My Bucket List
I'm a counter and a list-maker. For years, I have been tracking every single place I've been, every place I want to go and writing lists upon lists of each spot I want to see.
For those of you who don't know, my goal in life is to visit every country in the world and, up until 2019 (which is when the first draft of this list was published from a cafe in Vanuatu), I was going by the 197 country list for my bucket list. I've been adding to my bucket list for years; every time I find a photo of somewhere new or talk to someone who's lived or traveled somewhere I want to go, I add it. And so it's grown.
Turns out, my bucket list has grown far beyond the confines of just 197 countries.
My Task
There are plenty of other lists out there (some of the ones I've referenced include: the Traveler's Century Club - 327, ISO standard - 249, this guy's list - 215, the FIFA country codes list - 211 and the UN recognized list - 195) but none of them really seem to jive with my own list. Some of them have too many places, some not nearly enough.
So, I set myself a task of figuring out what I considered to be a separate and valuable place to visit on its own right in addition to those countries formally recognized by the UN. This list is sure to change over time.
I have visited all countries in blue below. You can click on these links to read posts all about my travels there!
Why they're on my list: these 193 countries are all recognized members of the United Nations.
A
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
B
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
C
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czechia
D
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
E
F
G
H
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
I
J
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
K
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
L
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
M
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
N
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
O
P
Q
R
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
S
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
T
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Türkiye
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
U
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom*
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
V
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Y
- Yemen
Z
*Please read below about why the United Kingdom actually loses its spot on my list.
TOTAL: 193
Why they're on my list: the United Kingdom is made up of four countries which I find to be distinctively different from one another.
- England
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
TOTAL: 193 - 1 for UK + 4 = 196
Why they're on my list: these two countries both hold permanent observer status in the United Nations.
- Palestine
- Vatican City
TOTAL: 196 + 2 = 198
Why they're on my list: these two countries are not members of the United Nations but are recognized by some of its members.
- Kosovo (recognized by 108)
- Taiwan (recognized by 12)
TOTAL: 198 + 2 = 200
Why they're on my list: these 35 territories are are governed by one of the United Nations countries and are not independent, but have some degree of autonomy.
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia (United Kingdom)**
- American Samoa (USA)
- Anguilla (United Kingdom)
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Bermuda (United Kingdom)
- Bonaire (Netherlands)
- British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
- Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)
- Christmas Island (Australia)
- Cocos Islands (Australia)
- Cook Islands (New Zealand)
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Falkland Islands (United Kingdom)
- Gibraltar (United Kingdom)
- Guadeloupe (France)
- Guam (USA)
- Guernsey (United Kingdom)
- Isle of Man (United Kingdom)
- Jersey (United Kingdom)
- Montserrat (France)
- Niue (New Zealand)
- Norfolk Island (Australia)
- Northern Mariana Islands (USA)
- Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom)
- Puerto Rico (USA)
- Réunion (France)
- Saba (Netherlands)
- Saint Helena (United Kingdom)
- Saint Martin (France)
- Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom)*
- Tokelau (New Zealand)
- Turks and Caicos (United Kingdom)
- US Virgin Islands (USA)
I did not include any dependent territories without a permanent population: New Zealand - Ross Dependency; Norway - Bouvet Island, Peter I Island, Queen Maud Land; United Kingdom - British Antarctic Territory; United States - Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Wake Island, Bajo Nuevo Bank, Serranilla Bank, Palmyra Atoll; Australia - Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and McDonald Islands; France - Clipperton Island, French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
*The only exception I felt I wished to include is South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which you can visit as part of a cruise along with the Falkland Islands and Antarctica.
**I did not include any dependent territories restricted to military personnel (United Kingdom - British Indian Ocean Territory), however I did include the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus because, while they are UK military bases, they are accessible to tourists. I know this because I have been there.
TOTAL: 200 + 35 = 235
Why they're on my list: these 22 territories have a degree of freedom from their governing United Nations country, often due to being geographically separated or having a minority population. I have included those that are internationally recognized.
- Greenland (Denmark)
- Heligoland (Germany)
- Hong Kong (China)
- Kurdistan (Iraq)
- Macau (China)
- Madeira (Portugal)
- Martinique (France)
- Mayotte (France)
- New Caledonia (France)
- Saint Barthélemy (France)
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
- Svalbard (Norway)*
- Tibet (China)
- Wallis and Futuna (France)
- Zanzibar (Tanzania)
I did not include any internally recognized autonomous regions (those of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia Herzegovina, China, Comoros, Fiji, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, São Tomé and Príncipe, Serbia**, Somalia, South Korea, Spain, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine and Uzbekistan listed here) nor any capitals or cities that may have been called autonomous by their country (including Argentina, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, South Korea and Uzbekistan listed here).
*Svalbard poses a special case as it is technically under full Norwegian sovereignty and it is not considered a dependency. However, it is classified as having special status, which I think makes it worthy of a spot on my list.
**Serbia recognized Kosovo and Metohija as an autonomous province in 1963, but with Kosovo having permanent observer status at the United Nations, that one's already on my list.
TOTAL: 236 + 22 = 258
Why they're on my list: these ten territories have declared independence and seek diplomatic autonomy but do not have full international recognition. They have de facto control of their territory.
- Abkhazia (Georgia)
- Adjara (Georgia)
- Artsakh (disputed Armenia/Azerbaijan)
- Crimea (disputed Russia/Ukraine)
- Găgăuzia (Moldova)
- Northern Cyprus (disputed Cyprus/Türkiye)
- Somaliland (Somalia)
- South Ossetia (Georgia)
- Transnistria (Moldova)
- Western Sahara (Morocco)
It should be noted that while none of these states are recognized by the United Nations, many of them host informal diplomatic missions and/or maintain special delegations or other informal missions abroad. If they can operate this way internationally, I warrant them worthy of spots on the list.
Also it should be noted that many of these places require separate border crossings and customs to be cleared; that deems them quite separate to me - and let it be known that crossing the buffer zone from Cyprus into Northern Cyprus was quite the experience.
TOTAL: 258 + 10 = 268
Why they're on my list: these two poles are both completely within their own right to be visited as separate places.
- Antarctica (with claims from Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and United Kingdom)
- Arctic (with claims from Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and USA)
TOTAL: 268 + 2 = 270
So, How Many Countries Are There in the World?
Well, technically 197.
But in terms of 'places' I want to travel to that I deem to be separately worth visiting, my total comes up at 270. This is not as many as the biggest list I've seen (the Traveler's Century Club) but I'm always willing to expand. I encourage comments, suggestions and insights into my list. For now, I'm off to pack my bags and keep traveling!
MY CURRENT TOTAL: 73 of 270
Please note that I respect and understand that not all the places on my list are actual separate countries. This is not a political statement in any way. This is simply the list I've come up with of individual places I wish to travel to and I fully believe that visiting somewhere like New Caledonia does not mean you have seen France and vice versa.
