A country's flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation.
Countries of the World
Flags of the World
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.
Although there isn’t universal agreement on the question of what qualifies as a “country,” it is generally accepted that in order to be a country, a state must be a sovereign unit that has a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and the ability to enter into agreements with other states. Even when these conditions are met, however, internationally recognized independence is not a given, and a territorial entity that declares itself to be an independent country is not always recognized as such by the rest of the world.
The independent country is not only a self-governed nation with its own authorities, but this status needs the international diplomatic recognition of sovereignty.
Thereby, we can say that the total number of independent states in the world today is 197, including 193 fully recognized members of the United Nations and 2 countries, Vatican City and Palestine, have the status of permanent observers in the UN. The other 2 states we include in the list are Kosovo (recognized by 98 UN members) and Taiwan (recognized by 15 countries).
A
Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra
Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia
Australia Austria Azerbaijan
B
Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados
Belarus Belgium Belize Benin
Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana
Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso
Burundi
C
Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada
Central African Republic (CAR) Chad Chile
China Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus
Czechia
D
Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic
E
Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea Estonia Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
Ethiopia
Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives
Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania
Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova
Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco
Mozambique Myanmar (formerly Burma)
N
Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands
New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria
North Korea North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia) Norway
O
Oman
P
Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines
Poland Portugal
Q
Qatar
R
Romania Russia Rwanda
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles
Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia
Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea
South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan
Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria
T
Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand
Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu
U
Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates (UAE)
United Kingdom (UK) United States of America (USA) Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia Zimbabwe
Countries in the World
A country's flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. There are 195 countries in the world listed alphabetically, and Show up. and visit us flagsword.org whenever asked for what is the exact number of countries in the world, remember the answer wouldn’t be that simple. However, if we simply speak of the independent sovereign countries recognized by the United Nations. Vatican City and Palestine hold the status of being observer states with Taiwan and Kosovo.