# The Number of Countries in the World URL: https://sciencestruck.com/geography/the-number-of-countries-in-world Category: Geography Published: 2009-09-14T00:58:00 Updated: 2009-09-14T00:58:00 The total number of countries in the world is widely debated for various reasons, hence the answer varies. The total number of countries in the world was 57 in 1900’s, which has now increased manifold. Know all the countries along with their capitals in this ScienceStruck write-up. The number of countries in the world depends on, to put it simply, the counting authority. Some put the figure at 192, while others have it at 196. What leads to this confusion? Even in these modern times, fighting for independence is not unheard of. Successful entities then become a new country, though it takes a while to be recognized. This is one of the major reasons that leads to confusion when the total number is considered. The other main reason is politics, where one or more countries refuse to acknowledge another as being independent. **How Many Countries are there in the World?** **There are 192 members that constitute the United Nations, hence often the answer is 192**. However, there are two countries who have chosen not to become a part of the United Nations. The Vatican City and Kosovo, although independent, are not included in the total tally of 192. **The U.S. Department of State recognizes 195 countries in the world**. Taiwan is not recognized as an independent country. It is considered to be a part of The People’s Republic of China. Due to political reasons, United States refuses to accept Taiwan as an independent country. Till 1971, Taiwan was not only a member of the United Nations, but also part of the Security Council. China replaced Taiwan as part of the United Nation’s membership and since then Taiwan has been fighting its lone battle. Although it has been pressing for recognition as an independent country, the People’s Republic of China simply claims it to be just a province of China. In the list of 195, however, Kosovo does find a place. There are many provinces which are erroneously mentioned as countries, but they do not count in the total tally, as these are colonies set up by other countries. Some of these are Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Northern Cyprus. Parts of United Kingdom like Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England are not fully independent countries. Added to the above mentioned issues, there always remains the question about the countries like Palestine, Greenland, Western Sahara and South Sudan. Although Greenland has declared its independence from Denmark way back in 2008, some of the key areas are yet governed by Denmark. Therefore, often it does not find a place in the list of countries in the world. For the uninitiated, the latest country to declare its independence is South Sudan. South Sudan declared its independence after six years of civil war in July 2011. Taking all these arguments into consideration, **the tally of total number of countries in the world is 196**. **Name of the Country** **Capital** **North America** Antigua and Barbuda Saint John’s The Bahamas Nassau Barbados Bridgetown Belize Belmopan Canada Ottawa Costa Rica San José Cuba Havana Dominica Roseau Dominican Republic Santo Domingo El Salvador San Salvador Grenada St. George’s Guatemala Guatemala Haiti Port-au-Prince Honduras Tegucigalpa Jamaica Kingston Mexico Mexico Nicaragua Managua Panama Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Basseterre Saint Lucia Castries Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Kingstown Trinidad and Tobago Port-of-Spain United States of America Washington, DC **South America** Argentina Buenos Aires Bolivia La Paz, Sucre Brazil Brasília Chile Santiago Colombia Bogotá Ecuador Quito Guyana Georgetown Paraguay Asunción Peru Lima Suriname Paramaribo Uruguay Montevideo Venezuela Caracas **Australia** Australia Canberra Fiji Suva Kiribati South Tarawa Marshall Islands Majuro Micronesia Palikir Nauru Yaren District New Zealand Wellington Palau Ngerulmud Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Samoa Apia Solomon Islands Honiara Tonga Nuku’alofa Tuvalu Funafuti Vanuatu Port Vila **Europe** Albania Tirana Andorra Andorra la Vella Austria Vienna Belarus Minsk Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo Belgium Brussels Bulgaria Sofia Croatia Zagreb Cyprus Nicosia Czech Republic Prague Denmark Copenhagen Estonia Tallinn Finland Helsinki France Paris Germany Berlin Greece Athens Hungary Budapest Iceland Reykjavík Ireland Dublin Italy Rome Kosovo Pristina Latvia Riga Liechtenstein Vaduz Lithuania Vilnius Luxembourg Luxembourg Macedonia Skopje Malta Valletta Moldova Chişinău Monaco Monaco Montenegro Podgorica Netherlands Amsterdam Norway Oslo Poland Warsaw Portugal Lisbon Romania Bucharest Russia Moscow San Marino San Marino Serbia Belgrade Slovakia Bratislava Slovenia Ljubljana Spain Madrid Sweden Stockholm Switzerland Bern Ukraine Kiev United Kingdom London Vatican City Vatican City **Asia** Afghanistan Kabul Armenia Yerevan Azerbaijan Baku Bahrain Manama Bangladesh Dhaka Bhutan Thimphu Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Cambodia Phnom Penh China Beijing Cyprus Nicosia East Timor Dili Georgia Tbilisi India New Delhi Indonesia Jakarta Iran Tehran Iraq Baghdad Israel Jerusalem Japan Tokyo Jordan Amman Kazakhstan Astana Korea, North Pyongyang Korea, South Seoul Kuwait Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Laos Vientiane Lebanon Beirut Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Maldives Malé Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Myanmar (Burma) Naypyidaw Nepal Kathmandu North Korea Pyongyang Oman Muscat Pakistan Islamabad Philippines Manila Qatar Doha Saudi Arabia Riyadh Singapore Singapore South Korea Seoul Sri Lanka Colombo Syria Damascus Taiwan Taipei Tajikistan Dushanbe Thailand Bangkok Turkey\* Ankara Turkmenistan Ashgabat United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Uzbekistan Tashkent Vietnam Hanoi Yemen Sana’a **Africa** Algeria Algiers Angola Luanda Benin Porto-Novo Botswana Gaborone Burkina Faso Ouagadougou Burundi Bujumbura Cameroon Yaoundé Cape Verde Praia Central African Republic Bangui Chad N’Djamena Comoros Moroni Congo, Republic of Brazzaville Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Côte d’Ivoire Yamoussoukro Djibouti Djibouti Egypt Cairo Equatorial Guinea Malabo Eritrea Asmara Ethiopia Addis Ababa Gabon Libreville The Gambia Banjul Ghana Accra Guinea Conakry Guinea-Bissau Bissau Kenya Nairobi Lesotho Maseru Liberia Monrovia Libya Tripoli Madagascar Antananarivo Malawi Lilongwe Mali Bamako Mauritania Nouakchott Mauritius Port Louis Morocco Rabat Mozambique Maputo Namibia Windhoek Niger Niamey Nigeria Abuja Rwanda Kigali Sao Tome and Principe São Tomé Senegal Dakar Seychelles Victoria Sierra Leone Freetown Somalia Mogadishu South Africa Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein South Sudan Juba Sudan Khartoum Swaziland Mbabane, Lobamba Tanzania Dodoma, Dar es Salaam Togo Lomé Tunisia Tunis Uganda Kampala Zambia Lusaka Zimbabwe Harare \* - Turkey has been mentioned in the Asian continent, for geographically the major portion lies in Asia, while there is a minor part, which is a part of the European continent. Antarctica is a continent by itself and does not come in the list of countries. Therefore, it does not find mention in the table above. As mentioned above, the exact number cannot be accurately stated. New countries might get added, like in the case of South Sudan, or when looked at from a neutral perspective, countries like Scotland and Taiwan might be considered independent. For all general purposes and means, however, the above list should do very well indeed.