On World Geography

Friday, July 14, 2006

Have you ever wondered how many countries are there in the world? I did. To satisfy my curiosity, I searched the ever so reliable world wide web for a solid answer.

By Most Accounts, 193 is the Correct Answer
A very frequent geographical question is "How many countries are in the world?." Different numbers pop up when one inquires or reads about the number of countries in the world. Each source you use often yields a different answer.

United Nations
There are 192 members of the United Nations. Unfortunately, the number 192 is too often used to represent the number of countries in the world. Although this number represents almost all of the countries in the world, there is still one country (the Vatican City) that is independent and has chosen not to become a member of the U.N. so 192 is not the number of countries in the world.

U.S. Department of State
The United States' State Department recognizes 193 independent countries around the world.

Their list of 193 countries reflects the political agenda of the United States of America and its allies. Missing from the State Department's list is one entity that may or may not be considered a country, depending on who you talk to.

The One Outsider
Taiwan meets most, but not all of the requirements of independent country or state status. However, due to political reasons, it fails to be recognized by the United States and much of the rest of the world. If it were recognized, it would be considered a country.

Taiwan was actually a member of the United Nations (and even the Security Council) until 1971, when mainland China replaced Taiwan in the organization. Taiwan continues to press for full recognition by other countries, to become "part of the club" and fully recognized worldwide but China claims that Taiwan is simply a province of China.

Thus...
Your Guide considers there to be 193 countries in the world, which is probably the best current answer to the question, "How many countries are in the world?" unless Taiwan becomes officially recognized by the international community, in which case the answer would be 194.

However...
Recognize that there are dozens of territories and colonies that are sometimes erroneously called "countries" but don't count at all - they're governed by other countries. Places commonly confused as being countries include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Greenland, Palestine, Western Sahara, and even the components of the United Kingdom (such as Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England - sorry folks, they're not countries, states, or nation-states).

Hmmm...interesting.