I decided to make this application as I have always enjoyed travelling and like the idea of being able to record where I have been on my trips. Although other applications exist that do the same job, I had something specific in mind and therefore decided to make this app.
I could have just listed all the sovereign states in the world, of which there are 195 at the time of writing (Jan 2018). However, I have not done this, I have included more ‘countries’.
The main reason for this is that I want to record where I have been in the world, and just listing sovereign states is a problem in this regard. France serves as probably the best example as to why this doesn’t work. France is a sovereign state, but any overseas territories or dependencies of France (of which there are many) would be classed as France.
This would mean that by visiting France I would also have visited French Guiana (a large area of South America) and Reunion island, which is situated in the Indian Ocean. To avoid this I have included dependencies as countries as well.
Deciding to include dependencies has its own headaches, as there are various military bases and uninhabited islands/areas that should then be listed. As far as this app is concerned, I decided that if the area was uninhabited or almost impossible to gain access to (i.e. you need permission that you would not get unless you are a scientist or government official), then it would not be listed. This includes military bases.
In terms of the apps groupings on the main page, these are not random. They generally follow the United Nations Statistical Regions. The only exception is that I have listed some of ‘Northern America’ as ‘Arctic’. You can see maps and statistics for all these regions, and also for each of the continents. One quirk I wanted to point out is that in the statistics that are presented is that Russia is included in both Europe and Asia, as it spans both.
With regard to the cities, it was never my intention to list ALL the cities of the world. The cities listed are generally the largest by population in each of the countries. I may add more in the future for smaller countries with less cities, but for the moment it is as it is.
If you have read this far I commend you! I hope you find the app as useful as I do, and if you have any suggestions or corrections I am all ears. Especially regarding the districts of each country. I would be very surprised if I have everything correct! Just try to bear in mind that I have built this app in my spare time, and changes will depend on how much free time life allows me.
Enjoy
TheTestSpecimen
