How Many Countries are out there?

How Many Countries are out there?

Ever wondered how many countries are actually out there? I’ve talked with people who have thought there were literally thousands of countries, it was more common than I thought. Here I have a list of  all countries and their status. 

193 countries are recognised by the United Nations (UN) and 2 which are mear observers. These 2 observer countries are the Holy See - aka Vatican City which is our smallest country covering only 100 acres and nestled in the center of Rome, Italy.

Palestine which is a state independent of Israel. This totals 195 countries currently on our planet… sort of.

Stay with me…

Taiwan and Kosovo are two countries that aren’t recognised by the UN or completely seen worldwide as independent countries within their own right, but they have declared their own independents. Taiwan is a country which has declared its own independents from China, however mainland China doesn’t really want to see it this way, mainly for trade reasons. The rest of the word just looks on and doesn’t really get involved.

Kosovo declared self-independents from Serbia in 2008 with some countries agreeing to its own country status.

This totals 197 countries worldwide.

One way of looking at it, if the country in question has a flag emoji on your iPhone then they are a legitimate country in my eyes… 😝 

Here is the list, how many do you recognise or perhaps have visited ? 

I hope you have found this helpful and if you are like me, I aim to visit and explore ever country! So many different cultures and so much beautiful scenery which differs form our own. Travel, be curious.