What do you consider a country?

The United Nations (UN) was formed in 1945 with 51 Member States following the second world war. It currently comprises 193 members. These form the basis of any “How many counties in the world” list - with different organisations adding other territories and regions to form their own list. The CIA recognise 261 countries.

The most common response to the number of countries in the world is either 195 or 196 - the 193 UN members in addition to the 2 UN-recognised non-member-states Vatican City (Holy See) and the State of Palestine, and/or Taiwan. However, this leaves out other self-governed, partially-self-governed or overseas territories of other nations - such as Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Abkhazia or Curaçao. NomadMania consequently have a “complete” list of 265 countries, territories or regions, which comprise the majority** of the below, along with the additions you can find on our UN Plus page.

** Some in this list are split out. For example; the United Kingdom is split into England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, the Falklands etc.