How many countries are there in the world?

There are 193 member states of the United Nations, plus two observer states, the Holy See and Palestine. That is where the familiar figure of 195 countries comes from. Add widely recognised places such as Taiwan, Kosovo and the many dependent territories with their own borders, currencies and entry rules, and the practical travel list grows well past 250.

Country lists are political, not mathematical. Some travellers count only UN members. Others follow club lists used by long-term travellers, which include territories that feel entirely separate to visit, such as Greenland, Hong Kong or French Polynesia. Neither is wrong, they simply answer different questions.

AvioStory tracks 250 countries and territories and marks which of them are UN members, so you can see both numbers at once. Your passport shows your total, and each country page tells you whether it counts towards the 193 or sits outside it.

Browse the full list by continent, starting with Europe or Asia.