How Many Countries Are There? Quiz Traps From the UN’s 193 Member States, Two Observer States, the US State Department’s 197 Independent States, the Original 51 and Names That Differ Between Lists

193 is the number on the end of the United Nations’ own membership history: the page headed “Growth in United Nations membership” ends with “193 Members (2011)”, the year South Sudan was added. That answers one version of the question “how many countries are there?”. This guide takes the numbers in turn, with the page dates and definitions each source gives.

193: the UN’s member states

The UN’s list of member states gives each state a date of admission, and counting its entries gives 193. The United Kingdom appears as a single entry, “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, admitted on 24 October 1945. The UN pages are undated and were read on 7 November 2026.

The newest entries on that list are Switzerland, admitted on 10 September 2002, Timor-Leste on 27 September 2002, Montenegro on 28 June 2006 and South Sudan on 14 July 2011.

2: the observer states

The UN has a separate page for non-member states that have received a standing invitation to take part as observers in the General Assembly, and it lists two: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. For Palestine the page says that General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012 accorded non-member observer state status. The UN’s page calls both non-member states, so neither is among the 193.

197: the US State Department’s count

The US Department of State’s fact sheet “Independent States in the World”, dated 11 August 2026, gives a total count of independent states of 197. It uses its own definition: a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory recognized as independent by the US.

The fact sheet marks which entries are members of the United Nations. Counted from the page, 193 entries carry that marker and four do not: Cook Islands, Holy See, Kosovo and Niue. Taiwan is listed separately under “Other”, with notes saying it is claimed by both the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the authorities on Taiwan, and administered by the authorities on Taiwan.

The 193 and 197 figures measure different things, one being UN membership and the other recognition by the United States, so neither corrects the other. A quiz answer should say which list it uses.

51: the founders, and the members that changed shape

The UN’s growth page lists 51 original members in 1945, including Egypt, Syria, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The 1945 list includes the names Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Yugoslavia, and membership stood at 82 in 1958 and 99 in 1960. The page also records several changes that catch out quiz players:

• Syria merged with Egypt on 22 February 1958 to become the United Arab Republic, and resumed its separate membership on 13 October 1961.
• Indonesia temporarily withdrew from the United Nations on 20 January 1965 and rejoined on 28 September 1966.
• The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were both added in 1973. On 3 October 1990 the latter acceded to the former, resulting in the reunification of Germany; the member list gives Germany one admission date, 18 September 1973.
• The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (a member since 1967) was united with the Yemen Arab Republic (a member since 1947) on 22 May 1990, forming the Republic of Yemen.
• Czechoslovakia was an original member. The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic ceased to exist on 31 December 1992, and on 19 January 1993 the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic were both admitted separately.
• The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an original member, was removed from the official roster of UN members in 2000 following its dissolution.

One state, more than one name

The two lists do not always use the same short name. The UN’s member list has Myanmar, while the State Department’s list has Burma, with the long form “Union of Burma”. The UN list has Türkiye; the State Department’s short form is Turkey, and its Note 5 says the conventional names remain “Republic of Turkey” and “Turkey” while “Republic of Türkiye” should be used in formal and diplomatic contexts. The UN’s list gives the Netherlands as “Netherlands (Kingdom of the)”, admitted on 10 December 1945, while the State Department’s list pairs the short form Netherlands with the long form “Kingdom of the Netherlands”. A question about a name is a question about whose list is meant.

The bottom line

The UN’s own pages support 193 member states (the count ends with South Sudan in 2011) plus two observer states, the Holy See and the State of Palestine. The US State Department’s fact sheet of 11 August 2026 gives 197 independent states under its own definition, with four entries that carry no UN marker. A quiz answer can name the list, the body and the date: “193 UN member states” or “197 independent states per the US State Department, 11 August 2026”, rather than just “countries”.

Sources

• Member States, United Nations, page undated, read 7 November 2026 (un.org)
• Growth in United Nations membership, United Nations, page undated, read 7 November 2026 (un.org)
• Non-Member-States, United Nations, page undated, read 7 November 2026 (un.org)
• Independent States in the World, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, US Department of State, 11 August 2026, read 7 November 2026 (state.gov)