Are there any countries in the world that do not have a government? What are they?

Dear dude5-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.

Here you will find a source map for the locations of "disordered
states". These may consist of countries where anarchy reigns or where
no organized form of government exists in the conventional sense:

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS ON THE WORLD STAGE
http://www.dushkin.com/rourke/ch08/polsys.mhtml

From a statistical and prevalence standpoint this document estimates that:

Anarchy is prevalent in 0.8% of socio-political instances
Tyranny by Majority is prevalent in 0.3% of socio-political instances

NATION STATES POLITICAL MAP PROJECT
http://alces.sel.uaf.edu/gregg/ns/nsmap.html

There are many other statistics here such as the prevalence of
Authoritarian Democracies and Psychotic Dictatorships but like it or
not, these ARE forms of government however twisted they may seem to
others.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS ON THE WORLD STAGE
http://www.dushkin.com/rourke/ch08/polsys.mhtml

NATION STATES POLITICAL MAP PROJECT
http://alces.sel.uaf.edu/gregg/ns/nsmap.html


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

GOVERNMENT, DISORDER, ANARCHY, COUNTRIES, STATES

Although this isn't quite what I was looking for, you did provide me
with more than sufficient information. In retrospect the question was
limited in scope without a lot to go on.
Thanks.

Sealand would probably count, if you agree that it counts as a country.

The Principality of Sealand
http://www.sealandgov.com/

How about the Vatican City?

Somalia would appear to have no recognised central government

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/so.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3458627.stm

This all started because of the Rugby 6 Nations Tournamnet starting
Saturday Feb 14th. I was wondering if a country can truely exist
without a government and was discussing this with co-workers in
England. As is the case I went to Google to find my answer but this
didn't provide a proper response, so I asked you. Your response also
unhelpful. So then I looked up the definition of Country: A territory
of a nation or state; land.
So by definition there is no mention of Government. Nation however is
defined as : A relatively large group of people organized under s
single, usually independent government; a country.  So usually
suggests, not always. Wales and Scotland are separate countries
although by North American standards they would be more like a State
or Province.
Thank

Would this be what you are looking for? This image shows the locations
of "disordered states" where no formal or organized goverment exists:

http://www.dushkin.com/rourke/ch08/polsys.mhtml

If this is the type of information you are after I'd be happy to close
your question for you.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Tutuzdad,
That would be great.
Pls close the question.
Thanks,
Dude5

Hi - here's a people who get along just fine governmentless:

The Nuer of the Southern Sudan. 

"Predominantly a pastoral people...herdsmen, fishermen, and gardeners"
"Their economic life is related to the absence of chieftainship and to
their democratic sentiment...this political system which lacks
government and is without legal institutions."
From the back cover of:
THE NUER by E.E. Evans-Pritchard
Oxford: Oxford University Press (©1940). 1971 reprint.
ISBN 0 19 874001 8

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