The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. MBisanz ^talk 02:15, 5 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Island country

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This article turns a phrase which has been occasionally used in description of a few places into a formal and generally applicable definition. It creates a neologism and offers a detailed and entirely unsupported definition. It does so in the same as if there was an article "Green and pleasant lands" and them as being any place that was both green and pleasant just because a few places had been so described. The article in entirely missing supporting references, as is the related article "List of island countries" Wotapalaver (talk) 00:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Keep The article is available in 35 languages. The term was used in 1816 1, the World Book Encyclopedia, 2, the CIA World Fact Book, 3.Finally, Google Book Search shows that the term is widely used.--J.Mundo (talk) 00:59, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Weak keep - This doesn't look like a neologism, after some digging, google scholar provides in-context examples of usage quite far back, and there are some examples in books; although I am concerned about the lack of references. – Toon ^(talk) 01:32, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Hardly a neologism:

- "St Lucia is a small island country in the Carribean." The World Book Encyclopedia (1993)[1];

- "Cyprus, Island country in the E Mediterranean S of Turkey." / "Cuba, Island country in the Carinean S of Fl"; Webster's II New College Dictionary (2005)[2];

- "They have a common country, an island country withal, parted by the sea from other lands. And from that island country they have taken a common name. ..." The history of Sicily from the earliest times (1892)[3]

- "Being an island country is shown to be significantly associated with political democracy." Small is Democratic" (2000).[4]

- "If an island is a land surrounded by water, is your country an island country?" Discovering World Geography with Books Kids Love (1999)[5]

- "A small island country was in dispute with a continental country in the Libya-Malta case." The Aegean Maritime Disputes and International Law (2003)[6]

- "The reasons why our country — ruled by the descendants of a single line of monarchs and forming an island country in an advanced state of development..." Papers on Inter-Racial Problems (1970)[7]

- "However, the relative level of imports into any single island country, particularly the middle-sized and smaller islands, has a significant local effect." Development and Social Change in the Pacific Islands (1989)[8]

- "shimane island country" The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary (1966)[9]

- "As the representative of an island country that is also unfortunately divided, I , too, realise that ignoring one group on an island, even if it is a ..." Official Report of Debates: Council of Europe" (1989)[10]

- "This tiny island country, strategically located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, is well renowned for its grand history." Doing Business with Malta (2005)[11]

- "The average island country with a population under 1 .5 million has 1 7 percent of its citizens overseas, though several have more than 30 percent abroad ..." Development and the Next Generation (2006)[12]

- "this island country won independence from Great Britain in 1948 and changed its name from Ceylon to the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972 ..." The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (2000)[13].

- "It achieved independence in January 1962 and was the only independent island country in the South Pacific at that time. In June 1963, the Western Samoan ..." Microstates and Nuclear Issues: Regional Cooperation in the Pacific (1991).[14]

- "Like Japan, Ireland has figured but little in this Outline of History, and for the same reason, because she is an extreme island country, receiving much, ..." The Outline of History, Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind (2004)[15]

- "The world's largest island country, Indonesia, reported in the Fifth Inquiry that it had identified a target of resettling 2.5 million persons..." World Population Trends and Policies: 1987 Monitoring Report (1987)

- "They point out that Japan is, after all, an island country. Yet it was not until Japan opened itself up to the West in the second half of the nineteenth ..." Smaller is Better: Japan's Mastery of the Miniature (1984)[16]

- "Despite the drastic efforts of both the United States and the government of the Dominican Republic, the island country's financial problems became ..." Herbert Hoover's Latin-American Policy (1951)[17]

- "Nauru: island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean." Britannica Online Encyclopedia[18]

I suggest withdrawing the nomination and tagging the article for references instead. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 01:54, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep the numerous other languages article shows that it is not a trivial phrase. Wandering Courier (talk) 02:07, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - notable term, just needs references. Matt (Talk) 04:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment this indicates that the UK and Japan are island countries, but in those countries, they refer to a "mainland" (ie. Great Britain, or Honshu) ... 76.66.196.229 (talk) 06:34, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Keep - per Malcolmxl5's and J.Mundo's research. LinguistAtLarge • Msg 07:02, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Speedy Keep. It's snowing and there's no sense dragging this out.--S Marshall ^Talk/_Cont 13:32, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. Am I the only one here who thinks that the long list of mentions ought to be a list of discussions of the word? A concept isn't notable because it is used; it is notable because it is discussed and written about. Drmies (talk) 19:38, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would think it's notable simply because 25% of the world's countries are island countries. LinguistAtLarge • Msg 21:20, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How about proving notability in the Wikipedian sense, by providing sources that discuss the concept in some depth? What you called Mundo and Malcolm's research isn't research at all, it's just usage of the words, and as a linguist you know that. Drmies (talk) 21:25, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - I added a few references. LinguistAtLarge • Msg 21:20, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
- That's the spirit. Drmies (talk) 21:32, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. I was about to come in here and vote delete because there wasn't enough said about how an island country is different from others, except a single source that they tended to be more democratic, but the new source on military strategy fixed that doubt. Squidfryerchef (talk) 21:50, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.