How many countries are there
It shouldn’t be a difficult question to answer but still people find it confusing because the number of countries keeps on changing. The number of countries in the World changes not only because nations merge and divide but also with the definition of what we see as a country. Let’s discuss this number. To begin with, the short answer:
At present there are a total of 195 countries in the world.
This includes 193 member states of the United nations plus two observer states (The Vatican and Palestine).
Kosovo and Taiwan are two more countries but their status of full nationhood is disputed. So, it’s up to you whether you want to count them in or not.
Now that we have the short answer, let’s go in a bit of details.
How Many Countries are There in the World?
For counting purpose, we can easily categorize world’s countries in the following groups:
Member States of the United Nations
As we know, the UN is the intergovernmental organization whose job is to maintain peace in the world, to oversee the human rights and to provide humanitarian assistance. Thankfully almost all of the world’s countries are member of the UN.
The newest member country of the UN is South Sudan (became a member in 2011)
Observers in the United Nations
The United Nations General Assembly sometimes invite non-member states/organizations to participate in the UN’s work without being a full and formal member. Sometimes, a country may willingly not become the member and choose to remain observer. Switzerland, for example, remained an observer state since 1948 until it took membership of the UN on 10 September 2002.
At present the UN has two observer states:
- Holy See (The Vatican)
- Palestine
Countries with Disputed Status
A country is not counted until enough number of world’s nations recognize that country.
Republic of Kosovo
The Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. As of 2 March 2020, 97 out of 193 member states of the United Nations recognize Republic of Kosovo as a country.
Taiwan
After Chinese Civil War, China got split into two self-governing territories: People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan. Taiwan‘s status as country of not yet confirmed.
