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WikiProject Countries 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 suggests a structure for country articles which would make them more structured, while also giving them a common look and feel.

The template below has been created after a test case at the Netherlands, and has since been applied to several other country articles (see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countries/Status), undergoing some changes along the way.

Remember that everything below are guidelines. Not all countries are the same, and not everything can be pushed into a framework in the same way. However, having the same "look & feel" for the country articles would be great.

Table of contents

1 Title

2 Scope

3 Parentage

4 Descendant WikiProjects

9 History

16 Miscellaneous topics

17 External Links

Title WikiProject Countries

Scope This WikiProject aims to structure all country articles.

Parentage No parent WikiProjects are defined.

Descendant WikiProjects The descendant wikiprojects are WikiProject U.S. States, WikiProject French departements, WikiProject Chinese provinces , WikiProject Swedish counties, WikiProject Finnish provinces and WikiProject Thai provinces.

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 (for example Holland, Persia). 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:

The official full name of the country in the local language is to go on top as the caption. If there are several official names (languages), list all.
A picture of the national flag. You can find two different sizes of flags at List of flags. The medium sized one is meant for display in the table itself. The large one should go to a page titled Flag of <country>, linked to via the "In Detail" cell.
A picture of the national coat of arms. A good source is required for this, but not yet available. It should be no more than 125 pixels in width.
Below the flag and coat of arms is room for the national motto, often displayed on the coat of arms (with translation, if necessary).
The official language(s) of the country.
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 (km²) and the world-ranking of this country. Also add the % of water, which can be calculated from the data in the Geography article (make it Negligable if ~0%).
Population: The number of inhabitants and the world-ranking; also include a year for this estimate (should be 2000 for now, as that is the date of the ranking). For the population density you can use the numbers now available.
Currency; the name of the local currency. Use the pipe if the currency name is also used in other countries: [[Australian dollar|dollar]].
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.
Internet TLD; the top-level domain code for this country.
Calling Code; the international Calling Code used for dialing 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]]''

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 section after the first level of subdivisions (e.g. provinces, states, departments, etc.) and give the English name. Also include overseas possesions. Link to "(subdivisions) of X". This section could 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".
Demographics - Mention the languages spoken, the major religions, some well known properties of the people of X, by which they are known. Link to article "Demographics of X". This section can be accompanied by a population pyramid (see example at the Netherlands), data available from [1] (http://www.census.gov)
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. A source for these holidays could be [2] (http://www.national-holidays.com/)
- 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. The four other default CIA subpages should be listed here (communications, transportation, military, foreign relations)
External links - Links to (official) websites about the country.

References Geographic references

Template

When applying this template to a country article (which already all exist), it is common practice to create a temporary page to work on, with the following notice:

''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.

To notify readers/writers that a new page is being created, plac the following text on the country article itself:

'''A new page based on the new [[WikiProject Countries|template]] is being worked on at [[_/Temp]], please make any changes you want to make on that page.'''

Definition paragraph.

Official Country Name(s) (local)