Thats a tough question to answer. When I was a kid, I thought geography was an easy subject where you went round colouring maps and learning that Sydney isn’t actually the capital of Austrial.

However, when it comes down to a county count, it’s difficult. Over my lifetime alone, geopolitics has been constantly shifting and what defines a country is a hard ideology to capture. 

The answer is there is no definitive list of how many countries exist in the world.

The most quoted list is the Members of the United Nations. There are currently 193.

Then there are two observe states usually included in the U.N count – Palestine and the Holy See (that’s the Vatican to you and me)

The smart kid at the back normally now asks about Taiwan (as it’s recognised by over 20 countries in its own rifht) and Kosovo (recognsied by over a hundred countries, though unsurprisingly not by the Serbs). 

Now we sit at 197. 

It’s this number that I included in this tally. 

However, there are many other regions we can dispute, like Tibet being part of China, and the debate goes on. 

The Travelers’ Century Club now recognise 327 territorities for the purpose of travel – you can see the full list here. 

Below I Include all the countries of my original 197 list that I have visited.

Just for your information, transiting through airports I do not include, though some do. I’ve been to Dubai airport many times, but I would never say a 15 minute coach journey from plane to terminal means I could say I’ve visited the U.A.E.

Numbers and maps are split down by continent, and I’ve added the American States for good measure too.