So, How Many Countries Are in the World?

I'm a counter and a list-maker. 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 years.

Up until recently, I was going by the 197 country list for my bucket list. For those of you who don't know, my goal in life is to visit every country in the world. I've been adding to my bucket list for the past four 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 that information to my bucket list. And so it's grown. Turns out, it's grown far beyond the confines of just 197 countries.

There are plenty of other lists out there (some of the ones I've referenced include: ISO standard - 249, this guy's list - 215, the FIFA country codes list - 211, the UN recognized list - 195, the Traveler's Century Club - 327) but none of them really seem to jive with my own list. Some of them have too many places, some not nearly enough.

My Task

So, I've set myself a task of figuring out what I've deemed valid as a separate and valuable place to visit on its own right in addition to those countries formally recognized by the UN (with a sprinkling of help from various online sources). This list is sure to change over time.

I have visited any country that is in bold below. Most of them are links to the categories so you can read posts all about my travels to each place!

The United Nations Member Countries

These are the 193 full recognized members of the United Nations. Naturally, this means they've all got spots on my list.

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 Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi

C

Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Republic of the
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic

D

Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic

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
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria

T

Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu

U

Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom*
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan

V

Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam

Y

Yemen

Z

Zambia
Zimbabwe

*Please read below about why the UK actually loses its spot on my list.

TOTAL: 193

The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries which I find to be completely different to one another, warranting their own spots on the list.

England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

TOTAL: 193 -1 for UK +4 for the countries = 196

The United Nations Permanent Observers

There are two countries which hold the status of permanent observers in the United Nations, so they get the same rights as official countries on my list!

Palestine
Vatican City

TOTAL: 196 + 2 = 198

Other United Nations Recognized Countries

There are countries that, while they themselves are not UN countries, are recognized by UN members. This guarantees them a spot in my list.

Kosovo (recognized by 102)
Taiwan (recognized by 17)

TOTAL: 198 + 2 = 200

Dependent Areas

Dependent areas are territories that are governed by one of the countries listed above but are separated by a degree of autonomy. They are not independent states yet I still consider all the following to have the right to their own spot on the list.

I did not include any dependent territories without a permanent population* (Ross Dependency - New Zealand; Bouvet Island, Peter I Island, Queen Maud Land - Norway; British Antarctic Territory - UK; Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Wake Island, Bajo Nuevo Bank, Serranilla Bank, Palmyra Atoll - USA; Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and McDonald Islands - Australia; Clipperton Island, French Southern and Antarctic Lands - France) or any restricted to military personnel** (British Indian Ocean Territory - UK).

*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 included 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

Autonomous Areas

Autonomous areas are territories that have a degree of freedom from its external authority, often geographically separated from its country or populated by a national minority.

I did not include any internationally recognized autonomous provinces (South Tyrol, Campione d'Italia - Italy; Heligoland, Büsingen am Hochrhein - Germany; Alsace, Corsica - France) nor did I 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 also 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.

**The only internally recognized autonomous province I wished to include on my list was Tibet which has a rocky past with China to the point where the Tibetan Government-in-Exile maintains Tibet as an independent state under unlawful occupation. I think that deems a visit here necessary, separate from China. I also feel that Zanzibar in Tanzania deserves recognition with its own government.

***Serbia recognized Kosovo and Metohija as an autonomous province in 1963, but with Kosovo having permanent observer status on the UN, that one's automatically on my list.

TOTAL: 235 + 16 = 251

De Facto States

De facto states have limited international recognition after declaring independence and seeking diplomatic autonomy. Thus, they have de facto control of their territory.

Abkhazia (Georgia)
Adjara (Georgia)
Artsakh (Azerbaijan)
Găgăuzia (Moldova)
Northern Cyprus (Cyprus/Turkey)
Somaliland (Somalia)
South Ossetia (Georgia)
Transnistria (Moldova)
Western Sahara (Morocco)

It should be noted that while none of these states are recognized by the UN, 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 UN buffer zone from Cyprus into Northern Cyprus was quite the experience.

TOTAL: 251 + 9 = 260

The Poles

Finally, I believe that both the poles are both completely within their own right to be visited as separate places and thus also have a spot on my list.

Antarctica (with claims from Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and UK)
Arctic (with claims from Norway, Denmark, Canada, USA and Russia)

TOTAL: 260 + 2 = 262

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 262. 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 (all the places in bold above): 24 / 262

Please note that I respect and understand that not all the places on my list are actual separate countries. 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.

Sources

Countries of the World
Nations Online
List of autonomous areas by country
Dependent territory
List of states with limited recognition
List of ISO 3166 country codes
Traveler's Century Club
European Collectivity of Alsace