2.得面臨「迅速且徹底的毀滅」

On September 2nd 1945 Japan signed the agreement which put an ended to the 2nd World War.

在1946年9月2日，日本簽了協議，也讓第二次世界大戰落幕

Sovereignty of Taiwan was therefore handed over to the Republic of China.

台灣的主權於是被移交中華民國

Later that year, the United Nations was founded with the Republic of China as one its founding

同年，聯合國成立，中華民國是其中一個創始成員

members and one of the permanent members of the Security Council.

也是安全理事會的其中一個常任理事國

The original Big Five were effectively the same as today, except with the Republic of

5個原本的常任理事國到今天還是一樣，除了中華民國

China and the Soviet Union instead of the People's Republic of China and the Russian

與蘇維埃聯盟分別被中華人民共和國與俄羅斯聯邦取代

Federation respectively. So... one year later and Chinese Civil War

所以，一年之後，國共內戰再度開打

started up again. This time around, the Communist forces completely overwhelmed the Nationalist forces

這次，共產黨壓倒性地大勝國民黨

and in 1949, the Communist Part had total control of the mainland,

到了1949年，共產黨已經取得中國大陸地區大部份的掌控

forcing the Nationalists to retreat to the island of Taiwan. This effectively ended the civil war

迫使國民黨撤退到台灣。這使得國共內戰實質上劃下句點

and lead to the creation of the People's Republic of China, by the Communist Party.

以及開創了由共產黨領導的中華人民共和國

This then created an incredibly complicated situation in which there were effectively two Chinas,

這導致了複雜到難以置信的狀況，世界上存在著兩個中國

both claiming the exact same land: the whole of China.

兩個中國都聲稱擁有相同的土地：整個中國

The People's Republic of China controlled the mainland, while the Republic of China controlled Taiwan,

中華人民共和國控制了中國大陸地區，而中華民國控制了台灣

but both claimed each others land. Things remained like this for two decades

但兩個都宣稱擁有對方的土地。這樣的狀況持續了二十年

while the Republic of China continued to represent China at the UN.

但中華民國仍然在聯合國代表中國

This was until 1971 when the UN General Assembly voted to replace the Republic of China with

直到1971年，聯合國大會投票表决，把中華民國代表中國的角色換成由

the People's Republic of China as China's sole representative, including Taiwan,

中華人民共和國來代表中國，以及台灣，

despite them never having any jurisdiction on the island in their history.

即使歷史上中華人民共和國從來都沒有在台灣擁有過管轄權

In 1991, the Republic of China opted for a different approach and applied for UN membership

1991年，中華民國選擇用不同的途徑來申請聯合國會員

under the name 'the Republic of Taiwan'. Taiwan repeatedly re-applied but with China's veto

以「台灣國」的名字來申請。台灣不停地申請，可是中國擁有否決權