Number of Countries?

Answer 1

"As of 2006, there are 192 United Nations (UN) member states. In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members, and today all UN members are fully sovereign states. However, four of the original members (India, the Philippines, Belarus, and the Ukraine) were not independent at the time of UN's creation. Moreover, because a state can only be admitted by the approval of the Security Council and the General Assembly, some entities which can be considered sovereign states according to the Montevideo Convention are not members due to lack of international recognition or opposition from certain members. Unlisted are the following states lacking majority international recognition, none UN members, that customary international law nonetheless may define as states under the Montevideo Convention:
Two states, in free association with New Zealand and represented in all matters by that country: Niue and the Cook Islands.
One state, never a UN member, recognized by 47 other states, with most of its claimed territory under military occupation, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Western Sahara. Many lists of sovereign states exclude this entity.
One state, never a UN member, recognized by 93 other states, with only partial de facto control over any of its claimed territory exercised through the Palestinian Authority (a UN permanent observer), the State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories. Many lists of sovereign states exclude this entity.
Six de facto independent states lacking any significant recognition from other states. One, Northern Cyprus, is only recognized diplomatically by Turkey; five others – Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Somaliland, South Ossetia and Transnistria – have no international recognition. Many lists of sovereign states exclude these entities.
Also not listed below are various disputed territories which cannot be justifiably assigned to the latter category, including Jubaland and Puntland (Somalia), Cabinda (Angola), Kosovo (Serbia), Kurdistan (Iraq), Kurdistan (Turkey) and numerous others. For a more inclusive list that includes dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty, see list of countries."

Answer 2

There are over 200.

Answer 3

huh?