In fact country lists are probably one of the most annoying unsolved problems in UI to date. Especially where you are asked for your phone number and the country code is a drop-down. Seriously, how is finding an item in a 200+ list easier than typing 1-3 digits? And especially if the web site is in a foreign language and you don't even know what your country is called in that language? (Been in this situation in France once, had to urgently sign up on a web site with my UK phone number that I had at the time, ended up googling what the UK is called in French just because the web site required my phone number!)