Wikipedia:WikiProject Countries
This WikiProject is an attempt to formulate a template for the country articles. Reason is the lack of structure for most of the country articles, which usually contain some loosely organised phrases and the CIA World Factbook subpages (many contain only the latter). This WikiProject tries to suggest a structure for country articles which would make them more structured, while also giving them a common look and feel.
After a "test case" at the Netherlands, a rather good "template" has come up, which could started to be used on the other country articles - at least to the opinion of me, jheijmans.
Also: please remember these are guidelines. I sincerely hope you'll try to use them, but I cannot (and nobody can) force you to really do so. Moreover, these guidelines will probably not be perfect for all country pages. For some countries, it may be useful to leave out or add sections, alter the tables - do something completely different. That's up to you to decide. The Wikipedians will judge it :-)
Title: WikiProject Countries
Scope: This WikiProject aims to structure all country articles and sub-articles.
Participants:
Structure
The article should start with a good introduction, giving name of the country, location in the world, bordering countries, seas and the like. Also give other names by which the country may still be known, and the name used in the country's local language. Also, add a few facts about the country, the things that it is known for (for example the mentioning of windmills in the Netherlands article).
Next, there is a table with quick facts about the country. A template for the table can be found at the bottom of this page. The contents are as follows:
- A picture of the national flag. A good resource is Flags of the World (can be used freely, quoting source is required).
- A picture of the national coat of arms. A good source is required for this, not yet available.
- Below the flag and coat of arms is room for source quotations, and the motto displayed on the coat of arms (with translation, if necessary).
- The official full name of the country in the local language and in English (unless these are the same. If there are multiple official languages, please use separate rows for these, otherwise the table may get too wide.
- The capital city, or cities. Explain the differences if there are multiple capital cities using a footnote (see example at the Netherlands).
- Land area: The area of the country in sq km and sq miles (order depends on the country; the US will likely have the sq miles first).
- Inhabitants: The number of inhabitants; also include a year for this estimate.
- Population density: The number of inhabitants per sq km and sq mile (please use the numbers used in the two previous entries).
- Currency; the name of the local currency.
- Time zone(s); the time zone or zones in which the country is relative to UTC
- National anthem; the name of the National anthem and a link to the article about it (if existing).
- Internet TLD; the top-level domain code for this country.
The rest of the article should consists of a few short paragraphs. These paragraphs should give an outline of the history/politics/etc. of the country and link to a full article on them. Many of the CIA World Factbook subpages can be used as a starter for these full articles.
The heading should look like:
=== Politics === ''Main article: [[Politics of the Netherlands]]''
A notice should be placed on each temp page that should read:
''This temporary page is being used to expand and convert the article [[_]] over to the new format agreed to at [[WikiProject Countries]]. Please feel free to add or edit anything on this page to help in the conversion process.''
Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted.
The sections are:
- History - A brief outline of the major events in the country's history (about 4 to 6 paragraphs should do), including at least a paragraph on the current events going on there. Link to "History of X".
- Politics - Short overview of the current governmental system, possibly previous forms, some short notes on the parliament. Link to article "Politics of X".
- (Subdivisions) - Quick overview of the administrative subdivisions of the country; name the sections after the biggest ones (f.e. provinces, states, departments, etc.). Also include overseas possesions. Link to "(subdivisions) of X". This section should also include an overview map of the country. The CIA World Factbook Maps could be used here, but other sources are available.
- Geography - Quick description of the country's main features, climate, . Include link to "Geography of X".
- Economy - (no contents defined yet, should be something brief about the country's economy, major industries, etc.). Link to "Economy of X".
- Demography - Mention the languages spoken, the major religions, some well known properties of the people of X, by which they are known. Link to article "Demography of X". This section can be accompanied by a population pyramid (see example at the Netherlands), data available from [1]
- Culture - Give a short summary of the country's specific forms of art (anything from painting to film) and its best known artists. Link to article "Culture of X".
- Holidays - A table with the holidays as celebrated in the country. Template for table is listed below.
- Date - the date of the holiday
- English name - the English name, translation
- Local name - the name in the country's language(s)
- Remarks - short descriptions or remarks on the holidays
- Miscellaneous topics - a list of links to all the other topics closely related to the country.
- External links - Links to (official) websites about the country.
Conversion log
Currently, the following articles have the template applied to them:
- Aruba
- Belgium
- Chile
- France
- Liechtenstein
- Netherlands
- Netherlands Antilles
- Suriname
- Sweden
- United States
The following countries are being worked on:
- China (see China/Temp)
- Germany (see Germany/Temp)
- Indonesia (see Indonesia/Temp)
- Kiribati (see Kiribati/Temp)
- Luxembourg (see Luxembourg/Temp)
- Mexico (see Mexico/Temp)
- Sao Tome and Principe (see São Tomé and Príncipe/Temp)
- South Africa (see South Africa/Temp)
- United Arab Emirates (see United Arab Emirates/Temp)
- United Kingdom (see United Kingdom/Temp)
- Wales (see Wales/Temp)
The following countries will be worked on soon, but some format has to be worked out first given the naming issue surrounding "China":
Template
Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted. For the table, replace the X's with the proper information.
This temporary page is being used to expand and convert the article [[_]] over to the new format agreed to at WikiProject Countries. Please feel free to add or edit anything on this page to help in the conversion process.
Definition paragraph.
| |||||
| National motto: Xxxxx | |||||
| Official language | Xxxxx | ||||
| Capital | Xxxxx | ||||
| monarch/president | Xxxxx | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked xth xx,xxx km² xx% | ||||
| Population
- Density | Ranked xth
xxx/km² | ||||
| Independence
- Recognised | (Event Xxxx)
(Year) | ||||
| Currency | Xxxxx | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +/- X | ||||
| National anthem | Xxxxx | ||||
| Internet TLD | .XX | ||||
History
Main article: History of _
Politics
Main article: Politics of _
Geography
Main article: Geography of _
Economy
Main article: Economy of _
Demography
Main article: Demography of _
Culture
Main article: Culture of _
| Date | English Name | Local Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|