THERE are now 150 countries that belong to the United Nations. Likely you live in one of these countries, since over 4,000,000,000 people do​—practically the whole world population! Each of these countries has some form of government. Do you know what kind is the most common?

Republics are. The United States, Egypt, the Soviet Union and China are among the more than 100 nations of the United Nations that are republics. According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, a republic is: “A government characterized by having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is [usually] a president.”

Are these governments​—these republics—​real to you? ‘Of course,’ you may answer. But why are they? For one thing, is it not because the leaders of these nations are real persons? Such men as President Carter, President Sadat, and President Brezhnev have become household names. Also, the places from which such men govern are real​—Washington, Cairo and Moscow. The effects of their decisions are felt, not only by their own citizens, but by people earth wide.