- (BOOL)countryExistsWithName:(NSString *)countryName{

    NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [NSFetchRequest fetchRequestWithEntityName:@"Countries"];

    NSPredicate *predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"countryName == %@, countryName];
    [fetchRequest setPredicate:predicate];

    NSError *error;
    NSUInteger count = [self.managedObjectContext countForFetchRequest:fetchRequest error:&error];

    if (count == NSNotFound) {
        // error
        NSLog(@"error");
        return NO;
    }
    if (count > 0)  {
        // at least one country found
        return YES;
    }

    return NO;
}

- (NSInteger )countAllCountries{

    // We use an NSPredicate combined with the fetchedResultsController to perform the search
    NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [NSFetchRequest fetchRequestWithEntityName:@"Countries"];

    NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor    = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"countryName" ascending:YES];
    fetchRequest.sortDescriptors        = @[sortDescriptor];

          NSError *error;
    NSUInteger count = [self.managedObjectContext countForFetchRequest:fetchRequest error:&error];

    if (count == NSNotFound) {
        // error
        NSLog(@"error");
        return 0;
    }
    if (count > 0)  {
        // at least one country found
        return count;
    }

    return count;

}