Chapter 1: Global Geography: Countries and Land Characteristics

A country or territory is a geographical area, either in the sense of nation (a cultural entity) or state (a political entity). This world is a busy place with continuously changing politics and a number of countries. There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. These 195 countries in the world include countries/macro-states and island/micro-states. 99.93% of the population is situated in 175 countries/macro-states. However, less than 0.07% of the world population is situated in micro-states.