Countries are initially 1$ to 246$ in order of their size. The price is increased by 1$ for each country sold.

FAQ

What is 246countries?
Why should I buy a country?
Why are there 246 countries listed (and not more or less)?
What means "countries are for sale"?
What happens after my purchase?
What means "verification" of my order?
How long will my sponsor information be displayed?
I would like to buy a country but prefer to stay anonym. Is it possible?
Which image formats are accepted for the displayed sponsor logo?
Is it possible to change my sponsorship information later on?
I lost my ownership. What happened?
Why are the borders of some countries on the map overly simplified?

Your question is missing? Sent it to mario@246countries.com!

What is 246countries?
Forget about emergency funds and bailout mechanisms. The world is on sale. Even worse, countries can now be bought on the internet. The website 246countries.com is selling off 246 countries starting from 1 Dollar. But hold on, actually 246countries.com is a satire on the enduring global mockery and reduction of whole nations to their credit risk and state securities. The website tries to uncloak the nations behind those 246 countries that are covered by bad news. The key message is that nations are never rich by their money but by history, tradition and culture. The only thing sold to sponsors is an ad space on top of each country page. There is also a world map which is initially totally blanked out and which is revealed, country by country, when a sponsor supports a country page.

Why should I own a country page?
Sponsoring a country page on 246countries gives you the unique possibility to show your esteem for a whole nation on earth. This is a one-time chance in internet history. Be a part of it!

Why are there 246 countries listed (and not more or less)?
This number is based on ISO 3166-1, a widely used international standard. As per 1st December 2009 there are 246 countries worldwide recognized by ISO 3166-1.

What means "countries are for sale"?
Although you can not buy any countries or islands physically on this website, you can rent an advertising space on an available country page of your choice. The sponsors name and link will then be shown both on the map and the country contribution page.

What happens after my purchase?
After your purchase, send a mail to sale@246countries.com, including the name, website and logo (urls prefered) that should be displayed on 246countries.com. After successful verification the your content (name, logo, link) will go online.

What means verification of my order?
It means that I will first check that the country is still available. If the country was sold already, for example only 1 minute ago, your purchase will be revoked and your money 100% refunded. I will also verify that the transmitted name, logo and linked website are not of an obscene or infringing nature. In such cases the purchase will be annulled as well and the money be refunded. If for any reason your are buying a country without sending me your name, link and logo afterwards, the purchase is still valid but the missing information can not displayed on the website.

How long will my sponsorship information be displayed?
Your sponsor information will stay online for the lifetime of this website. Although I can not give any guaranty regarding the lifetime nor availability of this service, I'll do my best to keep it online for at least 1 year after the latest country sale executed.

I would like to sponsor a country but prefer to stay anonym. Is it possible?
There is no problem with anonymity of your sponsorship. Just tell me when I'm asking for your details and we will find a solution which suits your special needs.

Which image formats are accepted for the displayed sponsor logo?
Accepted are all major image formats, e.g. jpeg, gif, png, bmp. Prefered are urls to those images. The optimum image width is 150 pixels. The maximum height is 150 pixels. Larger or smaller images will be scaled to a width of 150px and a height according to their individual aspect ratio.

Is it possible to change my sponsorship information later on?
Yes, if it is to correct typos, anonymise your sponsorship infos or to direct to a new website (because the old one no longer exists).

I lost my ownership. What happened?
246countries.com does not accept to link to obscene, infringing or pornographic websites. Most probably this is the reason for your ban.

Why are the borders of some countries on the map overly simplified?
This is to reduce the amount of data necessary to display the map and to keep the map responsive to user interactions.