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Question
#16482. Matthew
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How many countries are there in the world?
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A very frequent geographical question is "How many countries are in the world?" Ultimately, the best answer is that there are 195 countries in the world.
There are 192 members of the United Nations. Although this number represents almost all of the countries in the world, there are still two recognized independent countries, the Vatican City and Kosovo, that are independent and are not members of the U.N.
The United States' State Department recognizes 194 independent countries around the world. Missing from the State Department's list is one entity that may or may not be considered a country, depending on who you talk to.
Taiwan meets the requirements of independent country or state status. However, due to political reasons, it fails to be recognized by the international community as independent. Nonetheless, it should be considered as independent.
However...Recognize that there are dozens of territories and colonies that are sometimes erroneously called "countries" but don't count at all - they're governed by other countries. Places commonly confused as being countries include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Greenland, Palestine, Western Sahara, and even the components of the United Kingdom (such as Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England - they're not fully independent countries, states, or nation-states).
 http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/numbercountries.htm
Below is a complete listing of the 195 official countries of the world and their capital cities.
http://geography.about.com/od/countryinformation/a/capitals.htm
[Updated text 5/17/08 from the reference link - McG]
Feb 07 02, 8:41 PM
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exceller 
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From this article it looks like there is 266 countries.
http://www.geography-site.co.uk/pages/countries/howmany.html
Definitions of what constitutes a country also vary. Some will go with the simple view that if it is a member of the United Nations, it's a country. By that reckoning there are 192 countries in the world. But Vatican City is undoubtedly a country, and not a member of the UN, so that means the total must now be 193!
Oh and then there are Taiwan and Tibet - so that's 195.
There are also very many colonies, territories and dependencies that are sometimes considered to be countries, and sometimes not. For example, Greenland seems like a country, but it is actually part of Denmark. In the UK most of the population consider England and Scotland to be different countries, and Wales to be a principality. However, when it comes to international relations, they are all represented by the UK government, so according to many definitions they aren't countries or even nation states.
So, cutting a long story short, most authorities agree that there are around 193 countries in the world, but there is no guaranteed correct answer. Some authorities suggest there are more like 266 of them.
[Added text from the reference link - McG]
May 16 08, 7:34 PM
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