It's really a shame how the UK abuses the word country for internal divisions, and the US abuses the word state for the same purpose, so now we have to either accept weirdness or use unwieldy terms like sovereign state.
I know there's good historical reasons, but it muddles language regardless.
Well, I don't speak German (only recognize a few words), but the meanings of "Land" seem to include both "country" and "state". (As it's part of quite a few country names in German. Including Deutschland itself :) )
“Deutschland” historically meant “the territory where German-speaking people live”, not a country. The name comes from early Middle Ages when the concept of a national country was not established yet. The idea of Deutschland as a country exists only from 19 century.
Well, that's true for most countries. The idea of nation states originated (or at least became popular) in the 19th century. Before that the areas were mostly organized around rulers (like kings).
But it has little to do with the current meaning of the word. I've looked up a few more countries that have the word 'Land' in their name: Weißrussland, England, Estland, Finnland, Griechenland, Russland, etc.
Keep in mind that a modern US state is not the same as US state 200 years ago. At this point, the US federal government dictates substantially more of every aspect of a states rule: from education to exports, licensure to healthcare.
The US was an unique attempt at parallel state rule, but consolidation is always inevitable.
However, the legal systems can still be wildly different. The ounce of marijuana that anyone over 21 can buy from a state-licensed shop and possess in Colorado could mean a $2000 fine and up to 6 months in jail in Texas.
Denmark is yet another multiple-country sovereign state- Denmark (proper), Greenland, and the Faroe Islands are constituent countries of the Kingdom of Denmark.
That's not such a great example, since Greenland and the Faroe Islands are both of zero significance. (Greenland is significant geographically, but not as a political entity.)
There's no abuse about it. The UK invented the English language, you can't really claim they are using it wrong. Country, state and nation are different things.
> Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom (which is also a country).
Depending on how you define "country", of course. The definition that makes Scotland "a country" seems mostly historical and peculiarly British. (One would think that also makes Northern Ireland "a country". Is it? Or Cornwall? If not, why not?)
In ordinary day-to-day language, though, "a country" is mostly synonymous with "a sovereign nation", which Scotland isn't. As several comments in this discussion have shown, it seems mostly to be a question of recognition by others, mainly neighbours. Scotland's closest neighbour, the United Kingdom, certainly doesn't seem to recognise it as a sovereign nation. As for international consensus, the closest proxy seems to be membership of the United Nations. Which Scotland has as much as Sealand does. (Perhaps the easiest way to see the conflicting interpretations is that something can't by definition be sovereign if it's part of something else.)
So "Scotland is a country" is true for some values of "country", but not all. (And IMnshO, not the most pertinent ones.)
I know there's good historical reasons, but it muddles language regardless.