One of the most basic questions for map lovers is, "How many
countries are there in the world?" The answer depends on how you define
"country". Here are six of the most common answers, each correct in
its own way:
195
Widely Recognized Sovereign States
In most situations, "country" is taken to refer to a sovereign
nation-state. Sovereignty - the idea that a country is completely
and independently controlled by its own government - is a sticky issue
that has been under debate for the last 2,000 years. But for convenience, most
mapmakers and references bypass the sovereignty issue and just look at which
countries are internationally recognized as being sovereign. This means that
most of the other countries in the world officially accept them as sovereign
nation-states.
The most common way to count "internationally recognized sovereign states", and the
method used by most world maps and publications, is to first count members of
the United Nations, then count non-U.N. members who are still allowed to sit in on U.N. meetings as
official observer states:
U.N. Members: 193
U.N. Observer States: 2
Total: 195
These are the countries you'll see on most world maps, and on most lists
of the world's countries. In addition to U.N. membership or observer status,
these 195 states are also mostly recognized by all of each other's governments,
with a few exceptions. The two U.N. Observer State countries are Vatican City
(represented by the Holy See) and Palestine . If you want to know the names of
all 195 of these countries, Wikipedia maintains a complete list.
202
States With At Least Partial Recognition
There are also several more states which have partial diplomatic
recognition - acceptance by one or more U.N. participant countries, but not by
the U.N. as a whole. These states, such as Taiwan and Kosovo, are usually
labeled on world maps as disputed territories or special cases rather than full
countries. The extent of their international recognition varies wildly, from
recognition by just one other country (as in the case of Northern Cyprus) to recognition
by nearly half of U.N. members (as with Kosovo).
U.N. Members: 193
U.N. Observer States: 2
States With Partial Recognition: 6
Total: 201
These states' level of actual real-life independence varies, but the same
is true for the U.N. member countries (for example, Taiwan's sovereignty
situation is nearly the same as U.N. members North Korea and South Korea). The
main difference is just a matter of recognition by other countries and the U.N.
The seven states with partial recognition are Taiwan, Western Sahara, Kosovo,
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Northern Cyprus. Wikipedia includes these states
in its list of Other Sovereign States, which also includes some countries with
no recognition at all.
204
Recognized or De Facto Independent States
In addition to those states with full or partial recognition, there are
at least four more states that operate as independent countries without any
diplomatic recognition from any U.N. members. These are often referred to as
"de facto" independent states. "De facto" is a term
borrowed from Latin to mean "in actual fact" (similar to
"unofficially"), as opposed to "de jure", meaning "by
law" (similar to "officially"). They, along with many of the
partially recognized states, are also referred to as "breakaway
states", because they were formed by seceding from other (usually
U.N.-member) countries. However, they are in fact governed completely
independently from the countries that claim them (despite news media tending to
refer to them inaccurately as "semi-autonomous", a term meaning
"partly self-governed").
U.N. Members: 193
U.N. Observer States: 2
States With Partial Recognition: 6
Unrecognized De Facto Sovereign States: 3
Total: 204
Although they are not recognized by any U.N. members, these states may be
recognized by each other or by some of the partially recognized states. Despite
lacking any U.N.-member recognition, they may in fact be more stable and
in-control than some U.N. members (like Somalia or Afghanistan). The three
unrecognized de facto independent states are Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria,
and Somaliland (recently declared Azawad
is no longer controlled by the group which proclaimed independence). Wikipedia
includes these states in its list of Other Sovereign States, which also
includes the partially recognized states from the section above. Although the
issue is up for debate, both Wikipedia and I have chosen not to include states
that have extensive de facto sovereignty but have never claimed independence
(such as Puntland), nor entities whose status as any kind of state, sovereign
or not, is questionable.
204
Olympic Nations
Although political scientists might not look to sporting events to define
what countries are, the Olympic Games are the biggest exposure to the world's
diversity of countries that many average people get. They might be confused,
then, when their world atlas only lists 195 countries, while the Olympics
regularly claim to represent over 200 nations. This is because the Olympics
don't require all of their "nations" to be independent countries.
Dependent territories belonging to other countries have sometimes been allowed
to create their own National Olympic Committees (NOC), which can then be
recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). States with only
partial diplomatic recognition can also sometimes be recognized by the IOC.
NOCs of U.N. Member States: 192
NOCs of U.N. Observer States: 1
NOCs of Partially Recognized States: 1
NOCs of Dependent Territories: 10
Total IOC-Recognized NOCs: 204
The only U.N. member not represented in the IOC is the newly independent
South Sudan, which has not yet had time to form a national committee. About
half of the dependent territories that participate in the Olympics are overseas
possessions of the U.S. (such as Puerto Rico) and the U.K. (such as Bermuda).
Some marginally dependent territories, such as the Cook Islands and Aruba
(connected to New Zealand and the Netherlands respectively), are even referred
to as "countries", though they do not claim full independence. The
only partially recognized state admitted to the Olympics is Taiwan (which is
required to call itself "Chinese Taipei"). Wikipedia has a full list of
recognized NOCs. For more on the Olympic Nations, see Parade of Nations: Which
Countries Are (and Aren't) in the Olympics.
209
FIFA Countries Eligible for the World Cup
FIFA, the international soccer organization that administers the World
Cup and other tournaments, includes even more teams than the Olympics do. For
most of it's history, FIFA, like the IOC, didn't require independence or
international recognition of its member states. Now they're a bit stricter, and
rarely admit teams representing dependent territories; but any team which is
already a member is allowed to stay. Based on tradition, FIFA also allows the
"constituent countries" of the U.K. (England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland) to compete as separate teams, even though they aren't
independent states.
Teams of U.N. Member States: 186
Teams of U.N. Observer States: 1
Teams of Partially Recognized States: 1
Teams of U.K. Constituent Countries: 4
Teams of Dependent Territories: 17
Total FIFA Member Associations: 209
You may notice that not all 193 of the U.N. member states are included.
That's because there are several very small countries that aren't members, plus
the U.K. (replaced by its "constituent countries"). Vatican City, one
of the U.N.'s non-member observer states, also does not participate in FIFA
tournaments or in the Olympics. Wikipedia has a full list of national
association soccer teams, past and present, which indicates which teams are
members of FIFA and which are not.
249
Country Codes in ISO 3166-1
Many organizations use short two- or three-letter "country
codes" to represent different countries or nationalities. Often, these
codes are based on ISO 3166-1, a standard specification of codes published by
the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These codes, like us
for the United States, bz for Belize, and iq for Iraq are perhaps most famously
used for internet domain names. Based on data from the U.N., they exclude some
unrecognized or partially unrecognized states, but they include pretty much
everything else imaginable, from independent countries, to dependent
territories, to uninhabited island territories - there's even a code for
Antarctica!
U.N. Members: 193
U.N. Observer States: 2
States With Partial Recognition: 2
Inhabited Dependent Territories: 45
Uninhabited Territories: 6
Antarctica: 1
Total: 249
