To simplify it a little more, I think of kore as "this", sore as "that", and are as "that over there".

This is what I was taught, so hopefully it will help you:

Kore - refers to something close to the speaker

Sore - refers to something close to the person being spoken to

Are - refers to an object that is far away from both the speaker and the listener

(This web page might explain kore, sore, and are more: <a href="http://wp.stolaf.edu/japanese/ressource-projects/genki-i-ii-grammar-index/kore-sore-are-dore-genki-i-chapter-2/">http://wp.stolaf.edu/japanese/ressource-projects/genki-i-ii-grammar-index/kore-sore-are-dore-genki-i-chapter-2/</a>; )

Doko - where

Nani - what

Kara - from

As for "kuni", the only word that immediately came to mind was "country".

国