Countries & Borders Study Guide

How Many Countries Are There in the World?

The United Nations has 193 Member States. South Sudan became the 193rd UN Member State on July 14, 2011.

In addition, two entities have UN non-member observer-state status:

• Holy See

• State of Palestine

The UN identifies both as non-member states with standing invitations to participate as observers in the work of the General Assembly. Palestine received non-member observer-state status through General Assembly Resolution 67/19 in 2012.

Therefore:

193 UN Member States + 2 UN observer states = 195

This is the convention used throughout this article.

Complete List of 195 Countries

The following list is arranged alphabetically for easy reference.

The UN's official Member States list confirms the 193-member total, while the UN separately identifies the Holy See and State of Palestine as non-member observer states.

Countries of the World by Continent

Continental classifications can vary for a few transcontinental countries. The grouping below follows a conventional geography approach rather than treating continent boundaries as political classifications.

Africa

Africa is home to 54 countries under the commonly used sovereign-country count.

1. Algeria

2. Angola

3. Benin

4. Botswana

5. Burkina Faso

6. Burundi

7. Cabo Verde

8. Cameroon

9. Central African Republic

10. Chad

11. Comoros

12. Côte d'Ivoire

13. Democratic Republic of the Congo

14. Djibouti

15. Egypt

16. Equatorial Guinea

17. Eritrea

18. Eswatini

19. Ethiopia

20. Gabon

21. Gambia

22. Ghana

23. Guinea

24. Guinea-Bissau

25. Kenya

26. Lesotho

27. Liberia

28. Libya

29. Madagascar

30. Malawi

31. Mali

32. Mauritania

33. Mauritius

34. Morocco

35. Mozambique

36. Namibia

37. Niger

38. Nigeria

39. Republic of the Congo

40. Rwanda

41. São Tomé and Príncipe

42. Senegal

43. Seychelles

44. Sierra Leone

45. Somalia

46. South Africa

47. South Sudan

48. Sudan

49. Tanzania

50. Togo

51. Tunisia

52. Uganda

53. Zambia

54. Zimbabwe

Asia

Asia contains the world's largest and most populous countries, including China and India.

1. Afghanistan

2. Armenia

3. Azerbaijan

4. Bahrain

5. Bangladesh

6. Bhutan

7. Brunei

8. Cambodia

9. China

10. Cyprus

11. Georgia

12. India

13. Indonesia

14. Iran

15. Iraq

16. Israel

17. Japan

18. Jordan

19. Kazakhstan

20. Kuwait

21. Kyrgyzstan

22. Laos

23. Lebanon

24. Malaysia

25. Maldives

26. Mongolia

27. Myanmar

28. Nepal

29. North Korea

30. Oman

31. Pakistan

32. Palestine

33. Philippines

34. Qatar

35. Saudi Arabia

36. Singapore

37. South Korea

38. Sri Lanka

39. Syria

40. Tajikistan

41. Thailand

42. Timor-Leste

43. Türkiye

44. Turkmenistan

45. United Arab Emirates

46. Uzbekistan

47. Vietnam

48. Yemen

Russia is geographically transcontinental, spanning Europe and Asia, while countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Türkiye may be classified differently depending on the geographic convention used.

The UN's M49 system uses its own statistical regional classifications and explicitly notes that these groupings are intended for statistical convenience rather than expressing political or territorial judgments.

Europe

1. Albania

2. Andorra

3. Austria

4. Belarus

5. Belgium

6. Bosnia and Herzegovina

7. Bulgaria

8. Croatia

9. Czechia

10. Denmark

11. Estonia

12. Finland

13. France

14. Germany

15. Greece

16. Hungary

17. Iceland

18. Ireland

19. Italy

20. Latvia

21. Liechtenstein

22. Lithuania

23. Luxembourg

24. Malta

25. Moldova

26. Monaco

27. Montenegro

28. Netherlands

29. North Macedonia

30. Norway

31. Poland

32. Portugal

33. Romania

34. Russia

35. San Marino

36. Serbia

37. Slovakia

38. Slovenia

39. Spain

40. Sweden

41. Switzerland

42. Ukraine

43. United Kingdom

44. Vatican City

North America

For this article, North America includes the countries of Central America and the Caribbean as well as the northern part of the continent.

1. Antigua and Barbuda

2. Bahamas

3. Barbados

4. Belize

5. Canada

6. Costa Rica

7. Cuba

8. Dominica

9. Dominican Republic

10. El Salvador

11. Grenada

12. Guatemala

13. Haiti

14. Honduras

15. Jamaica

16. Mexico

17. Nicaragua

18. Panama

19. Saint Kitts and Nevis

20. Saint Lucia

21. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

22. Trinidad and Tobago

23. United States

South America

1. Argentina

2. Bolivia

3. Brazil

4. Chile

5. Colombia

6. Ecuador

7. Guyana

8. Paraguay

9. Peru

10. Suriname

11. Uruguay

12. Venezuela

Oceania

1. Australia

2. Fiji

3. Kiribati

4. Marshall Islands

5. Micronesia

6. Nauru

7. New Zealand

8. Palau

9. Papua New Guinea

10. Samoa

11. Solomon Islands

12. Tonga

13. Tuvalu

14. Vanuatu

Why Do Some Lists Have More Than 195 Countries?

The number 195 is a useful convention, but it is not the only number readers may encounter.

The main reason is that "country" does not have one universally applicable definition for every purpose.

The UN M49 database, for example, is a statistical classification of "countries or areas." Its list includes sovereign states alongside territories and other areas used for statistical reporting. The UN specifically cautions that these classifications do not imply a position on the legal status of a country, territory, city, or area.

Consequently, a database designed for statistics may contain considerably more entries than a geography quiz asking for sovereign countries.

Why Isn't Every Territory a Country?

Many places have their own governments, populations, flags, currencies, or geographical identities but are not generally counted as independent sovereign countries.

Examples include:

• Puerto Rico

• Greenland

• Bermuda

• Guam

• Aruba

• Hong Kong

• Macao

• Faroe Islands

These places can appear in international datasets, but including them in a "countries of the world" list would mix sovereign states with territories and special administrative regions.

That is why a well-designed geography resource should state its definition before giving a number.

Countries and Territories Are Not the Same

A sovereign state generally has its own government and exercises authority over its territory, while a dependent territory is subject to another sovereign state's authority.

This distinction matters when creating educational databases.

For example, the United States and Puerto Rico may both appear in some international datasets, but they should not automatically be treated as equivalent entries in a list of independent countries.

The UN M49 system deliberately uses the broader term "country or area" because it is designed for statistical purposes rather than as a definitive political list.

Countries With Special or Disputed Status

Some places frequently appear in alternative country lists because their political status is contested or their international recognition differs between governments.

Examples include Kosovo and Taiwan.

They are important geographical and political entities, but they are not included in this article's 195-country count.

This does not mean that they are geographically unimportant. It simply means that the article is using the specific 195-country convention described at the beginning.

When publishing educational content, it is better to explain this distinction than to silently mix different definitions.

Country Names Can Change

Country names are not completely static.

For example:

• Türkiye is the country's official name used by the United Nations rather than "Turkey" in many official contexts.

• Czechia is the UN short-form country name rather than "Czech Republic."

• Eswatini replaced the former English country name "Swaziland."

• North Macedonia replaced the former constitutional name "Macedonia" after the Prespa Agreement.

• Cabo Verde is the current English short-form name used by the UN rather than "Cape Verde."

The UN M49 database explains that its country names generally use the short forms used in day-to-day UN operations rather than necessarily the complete formal state names.

For educational websites, keeping a standardized country-name field is therefore useful.

Countries With Long or Easily Confused Names

Some country names are particularly easy to confuse.

Congo

There are two countries containing "Congo":

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Republic of the Congo

Their capitals are also different:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo — Kinshasa

• Republic of the Congo — Brazzaville

Guinea

Three countries contain Guinea in their English names:

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Equatorial Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a fourth country containing "Guinea."

Korea

There are two sovereign states on the Korean Peninsula:

• North Korea

• South Korea

Their formal names are the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea respectively.

Saint countries

The Caribbean includes three countries beginning with "Saint":

• Saint Kitts and Nevis

• Saint Lucia

• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

These should not be confused with nearby territories or islands.

What Is the Smallest Country in the World?

Vatican City is generally recognized as the world's smallest sovereign state by area and population.

It is located entirely within the city of Rome, Italy, and is the headquarters of the Holy See.

The Holy See is the entity that holds UN observer-state status, while Vatican City is the sovereign territory associated with it. For a general 195-country geography list, Vatican City is commonly included as the country entry.

What Is the Largest Country in the World?

Russia is the world's largest country by total area.

It spans eastern Europe and northern Asia and covers an enormous territory across multiple time zones.

What Is the Most Populous Country?

India is currently the world's most populous country, having surpassed China in population according to widely used UN population estimates.

Population rankings should be treated as time-sensitive because population totals change continuously.

Why Country Lists Are Useful for Geography

A country list is more than a reference table.

Knowing the countries of the world provides the foundation for studying:

• World capitals

• Flags

• Continents

• Languages

• Currencies

• Population

• Geography

• International organizations

• History

• Political geography

• Current affairs

Once students know the countries, they can build more complex geographic knowledge around them.

For example, knowing that Nepal is a country is only the beginning. A geography learner can then connect Nepal with its capital, neighboring countries, Himalayan geography, language, currency, history, and political system.

How to Learn the Countries of the World

Trying to memorize 195 countries in one sitting is usually ineffective.

A better strategy is to divide them into geographic groups.

Step 1: Learn by continent

Start with one continent at a time. Africa, for example, contains 54 countries, making it useful to divide further into North, West, Central, East, and Southern Africa.

Step 2: Use maps

Seeing a country's location helps connect its name with its neighbors and physical geography.

Step 3: Practice active recall

Instead of repeatedly reading a list, hide the answers and try to recall them.

Step 4: Mix the questions

Once you know the basics, don't always study in alphabetical order. Randomized questions make recall more difficult and therefore more useful.

Step 5: Add capitals and flags

After learning the country names, connect each country with its capital and flag.

This creates a much stronger geographic knowledge network than memorizing isolated facts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many countries are there in the world?

The commonly used educational count is 195 countries: 193 UN Member States plus the Holy See and the State of Palestine, which are UN non-member observer states.

Are there 193 or 195 countries?

Both numbers can be correct depending on the definition. The UN has 193 Member States. Adding the two UN non-member observer states gives the commonly used total of 195.

Is Palestine a country?

Palestine has UN non-member observer-state status. It is therefore included in the 195-country convention used in this article.

Is Vatican City a country?

Vatican City is a sovereign state. The associated entity, the Holy See, holds permanent observer status at the United Nations.

Why do some websites list more than 195 countries?

They may include territories, dependencies, or entities with disputed or limited international recognition. The UN's M49 statistical system, for example, contains countries and areas rather than only sovereign states.

Is Kosovo included in the 195 countries?

No. Kosovo is not included in this particular 195-country convention. Different country lists may treat Kosovo differently depending on their recognition criteria.

Is Taiwan included in the 195 countries?

No. Taiwan is not included in this particular 195-country convention. Different political and geographical reference systems may handle Taiwan differently.

Which country is the largest?

Russia is the world's largest country by area.

Which country is the smallest?

Vatican City is the world's smallest sovereign state by area.

Which country has the largest population?

India is currently the world's most populous country. Population rankings can change over time, so current population claims should be dated and sourced.

Test Your Knowledge

After studying the list, try answering these questions without looking back:

1. How many UN Member States are there?

2. What are the two UN non-member observer states?

3. Which country is the largest by area?

4. Which country is the smallest sovereign state?

5. Which two countries contain "Congo" in their names?

6. Which three countries begin with "Saint"?

7. Which country changed its English short name from Swaziland to Eswatini?

8. Which country is officially referred to as Türkiye by the UN?

9. How many countries are commonly counted in the standard 195-country list?

10. Why might another database contain more than 195 country or area entries?

Use the Countries of the World quiz on QuizzesForBrain to turn this reference list into active-recall practice. You can also combine it with world capitals, flags, and geography quizzes to reinforce the information.

Useful Quick Reference