several countries; various countries
Used to refer to a small, unspecified number of countries, typically in contexts like international comparisons, travel, or news reports.
I traveled to several countries and felt the cultural differences.
This issue is being discussed in several countries.
Standard kanji-katakana spelling; the most common written form.
Common variant using the small-ke character ヶ.
Variant using the small-ka character ヵ.
Hiragana variant; less common but still used.
Compound of 数 (several) + カ (counter, from 箇) + 国 (country). The カ is a simplified form of the counter 箇, commonly written as ヶ or カ.