202 Countries

[+James & Sheryl]

WOW, That is a lot of countries, Does anyone out there know how many countreis the world currently has?????

 

James & Sheryl

South Branch, MI

[+Halden]

193

[Swagger]

Beat me to the punch. I was gonna post the same link.

[+Doc-Dean]

Um... does anyone else see a discrepancy here??

 

Also, the main page says there are geocaches in over 190 countries... well, how many over 190 if there are only 193 countries?

Edited April 14, 2004 by Doc-Dean

[+Halden]

I was wondering the same...If it's over 190, than how many over? Couldn't they say in every country?

[+The Frantic Cachers]

The State Department says 191 independent countries.....but I think that's what the US recognizes.

 

This explains better

 

edit: added link

Edited April 14, 2004 by The Frantic Cachers

[+Halden]

How Many Countries Are in the World?

 

Dateline: 09/13/99 (Rev. 11/17/02)

 

A very frequent geographical question is "How many countries are in the world?." Different numbers pop up when one inquires or reads about the number of countries in the world. Each source you use often yields a different answer.

 

United Nations

 

There are 191 members of the United Nations. Unfortunately, the number 191 is too often used to represent the number of countries in the world. Although this number represents almost all of the countries in the world, there is still one country (the Vatican City) that is independent and has chosen not to become a member of the U.N.

 

U.S. Department of State

 

The United States State Department recognizes 192 independent countries around the world. Their list of 192 countries reflects the political agenda of the United States of America and its allies. Missing from the State Department's is one entity that may or may not be considered a country, depending on who you talk to.

 

The One Outsider

 

Taiwan meets most of the requirements of independent country status. However, due to political reasons, it fails to be recognized by the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.

 

Taiwan was actually a member of the United Nations (and even the Security Council) until 1971, when mainland China replaced Taiwan in the organization. Taiwan continues to press for full recognition by other countries, to become "part of the club" and fully recognized worldwide but China claims that Taiwan is simply a province of China.

 

Thus...

 

Your Guide considers there to be 193 countries, which is probably the best answer to the question, "How many countries are in the world?" unless Taiwan is officially absorbed into China at some point, in which case the answer would be 192.

 

However...

 

Recognize that there are dozens of territories and colonies that are sometimes considered "countries" but don't count at all - they're governed by other countries. Places commonly confused as being countries include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Greenland, and Western Sahara.

 

Source

[+Divine]

Um... does anyone else see a discrepancy here??

The list of 'countries' at Gc.com has quite broad definition of 'country'. There are listed such parts of Denmark like Faroe Islands and Greenland, part of Finland like Åland Islands, and other various kind of autonomous areas, territories or dependencies like Antarctica etc, which are not really countries.

 

Edit: Bah...should have read what Halden said more carefully. He already covered the question.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Divine

[+shunra]

The problem with the question is not only that there is no agreement about the definition of a country, but that the question presumes there ought to be one. Imposing a neutral definition is equally idiosyncratic and narrow-minded as applying the State Department's definition.

 

To answer the question, one would have to go into complicated definitions of independence end interdependence, autonomy, sovereignty, etc.

[+James & Sheryl]

When I started this thread I had no idea how involved the answer would be, or how interesting. Thanks for all your answers.

 

JAMES