How many countries are there in the world?

Question

I have found answers from 181 to 256. Does anybody know the exact number or know where to look?

Answer 1

Ans:193

This question is a little tricky,
Well, one may think that the number of countries would be the same as the number of United Nations members, 191, but not so fast.
Vatican City which is actually a country decided not to join. Okay, well that makes it 192 then.
Once again, some would argue with this, especially the people of Taiwan.
"Taiwan" has basically every thing going for them to make them an independent country except for the fact that some of the major players do not agree (such as China and the USA). This is because China stakes a claim to Taiwan.

Answer 2

The person who tried really hard and had a long answer did an O.K. job but their facts aren't up to date. There are 193. Vatican City is not in the U.N. correct. This used to confuse people and make them think there were 191 (+1 for the Vatican/Holy See). As of May, Montenegro is now its own country. It had been part of Yugoslavia/Montenegro and Serbia. So now there are 193.

Here you go:
An independent State:

Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).
Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.
Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.
Has a government which provides public services and police power.
Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country's territory.
Has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries

Therefore excluding Palestine (non-entity), Greenland (part of Denmark), and Western Sahara (occupied/annexed by Morocco). Taiwan should be a country but it is NOT. And that person claiming to have worked for the IMF is way off, no country in Africa recently separated unless if he is talking about Eritrea breaking from Ethiopia in 1993. Just because the IMF doesn't work with a country (i.e. Somalia, North Korea, etc.) doesn't mean it isn't there.

Answer 3

Now that is a question that's somewhat difficult to answer, as there is no one right answer.

Many sources offer different answers, and depending on the source, there are 189, 191, 192, 193 or 194 independent countries in the world today. The United Nations has 192 members (including Montenegro and Serbia - the two newest nations) but that number does not include the Vatican, an independent nation.

The US State Department recognizes 193 independent countries around the world. but that list of countries reflects the political agenda of the United States of America. As an example, it does not include Taiwan as China claims that Taiwan (the ROC) is simply a province of China.

The latest World Almanacs use 193 countries, which is probably the best answer, but what about Palestine? Greenland? Western Sahara? The political world is constantly changing.

Answer 4

Because countries are a political designation, the correct answer is up to your politics. The checklist Cupacabra provided is useful but you have to apply it yourself. I feel Taiwan meets all the standards, they even were members of the UN (until they were kicked out in order to get People's Republic of China in), Many counties recognize Palestine as a country, but not the US.
Also just because the UN has 192 members it never stated that there were no more. Until 2002 Switzerland was not a member, no one can argue that Switzerland wasn't a country until 2002!

Answer 5

193

Answer 6

You cant have definite answer for this question becoz this is changeable for every countries. I mean there are some countries those arent be recognized for the others. For example Israel isnt recognized by some Arab countries, North Cyprus Turkish Republic isnt recognized by too much countries, etc.

So, every different citizen will answer different.

Answer 7

173 as of October 16, 2006.

Answer 8

It is exactly 186 countries. Trust me.

I know about it because i worked for IMF/World Bank last month. And the latest number of countries is 186.

Last 2 months it used to be 185. then last month it increased to 186 due to a separation between a country in African continent.

Answer 9

193, I believe.

Answer 10

243

Complete list of countries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries