How many countries are there in the world?

How many countries are there, you can you travel to?

How many countries are there in the world, we are asked from time to time. It can be answered in several ways, but we stick to the UN definition.
The world map for all the world’s countries provides a visual overview of all the world’s over 150 travel countries out of a total of approx. 193 in total. In the UN, there are indeed 193 member states and 2 under observation for admission.

Highly detailed political world map on dark blue background. All the countries in the world. Click image for a larger view

You can travel to most of them. Most of them are covered here at travetalk.dk. And then there are a couple you can’t travel in or probably don’t want to travel to. If you are in doubt, see the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

United Nations Headquarters with flags of the members of the UN

Countries from all over the world. World map

According to the UN, there are 195 countries in the world. The countries are divided into 193 countries that are members of the UN and 2 countries under observation. In addition, there are also several states that the UN has not recognized as “countries”. In what follows, we take the UN’s list of recognized countries in the world as a point of departure – i.e. a list with a total of 195 countries on it.

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chile
Colombia
The Comoros
Congo
Costa Rica
Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark
The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Dominican Republic
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ivory Coast
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Phillipines
Finland
United Arab Emirates
France
Gabon
The Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Netherlands
Honduras
Belarus
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Iran
Ireland
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Cape Verde
Kazakhstan
Kenya
China
Kyrgyzstan
Kiribati
Croatia
Kuwait
Laos
Latvia
Lesotho
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
The Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Switzerland
Senegal
Serbia
The Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
United Kingdom
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Chad
Thailand
The Czech Republic
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Turkey
Germany
Uganda
Ukraine
Hungary
Uruguay
USA
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Austria
Equatorial Guinea

Countries under observation for admission

There are few countries with a number of similar UN rights but without the right to vote.

Palestine

Vatican City

When a country has observer status with the UN, it means that the country is recognized by the UN and that the country has many of the same rights that apply to member states. However, there are some significant differences; Among other things, countries under observation cannot participate in votes under UN auspices.