About 197lines

197lines.com publishes a short piece of information on each one of the 197 States recognized by the UN as of our launch. Lines are updated on a regular basis.
We publish one single line on each state, no matter its size, population or international visibility. We prefer to define the entries as lines because our editorial goal is to report aspects of local life that are often not visible in international news coverage.

Out team of contributors is based across the globe, with the goal of providing fair visibility to each country in the world.

Notes on editorial choices. Country names and spelling: the most commonly used names in the most widely accepted English form. Capital city options and spelling: we’ve used the Geographic Names of the UN list as our reference; in case of disputed capitals, all names are indicated. Choice of language: English as the most widely used summing native and non-native speakers. Population: updated regularly, based on World Bank data.

More curious? Please write to [email protected]