Land territories in my world were divided based on the people who lived there to avoid strife, mainly. People decided what constituted a country and the people from there were meant to have some kind of patriotic tie to it. It was a way of classifying where you were born, partly, and what kinds of culture you were exposed to. Continents were collections of countries, separated by oceans. Many wars were fought over time to decide these things. It isn't important to your trip in the void, but I can explain further if you want.

[ He's really used to it. ]

There are recipes that come with the ingredients which are instructions on how to use them for a meal if you aren't sure what to do with them. They are simple to follow if you want to make something more complicated.