# what is the definitice number of countries in the world right now??

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 18, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753 "2003-12-18T14:25:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![naomi2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@naomi2003](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naomi2003)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/1 "2003-12-18T14:25:38Z")

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I have asked a few people this and they have all given different answers. Anybody know the real number? Do principalities such as Monaco count as countries??

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**Author:** ![naomi2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@naomi2003](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naomi2003)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/2 "2003-12-18T14:27:11Z")

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by the way that should have read ‘definitive’ in the original thread

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**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/3 "2003-12-18T14:31:03Z")

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I honestly don’t think you can be given a definitive number, as there are no definite method of defining countries. But in the ballpark of 193, depending on definition used.

[How Many Countries Are in the World?](http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa091399.htm)

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**Author:** ![Xcalibur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Xcalibur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xcalibur)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/4 "2003-12-18T14:54:47Z")

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Over or about 234…yah, 234

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**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/5 "2003-12-18T15:00:49Z")

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There’s not an answer that everybody can agree on. However places like Monaco or Andorra are definitely considered independent countries on their own.

[Wikipedia article](http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries) discusses about this and gives some interesting lists of country characteristics.

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/6 "2003-12-18T15:11:13Z")

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My “internal list” always counted 192… but that was before the independence of East Timor, so I’ll go with 193, too.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-definitice-number-of-countries-in-the-world-right-now/219753/7 "2003-12-18T15:36:12Z")

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As the linked article points out, **naomi** , for a “definitive” list of countries you’d also need a _definition_ of “country”. But yes, small sovereign states like Monaco, San Marino or Palau are normally counted.