Territories, Sovereignties and Governments — The World, with the Evidence

In a wood-panelled hall, a crowd of men in black with large white collars surrounds a table and raises their hands to take an oath. — The oath of peace between Spain and the United Provinces in the town hall of Münster, on 15 May 1648, painted by Gerard ter Borch; the painter depicted himself standing, on the far left. Gerard ter Borch (II), Public domain, source

How many countries are there in the world?

Everyone doubtless has a figure in mind. It is probably right. So is another one.

Territory, sovereignty, government

These three words are often used interchangeably; yet they denote three distinct things.

Territory is the space: a portion of the Earth’s surface bounded by borders, with its inhabitants and its resources.

Sovereignty is the right to make decisions about that space without having to answer to anyone else. A sovereign state makes its laws, raises its taxes, maintains its army and signs its treaties on its own. This is what distinguishes a country from a region, a province or a colony — which have a territory, but depend on decisions taken elsewhere.

The government is the team that exercises this power at a given moment. It changes; the state endures. A France without a government for a few weeks is still France.

What makes counting difficult

A territory can have an effective government, a currency, an army and controlled borders, and be recognised by only a handful of states — or by none. It functions as a country without being counted as one. Is it a country?

Legal scholars themselves disagree, and each of their two answers has a name.

For the declarative theory, a state exists as soon as it meets four material conditions. A convention signed in Montevideo in 1933 lists them: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with the other states. The following article is clearer still: “The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.” Recognition merely records an existing fact.
For the constitutive theory, a state exists only from the moment the others accept it. Recognition does not record a fact: it creates one.¹

The disagreement is not theoretical. Depending on which answer is adopted, certain territories are or are not countries — even though they fulfil the material conditions.

That is why the question “how many countries?” has no single answer: depending on whether one requires recognition by the UN, recognition by a majority of states or merely effective control on the ground, the total differs.

How power is distributed

Governments differ less in their names than in their answers to two questions: who decides, and who can dismiss them?

In a democracy, those who govern are chosen by the governed in regular elections, and can be replaced without violence. This last point is the most important: it is not the election that makes a democracy, but the possibility of losing.
In a monarchy, the head of state comes to power by heredity. Some monarchies are democracies — the king reigns without governing, as in Spain or Sweden; others genuinely concentrate power.
In a republic, the head of state is not hereditary. This term says nothing about the way he or she is chosen: there are democratic republics and republics where nobody votes freely.

“Republic” and “democracy” are therefore not synonyms, and a country’s official name says nothing about how it really works — as this site points out elsewhere with regard to other labels.

Three answers, all defensible

193. That has been the number of member states of the United Nations since 2011.²

195. If one adds the two entities that take part in its work as permanent observers: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. This is the most common answer, the one most quizzes expect.³

More still, if one adds the territories that function as countries without a seat at the UN, then those that only a few states recognise — or if one counts the delegations that parade at the Olympic Games, which outnumber the member states.

Nobody is wrong. These are not several measurements of the same thing: they are several ways of deciding what a country is.

Why a country is not measured like a length

The essential point is simple.

A mountain is as high as it is, whether or not it is recognised. The same is not true of a country.

Being a country does not depend only on what one possesses — a government, a currency, an army, a population. It also depends on who recognises it. Recognition is not a quality of the place: it is a decision that one state takes about another.⁴

The case of Taiwan is a textbook example. The island has a government, a currency, an army and millions of inhabitants. It therefore fulfils the Montevideo conditions. But only a handful of states recognise it officially, and their number is falling year by year; it is not a member of the United Nations.

The way the obstacle is circumvented is revealing. The United States has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan — but a law passed in 1979 provides precisely for the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations, conducted by a body designated for that purpose. A law was written to maintain relations with a country that is not recognised.⁵

There is no general rule, only relations.

The same territory can therefore be a country for one government and not for another, at the same moment. This is not an anomaly: it is how recognition works.

This site takes no side in these disagreements. It states what each territory possesses, and who recognises it. Both pieces of information can be checked and dated — and they change, which is also information.

The nation-state is recent

Another fact is surprising.

The country one lives in, with its borders and its government, seems always to have existed. The figures say otherwise.

When the United Nations was founded in 1945, it had 51 members.⁶

It has had 193 since 14 July 2011, when South Sudan was admitted.⁷

Nearly two-thirds of today’s countries were not members eighty years ago. Some were colonies, others parts of larger entities, others did not have those particular borders.

Moreover, the admission dates in the official list are telling: thirteen African countries joined on the same day, 20 September 1960. An administrative list thus preserves the trace of a historic turning point.⁸

And before that?

The nation-state — a territory, fixed borders, a government, an official language — is one form among others, and it is young.⁹

For most of history, humans have lived within other frameworks. Empires, which brought very different peoples together under a distant authority. Cities that governed themselves. Confederations, in which several groups made decisions together without merging. Chiefdoms. Societies that had no state at all — which does not mean that they lived without rules.

A remark on vocabulary is called for: “without a state” does not mean “without organisation”. These societies had ways of deciding, judging and sharing out. They simply had not entrusted them to a central power.¹⁰

Note 1

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a. a permanent population; b. a defined territory; c. government; and d. capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3

The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.

Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3

Even before recognition the state has the right to defend its integrity and independence […] The recognition of a state merely signifies that the state which recognizes it accepts the personality of the other with all the rights and duties determined by international law.

Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a. a permanent population; b. a defined territory; c. government; and d. capacity to enter into relations with the other states. […] The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.

Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3

See the full note ↓

Note 2

193 Members (2011)

Organisation des Nations unies, “Growth in United Nations membership”, page officielle

See the full note ↓

Note 3

États non membres auxquels a été adressée une invitation permanente à participer en qualité d’observateurs aux sessions et aux travaux de l’Assemblée générale et ayant une mission permanente d’observation au Siège de l’ONU. […] Mission permanente d'observation du Saint-Siège auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies […] Mission permanente d’observation de la Palestine auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies

Non-member states that have received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintain a permanent observer mission at UN Headquarters. […] Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations […] Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations

Organisation des Nations unies, “États non membres”, page officielle

See the full note ↓

Note 4

La reconnaissance d'un Etat nouveau est l'acte libre par lequel un ou plusieurs Etats constatent l'existence sur un territoire déterminé d'une société humaine politiquement organisée, […] et manifestent en conséquence leur volonté de la considérer comme membre de la Communauté internationale.

The recognition of a new State is the free act by which one or more States acknowledge the existence, on a defined territory, of a politically organised human society, […] and consequently express their will to regard it as a member of the international community.

Institut de droit international, “La reconnaissance des nouveaux États et des nouveaux gouvernements”, resolution, Brussels session, 23 April 1936

See the full note ↓

Note 5

To help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and for other purposes. […] Programs, transactions, and other relations conducted or carried out by the President or any agency of the United States Government with respect to Taiwan shall, in the manner and to the extent directed by the President, be conducted and carried out by or through— (1) The American Institute in Taiwan

Congrès des États-Unis, Taiwan Relations Act, Public Law 96-8, 10 April 1979

See the full note ↓

Note 6

Original 51 Members (1945)

Organisation des Nations unies, “Growth in United Nations membership”, page officielle

See the full note ↓

Note 7

Soudan du Sud […] Date d'admission : 14-07-2011

South Sudan […] Date of admission: 14-07-2011

Organisation des Nations unies, “États Membres”, liste officielle avec dates d’admission

See the full note ↓

Note 8

Bénin […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Burkina Faso […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Cameroun […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Congo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Côte d'Ivoire […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Gabon […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Madagascar […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Niger […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] République centrafricaine […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] République démocratique du Congo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Somalie […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Tchad […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Togo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960

Benin […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Burkina Faso […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Cameroon […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Congo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Côte d’Ivoire […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Gabon […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Madagascar […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Niger […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Central African Republic […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Democratic Republic of the Congo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Somalia […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Chad […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Togo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960

Organisation des Nations unies, “États Membres”, liste officielle avec dates d’admission

See the full note ↓

Note 9

Why did the nation-state proliferate across the world over the past 200 years, replacing empires, kingdoms, city-states, and the like?

Wimmer, Andreas and Feinstein, Yuval, “The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001”, American Sociological Review, October 2010, abstract

See the full note ↓

Note 10

In such communities, power is not concentrated in any formal position of leadership but rather diffused throughout society […] People make decisions through discussion and consensus. […] relies on extended family structures and/or councils to organize leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution. […] Rather than accumulating wealth, people shared with others in their kin groups.

Hasty, Jennifer, Lewis, David G. and Snipes, Marjorie M., Introduction to Anthropology, OpenStax, 2022, section 8.2 “Acephalous Societies: Bands and Tribes”

See the full note ↓

Key terms

Recognition: a decision by which a state officially accepts that another exists.
Sovereignty: the capacity of a power to make decisions on its own ground without depending on another.
Border: the limit of a territory. It always results from a history, never from a fact of nature.
Confederation: a union of groups that make decisions together without ceasing to exist separately.
Permanent observer: an entity admitted to follow the work of the United Nations without voting.
Monarchy: a regime in which the head of state comes to power by heredity. This term says nothing about the way the country is governed.
Declarative theory: the majority legal position according to which a state exists as soon as it meets four material conditions, recognition merely recording it.

Notes and sources

↑
Passage a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with the other states
The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a. a permanent population; b. a defined territory; c. government; and d. capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
Source Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3, article 1.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
Passage The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.
The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.
Source Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3, article 3.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
Passage Recognition merely records an existing fact.
Even before recognition the state has the right to defend its integrity and independence […] The recognition of a state merely signifies that the state which recognizes it accepts the personality of the other with all the rights and duties determined by international law.
Source Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3, articles 3 and 6.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
Passage For the declarative theory, a state exists as soon as it meets four material conditions
The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a. a permanent population; b. a defined territory; c. government; and d. capacity to enter into relations with the other states. […] The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.
Source Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3, articles 1 and 3.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage 193. That has been the number of member states of the United Nations since 2011.
193 Members (2011)
Source Organisation des Nations unies, “Growth in United Nations membership”, page officielle, last section of the page.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage the two entities that take part in its work as permanent observers: the Holy See and the State of Palestine
États non membres auxquels a été adressée une invitation permanente à participer en qualité d’observateurs aux sessions et aux travaux de l’Assemblée générale et ayant une mission permanente d’observation au Siège de l’ONU. […] Mission permanente d'observation du Saint-Siège auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies […] Mission permanente d’observation de la Palestine auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies
Editors’ translation Non-member states that have received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintain a permanent observer mission at UN Headquarters. […] Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations […] Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
Source Organisation des Nations unies, “États non membres”, page officielle, introduction and headings of the page.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage Recognition is not a quality of the place: it is a decision that one state takes about another.
La reconnaissance d'un Etat nouveau est l'acte libre par lequel un ou plusieurs Etats constatent l'existence sur un territoire déterminé d'une société humaine politiquement organisée, […] et manifestent en conséquence leur volonté de la considérer comme membre de la Communauté internationale.
Editors’ translation The recognition of a new State is the free act by which one or more States acknowledge the existence, on a defined territory, of a politically organised human society, […] and consequently express their will to regard it as a member of the international community.
Source Institut de droit international, “La reconnaissance des nouveaux États et des nouveaux gouvernements”, resolution, Brussels session, 23 April 1936, article 1, 1st paragraph.
Open access open the source · checked on 27 October 2026
↑
Passage a law passed in 1979 provides precisely for the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations, conducted by a body designated for that purpose
To help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and for other purposes. […] Programs, transactions, and other relations conducted or carried out by the President or any agency of the United States Government with respect to Taiwan shall, in the manner and to the extent directed by the President, be conducted and carried out by or through— (1) The American Institute in Taiwan
Source Congrès des États-Unis, Taiwan Relations Act, Public Law 96-8, 10 April 1979, title of the act; section 6(a).
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage When the United Nations was founded in 1945, it had 51 members.
Original 51 Members (1945)
Source Organisation des Nations unies, “Growth in United Nations membership”, page officielle, first section of the page.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage It has had 193 since 14 July 2011, when South Sudan was admitted.
Soudan du Sud […] Date d'admission : 14-07-2011
Editors’ translation South Sudan […] Date of admission: 14-07-2011
Source Organisation des Nations unies, “États Membres”, liste officielle avec dates d’admission, official list, entry “South Sudan”.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage thirteen African countries joined on the same day, 20 September 1960
Bénin […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Burkina Faso […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Cameroun […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Congo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Côte d'Ivoire […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Gabon […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Madagascar […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Niger […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] République centrafricaine […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] République démocratique du Congo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Somalie […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Tchad […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960 […] Togo […] Date d'admission : 20-09-1960
Editors’ translation Benin […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Burkina Faso […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Cameroon […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Congo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Côte d’Ivoire […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Gabon […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Madagascar […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Niger […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Central African Republic […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Democratic Republic of the Congo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Somalia […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Chad […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960 […] Togo […] Date of admission: 20-09-1960
Source Organisation des Nations unies, “États Membres”, liste officielle avec dates d’admission, admission dates in the official list.
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026
↑
Passage The nation-state […] is one form among others, and it is young.
Why did the nation-state proliferate across the world over the past 200 years, replacing empires, kingdoms, city-states, and the like?
Source Wimmer, Andreas and Feinstein, Yuval, “The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001”, American Sociological Review, October 2010, abstract, abstract, 1st sentence.
Open access open the source · checked on 27 October 2026
↑
Passage “without a state” does not mean “without organisation”. These societies had ways of deciding, judging and sharing out.
In such communities, power is not concentrated in any formal position of leadership but rather diffused throughout society […] People make decisions through discussion and consensus. […] relies on extended family structures and/or councils to organize leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution. […] Rather than accumulating wealth, people shared with others in their kin groups.
Source Hasty, Jennifer, Lewis, David G. and Snipes, Marjorie M., Introduction to Anthropology, OpenStax, 2022, section 8.2 “Acephalous Societies: Bands and Tribes”, section 8.2 “Acephalous Societies: Bands and Tribes” (bands, then tribes and the Nuer).
Open access open the source · checked on 27 October 2026

Bibliography

Congrès des États-Unis, Taiwan Relations Act, Public Law 96-8, 10 April 1979, open access (the law that provides for the continuation of commercial and cultural relations in the absence of official diplomatic relations). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-93/pdf/STATUTE-93-Pg14.pdf
Convention concernant les droits et devoirs des États, Montevideo, 26 December 1933, articles 1 et 3, open access (the four material conditions; political existence independent of recognition). https://www.jus.uio.no/english/services/library/treaties/01/1-02/rights-duties-states.html
Crawford, James, The Creation of States in International Law, 2ᵉ éd., Oxford University Press, 2006, in libraries (what recognition is and why it is a decision of a state).
Hasty, Jennifer, Lewis, David G. and Snipes, Marjorie M., Introduction to Anthropology, OpenStax, 2022, section 8.2 “Acephalous Societies: Bands and Tribes”, open access (societies without a central power: decisions by consensus, councils that settle conflicts, sharing of goods). https://openstax.org/books/introduction-anthropology/pages/8-2-acephalous-societies-bands-and-tribes
Institut de droit international, “La reconnaissance des nouveaux États et des nouveaux gouvernements”, resolution, Brussels session, 23 April 1936, open access. https://www.idi-iil.org/app/uploads/2017/06/1936_brux_01_fr.pdf
Organisation des Nations unies, “États Membres”, liste officielle avec dates d’admission, open access (admission of South Sudan on 14 July 2011, the group admissions of 20 September 1960). https://www.un.org/fr/about-us/member-states
Organisation des Nations unies, “Growth in United Nations membership”, page officielle, open access (51 members in 1945, 193 since 2011, South Sudan the most recently admitted). https://www.un.org/en/about-us/growth-in-un-membership
Organisation des Nations unies, “États non membres”, page officielle, open access (the Holy See and the State of Palestine, permanent observers). https://www.un.org/fr/about-us/non-member-states
Scott, James C., Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, Yale University Press, 2017, in libraries (stateless societies and their rules).
Tilly, Charles, Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1992, Blackwell, 1992, in libraries (the youth of the nation-state among other political forms).
Wimmer, Andreas and Feinstein, Yuval, “The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001”, American Sociological Review, October 2010, open-access abstract (Center on Global Thought, Columbia University). https://cgt.columbia.edu/research/papers-and-research/the-rise-of-the-nation-state-across-the-world-1816-to-2001

Recognition figures change. They are dated in the text and checked every year.

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