List of countries in the world – how many countries are there?

Is there a definitive list of countries in the world? In short, no there is not, so how many countries in the world are there? Spoiler alert I will not be doing a list of countries in the world that have street food!

Although to read about the best street food in the world click here.

List of countries in the world – The UN List + 2

Many people, and might I add foolish people go by the UN+2 list. This is the 193 UN member nations, plus Taiwan and the Vatican City. Why is this list silly? Because it means if you go to French Guiana then you have been to France. Utter nonsense. Same vis a vi the Cayman Islands and the UK.

Bacchus Wine Bar
Bacchus Wine Bar – Cayman Islands

To read about if the Vatican City is a country click here

List of Countries and territories in the world

This is a contentious one, but ranges from 240-250, we obviously count all of them. Some “unrecognized countries” fall under this list, yet others do not. We include them.

How many unrecognized countries in the world are there?

This is a whole other article. Basically though this is where you would get Abkhazia, Donetsk and Somaliland for example. Palestine often gets included in both lists.

List of countries in the world
List of countries in the world – Transnsitria

Essentially there are 8 unrecognized countries.

Weird additions on MY list

There are a few on my list that I know will be controversial. I count Sealand, they fit all the criteria that a country needs in my book. Try as I might though I have yet to go.

Bir Tawil – You can read my book “The Men In No Mans Land” here. The only place in the world that is unclaimed. So how can it count as a country then? Because you are “somewhere”, yet not in any nation state.

Countries You Can Travel for a Holiday Now

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta – The only state in the world without land. They are also kind of members of the United Nations and have passports. You can visit their territory in both Rome and Malta.

To read about the SMOM click here.

Akrotiri and Dhekelia

A British military base in Cyprus, it is not Cyprus, nor the UK, nor even Northern Cyprus. It enjoys territoriality like the Cayman Islands, so counts on my list. Again some lists include this, others do not. of curse I include it

Fans Inn Snack Bar Dhekelia
Fans Inn Snack Bar Dhekelia

The FIFA Rules!

If you have a football team, I count you! Therefore there is no United Kingdom on my list. I realize that this could mean counting all different Emirates, or states of the US, but a line has to be drawn. I let FIFA be my line.

Best place to watch football
Best place to watch football

Is Antarctica a country?

You can read about if Antarctica is a country here. In short of course it is not, but if you go there you should be able to tick something off. I mean for the 193 club they would count having been to every country in the world, without visiting a whole continent. In my list Antarctica counts as one country.

List of countries in the world
Antarctica

How many countries in the world are there? There are 265 countries in the world

Therefore by my metric of visiting countries there are 265 in the world, I feel this number can and may well change. Indeed I previously counted Hutt River Province, until they rejoined Australia.

At some point I will bold the ones I have been to, but as this article is over 1000 words already that can be a job for another day.

Definitive list of countries in the world

I therefore present my definitive list of countries in the world. There are 265 and counting!

  1. Abkhazia
  2. Afghanistan
  3. Akrotiri and Dhekelia
  4. Åland Islands
  5. Albania
  6. Algeria
  7. American Samoa
  8. Andorra
  9. Angola
  10. Anguilla
  11. Antarctica
  12. Antigua and Barbuda
  13. Argentina
  14. Armenia
  15. Aruba
  16. Australia
  17. Austria
  18. Azerbaijan
  19. Bahamas
  20. Bahrain
  21. Bangladesh
  22. Barbados
  23. Belarus
  24. Belgium
  25. Belize
  26. Benin
  27. Bermuda
  28. Bhutan
  29. Bir Tawil
  30. Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
  31. Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
  32. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  33. Botswana
  34. Bouvet Island
  35. Brazil
  36. British Indian Ocean Territory
  37. Brunei Darussalam
  38. Bulgaria
  39. Burkina Faso
  40. Burundi
  41. Cabo Verde
  42. Cambodia
  43. Cameroon
  44. Canada
  45. Cayman Islands
  46. Central African Republic
  47. Chad
  48. Chagos Islands
  49. Chile
  50. China
  51. Christmas Island
  52. Cocos (Keeling) Islands
  53. Colombia
  54. Comoros
  55. Congo
  56. Congo, Democratic Republic of the
  57. Cook Islands
  58. Costa Rica
  59. Côte d’Ivoire
  60. Croatia
  61. Cuba
  62. Curaçao
  63. Cyprus
  64. Czechia
  65. Denmark
  66. Djibouti
  67. Dominica
  68. Dominican Republic
  69. Donetsk
  70. Ecuador
  71. Egypt
  72. El Salvador
  73. England
  74. Equatorial Guinea
  75. Eritrea
  76. Estonia
  77. Eswatini
  78. Ethiopia
  79. Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
  80. Faroe Islands
  81. Fiji
  82. Finland
  83. France
  84. French Guiana
  85. French Polynesia
  86. French Southern Territories
  87. Gabon
  88. Gambia
  89. Georgia
  90. Germany
  91. Ghana
  92. Gibraltar
  93. Greece
  94. Greenland
  95. Grenada
  96. Guadeloupe
  97. Guam
  98. Guatemala
  99. Guernsey
  100. Guinea
  101. Guinea-Bissau
  102. Guyana
  103. Haiti
  104. Heard Island and McDonald Islands
  105. Holy See/Vatican City
  106. Honduras
  107. Hong Kong
  108. Hungary
  109. Iceland
  110. India
  111. Indonesia
  112. Iran (Islamic Republic of)
  113. Iraq
  114. Ireland
  115. Isle of Man
  116. Israel
  117. Italy
  118. Jamaica
  119. Japan
  120. Jersey
  121. Jordan
  122. Kazakhstan
  123. Kenya
  124. Kiribati
  125. Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of)
  126. Korea, Republic of
  127. Kuwait
  128. Kyrgyzstan
  129. Lao People’s Democratic Republic
  130. Latvia
  131. Lebanon
  132. Lesotho
  133. Liberia
  134. Libya
  135. Liechtenstein
  136. Lithuania
  137. Luhansk
  138. Luxembourg
  139. Macao
  140. Madagascar
  141. Malawi
  142. Malaysia
  143. Maldives
  144. Mali
  145. Malta
  146. Marshall Islands
  147. Martinique
  148. Mauritania
  149. Mauritius
  150. Mayotte
  151. Mexico
  152. Micronesia (Federated States of)
  153. Moldova, Republic of
  154. Monaco
  155. Mongolia
  156. Montenegro
  157. Montserrat
  158. Morocco
  159. Mozambique
  160. Myanmar
  161. Namibia
  162. Nauru
  163. Nagorno-Karabakh
  164. Nepal
  165. Netherlands
  166. New Caledonia
  167. New Zealand
  168. Nicaragua
  169. Niger
  170. Nigeria
  171. Niue
  172. Norfolk Island
  173. North Macedonia
  174. Northern Cyprus
  175. Northern Ireland
  176. Northern Mariana Islands
  177. Norway
  178. Oman
  179. Pakistan
  180. Palau
  181. Palestine, State of
  182. Panama
  183. Papua New Guinea
  184. Paraguay
  185. Peru
  186. Philippines
  187. Pitcairn
  188. Poland
  189. Portugal
  190. Puerto Rico
  191. Qatar
  192. Réunion
  193. Romania
  194. Russian Federation
  195. Rwanda
  196. Saint Barthélemy
  197. Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
  198. Saint Kitts and Nevis
  199. Saint Lucia
  200. Saint Martin (French part)
  201. Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  202. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  203. Samoa
  204. San Marino
  205. Sao Tome and Principe
  206. Saudi Arabia
  207. Scotland
  208. Sealand
  209. Senegal
  210. Serbia
  211. Seychelles
  212. Sierra Leone
  213. Singapore
  214. Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
  215. Slovakia
  216. Slovenia
  217. Solomon Islands
  218. Somalia
  219. Somaliland
  220. South Africa
  221. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  222. South Ossetia
  223. South Sudan
  224. Sovereign Military Order of Malta
  225. Spain
  226. Sri Lanka
  227. Sudan
  228. Suriname
  229. Svalbard and Jan Mayen
  230. Sweden
  231. Switzerland
  232. Syrian Arab Republic
  233. Taiwan, Province of China
  234. Tajikistan
  235. Tanzania, United Republic of
  236. Thailand
  237. Timor-Leste
  238. Togo
  239. Tokelau
  240. Tonga
  241. Transnistria
  242. Trinidad and Tobago
  243. Tunisia
  244. Turkey
  245. Turkmenistan
  246. Turks and Caicos Islands
  247. Tuvalu
  248. Uganda
  249. Ukraine
  250. United Arab Emirates
  251. United States of America
  252. United States Minor Outlying Islands
  253. Uruguay
  254. Uzbekistan
  255. Vanuatu
  256. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
  257. Viet Nam
  258. Virgin Islands (British)
  259. Virgin Islands (U.S.)
  260. Wales
  261. Wallis and Futuna
  262. Western Sahara
  263. Yemen
  264. Zambia
  265. Zimbabwe

And that is my lis of which countries there are in the world. Did I leave any out? Or are there any that I should add to the list?

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