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Is 0 a Natural Number?

There seems to be no definite answer to this seemingly simple question, as seen very obviously in the wikipedia page on Natural Numbers.

The definition of number seen in Encyclopedia Britannica Online, completely ignores the Natural Numbers and discusses the positive and negative integers, real or complex numbers.

This defintion is a bit odd since it discusses positive and negative integers, but ignores 0. It also bypasses the Rational Numbers to discuss the Real Numbers and Complex Numbers.

Often the Natural Numbers is said to begin at 1, and if 0 is included the set is then called the Whole Numbers.