How many countries are there in the world?

By Atlas Travel · 5 October 2026 · 4 min read

The usual answer is 195: the 193 member states of the United Nations plus its two permanent observer states, the Holy See and the State of Palestine. Most atlases, schools and travel apps use that number, and it holds up well. It isn’t the only defensible answer, though, and the places around its edges explain why two well-travelled friends can count the same trips and end up with different totals.

The 193 UN member states

Joining the United Nations takes a recommendation from the Security Council and a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly. Because any of the Security Council’s five permanent members can veto a recommendation, membership works as a rough test of whether the world as a whole accepts a state. That makes it a sensible default for counting countries.

The list hasn’t changed since 14 July 2011, when South Sudan became the 193rd member. It runs from India and China, with more than 1.4 billion people each, to Tuvalu and Nauru, with roughly ten thousand people apiece.

The two observer states

The Holy See governs Vatican City, the smallest country in the world at under half a square kilometre, entirely surrounded by Rome. It is widely recognised as sovereign and has simply never applied for full membership, preferring the neutrality of observer status.

Palestine became a non-member observer state in 2012. In May 2024 the General Assembly gave it extra rights in the Assembly, but full membership still needs a Security Council recommendation, and the United States vetoed one in April 2024. Most UN members recognise Palestine as a state, and 2025 brought a wave of new recognitions, including from the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia.

Add these two to the 193 and you reach the familiar 195.

Countries in practice, but not in the UN

A handful of places have their own government, borders and passports, yet sit outside the UN.

• Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. More than 100 UN members recognise it; Serbia, Russia, China and five EU members do not. It joined the International Olympic Committee in 2014 and FIFA in 2016.
• Taiwan has its own elected government, currency and passport. Since 1971 China’s UN seat has been held by Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and only about a dozen countries keep formal diplomatic ties with Taipei. At the Olympics it competes as “Chinese Taipei”.
• Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognised by Russia and a few others, and Transnistria by no UN member at all.
• Somaliland has run its own affairs since 1991 with little formal recognition. Western Sahara is split: the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a member of the African Union, while Morocco controls most of the territory.

Whether you count any of these says more about your view of the world than about geography. As a traveller, the practical question is simpler: did crossing that border feel like arriving somewhere new? Usually it did.

Self-governing islands and territories

Then there are places that aren’t sovereign at all but feel like countries when you land. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and belong to some UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization, so a few lists count them as countries.

Further along the spectrum are the dependencies and autonomous regions: Greenland and the Faroe Islands within the Kingdom of Denmark, Hong Kong and Macau as special administrative regions of China, Puerto Rico and Guam under the United States, and British overseas territories such as Bermuda and Gibraltar. Many have their own border controls, currencies or entry rules. Hong Kong, for instance, has its own immigration checks, currency and visa policy, so arriving there feels quite different from arriving in mainland China.

The United Kingdom adds its own twist. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are commonly called countries, field separate football teams and are part of one sovereign state.

Why every list gives a different number

Different organisations count different things, because they’re answering different questions.

None of these is wrong. The UN tells you who sits in the General Assembly; ISO tells software which codes exist; FIFA tells you who can enter the World Cup; the travel clubs try to reward the effort of getting somewhere remote. Ask which question you care about, and the right number follows.

So which number should you use?

If you’re counting your own travels, the honest answer is: pick a rule and keep it. The 195 is the easiest to compare with other people, because almost everyone recognises it. If you love remote islands, a broader list rewards the trips that took real effort. Many travellers do both, quoting a headline figure and keeping territories as a separate tally, along the lines of “58 countries, plus 9 territories”.

That’s how Atlas Travel is built. Its map covers the 195, plus Kosovo and Antarctica, and 43 territories that have their own shape on the map, from Greenland and the Faroe Islands to Hong Kong and Puerto Rico. You can mark each one separately, so the trip to Bermuda gets its due without muddying the country count.

Whatever rule you choose, write it down before you start counting. It saves a lot of arguments later, mostly with yourself.