Countries · 2026

How many countries are there in the world?

There are 195 countries in the world: the 193 member states of the United Nations and 2 observer states, the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine. The UN's population tables list 237 countries and areas in all; the other 42 are territories such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico and Greenland, and places whose status is disputed, such as Taiwan and Kosovo.

Countries by continent

Africa

54

countries, plus 4 other areas
Asia

46

countries, plus 3 other areas
Europe

45

countries, plus 6 other areas
North America

23

countries, plus 18 other areas
South America

12

countries, plus 2 other areas
Oceania

15

countries, plus 9 other areas

Countries spanning two continents (Russia, Türkiye, Egypt, Kazakhstan) are counted once, where GeoNames places them, so other lists may put one or two elsewhere.

Countries in Africa: 54

1.58 billion people

Countries in Africa, 2026
#
1	Nigeria	242,431,832	923,768	Abuja	Africa
2	Ethiopia	138,902,185	1,127,127	Addis Ababa	Africa
3	Egypt	120,101,175	1,001,450	Cairo	Africa
4	DR Congo	116,452,162	2,345,410	Kinshasa	Africa
5	Tanzania	72,563,780	945,087	Dodoma	Africa
6	South Africa	65,453,084	1,219,912	Pretoria	Africa
7	Kenya	58,636,412	582,650	Nairobi	Africa
8	Sudan	53,282,719	1,861,484	Khartoum	Africa
9	Uganda	52,761,470	236,040	Kampala	Africa
10	Algeria	48,028,334	2,381,740	Algiers	Africa
11	Angola	40,215,180	1,246,700	Luanda	Africa
12	Morocco	38,762,441	446,550	Rabat	Africa
13	Mozambique	36,639,850	801,590	Maputo	Africa
14	Ghana	35,697,557	239,460	Accra	Africa
15	Madagascar	33,522,052	587,040	Antananarivo	Africa
16	Côte d'Ivoire	33,494,346	322,460	Yamoussoukro	Africa
17	Cameroon	30,640,817	475,440	Yaounde	Africa
18	Niger	28,814,878	1,267,000	Niamey	Africa
19	Mali	25,932,275	1,240,000	Bamako	Africa
20	Burkina Faso	24,601,700	274,200	Ouagadougou	Africa
21	Malawi	22,785,535	118,480	Lilongwe	Africa
22	Zambia	22,521,915	752,614	Lusaka	Africa
23	Chad	21,560,380	1,284,000	N'Djamena	Africa
24	Somalia	20,305,907	637,657	Mogadishu	Africa
25	Senegal	19,366,548	196,190	Dakar	Africa
26	Zimbabwe	17,273,580	390,580	Harare	Africa
27	Guinea	15,441,992	245,857	Conakry	Africa
28	Benin	15,170,420	112,620	Porto-Novo	Africa
29	Rwanda	14,889,693	26,338	Kigali	Africa
30	Burundi	14,729,157	27,830	Gitega	Africa
31	South Sudan	12,436,037	644,329	Juba	Africa
32	Tunisia	12,415,138	163,610	Tunis	Africa
33	Togo	9,930,918	56,785	Lome	Africa
34	Sierra Leone	8,996,744	71,740	Freetown	Africa
35	Libya	7,539,852	1,759,540	Tripoli	Africa
36	Congo	6,637,786	342,000	Brazzaville	Africa
37	Liberia	5,853,949	111,370	Monrovia	Africa
38	Central African Republic	5,698,984	622,984	Bangui	Africa
39	Mauritania	5,461,319	1,030,700	Nouakchott	Africa
40	Eritrea	3,682,669	121,320	Asmara	Africa
41	Namibia	3,153,246	825,418	Windhoek	Africa
42	Gambia	2,884,079	11,300	Banjul	Africa
43	Gabon	2,647,400	267,667	Libreville	Africa
44	Botswana	2,603,388	600,370	Gaborone	Africa
45	Lesotho	2,389,336	30,355	Maseru	Africa
46	Guinea-Bissau	2,297,808	36,120	Bissau	Africa
47	Equatorial Guinea	1,984,468	28,051	Ciudad de la Paz	Africa
48	Eswatini	1,269,859	17,363	Mbabane	Africa
49	Mauritius	1,265,059	2,040	Port Louis	Africa
50	Djibouti	1,199,459	23,000	Djibouti	Africa
51	Comoros	899,010	2,170	Moroni	Africa
52	Cabo Verde	529,630	4,033	Praia	Africa
53	Sao Tome and Principe	244,994	1,001	Sao Tome	Africa
54	Seychelles	134,959	455	Victoria	Africa

Countries in Asia: 46

4.83 billion people

Countries in Asia, 2026
#
1	India	1,476,625,576	3,287,590	New Delhi	Asia
2	China	1,412,914,089	9,596,960	Beijing	Asia
3	Indonesia	287,886,782	1,919,440	Jakarta	Asia
4	Pakistan	259,299,792	803,940	Islamabad	Asia
5	Bangladesh	177,818,044	144,000	Dhaka	Asia
6	Japan	122,427,731	377,835	Tokyo	Asia
7	Philippines	117,724,472	300,000	Manila	Asia
8	Vietnam	102,177,431	329,560	Hanoi	Asia
9	Iran	93,168,497	1,648,000	Tehran	Asia
10	Turkey	87,926,082	780,580	Ankara	Asia
11	Thailand	71,559,614	514,000	Bangkok	Asia
12	Myanmar	55,184,819	678,500	Nay Pyi Taw	Asia
13	South Korea	51,600,388	98,480	Seoul	Asia
14	Iraq	48,007,437	437,072	Baghdad	Asia
15	Afghanistan	45,047,068	647,500	Kabul	Asia
16	Yemen	42,961,653	527,970	Sanaa	Asia
17	Uzbekistan	37,724,223	447,400	Tashkent	Asia
18	Malaysia	36,385,115	329,750	Kuala Lumpur	Asia
19	Saudi Arabia	35,165,787	1,960,582	Riyadh	Asia
20	Nepal	29,629,410	140,800	Kathmandu	Asia
21	North Korea	26,633,691	120,540	Pyongyang	Asia
22	Syria	26,472,497	185,180	Damascus	Asia
23	Sri Lanka	23,348,315	65,610	Colombo	Asia
24	Kazakhstan	21,083,626	2,717,300	Nur-Sultan	Asia
25	Cambodia	18,051,219	181,040	Phnom Penh	Asia
26	Jordan	11,589,532	92,300	Amman	Asia
27	United Arab Emirates	11,574,682	82,880	Abu Dhabi	Asia
28	Tajikistan	10,978,598	143,100	Dushanbe	Asia
29	Azerbaijan	10,454,855	86,600	Baku	Asia
30	Israel	9,647,689	20,770	Jerusalem	Asia
31	Laos	7,974,018	236,800	Vientiane	Asia
32	Turkmenistan	7,736,632	488,100	Ashgabat	Asia
33	Kyrgyzstan	7,400,464	198,500	Bishkek	Asia
34	Singapore	5,905,748	736	Singapore	Asia
35	Lebanon	5,897,467	10,400	Beirut	Asia
36	Palestine (observer)	5,692,790	5,970	East Jerusalem	Asia
37	Oman	5,671,458	309,500	Muscat	Asia
38	Kuwait	5,102,773	17,820	Kuwait City	Asia
39	Georgia	3,804,642	69,700	Tbilisi	Asia
40	Mongolia	3,556,798	1,565,000	Ulaanbaatar	Asia
41	Qatar	3,173,559	11,437	Doha	Asia
42	Armenia	2,930,915	29,800	Yerevan	Asia
43	Bahrain	1,675,572	800	Manama	Asia
44	Bhutan	802,214	38,390	Thimphu	Asia
45	Maldives	531,517	300	Male	Asia
46	Brunei	469,775	5,770	Bandar Seri Begawan	Asia

Countries in Europe: 45

743 million people

Countries in Europe, 2026
#
1	Russia	143,394,458	17,100,000	Moscow	Europe
2	Germany	83,644,258	357,021	Berlin	Europe
3	United Kingdom	69,931,528	244,820	London	Europe
4	France	66,746,401	547,030	Paris	Europe
5	Italy	58,926,166	301,230	Rome	Europe
6	Spain	47,850,793	504,782	Madrid	Europe
7	Ukraine	39,535,848	603,700	Kyiv	Europe
8	Poland	37,843,188	312,685	Warsaw	Europe
9	Romania	18,800,605	237,500	Bucharest	Europe
10	Netherlands	18,448,775	41,526	Amsterdam	Europe
11	Belgium	11,774,642	30,510	Brussels	Europe
12	Sweden	10,701,046	449,964	Stockholm	Europe
13	Czechia	10,527,780	78,866	Prague	Europe
14	Portugal	10,395,362	92,391	Lisbon	Europe
15	Greece	9,897,116	131,940	Athens	Europe
16	Hungary	9,585,818	93,030	Budapest	Europe
17	Austria	9,107,266	83,858	Vienna	Europe
18	Switzerland	9,007,798	41,290	Bern	Europe
19	Belarus	8,937,018	207,600	Minsk	Europe
20	Bulgaria	6,667,660	110,910	Sofia	Europe
21	Serbia	6,641,964	88,361	Belgrade	Europe
22	Denmark	6,023,520	43,094	Copenhagen	Europe
23	Norway	5,652,989	324,220	Oslo	Europe
24	Finland	5,621,739	337,030	Helsinki	Europe
25	Slovakia	5,451,342	48,845	Bratislava	Europe
26	Ireland	5,356,950	70,280	Dublin	Europe
27	Croatia	3,822,345	56,542	Zagreb	Europe
28	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,114,242	51,129	Sarajevo	Europe
29	Moldova	2,961,253	33,843	Chisinau	Europe
30	Lithuania	2,797,338	65,200	Vilnius	Europe
31	Albania	2,751,025	28,748	Tirana	Europe
32	Slovenia	2,114,574	20,273	Ljubljana	Europe
33	Latvia	1,835,935	64,589	Riga	Europe
34	North Macedonia	1,804,062	25,333	Skopje	Europe
35	Cyprus	1,382,334	9,250	Nicosia	Europe
36	Estonia	1,331,062	45,226	Tallinn	Europe
37	Luxembourg	687,448	2,586	Luxembourg	Europe
38	Montenegro	626,233	14,026	Podgorica	Europe
39	Malta	549,011	316	Valletta	Europe
40	Iceland	402,329	103,000	Reykjavik	Europe
41	Andorra	83,753	468	Andorra la Vella	Europe
42	Liechtenstein	40,368	160	Vaduz	Europe
43	Monaco	38,087	1.95	Monaco	Europe
44	San Marino	33,605	61	San Marino	Europe
45	Vatican (observer)	506	0.44	Vatican City	Europe

Countries in North America: 23

617 million people

Countries in North America, 2026
#
1	United States	349,035,494	9,629,091	Washington, D.C.	North America
2	Mexico	132,997,658	1,972,550	Mexico City	North America
3	Canada	40,467,728	9,984,670	Ottawa	North America
4	Guatemala	18,967,978	108,890	Guatemala City	North America
5	Haiti	12,037,506	27,750	Port-au-Prince	North America
6	Dominican Republic	11,609,500	48,730	Santo Domingo	North America
7	Honduras	11,184,760	112,090	Tegucigalpa	North America
8	Cuba	10,892,659	110,860	Havana	North America
9	Nicaragua	7,097,329	129,494	Managua	North America
10	El Salvador	6,391,254	21,040	San Salvador	North America
11	Costa Rica	5,174,789	51,100	San Jose	North America
12	Panama	4,625,718	78,200	Panama City	North America
13	Jamaica	2,833,404	10,991	Kingston	North America
14	Trinidad and Tobago	1,513,268	5,128	Port of Spain	North America
15	Belize	428,644	22,966	Belmopan	North America
16	Bahamas	404,628	13,940	Nassau	North America
17	Barbados	282,724	431	Bridgetown	North America
18	Saint Lucia	180,488	616	Castries	North America
19	Grenada	117,362	344	St. George's	North America
20	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	99,244	389	Kingstown	North America
21	Antigua and Barbuda	94,626	443	St. John's	North America
22	Dominica	65,511	754	Roseau	North America
23	Saint Kitts and Nevis	46,992	261	Basseterre	North America

Countries in South America: 12

440 million people

Countries in South America, 2026
#
1	Brazil	213,562,666	8,511,965	Brasilia	South America
2	Colombia	53,936,226	1,138,910	Bogota	South America
3	Argentina	46,003,734	2,766,890	Buenos Aires	South America
4	Peru	34,922,148	1,285,220	Lima	South America
5	Venezuela	28,633,711	912,050	Caracas	South America
6	Chile	19,945,850	756,950	Santiago	South America
7	Ecuador	18,444,506	256,370	Quito	South America
8	Bolivia	12,749,291	1,098,580	Sucre	South America
9	Paraguay	7,095,279	406,750	Asuncion	South America
10	Uruguay	3,382,537	176,220	Montevideo	South America
11	Guyana	840,890	214,970	Georgetown	South America
12	Suriname	645,256	163,270	Paramaribo	South America

Countries in Oceania: 15

47.7 million people

Countries in Oceania, 2026
#
1	Australia	27,227,096	7,686,850	Canberra	Oceania
2	Papua New Guinea	10,947,848	462,840	Port Moresby	Oceania
3	New Zealand	5,287,479	268,680	Wellington	Oceania
4	Timor Leste	1,436,923	15,007	Dili	Oceania
5	Fiji	937,282	18,270	Suva	Oceania
6	Solomon Islands	858,288	28,450	Honiara	Oceania
7	Vanuatu	342,564	12,200	Port Vila	Oceania
8	Samoa	220,528	2,944	Apia	Oceania
9	Kiribati	138,445	811	Tarawa	Oceania
10	Micronesia	114,182	702	Palikir	Oceania
11	Tonga	103,291	748	Nuku'alofa	Oceania
12	Marshall Islands	35,075	181	Majuro	Oceania
13	Palau	17,614	458	Melekeok	Oceania
14	Nauru	12,101	21	Yaren	Oceania
15	Tuvalu	9,362	26	Funafuti	Oceania

Not counted: 42 other areas

The UN reports their populations separately, but they are not member or observer states. Kosovo and Taiwan are recognised by some countries; the rest are territories of other states.

Taiwan23 million
Hong Kong7.4 million
Puerto Rico3.2 million
Kosovo1.7 million
Reunion886 thousand
Macao723 thousand
Western Sahara611 thousand
Guadeloupe372 thousand
Mayotte348 thousand
Martinique338 thousand
French Guiana319 thousand
New Caledonia298 thousand
French Polynesia283 thousand
Curacao185 thousand
Guam170 thousand
Aruba108 thousand
Jersey104 thousand
Isle of Man84 thousand
U.S. Virgin Islands83 thousand
Cayman Islands77 thousand
Guernsey65 thousand
Bermuda64 thousand
Faroe Islands57 thousand
Greenland56 thousand
Turks and Caicos Islands47 thousand
American Samoa45 thousand
Sint Maarten44 thousand
Northern Mariana Islands43 thousand
Gibraltar41 thousand
British Virgin Islands40 thousand
Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba32 thousand
Saint Martin24 thousand
Anguilla15 thousand
Cook Islands13 thousand
Saint Barthelemy12 thousand
Wallis and Futuna11 thousand
Saint Pierre and Miquelon6 thousand
Saint Helena5 thousand
Montserrat4 thousand
Falkland Islands3 thousand
Tokelau3 thousand
Niue2 thousand

More lists

Questions

How many countries are there in the world?

195: 193 UN member states plus 2 observer states (the Holy See and Palestine). This is the count most atlases and governments use.

How many countries are in the UN?

193. South Sudan was the last to join, in 2011. The Holy See and Palestine take part as non-member observer states.

How many countries are in Africa?

54, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is Nigeria (242 million). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

How many countries are in Asia?

46, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is India (1.48 billion). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

How many countries are in Europe?

45, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is Russia (143 million). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

How many countries are in North America?

23, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is United States (349 million). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

How many countries are in South America?

12, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is Brazil (214 million). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

How many countries are in Oceania?

15, counting UN members and observer states; the most populous is Australia (27.2 million). Countries that span two continents are counted once, where GeoNames places them.

Is Taiwan a country?

Taiwan governs itself but is not a UN member, and only about a dozen UN members recognise it diplomatically; the UN counts it as part of China. It is listed separately here because it has its own population figures (23 million people).

Is Kosovo a country?

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognised by about half of UN members, but it is not a UN member, so it is not in the 195.

What is the largest country in the world?

By area, Russia (17,100,000 km²). By population, India (1.48 billion), ahead of China.

What is the smallest country in the world?

Vatican, by both area (0.44 km²) and population (about 506 people).

Sources

UN membership: United Nations, checked against mledoze/countries (ODbL 1.0). Population: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant. Area and capitals: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).