They count Holy See and Palestine as UN observers but also consider Taiwan and Kosovo to be self-governed territories that both have substantial economic resources of their own. The latter fact is because Taiwan is considered as part of the Chinese territory; the same is correct for Kosovo being part of Serbia.
With all the socio-economic, geographical, and political difficulties, this can all be subject to change over time. Generally, the UN seems to be a reliable source for the total number of countries. For a country to be a part of this organization, a country must apply for membership, be assessed, and then be voted in. The country has to be approved by the five permanent member countries: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The constant flux of politics and globalization are continually redefining countries, so agreeing on a final count can be difficult. In addition to the reasons already described, here are some additional facts. Some researchers believe that there could be even more countries in the future.
This is because Libya has often been in turmoil, because of extremists there fighting for control and different governments trying to take over since Gaddafi was overthrown. Based in Barcelona, Spain, Catalonia is the country's financial center. Catalans have wanted a separate state for many years, although many are opposed to separation.
Somaliland part of Somalia considers itself independent and has its own government, army, and currency. You can view some older versions of the article in our archives. A world political map published by the US government. One of the most basic questions for map-lovers is, "How many countries are there in the world?
It actually depends a lot on how you define a "country". Here are six of the most common answers, each correct in its own way: Sovereign States According to the UN "Country" and "nation" are casual words for what political scientists call a "sovereign state", meaning a place with its own borders and completely independent government.
The question of which places count as sovereign states can be controversial, but for starters we normally count all the member and observer countries of the United Nations UN : UN Members: UN Observer States: 2 Total: These countries mostly all accept each other as sovereign states, and they're the ones you'll see on most world maps and lists of the world's countries.
If you want to know the names of all , Wikipedia has a complete list. The last addition to the list was in , when Palestine became a UN Observer State , and the last time the number of full UN members changed was when South Sudan joined in Note: Palestine's approval as a UN Observer State was controversial, so some sources may leave it out and list only countries.
These controversially-proclaimed countries are usually labeled on world maps as disputed territories or special cases, if they're on the map at all. Kosovo is recognized as independent by about countries , but claimed by Serbia. The three places most often considered de facto independent countries despite zero recognition from UN members are Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh , Transnistria , and Somaliland.
And since there have been two more contenders for the list, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. These two self-proclaimed countries still aren't as well-established and organized as the others we've mentioned, but they've stuck around for almost seven years now, and are now often included on lists of de facto states.
Though its fighters still dominate some remote areas, they don't seem to be consistently governing any populated places anymore after losing most of their territory in Syria , Iraq , and Libya. And though a supposedly IS-affiliated rebel group does now control part of Mozambique , it seems pretty clear that IS headquarters isn't actually involved in governing that area.
See all PolGeoNow maps and news articles about completely or partially-unrecognized countries Olympic Nations Lots of people learn about the world's list of countries by watching the Olympic Games every two years. Any attempt to find a clear definition of a 'country' soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies. Diplomatic recognition is clearly not much guide to real life.
As mentioned above take Taiwan for example which due to pressure from China is recognised less and less countries with formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan has shrivelled to around 23 - mostly small, cash-strapped islands. Yet Taiwan is not just a country, but a rather important one. Also note Israel, it joined the UN in , but 19 of its members do not accept the Jewish state's existence. That may be a practical approach but it doesn't end the confusion.
Somalia spectacularly fails to meet this criterion, yet still counts as a sovereign state. However its northern bit, Somaliland, has met this standard with increasing impressiveness since it declared independence in It has a currency, car registrations and even biometric passports.
But only private firms such as DHL, a courier company, link it to the outside world. International postal service requires membership of the Universal Postal Union, which for non-members of the UN need approval by at least two-thirds of that body's members.
The African Union refuses to recognise Somaliland's independence because it dislikes changing any African borders Get your bearings Here's a good brain-teaser Answers on the back of a postcard. If you fancy taking a quiz, here's a good quick one.
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