A-Z List of All Countries in The World
In total, there are 195 countries in the world. Her's the list of all Countries of the world in chronological alphabetical order, Let's Go!
There are 195 countries in the world by the most common count: the 193 member states of the United Nations plus the UN’s two observer states, the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine. All 195 are listed below from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, grouped by first letter, with the number of countries under each letter.
Two places you might expect to see, Kosovo and Taiwan, are not in the 195. They run their own governments, but neither is a UN member or observer. They’re covered just below the list, along with why other sources say 193, 197 or more.
Quick facts about the list
- S has the most countries: 26, from Saint Kitts and Nevis to Syria. M is second with 18; B and C tie for third with 17 each.
- One country each: O (Oman), Q (Qatar) and Y (Yemen).
- No countries at all: W and X. Nothing starts with W or X in English.
- Newest country: South Sudan, which joined the UN on July 14, 2011. No country has joined since.
- Names in parentheses are the older or more familiar English names. The country is listed under the name the UN uses now.
Countries that start with A (11)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
Countries that start with B (17)
- The Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
Countries that start with C (17)
- Cabo Verde (Cape Verde)
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo (Republic of the Congo, capital Brazzaville)
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czechia (Czech Republic)
Countries that start with D (5)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital Kinshasa)
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
Countries that start with E (8)
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
- Ethiopia
Countries that start with F (3)
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
Countries that start with G (11)
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
Countries that start with H (3)
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
Countries that start with I (8)
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
Countries that start with J (3)
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
Countries that start with K (5)
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
Countries that start with L (9)
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
Countries that start with M (18)
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar (Burma)
Countries that start with N (11)
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
Countries that start with O (1)
- Oman
Countries that start with P (10)
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine*
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
Countries that start with Q (1)
- Qatar
Countries that start with R (3)
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
Countries that start with S (26)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
Countries that start with T (11)
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste (East Timor)
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Türkiye (Turkey)
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
Countries that start with U (7)
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
Countries that start with V (4)
- Vanuatu
- Vatican City (Holy See)*
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Countries that start with Y (1)
- Yemen
Countries that start with Z (2)
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
* Palestine and Vatican City (the Holy See) are UN non-member observer states. They can speak at the General Assembly but can’t vote.
Why some lists say 193, 195 or 197
No single authority decides what counts as a country, so the total depends on whose list you use.
- 193: UN member states only. This is the UN’s own list, and it leaves out Vatican City and Palestine.
- 195: the 193 members plus the two UN observer states. This is the number most schools, atlases and quiz sites use, and the one this list follows.
- 196 or 197: the 195 plus Kosovo, Taiwan, or both.
Palestine
The UN upgraded Palestine to “non-member observer state” in 2012. Palestine applied for full membership in 2011, but the Security Council never approved it. As of September 2025, after France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal and several other countries recognized it that month, 157 of the 193 UN members recognized Palestine as a state, according to Al Jazeera’s count. The United States does not.
Kosovo
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The United States, the United Kingdom, France and more than 100 UN members recognize it, but Serbia, Russia and China do not, and Russia can veto UN membership on the Security Council. That keeps Kosovo out of the UN, so it’s left off most 195 lists.
Taiwan
Taiwan has its own government, military, currency and passport, but China claims it, and most countries, the US included, don’t formally recognize it as a separate state. As of May 2026, only 12 countries had full diplomatic ties with Taiwan, per a Reuters factbox: Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and Vatican City. Taiwan left the UN in 1971 when the UN gave China’s seat to Beijing.
What isn’t a country
Places like Greenland, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, Bermuda and Scotland have their own flags, sports teams or even passports, but they’re part of (or governed by) another country. That’s why they aren’t on the list. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are counted together as the United Kingdom.
Names that changed recently
If a country seems to be missing, it may be under a newer name:
- Czechia: the short English name of the Czech Republic, entered in UN databases in July 2016. “Czech Republic” is still the official full name.
- Eswatini: Swaziland’s king renamed the country in April 2018, on the 50th anniversary of independence.
- North Macedonia: renamed from Macedonia in February 2019 under the Prespa Agreement with Greece.
- Türkiye: the UN switched from “Turkey” in June 2022 at the Turkish government’s request.
Two more to watch for: Côte d’Ivoire asks to be called that rather than Ivory Coast, and Timor-Leste is the official name of East Timor.
If you’re using this list for a quiz or a form
Check which count the quiz or form expects. School geography usually means 195. Some forms and databases use the 193 UN members. A dropdown that includes Kosovo or Taiwan is following its own list. When a source says “all countries,” look at whether Vatican City and Palestine are in it. Those two are the whole difference between 193 and 195.