... three people have each correctly identified three countries on my list (two have the same three; the third has one different). Among all the responses, all five have been identified by at least two people.

Will post my answers with explanations tomorrow, so anyone else who wants to try, go ahead.

BTW, I have enjoyed the commentary that some of your added to your guesses.

Oh, couple of other things: I do not consider the addition or subtraction of physical territory as a change in the "current, continuous form of government". If it was, we'd have to start with January 1, 2000 (the day after we gave the Canal Zone back to Panama!). Also, I don't consider changes in who can vote a change in the "form" of government. We could have an interesting side discussion about whether the adoption of the constitution was a change in the "form" of our government (from the Articles of Confederation). It probably should be considered such a change, but I'm awfully attached to July 4, 1776 (actually, the Articles of Confederation were not drafted until 1777 and approval by the various states followed over a period of years, with Maryland coming in last in 1781). An argument can be made that the Articles of Confederation did not even form a sovereign nation. Fortunately, the answer to my question is the same whether you date the U.S. from 1776, 1781 or 1788 (when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the constitution) or 1789 (when the government formally declared the constitution adopted).

----- jim o\-S