How many countries?

[INDY]

How many countries are there in the world at the present time

[sddsddean]

I have found a site that says 272 (with UK as seperate countries ie England, Scotland etc). Any other guesses?

[sft42]

I remember this being asked and debated at some great length in a quiz league....the answer usually accepted is 192....this coming from the 191 countries that are members of the UN plus the Vatican State..However it was discovered that Taiwan wasn't included in this list so perhaps 193 might be right....there are lots of places to be left out like Greenland, Wales and Puerto Rico which are either principalities, colonies or territories. This site http://www.countrywatch.com/@school/number_countri
es.htm give a full listing of the countries that make up the 192. This link http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/research/reports/2001/
wacziarg.html a study by professors from Stanford and Harvard also gives creedence to the 192 number .

[archbishop]

Switzerland isn't in The United Nations,is it?

[Quizmonster]

193 - now that East Timor is independent - is probably the safest figure to go with, as Sft suggests, though for a different reason. It depends, you see, on whose list you accept. The American Government, for example, does not recognise Taiwan, but most other countries do. The United Nations does not include the Vatican or Switzerland, though the people of the latter country recently voted to join. (I'm not sure whether that has gone through yet.) Are Scotland, England and Wales three countries or just one as the bulk of the United Kingdom? And so it goes on. The figure of 193 includes the Vatican and Switzerland and treats the UK as one.