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Country

Every country in the world

Here are 194 countries and territories, each with its own page: capital city, area, population, neighbours, languages and an outline map.

Why there is no single right number

How many countries are there? The most common answer is 193, because that is how many members the United Nations has. Add the Vatican and Palestine, which have observer status, and it is 195. Add territories that govern themselves but belong to another country — Greenland, Puerto Rico, the Faroe Islands — and the number climbs well past that. This list shows countries and territories together and marks which is which.

The record lists elsewhere on this site count only UN members, so that a ranking never mixes countries with territories belonging to somebody else. Two different totals on one site sound like a mistake; they are two different questions.

What is on every country page

Capital, area, population, neighbours, languages, currency and an outline map with the capital marked. Then how big the country is compared with the world, where it stands among its neighbours, which animals live there in the wild, and which mountains, rivers and wonders sit inside it — each one linked.

The figures are calculated from verified datasets rather than copied: ranks, shares and comparisons are worked out when the page is built. Where a figure comes from a particular year, the year is named beside it.

Europe 48

Asia 49

Africa 55

The Americas 37

Oceania 14

Antarctica 1