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This list of countries, arranged alphabetically, gives an overview of countries of the world. It includes territories that are independent states (both those that are internationally recognized and generally unrecognized), inhabited dependent territories, and areas of special sovereignty.
Such inclusion criteria means the list does not treat the word "country" as synonymous with "sovereign state," as one may often find in colloquial usage. Note, that in certain circumstances and in certain languages the term country is understood in the most restrictive sense, thus including only the 193 entities mentioned under the first item below.
The list covers all areas under the jurisdiction of the listed countries, namely territory, territorial waters (including internal waters and contiguous zones), exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, and airspace.
The names of countries in the list are given in English and include both an English version of the short official or normative names (e.g. Afghanistan) and an English version of the (longer) official names (e.g. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan). The listing of any name in this article is not meant to imply an official position in any naming dispute.
Types of political entities included
On this list are 245 entities of the following types:
- 193 states with general international recognition:
- 9 states lacking general international recognition, none of which are UN members, that may be defined as states in the body of customary international law, drawing on the precedent of the Montevideo Convention:
- 1 state, no longer a UN member since late 1971, recognized by 22 UN member states and the Holy See (Vatican City), and currently with de facto international relations with many others, the Republic of China (commonly referred to as Taiwan).
- 1 state, recognized by 46 UN member states but never admitted to the UN itself, with most of its claimed territory under Moroccan de facto administration, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Western Sahara.
- 1 state, recognized by 27 UN member states and the Republic of China (Taiwan)[2] and expecting further but ultimately limited recognition in coming days, the Republic of Kosovo.[3]
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- 1 state, diplomatically recognized by no UN member states except Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.[4]
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- 5 de facto independent states, namely Abkhazia (Georgia),[5] Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan),[6] Transnistria (Moldova),[7] Somaliland (Somalia),[8] and South Ossetia (Georgia),[9] none recognized by any UN member states.
- 38 inhabited dependent territories:
- 3 external territories of Australia (Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island).
- 2 overseas countries in the Kingdom of Denmark (Faroe Islands and Greenland).
- 7 overseas territories of France:[10]
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- 2 overseas countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba and Netherlands Antilles).
- 3 dependent territories of New Zealand:
- 16 British dependencies:
- 13 overseas territories of the United Kingdom (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena (and its dependencies Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha), Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia).
- 3 Crown dependencies (Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man).
- 5 unincorporated territories of the United States:
- 5 special entities recognized by international treaty or agreement (Åland in Finland, Svalbard in Norway, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the 2 special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China - Hong Kong and Macau).
In the Annex to the list of countries, an outline is given on the entities not included in this list. This includes distinct political and legal entities which are countries but are considered integral parts of a sovereign state, notably the constituent countries of the United Kingdom and the Länder of Germany.
Key of country names
- Afghanistan (bold) - States with general international recognition
- Abkhazia (bold and italic) - States lacking general international recognition
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia (unbold) - Other non-state countries
List of countries
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