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Photo Political Geography
*There are 194 universally recognized countries (193 members of the UN plus the Vatican [Holy See]). Places like Palestine, Kosovo and Taiwan are partially recognized which increase the count.

*The State of Palestine is often included but it is only recognized by 138 UN members.

*Kosovo is also often included but is only recognized by 97 UN members.

What is a nation?

According to the Montevideo Convention, which in 1933 set out the rules for defining a state, there are 203 nations worldwide. But that figure should be taken with a pinch of salt, said Momal-Vanian.

"Every student of international law knows about the Montevideo Convention, which says a country must fulfil four criteria for it to be a state: it must have a territory, a population, a government and the ability to enter into a relationship with other states."

The Convention doesn't say what nations this applies to, Momal-Vanian said, but pointed out that lists of countries are often created based on the text of the Convention.

The difference between 192 UN member states on the one hand and 203 or maybe even more on the other is politically explosive: Taiwan, Kosovo, Palestine, Somaliland, Western Sahara, Northern Iraq and Northern Cyprus – every one of those names stands for an unsolved political conflict. And all of these 'geographic entities' have at some point unilaterally declared their independence.

Marcelo Kohen, professor for International Law at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, said the international community was sceptical about these secessionist territories.

"You have many secessionist movements around the world, and they can proclaim independence, but this is nothing but words," he said.

How Many Countries Does the United Nations Recognize - Latest Update?

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Photo Youtube

According to the United Nations, the body organized to uphold the rights of people around the globe, a new country has to be recognized by other states who are members of the United Nations before it is considered a country.

The recognition of a new state assumes that this new state is willing and able to assume diplomatic relations with other member countries of the United Nations.

In most cases, the ultimate country count rests on the number of UN member states that are recognized by that international body. There are 193 members, which could imply that there are 193 countries.

There are 193 countries that are recognized members of the UN as well as two UN observer states. The two UN observer states are the Holy See (also known as the Vatican) and the Palestinian Authority.

Additionally, there are six countries that have obtained partial recognition from UN member states. These are Taiwan, Western Sahara, Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Northern Cyprus.

These territories are claimed by other countries but are not controlled by them. Depending on the type of map you look at, these countries will be surrounded by a dotted line rather than a solid one demarcating an independent nation from the countries around it.

South Sudan was recognized as a country in 2011, which is the latest member nation to be admitted to the UN.

UN Members: 193

UN Observer States: 2

Total: 195

There are a total of 39 regions that are dependent on other territories: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Macao, Western Sahara, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Mayotte, Channel Islands, Guam, Curaçao, Aruba, U.S. Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Northern Mariana Islands, Greenland, American Samoa, Faeroe Islands, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Netherlands, Cook Islands, Anguilla Wallis & Futuna, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Montserrat, Falkland Islands, Niue, and Tokelau.
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Photo Nomads

204-207 De Facto Sovereign States

But wait, there's more! Those six partially-recognized countries aren't the only so-called "breakaway states" with full self-governance. There are at least three more self-declared countries that aren't recognized by any UN members at all, but still operate independently from the countries that claim them. These, along with the partially-recognized countries, are often called "de facto" sovereign states - a fancy Latin way of saying they're independent countries in actual fact, even if not on paper.

UN Members: 193

UN Observer States: 2

States With Partial Recognition: 6

Unrecognized de facto Sovereign States: 3 to 5

Total: 204 to 206

The United States officially recognizes 195 countries as well; but instead of recognizing the State of Palestine, it recognizes Kosovo. Only 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states recognize Kosovo. In particular, Spain is one of the biggest opponents due to its opposition to the Basque and Catalan independence movements within its own country.

206 Olympic Nations

Lots of people learn about the world's list of countries by watching the Olympic Games every two years. If that sounds like you, then you might be confused about why the Olympic Parade of Nations claims more than 200 members, even though your atlas only shows 195 countries.

That's because the Olympics didn't always require applicants to be independent countries. Dependent territories with partial self-government have sometimes been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as "nations", and a couple of the partially-recognized states mentioned above have also managed it.

Olympic Nations that are UN Member States: 193

Olympic Nations that are UN Observer States: 1

Olympic Nations that are Partially-recognized States: 2

Olympic Nations that are Dependent Territories: 10

Total IOC-Recognized Olympic Nations: 206

About half of the dependent territories in the Olympics are overseas possessions of the US (like Puerto Rico) or the UK (like Bermuda). Some semi-independent "countries" like the Cook Islands (associated with New Zealand) and Aruba (a "constituent country" of the Netherlands) are included too.

Currently, every existing UN member country is also an Olympic Nation, with the latest addition, South Sudan, joining in August 2015. The one UN Observer State that participates in the Olympics is Palestine - Vatican City is happy to participate as part of the Italian team for now.

As for the two partially-recognized countries in the games, Kosovo became an Olympic Nation in 2014, and Taiwan has been a member for some time, but has to call itself "Chinese Taipei" after a deal struck with China in the 1980s.

**READ MORE: List 35 for the First in the World: First Person, First Thing and Country

249 Country Codes in the ISO Standard List

Ever been filling out an internet form, and had to choose from a surprisingly long list of countries? You were probably looking at the international standard "country code" list, technically known by the exciting name of ISO 3166-1. Lots of companies and other organizations adopt this standard list instead of spending their own time compiling one. The standard also includes convenient two-letter codes for each country, like us for the United States, de for Germany, and jp for Japan, which you might recognize from website addresses specific to those countries.

This ISO standard is based on an official list kept by the UN...but then why on Earth are there 249 country codes? That's way more than the total number of UN member and observer countries! Well, the standard list does leave out some breakaway states that aren't recognized by the UN, but then it makes up for it by listing dependent territories separately from their parent countries. In other words, the ISO list is more an answer to the question, "How many countries and territories in the world?" than "How many countries in the world?"

That means there are "country codes" not just for actual countries, but also for nearly-independent states, overseas colonies, uninhabited island territories, and even Antarctica! That's important because organizations might need an option for any piece of land in the world that a person can be located on, and many dependent territories often aren't technically part of the countries they belong to.

UN Members: 193

UN Observer States: 2

States With Partial Recognition: 2

Inhabited Dependent Territories: 45

Uninhabited Territories: 6

Antarctica: 1

Total: 249

More countries in the future

Some researchers believe that there could be even more countries in the future. One of these is East & West Libya. This is because Libya has often been in turmoil, because of extremists there fighting for control and different governments trying to take over since Gaddafi was overthrown. Based in Barcelona, Spain, Catalonia is the country's financial center. Catalans have wanted a separate state for many years, although many are opposed to separation.

Somaliland (part of Somalia) considers itself independent and has its own government, army, and currency. It had self-proclaimed independence and has informal ties with other countries. Formal recognition from the rest of the world is yet to come, though.

Nope, Scotland is not a country; it is part of the United Kingdom. Some Scotlanders want to keep things as is, but others want to split. A 2014 referendum vote for Scottish independence did not pass, and the vote for Brexit revealed that 62 percent wanted to remain with the European Union.

Countries With Full International Recognition

Country Population (2020) Land Area (Km²) Density (P/Km²)
Afghanistan 38,041,750 652,230 56.94
Albania 2,854,190 28,748 104.61
Algeria 43,053,050 2,381,740 17.73
Andorra 77,140 468 163.84
Angola 31,825,290 1,246,700 24.71
Antigua and Barbuda 97,120 443 218.83
Argentina 44,938,710 2,780,400 16.26
Armenia 2,957,730 29,743 103.68
Australia 25,364,310 7,741,220 3.25
Austria 8,877,070 83,871 107.13
Azerbaijan 10,023,320 86,600 120.26
Bahamas 389,480 13,880 38.53
Bahrain 1,641,170 760 2012.1
Bangladesh 163,046,160 148,460 1239.58
Barbados 287,020 430 666.61
Belarus 9,466,860 207,600 46.72
Belgium 11,484,060 30,528 377.38
Belize 390,350 22,966 16.79
Benin 11,801,150 112,622 101.85
Bhutan 763,090 38,394 19.78
Bolivia 11,513,100 1,098,581 10.48
Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,301,000 51,197 64.92
Botswana 2,303,700 581,730 3.98
Brazil 211,049,530 8,515,770 25.06
Brunei 433,290 5,765 81.4
Bulgaria 6,975,760 110,879 64.71
Burkina Faso 20,321,380 274,200 72.19
Burundi 11,530,580 27,830 435.18
Cote d'Ivoire 25,716,540 322,463 78.83
Cabo Verde 549,930 4,033 134.93
Cambodia 16,486,540 181,035 92.06
Cameroon 25,876,380 475,440 53.34
Canada 37,589,260 9,984,670 4.13
Central African Republic 4,745,190 622,984 7.49
Chad 15,946,880 1,284,000 12.29
Chile 18,952,040 756,102 25.19
China 1,397,715,000 9,596,960 147.77
Colombia 50,339,440 1,138,910 44.76
Comoros 850,890 2,235 447.24
Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) 5,380,510 342,000 15.36
Costa Rica 5,047,560 51,100 97.91
Croatia 4,067,500 56,594 72.24
Cuba 11,333,480 110,860 109.23
Cyprus 1,198,580 9,251 128.71
Czechia (Czech Republic) 10,669,710 78,867 137.69
Democratic Republic of the Congo 86,790,570 2,344,858 37.08
Denmark 5,818,550 43,094 144.84
Djibouti 973,560 23,200 41.37
Dominica 71,810 751 95.5
Dominican Republic 10,738,960 48,670 219.98
Ecuador 17,373,660 283,561 68.79
Egypt 100,388,070 1,001,450 98.87
El Salvador 6,453,550 21,041 309.88
Equatorial Guinea 1,355,990 28,051 46.67
Eritrea 3,213,970 117,600 34.19
Estonia 1,326,590 45,228 30.41
Eswatini (fmr. "Swaziland") 1,148,130 17,364 66.06
Ethiopia 112,078,730 1,104,300 96.72
Fiji 889,950 18,274 48.36
Finland 5,520,310 338,145 18.15
France 67,059,890 643,801 122.3
Gabon 2,172,580 267,667 8.22
Gambia 2,347,710 11,300 225.31
Georgia 3,720,380 69,700 65.2
Germany 83,132,800 357,022 237.29
Ghana 30,417,860 238,533 130.82
Greece 10,716,320 131,957 83.27
Grenada 112,000 344 327.81
Guatemala 16,604,030 108,889 152.55
Guinea 12,771,250 245,857 50.52
Guinea-Bissau 1,920,920 36,125 66.65
Guyana 782,770 214,969 3.96
Haiti 11,263,080 27,750 403.6
Holy See 825 0.44 Data Not Available
Honduras 9,746,120 112,090 85.69
Hungary 9,769,950 93,028 107.12
Iceland 361,310 103,000 3.5
India 1,366,417,750 3,287,263 454.94
Indonesia 270,625,570 1,904,375 142.56
Iran 82,913,910 1,648,195 50.22
Iraq 39,309,780 438,317 88.53
Ireland 4,941,440 70,273 70.65
Israel 9,053,300 21,937 410.48
Italy 60,297,400 301,340 202.94
Jamaica 2,948,280 10,991 270.99
Japan 126,264,930 377,915 347.13
Jordan 10,101,690 89,342 112.14
Kazakhstan 18,513,930 2,724,900 6.77
Kenya 52,573,970 580,387 90.3
Kiribati 117,610 811 143.02
Kuwait 4,207,080 17,818 232.17
Kyrgyzstan 6,456,900 199,951 32.97
Laos 7,169,450 236,800 30.6
Latvia 1,912,790 64,589 31.04
Lebanon 6,855,710 10,400 669.49
Lesotho 2,125,270 30,355 69.44
Liberia 4,937,370 111,369 50.03
Libya 6,777,450 1,759,540 3.8
Liechtenstein 38,020 160 236.94
Lithuania 2,786,840 65,300 44.73
Luxembourg 619,900 2,586 250.19
Madagascar 26,969,310 587,041 45.14
Malawi 18,628,750 118,484 192.44
Malaysia 31,949,780 329,847 95.96
Maldives 530,950 298 1718.99
Mali 19,658,030 1,240,192 15.64
Malta 502,650 316 1514.47
Marshall Islands 58,790 181 324.52
Mauritania 4,525,700 1,030,700 4.27
Mauritius 1,265,710 2,040 623.3
Mexico 127,575,530 1,964,375 64.91
Micronesia 113,810 702 160.91
Moldova 2,657,640 33,851 94.26
Monaco 38,960 2 19083.37
Mongolia 3,225,170 1,564,116 2.04
Montenegro 622,140 13,812 46.26
Morocco 36,471,770 716,550 80.73
Mozambique 30,366,040 799,380 37.51
Myanmar (formerly Burma) 54,045,420 676,578 82.28
Namibia 2,494,530 824,292 2.97
Nauru 12,580 21 635.2
Nepal 28,608,710 147,181 195.94
Netherlands 17,332,850 41,543 511.78
New Zealand 4,917,000 268,838 18.39
Nicaragua 6,545,500 130,370 53.73
Niger 23,310,720 1,267,000 17.72
Nigeria 200,963,600 923,768 215.06
North Korea 25,666,160 120,538 212.19
North Macedonia 2,083,460 25,713 82.59
Norway 5,347,900 323,802 14.55
Oman 4,974,990 309,500 15.6
Pakistan 216,565,320 796,095 275.29
Palau 18,010 459 38.93
Panama 4,246,440 75,420 56.31
Papua New Guinea 8,776,110 462,840 19
Paraguay 7,044,640 406,752 17.51
Peru 32,510,450 1,285,216 24.99
Philippines 108,116,620 300,000 357.69
Poland 37,970,870 312,685 124.03
Portugal 10,269,420 92,090 112.26
Qatar 2,832,070 11,586 242.1
Romania 19,356,540 238,391 84.63
Russia 144,373,540 17,098,242 8.82
Rwanda 12,626,950 26,338 498.66
Saint Kitts and Nevis 52,830 261 202
Saint Lucia 182,790 616 298.18
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 110,590 389 282.59
Samoa 197,100 2,831 69.3
San Marino 33,860 61 563.08
Sao Tome and Principe 215,060 964 219.82
Saudi Arabia 34,268,530 2,149,690 15.68
Senegal 16,296,360 196,722 82.35
Serbia 6,944,980 77,474 79.84
Seychelles 97,630 455 210.35
Sierra Leone 7,813,220 71,740 105.99
Singapore 5,703,570 719 7953
Slovakia 5,454,070 49,035 113.29
Slovenia 2,087,950 20,273 102.99
Solomon Islands 669,820 28,896 23.32
Somalia 15,442,910 637,657 23.92
South Africa 58,558,270 1,219,090 47.63
South Korea 51,709,100 99,720 529.19
South Sudan 11,062,110 644,329 17.37
Spain 47,076,780 505,370 93.67
Sri Lanka 21,803,000 65,610 350.28
State of Palestine 4,685,310 6,020 759
Sudan 42,813,240 1,861,484 22.6
Suriname 581,360 163,820 3.69
Sweden 10,285,450 450,295 24.98
Switzerland 8,574,830 41,277 215.47
Syria 17,070,130 187,437 92.07
Tajikistan 9,321,020 144,100 65.57
Tanzania 58,005,460 947,300 63.58
Thailand 69,625,580 513,120 135.9
Timor-Leste 1,293,120 14,874 85.27
Togo 8,082,370 56,785 145.05
Tonga 104,490 747 143.33
Trinidad and Tobago 1,394,970 5,128 270.93
Tunisia 11,694,720 163,610 74.44
Turkey 83,429,620 783,562 106.96
Turkmenistan 5,942,090 488,100 12.45
Tuvalu 11,650 26 383.6
Uganda 44,269,590 241,038 213.06
Ukraine 44,385,150 603,550 77.02
United Arab Emirates 9,770,530 83,600 135.61
United Kingdom 66,834,400 243,610 274.71
United States of America 328,239,520 9,833,517 35.71
Uruguay 3,461,730 176,215 19.71
Uzbekistan 33,580,650 447,400 74.81
Vanuatu 299,880 12,189 24.01
Venezuela 28,515,830 912,050 32.73
Vietnam 96,462,110 331,210 308.13
Yemen 29,161,920 527,968 53.98
Zambia 17,861,030 752,618 23.34
Zimbabwe 14,645,470 390,757 37.32
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