List of countries
This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty.
Such inclusion criteria means the list does not treat the word
"country" as synonymous with "sovereign state," as one may often find
in colloquial usage. For a list of independent states only, see the list of sovereign states.
The list covers all areas under the jurisdiction of the listed
countries, namely territory, territorial waters (including internal
waters and contiguous zone), exclusive economic zone, continental
shelf, and airspace.
The names of countries in the list are given in English and include both an English version of the short official names (e.g. Afghanistan) and an English version of the (longer) official names (e.g. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan).[1] The listing of any name in this article is not meant to imply an official position in any naming dispute.
Entities included in this article
On this list are 243 entities considered to be countries. This corresponds to:
- 202 sovereign states:
- 193 states with general international recognition:
- 192 member states of the United Nations (UN).
- 1 state with general international recognition but not UN membership, governed by the Holy See (a UN permanent observer), the Vatican City.
- 9 states lacking general international recognition, none of which
are UN members, that are nonetheless defined as states in the body of
customary international law, drawing on the precedent of the Montevideo
Convention:
- 1 state, no longer a UN member since late 1971, recognized by 23 UN member states and the Holy See (Vatican City), and currently with de facto international relations with many others, the Republic of China (commonly referred to as Taiwan).
- 1 state, recognized by 43 UN member states but never admitted to
the UN itself, with most of its claimed territory under Moroccan de facto administration, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Western Sahara.
- 1 state, member of the Arab League and the Organization of the
Islamic Conference, recognized by Arab states and some other UN members
though never itself a UN member, with no sovereignty over its claimed
territories, the State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories.[2]
- 6 de facto independent states lacking any significant measure of diplomatic recognition from other states:
- 1 de facto independent state, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states except Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.[3]
- 5 de facto independent states, namely Abkhazia,[4] Nagorno-Karabakh,[5] Pridnestrovie,[6] Somaliland,[7] and South Ossetia,[8] none recognized by any UN member states.
- 36 inhabited dependent territories:
- 3 external territories of Australia (Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island).
- 2 overseas countries in the Kingdom of Denmark (Greenland and Faroe Islands).
- 5 overseas territories of France:[9]
- 1 sui generis (unique) community (New Caledonia).
- 4 overseas communities:
- 2 overseas countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba and Netherlands Antilles).
- 3 dependent territories of New Zealand:
- 16 dependent territories of the United Kingdom:
- 3 Crown dependencies (Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man).
- 13 overseas territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena (and its dependencies Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha), Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia).
- 5 unincorporated territories of the United States:
- 5 areas of special sovereignty:
- 4 special entities recognized by international treaty or agreement (Åland in Finland, Svalbard in Norway, as well as the 2 special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China - Hong Kong and Macau).
- 1 UN-administered territory inside the de jure territory of a sovereign state and under de jure sovereignty of that sovereign state (Kosovo in Serbia under UN interim civilian administration).
In the Annex to the list of countries, an outline is given on the
entities not included in this list. This includes distinct political
and legal entities which are countries but are considered integral
parts of a sovereign state, notably the constituent countries of the United Kingdom and the Länder of Germany.
List of countries
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As of May 27, 2006, this list is complete, and contains all appropriate entries
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A
 Abkhazia – Republic of Abkhazia[4] Afghanistan – Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Akrotiri and Dhekelia – Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK overseas territory) Åland – Åland Islands (Autonomous province of Finland) Albania – Republic of Albania Algeria – People's Democratic Republic of Algeria American Samoa – Territory of American Samoa (US territory) Andorra – Principality of Andorra Angola – Republic of Angola Anguilla (UK overseas territory) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina – Argentine Republic[10] Armenia – Republic of Armenia Aruba (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)- Ascension Island (Dependency of the UK overseas territory of Saint Helena)
 Australia – Commonwealth of Australia Austria – Republic of Austria Azerbaijan – Republic of Azerbaijan[11]
B
C
D
E
-
F
G
H
 Haiti – Republic of Haiti Honduras – Republic of Honduras Hong Kong – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Area of special sovereignty)[24] Hungary – Republic of Hungary
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
 Oman – Sultanate of Oman
P
Q
R
S
T
-
U
V
W
Y
 Yemen – Republic of Yemen
Z
See also
References
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
In some cases the government of a country adopts an official country
name in English which is different from the name used conventionally in
the Anglophone world. In that case the name preferred by the government
is used in the list. This concerns Côte d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast,
Macao/Macau, Myanmar/Burma, Pridnestrovie/Transnistria and
Timor-Leste/East Timor.
- ↑ Note that the Palestinian Authority, which does
enjoy partial control over the Palestinian Territories cannot be
equated to the State of Palestine. The former does not, at the moment,
claim independence.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a de facto independent state inside Cyprus, recognized by no UN member states except Turkey.
Though without universal diplomatic recognition, it was accepted as an
observer state of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the
name of Turkish Cypriot State since 1979. In addition, the Nakhichevan
Autonomous Republic regards TRNC as sovereign but Azerbaijan (the sovereign state that Nakhichevan belongs to) has not followed suit. See The World Factbook - Cyprus (10 January, 2006). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Abkhazia is a de facto independent state inside Georgia, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states. See Regions and territories: Abkhazia (14 December 2005). BBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nagorno-Karabakh is a de facto independent state inside Azerbaijan, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states. See Regions and territories: Nagorno-Karabakh (17 January 2006). BBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pridnestrovie is a de facto independent state inside Moldova,
diplomatically recognized by no UN member states, commonly known and
referred to by the international community as Transnistria. See Regions and territories: Trans-Dniester (13 December 2005). BBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Somaliland is a de facto independent state inside Somalia, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states. See Regions and territories: Somaliland (30 December 2005). BBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 South Ossetia is a de facto independent state inside Georgia, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states. See Regions and territories: South Ossetia (14 December 2005). BBC News. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ↑ The overseas regions/overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion are integral part of France, and therefore not listed.
- ↑ Argentina is also named Argentine Nation for purposes of legislation.
- ↑ See also Nagorno-Karabakh.
- ↑ See also entities Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.
- ↑ Canada is officially also (but infrequently) referred to as Dominion of Canada.
- ↑ The Central African Republic is also infrequently rendered as Central Africa.
- ↑ The People's Republic of China is occasionally rendered as mainland China in the relationship with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao as well as its relations with the Republic of China.
- ↑ The Republic of China (ROC) is a country commonly referred to as Taiwan
by the international community. It is also diplomatically occasionally
known as Chinese Taipei or other names. The ROC is no longer an UN
member since late 1971 and regarded by UN as Taiwan, Province of China
(see also One-China policy and Taiwan Province, People's Republic of
China). It is currently recognized by the Holy See and 23 UN member
states and with de facto international relations with most
others. The political status of the ROC and the legal status of Taiwan
(alongside the territories currently under the ROC jurisdiction) are in
dispute. The ROC should not be confused with the Republic of Taiwan
proposed by supporters of Taiwan independence.
- ↑ The Democratic Republic of the Congo is formerly and popularly known as Zaire. It is referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo.
- ↑ The Republic of the Congo is referred to as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- ↑ See also Northern Cyprus.
- ↑ The Czech Republic is also infrequently rendered as Czechia. See Names of the Czech Republic.
- ↑ Falkland Islands is also claimed by Argentina as Islas Malvinas.
- ↑ See also Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
- ↑ The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes its self-governing dependencies Alderney, Herm and Sark.
- ↑ Hong Kong is a Special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. It is often diplomatically known as Hong Kong, China.
- ↑ Ireland
is often referred to as the Republic of Ireland as the official
"description" of the state in order to distinguish it from the island
of Ireland as a whole.
- ↑ The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is popularly known as North Korea.
- ↑ The Republic of Korea is popularly known as South Korea.
- ↑ Kosovo is an autonomous province of Serbia
currently administered by the Provisional Institutions of
Self-Government under the supervision of the UN Interim Administration
Mission.
- ↑ Kyrgyzstan is also sometimes rendered as Kirghizia.
- ↑ Macao is a Special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. It is diplomatically known as Macao, China.
- ↑ Republic of Macedonia is referred to by UN and a number of countries and international organizations as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- ↑ See also Pridnestrovie.
- ↑ See also Western Sahara.
- ↑ Legally the Netherlands
refers to the mainland European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
with the latter consisting of the Netherlands and two overseas
countries, namely Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.
- ↑ See State of Palestine for a list of states that recognize the State of Palestine.
- ↑ See also Kosovo - under UN administration.
- ↑ Somalia is presently fragmented with its Transitional National Government in exile. See also Somaliland.
- ↑ Svalbard is an overseas territory of Norway recognized by international treaty.
- ↑ Vatican City
is administered by a Governor appointed by the Pope, with the latter
being the head of the Holy See and that of the Vatican City
concurrently.
- ↑ The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Western Sahara
is currently recognized by 45 UN member states. It has never been
admitted to the UN but is a member of the African Union. It claims the
whole territory of Western Sahara but only exercises effective control
over the territory east of Moroccan Wall, while a large portion of the
territory is occupied by and integrated into Morocco.
External links
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Moldova – Republic of Moldova
Nagorno-Karabakh – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Pridnestrovie – Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (also rendered as Transnistria
Somaliland – Republic of Somaliland
South Ossetia – Republic of South Ossetia
Tristan da Cunha (Dependency of the UK overseas territory of Saint Helena)
