https://vimeo.com/128427174

I don't know if the rest of that series is available, but there you go.

???

Out of the ones you mention, Dubai is in fact not a real country and I have not seen anyone claim that it is; it is a city and region of the country called the United Arab Emirates.

Israel isn't universally recognized by all countries because some countries claim it is illegitimate (for religious reasons, because they say it is a colonialist project, etc. etc.).

Belgium is a country with different parts speaking different languages also spoken in neighboring countries, that is why some people have claimed it's not (culturally) its own country, but I don't think anyone seriously refuses to recognize it as a country.

As for Latvia, no idea whatsoever what you're talking about.

So the question as asked is unanswerable because you're giving confusing and inconsistent examples.

The Map Men explain it better than I could:

How do you start a new country? https://youtu.be/hX4s1ZLW_PI

There are NOT 195 countries https://youtu.be/3nB688xBYdY

And just for fun...

The mystery of the squarest country https://youtu.be/8mrNEVUuZdk

(Yes, I'm a big fan!)

Legally: if any other countries recognize it.

Morally: no country is real. Nationalism is a mind virus.

Dubai is a city and the capital of the UAE.

Edit: Dubai is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, an emirate of the UAE. The capital of the UAE is Abu Dhabi.

The amount of countries that recognize it as a country. Yes, it's circular logic. That said, if they act independent of other countries, they are likely a country whether recognized or not.

For a fun side topic, take a look at Micronations

There's a set of "official" countries that legally recognise each other, but in practice any group that has a local monopoly on the use of violence (so, trapping people in jails without going to jail for it, basically) can be equivalent. In fact, some of these have partial recognition, like Taiwan, Kosovo, or the non-official half of Libya.

Israel, Latvia, Belgium and Dubai

That's such a mixed bag.

Dubai is part of some kind of confederation (the UAE), and doesn't even claim to be a full country. Israel exists, but there's a lot of controversy about how it's managed that. Belgium exists, but doesn't have a unified cultural identity the same way as most European countries. Finally, Latvia exists but Russia doesn't want it to, although I might be missing something about how distinct it is from Lithuania.

Mainly if other countries believe it is a country and treat it as a country. You can look at Taiwan as an example. For all intents and purposes, it acts as a country. Yet, almost all countries do not classify Taiwan as a country, so it isn't really a country.

In modern days, recognition of being a country is generally handled by the UN as it is an organization of countries which recognize each other.

How is any country more real than any other?

A country is a country to those countries that have said (recognized) them as a country. So all countries have their own list of what countries exists and what borders they have. The same way as borders are drawn differently in google maps depending on what country you access the website from.

It has to do with recognition. For instance, Sealand meets all of the requirements: a permanent population, a defined territory, an effective government, and the capacity to engage in relations with other states (I believe this is codified somewhere in the UN's laws and policies).

But, most places don't consider Sealand a real country because other countries don't officially recognize it. Which is kind of weird to think, that being a country is like being a popular girl: if the other popular girls say you're a popular girl, then you are. If they decide you're not, then you're not.

So, while there is a quantified threshold, the de facto rule is whether other countries recognize you. It's also similar for honorific titles.