International Relations

Most of the current experts and international authorities agree on 194 countries in existence, however, different international bodies differ greatly on how many countries there are. The 194 countries does not include Kosovo (disclaimer), or Palestine or Western Sahara or Taiwan or Greenland or many other partly recognized states Membership within the United Nations system divides the 206 listed states into three categories: 193 member states, two observer states, and 11 other states. The sovereignty dispute column indicates states whose sovereignty is undisputed (190 states) and states whose sovereignty is disputed (16 states).