How many countries in the world - no exact information

Find the answer to the seemingly simple question: "How many countries in the world?" Is not at all easy. Flipping through various directories, you can see different data. Even in official information, reported for one year, they may differ.

Try it - count

And the whole point is that the states not only appear and disappear. Some of them may change their status and belong to different groups, be recognized by other countries or not. In some territories, the status remains uncertain: to consider them sovereign or not, is still unclear. And to agree to all states on the same approach to determining their status and about how many countries in the world, yet can not because of the mismatch of their political, economic and other interests.

The core group is represented by those states that are members of the United Nations and recognized by all. Given the members of this international organization at the beginning of the 21st century, there are already 193. Well, how many states in the world in all, it is really difficult to calculate. For example, the Order of Malta, which the state can not be named, nevertheless has an observer status with the UN and maintains diplomatic relations with many countries.

There is one all-known independent state of the Vatican that does not belong to any world organizations, including the UN. Sometimes the same country is called Kosovo. Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Palestine and a few other such territories were recognized by others only partially. And the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, like the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, is not considered a sovereign member of any UN member. On our planet there is a unique country Somaliland - it is generally not recognized by anyone, but, nevertheless, it exists.

Forty-nine territories have their own flags and claim to be called states. Moreover, many of them are in the territory of other countries. Some of the formations have a special status recognized by the international community: Antarctica, Spitsbergen, Macau, Hong Kong and the Åland Islands. All this makes it very difficult to calculate how many countries in the world there are at the moment.

Seven regions (four French, two Portuguese and Hawaii), although they are an integral part of their states, are remote from them at great distances, and this does not allow them to be part of their country. Several states have no status, and the territory called Siland has no status at all.

And this is not all the information. Understand how many countries in the world today, it is also difficult because the process of forming a political map of the world is continuous and very volatile. States periodically appear and disappear, their numbers can be called approximately. One can firmly affirm only that on Earth there are about 200 states that have received international recognition.

It is also difficult to determine how many cities in the world, and what can be called a city. There are reports that almost 2.5 million settlements claim to have the status of a city.