There were ~900 countries last set, near the peak (1,000) from the first reset.

Let's take a look at that set:

http://alliance.www.earthempires.com/...?ranktype=tot&round=1

NA at 116, we all know now why. NA at 18 now, almost the entire difference.

SOL at 53, SOL at ~60 this set.

SoF at 52, SoF at 70 this set.

LaF at 41, LaF at 96 this set.

Sanct at 39, Sanct at 27 this set.

Rage at 37, Rage at 11 this set.

ICN at 35, ICN at 19 this set.

TIE at 32, TIE at 26 this set.

Omega at 30, Omega at 20 this set.

LCN at 29, LCN at 48 this set.

Evo at 27, Evo at 41 this set.

Imag at 24, Imag at 17 this set.

Elysium at 23, gone now.

PDM at 22, PDM at ~45 this set.

Monsters at 22, Monsters at 24 this set.

Seems like natural fluxuation to me. Not to mention 2+ years of no advertising with few change changes. No one is running anyone out of this game.