Why do countries exist?

There’s nothing better than cheering for your national team during the World Cup. But football isn’t the reason why countries exist. So what is?

No countries

The very first humans were nomads. They didn’t live in countries. Instead, they moved from place to place, hunting animals and gathering fruit and nuts.

A few thousand years later, humans realised it was easier to settle in one spot where you can grow your own vegetables and keep animals. That’s how we became farmers.

From farmer to king

This process also created a hierarchy: one farmer had more cows than the other farmers or was more powerful than the rest. The richest or most powerful farmers turned into the masters,

eventually becoming the first kings and queens. They then ruled over a piece of land and the people who lived on it: a kingdom.

Enough to eat

The first major kingdoms emerged around 6,000 years ago. One of them was Mesopotamia, spread across modern-day Iraq, Syria and parts of Türkiye.

Mesopotamia was sunny and had two rivers. It wasn’t only just a nice place to leave, but a great location to grow food. There was enough to eat for everyone!

Protected by the lord

The first real kingdoms in Europe developed later, in the Middle Ages.

A medieval king possessed a huge amount of land. He would divide up his kingdom and appoint lords to manage the different parts.

People had to work the land or fish, handing over their catch or grain to the lord. Or they had to join the king’s army to fight.

In return, the lord would protect them from raiders or armies from other kingdoms who tried to take over the land.

A sense of belonging

In the eighteenth century, people started rebelling against the monarchy. They thought kings and queens had too much power. Following these rebellions, many countries formed governments that were elected by members of the population.

From then on, people no longer lived in a country for food or protection, but because they felt a sense of belonging.

Many countries – the Netherlands included – became ‘nation states’. A nation state has one government. The people who live in them speak the same language (usually). They also share customs like national holidays – and watching football!

Answered by Melanie Metz