How Many Countries Are There in the World? (2026)
There are 193 countries in the world, counting United Nations member states, which is the standard most references use. Add the UN’s two permanent observer states, Vatican City and Palestine, and you get 195, the other number you’ll hear constantly. Both answers are defensible. Everything past 195 is where the arguments live.
| Continent | UN member countries |
|---|---|
| Africa | 54 |
| Asia | 46 |
| Europe | 44 |
| North America | 23 |
| South America | 12 |
| Oceania | 14 |
| World | 193 |
The short answer, and why it’s not shorter
“How many countries are there” sounds like a lookup and is actually a definition problem. A country needs territory, people, a government, and, in practice, recognition by other countries, and that last requirement is political rather than geographic. Different organizations draw the recognition line in different places, so they genuinely count different worlds:
- 193: UN member states. The cleanest, least arguable list, and the one this site’s quizzes use.
- 195: UN members plus the two permanent observer states.
- More than 200: lists that include partially recognized states and de facto independent territories.
Sports bodies inflate the count further, because they admit teams, not sovereign states: FIFA has 211 member associations and the Olympic movement recognizes 206 committees, both comfortably above the UN’s 193. That’s how Scotland can play in a World Cup without appearing on any list of countries.
The two observer states
Vatican City, the smallest country on Earth at 0.44 km², participates in the UN as a permanent observer through the Holy See; it has chosen that status rather than full membership. Palestine was granted non-member observer state status by a General Assembly vote in 2012. Observers can participate in UN business but not vote, and whether you include them is the difference between 193 and 195.
Taiwan, the biggest asterisk
Taiwan functions as a country by nearly every practical measure: defined territory, its own government, currency, passports, and a population of over 23 million. It’s absent from the UN list for one historical reason. Until 1971, Taiwan’s government held China’s UN seat; General Assembly Resolution 2758 then transferred the seat to the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan has been outside the UN ever since. Most countries, following the PRC’s one-China position, don’t maintain formal diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. So whether your count is 193 or 193-plus-one depends on a vote taken more than fifty years ago.
Kosovo and the partially recognized
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by roughly half the world’s governments, with the exact tally itself disputed, since both Kosovo and Serbia lobby countries to add or withdraw recognitions and both sides’ official numbers disagree. Without support from Russia and China on the Security Council, UN membership stays out of reach. Kosovo is the highest-profile case, but the same limbo holds others, like Somaliland, which has run its own affairs since 1991 with no UN members recognizing it, and Western Sahara, whose status remains unresolved. Each one is a country to some maps and not to others.
Territories: looks like a country, isn’t one
The final source of inflated counts is territories, places with flags, borders, and sometimes their own Olympic teams that nonetheless belong to another state. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Puerto Rico belongs to the United States. Bermuda is British; French Polynesia is French; Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. None of them count toward 193, and every one of them has confused a pub quiz somewhere tonight.
A snapshot of how the 193 UN members spread across the continents: Africa has 54, Asia has 46, Europe has 44, North America has 23, South America has 12, and Oceania has 14. Think you can name a decent fraction of them? The countries of the world quiz is the honest way to find out.
Frequently asked questions
So is the answer 193, 195, or 197?
193 for UN members, 195 with the two observers, and 197 for lists that also admit Taiwan and Kosovo. All three are common in print. Quiz answers should follow whichever standard the quiz declares, which is why this site states its standard, 193, everywhere.
Why isn’t Taiwan in the UN?
Because the UN’s China seat was transferred from Taiwan’s government to the People’s Republic of China by Resolution 2758 in 1971, and the PRC’s position is that Taiwan is part of China. Membership would require Security Council approval, where the PRC holds a veto. The situation is political, not geographic.
What’s the newest country in the world?
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and joined the UN the same year, becoming member number 193. Before that, the newest additions were Montenegro (2006) and Timor-Leste (2002). New countries are rare; the UN roster has been stable for over a decade.
Do countries ever disappear from the count?
Yes, through mergers and dissolutions, though not recently. The Soviet Union’s 1991 breakup added fifteen countries; Yugoslavia’s dissolution added several more through the 1990s and 2000s; East and West Germany merged into one. The current 193 reflects a comparatively quiet era of stable borders.
How many countries should I be able to name?
The average player names somewhere between 50 and 90 before stalling. Regular quiz players clear 150 without strain, and the full 193 is a learnable achievement rather than a savant trick: a few weeks of the world map quiz gets most committed players there.