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.
2006-08-04 06:27:22
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answer #1
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answered by jean 2
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I dont know. What I do know it differs according to who you ask. There are some countries out their that are not recogniosed by other countries. So the UN figure may differ from the USA's figures
2006-08-04 06:19:46
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answer #2
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answered by meshan 3
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