I often get asked how many countries I have visited. Seems like a straightforward question. My personal goal is to reach 40 countries across all seven continents. So, surely I have an official list that I simply use to check off each location that I visit, right? Not exactly. Believe it or not, it is actually very difficult to say for sure depending on each person’s definition of country. There are many places and territories around the globe that are “gray” areas when it comes to sovereignty.
The United Nations officially has 193 member states and 2 observer states – the Holy See (Vatican) and Palestine. Other sources online will list nearly 250 countries. So, why would different sources have different counts? It all boils down to each group’s criteria used to determine whether a location qualifies as a country. While it may seem like the UN’s list would be the most straightforward, there are several things that need to be considered.
Not every country within the UN is unanimously accepted as a sovereign nation. Some member states remain unrecognized by other members. For example, Israel is not recognized by 31 members. North Korea remains unrecognized by South Korea (surprise, surprise), France, and Japan.
Several of the UN member states are sovereign nations made up of a few smaller constituent countries such as the United Kingdom which consists of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Another example is Aruba which is part of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Most people wouldn’t visit the Caribbean island and answer yes when asked if they have been to The Netherlands.
Some places in the world are simply too unique to not count as a entirely different place. Greenland fits the bill here. While Greenland is technically a constituent country that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it differs from it’s parent nation if numerous ways. Greenland is located on another continent, has a unique landscape, separate culture, and even its own language.
Some places, while not technically countries, operate as though they were. Hong Kong which was reunited with China in 1997 after being a British territory for 156 years. Even though Hong Kong is officially a part of China today, the territory has maintained a level of separation. Hong Kong still has it’s own currency and passports. It can even negotiate international trade agreements on its own separate from China.
What you consider a country may vary depending on where you are from and how you view the world. In fact, you may not even care about counting countries at all. You can still travel a lot and visit the same places over and over (which is perfectly OK!) For me, I didn’t create my 40 country/7 continent goal for bragging rights. I did it to ensure that I am always visiting new and unique locations around the globe. At the end of the day, it really boils down to how each traveler wants to define their own journey.
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