What's JetPunk's criteria for statehood, anyways?

I have no qualms regarding the 193 UN members + Vatican City, but it seems odd to include Kosovo and Taiwan, which only a slight majority and a minuscule minority of countries recognize, respectively—but then exclude other quasi-states such as Abkhazia and Somaliland.

Palestine is another issue. Over 80% of UN member states recognize it, and while its government is definitely in a weird spot, Hamas and Fatah control a non-negligible amount of territory between them. Western Sahara is similar, where the SADR controls about a fifth of the territory they claim and are recognized by forty-four UN member states. According to the United Nations and the African Union, it's still Spain's problem!

There's also the Cook Islands and Niue. They have their own governments, diplomatic relations, and currencies (used in tandem with the NZD). However, New Zealand can be called in to handle diplomacy and defense on request, citizens of the two are automatically NZ citizens, and the head of state is the monarch of NZ by default. Despite the UN recognizing them as "non-member states," New Zealand is adverse to calling them sovereign under the current situation.

My recommendation: add Abkhazia, Somaliland, South Ossetia, and Western Sahara.

What are everyone's thoughts?