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How Many Countries?
There are
195 countries
in the world today.
Unless you don't count Taiwan…
Taiwan is not considered an
official country by many, which would bring the count down to 194
countries. Although Taiwan operates as an independent country, many
countries (including the U.S.) do not officially recognize it as one.
Because the People's Republic of China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China, countries who wish to
maintain diplomatic relations with China have had to sever their formal
relations with Taiwan (more than 100 countries, however, have unofficial
relations with Taiwan).
How many countries belong to the United Nations?
192 countries are UN members. The exceptions
are Taiwan (in 1971, the UN ousted Taiwan and replaced it with the
People's Republic of China) and Vatican City. Kosovo is not
yet a member. The newest UN members are Switzerland (2002) and
Montenegro (2006).
What are the world's newest countries?
The world's newest country is Kosovo, which declared independence from
Serbia in February 2008. Before that, the newest country was Montenegro,
which became a country in June 2006, after splitting off from Serbia. Since 1990, 28 new
nations have come into being. Many of these emerged from the collapse of
the Soviet Union (14 countries) and the breakup of the former Yugoslavia
(7 countries). See our Guide to New Nations.
Are there still any countries that have colonies?
There are 61 colonies or territories in the world. Eight
countries maintain them: Australia (6), Denmark (2), Netherlands (2),
France (16), New Zealand (3), Norway (3), the United Kingdom (15), and the
United States (14). See Territories, Colonies, and
Dependencies for a list of the world's colonies and
what countries administrate them, p. 663.
Are there still territories in the world that are claimed by more
than one country?
There are six major disputed territories in the world: the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank,
the Paracel Islands, Spratly
Islands, Western Sahara, and Antarctica (about a dozen
nations have laid claims to portions of it). In addition, there are
innumerable other territorial disputes throughout the world, many of which
had resulted in ongoing armed conflicts.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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