The number of countries in the world depends on, to put it simply, the counting authority. Some put the figure at 192, while others have it at 196. What leads to this confusion? Even in these modern times, fighting for independence is not unheard of. Successful entities then become a new country, though it takes a while to be recognized. This is one of the major reasons that leads to confusion when the total number is considered. The other main reason is politics, where one or more countries refuse to acknowledge another as being independent. How Many Countries are there in the World? There are 192 members that constitute the United Nations, hence often the answer is 192. However, there are two countries who have chosen not to become a part of the United Nations. The Vatican City and Kosovo, although independent, are not included in the total tally of 192. The U.S. Department of State recognizes 195 countries in the world. Taiwan is not recognized as an independent country. It is considered to be a part of The People's Republic of China. Due to political reasons, United States refuses to accept Taiwan as an independent country. Till 1971, Taiwan was not only a member of the United Nations, but also part of the Security Council. China replaced Taiwan as part of the United Nation's membership and since then Taiwan has been fighting its lone battle. Although it has been pressing for recognition as an independent country, the People's Republic of China simply claims it to be just a province of China. In the list of 195, however, Kosovo does find a place. There are many provinces which are erroneously mentioned as countries, but they do not count in the total tally, as these are colonies set up by other countries. Some of these are Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Northern Cyprus. Parts of United Kingdom like Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England are not fully independent countries. Added to the above mentioned issues, there always remains the question about the countries like Palestine, Greenland, Western Sahara and South Sudan. Although Greenland has declared its independence from Denmark way back in 2008, some of the key areas are yet governed by Denmark. Therefore, often it does not find a place in the list of countries in the world. For the uninitiated, the latest country to declare its independence is South Sudan. South Sudan declared its independence after six years of civil war in July 2011. Taking all these arguments into consideration, the tally of total number of countries in the world is 196.

Name of the Country	Capital
North America
Antigua and Barbuda	Saint John's
The Bahamas	Nassau
Barbados	Bridgetown
Belize	Belmopan
Canada	Ottawa
Costa Rica	San José
Cuba	Havana
Dominica	Roseau
Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo
El Salvador	San Salvador
Grenada	St. George's
Guatemala	Guatemala
Haiti	Port-au-Prince
Honduras	Tegucigalpa
Jamaica	Kingston
Mexico	Mexico
Nicaragua	Managua
Panama	Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre
Saint Lucia	Castries
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Kingstown
Trinidad and Tobago	Port-of-Spain
United States of America	Washington, DC
South America
Argentina	Buenos Aires
Bolivia	La Paz, Sucre
Brazil	Brasília
Chile	Santiago
Colombia	Bogotá
Ecuador	Quito
Guyana	Georgetown
Paraguay	Asunción
Peru	Lima
Suriname	Paramaribo
Uruguay	Montevideo
Venezuela	Caracas
Australia
Australia	Canberra
Fiji	Suva
Kiribati	South Tarawa
Marshall Islands	Majuro
Micronesia	Palikir
Nauru	Yaren District
New Zealand	Wellington
Palau	Ngerulmud
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby
Samoa	Apia
Solomon Islands	Honiara
Tonga	Nuku'alofa
Tuvalu	Funafuti
Vanuatu	Port Vila
Europe
Albania	Tirana
Andorra	Andorra la Vella
Austria	Vienna
Belarus	Minsk
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo
Belgium	Brussels
Bulgaria	Sofia
Croatia	Zagreb
Cyprus	Nicosia
Czech Republic	Prague
Denmark	Copenhagen
Estonia	Tallinn
Finland	Helsinki
France	Paris
Germany	Berlin
Greece	Athens
Hungary	Budapest
Iceland	Reykjavík
Ireland	Dublin
Italy	Rome
Kosovo	Pristina
Latvia	Riga
Liechtenstein	Vaduz
Lithuania	Vilnius
Luxembourg	Luxembourg
Macedonia	Skopje
Malta	Valletta
Moldova	Chişinău
Monaco	Monaco
Montenegro	Podgorica
Netherlands	Amsterdam
Norway	Oslo
Poland	Warsaw
Portugal	Lisbon
Romania	Bucharest
Russia	Moscow
San Marino	San Marino
Serbia	Belgrade
Slovakia	Bratislava
Slovenia	Ljubljana
Spain	Madrid
Sweden	Stockholm
Switzerland	Bern
Ukraine	Kiev
United Kingdom	London
Vatican City	Vatican City
Asia
Afghanistan	Kabul
Armenia	Yerevan
Azerbaijan	Baku
Bahrain	Manama
Bangladesh	Dhaka
Bhutan	Thimphu
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan
Cambodia	Phnom Penh
China	Beijing
Cyprus	Nicosia
East Timor	Dili
Georgia	Tbilisi
India	New Delhi
Indonesia	Jakarta
Iran	Tehran
Iraq	Baghdad
Israel	Jerusalem
Japan	Tokyo
Jordan	Amman
Kazakhstan	Astana
Korea, North	Pyongyang
Korea, South	Seoul
Kuwait	Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek
Laos	Vientiane
Lebanon	Beirut
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
Maldives	Malé
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar
Myanmar (Burma)	Naypyidaw
Nepal	Kathmandu
North Korea	Pyongyang
Oman	Muscat
Pakistan	Islamabad
Philippines	Manila
Qatar	Doha
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh
Singapore	Singapore
South Korea	Seoul
Sri Lanka	Colombo
Syria	Damascus
Taiwan	Taipei
Tajikistan	Dushanbe
Thailand	Bangkok
Turkey*	Ankara
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi
Uzbekistan	Tashkent
Vietnam	Hanoi
Yemen	Sana'a
Africa
Algeria	Algiers
Angola	Luanda
Benin	Porto-Novo
Botswana	Gaborone
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou
Burundi	Bujumbura
Cameroon	Yaoundé
Cape Verde	Praia
Central African Republic	Bangui
Chad	N'Djamena
Comoros	Moroni
Congo, Republic of	Brazzaville
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Kinshasa
Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro
Djibouti	Djibouti
Egypt	Cairo
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo
Eritrea	Asmara
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa
Gabon	Libreville
Gambia, The	Banjul
Ghana	Accra
Guinea	Conakry
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau
Kenya	Nairobi
Lesotho	Maseru
Liberia	Monrovia
Libya	Tripoli
Madagascar	Antananarivo
Malawi	Lilongwe
Mali	Bamako
Mauritania	Nouakchott
Mauritius	Port Louis
Morocco	Rabat
Mozambique	Maputo
Namibia	Windhoek
Niger	Niamey
Nigeria	Abuja
Rwanda	Kigali
Sao Tome and Principe	São Tomé
Senegal	Dakar
Seychelles	Victoria
Sierra Leone	Freetown
Somalia	Mogadishu
South Africa	Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein
South Sudan	Juba
Sudan	Khartoum
Swaziland	Mbabane, Lobamba
Tanzania	Dodoma, Dar es Salaam
Togo	Lomé
Tunisia	Tunis
Uganda	Kampala
Zambia	Lusaka
Zimbabwe	Harare

^{* - Turkey has been mentioned in the Asian continent, for geographically the major portion lies in Asia, while there is a minor part, which is a part of the European continent.} Antarctica is a continent by itself and does not come in the list of countries. Therefore, it does not find mention in the table above. As mentioned above, the exact number cannot be accurately stated. New countries might get added, like in the case of South Sudan, or when looked at from a neutral perspective, countries like Scotland and Taiwan might be considered independent. For all general purposes and means, however, the above list should do very well indeed.