"How many countries are there" sounds like it should have a fixed answer. It does not, because no global body has the power to declare what is and is not a country. Statehood is ultimately about recognition — whether other states treat you as one — and recognition is a spectrum. Still, the plausible answers fall in a narrow band, and one figure is used far more than any other.
The standard answer: 195
195 = the 193 member states of the United Nations plus 2 UN observer states. The two observers are the Holy See (which governs Vatican City) and the State of Palestine. This is the count used by most atlases, textbooks, the CIA World Factbook's "independent states" list, and virtually every quiz show. If someone asks you the number and wants one answer, say 195.
Why some sources say 193, 194 or 196
- 193 counts only full UN members and excludes the two observer states.
- 194 sometimes appears when a source includes the Holy See (a widely recognised sovereign entity) but not Palestine, or vice versa. Geography Games uses a fixed pool of 194 for its games and fact pages so that every mode draws from an identical set.
- 196 usually means 195 plus Taiwan, which functions as a fully independent state but is recognised by only a small number of countries.
The disputed and partially recognised states
Beyond the 195 there is a tier of places that control territory and run a government but lack broad recognition:
- Taiwan — a full state in practice, with its own government, military, currency and passport, but recognised by only around a dozen countries and not a UN member. China regards it as a province.
- Kosovo — declared independence from Serbia in 2008, recognised by roughly 100 states, not a UN member (Russia and China block admission).
- Western Sahara — most of the territory is controlled by Morocco; the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is recognised by dozens of states and is a member of the African Union.
- Somaliland — has run a stable de facto state in northern Somalia since 1991 with no formal recognition from any UN member.
- Abkhazia and South Ossetia — breakaway regions of Georgia, recognised by Russia and a few others.
- Northern Cyprus — recognised only by Turkey.
- Transnistria — a breakaway strip of Moldova with no recognition.
Depending on how many of these you count, you can justify a total anywhere from 193 to about 206.
What about territories?
Dependent territories are not sovereign countries, even though many have their own flag, government, and even Olympic team. Greenland and the Faroe Islands belong to Denmark; Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa to the United States; Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Falklands to the United Kingdom; New Caledonia and French Polynesia to France; Hong Kong and Macau to China; Aruba and Curaçao to the Netherlands. There are around 60 such territories, and they show up constantly in flag and map quizzes precisely because they have distinct identities without being independent.
The continents don't split evenly
Of the 195, roughly 54 are in Africa, 48–49 in Asia, 44 in Europe, 35 in the Americas (23 in North America including Central America and the Caribbean, 12 in South America), and 14 in Oceania. Antarctica has none. See the country count per continent for the full breakdown and the edge cases.
See every UN member state with its flag, capital, population, land area, official languages and bordering countries.
Browse all 194 →How the number has changed
The count has grown steadily. In 1945 the UN had 51 founding members. Decolonisation added dozens through the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 created 15 states; Yugoslavia's dissolution produced 7 over two decades; Czechoslovakia split into 2 in 1993. The most recent addition is South Sudan, which joined in 2011. The number is not fixed for the future either — independence movements in various places, and the possibility of mergers or splits, mean the map is still moving.