How many countries are there in the world?

A Complicated Answer to a Simple Question

HOW MANY countries are there in the world?  It's a simple enough question, on the surface.  Unfortunately, however, it doesn't have a simple answer.  Instead, it has several rather complicated answers, mostly contradictory.   It depends, you see, on how exactly you define a country; which, though you would've thought otherwise, is a concept which has no hard-and-fast definition on which everyone can agree.

I was inspired to research and write this piece because of Wattpad diagnostics.  If you don't know what I mean, go into "My Works," click on the bar-chart symbol, and then on diagnostics.  If you are fortunate enough to have garnered 500+ reads for your story, you will then see, amongst other things, a map of the world with countries depicted in various shades of blue, to indicate the number of readers your story has in each.  More than half of my readers live in the USA, for example, but I am gratified to find that I also have readers in such far-flung corners of the planet as Vietnam, Panama, Kenya and the Dominican Republic (and a big hello to you if you live in any of those).  But when I looked at the map a little closer I saw that certain country boundaries were delineated in a way that was, well, not incorrect exactly; but also not according to the usual consensus.

So: how many countries are there in the world?  Lets start with an uncontroversial figure.  You might say that a country was "An independent state which is a member of the United Nations in its own right," though up until 2002 that would not have included Switzerland, which would have posed us a problem.  But now that the Swiss have accepted that joining the United Nations doesn't compromise their strict neutrality, there are 193 full members of the UN.  Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there.  For one thing, not all of the 193 UN members are recognised by all the other 192.  Twenty-odd do not recognise the People's Republic of China, for example, recognising instead the Republic of China (we'll get to PROC/ROC later).  It's fair to say, however, that none of these are big-hitters in the field of international politics.  Oddly, several are tiny island-nations in the Pacific, and it is tempting to suggest that in some cases they're just a bit behind with the paperwork.  More seriously, 39 countries don't recognise Israel.  But 193 is still a good starting point.

In addition to these, there are two countries that have observer status at the UN; Vatican City and Palestine.  The Vatican City could have full membership any time it liked, but is happy just being an observer; but Palestine does want to be a full member.  Unfortunately, its path is blocked by the US veto, which will consistently be deployed because there are so many Jewish voters in Amer... I mean because the US stands by its ally, Israel.

So the jury is out on whether Vatican City and Palestine count as countries.  If Vatican City does count, however, it will be, at 110 acres, the smallest country on Earth, and will technically be able to boast 5.8 Popes to the square mile; or 11.6 if you count Emeritus Popes, and Benedict XVI pops by for a visit.

The next question we must consider is that of Constituent Countries.  Take the United Kingdom, which happens to be where I live.  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to give it its full name, is undoubtedly a country, being independent (whatever UKIP says) and a member of the UN.  It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — which is where things get a little complicated, as England, Scotland and Wales are also countries, even though part of another country.  England, Scotland and Wales are thus known as constituent countries.  And if you're wondering about Northern Ireland, it is often referred to as a country, but is technically only a province of the United Kingdom; the flag it flies at international sporting events is not its own but that of Ulster, which is a different beast, but never mind. 

Nor is the UK the only country to contain constituent countries.  There's the United Arab Emirates, for instance, which is a federation of seven constituent countries.  OK, constituent emirates - work with me on this.  Then there's the Netherlands.  The Netherlands is a country in Europe next to Belgium.  It is, however, merely a constituent country, forming part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  The other three constituent countries of the KoN are Aruba, Curacao and Sint Marten which, to save you having to look them up, are in the Caribbean.  Just to confuse matters still further, the Netherlands — that is, the constituent country — is made up of twelve provinces and three special municipalities, these last being Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius; and yes, they're in the Caribbean as well.  Two of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands — the constituent country — are North Holland and South Holland.  This is why a person from the Netherlands will get upset if you tell him he's from Holland, unless he actually is from Holland.  But, of course, whether he's from Holland, the Netherlands, or the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he's still Dutch.  Probably.