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Books

  • Atlas of the world. Political and physical maps. A detailed color illustrated encyclopedia containing physical and political maps of all countries of the world, indicating their administrative divisions into regions, provinces and regions. Edition…

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Books

  • Atlas of the world. Political and physical maps. A detailed color illustrated encyclopedia containing physical and political maps of all countries of the world, indicating their administrative divisions into regions, provinces and regions. Edition…

The world is changing rapidly, as is the number of states in it. From this article you can find out how many countries there are in the world in 2020. Now the total number is 251 units.

Difference between countries and states

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The concept of “country” is much broader than the concept of “state”. A state differs from a country in that it has its own authorities, national symbols, currency, control center, and laws.

For a country to become a state, it must be recognized by all UN members, of which there are 193, and 2 observer members - the Holy See (Vatican) and Palestine.

A country is a territory that has physical-historical, cultural, geographical or cultural boundaries, which can be either clearly fixed or blurred.

There are several types of countries:

  1. Historical regions.
  2. Cultural areas.
  3. Physiographic countries.
  4. Political (territories of independent states).

The state is a political form of organization of society, which is governed by public authorities and has a management apparatus to which all its inhabitants are subordinate.

Always independent and sovereign. But a country can be both sovereign and dependent.

Let's look at their differences:

A country State
Lack of power as such Availability of a system of power
Geographical and cultural features Political features
May be under the rule of other states Always sovereign and independent
There may be no capital There's always a capital
Passport may be missing Having a passport
National currency - not always National currency is the main advantage

A country is a broader concept because it includes all inhabited territories of the Earth, and states have more powers, but they must receive recognition from the world community.

Sovereign territories

A sovereign state has a clearly defined territory, a permanent population, its own power, independence from other countries, and has the right to join international organizations, as well as participate in the international distribution of labor.

At the moment, there are 195 such sovereign entities in the world. They were distributed by continent as follows:

Top 10 largest states by area:

Top 10 largest by population:

State Population million/person Capital Largest cities
China 1398 Beijing Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu
India 1328 New Delhi New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
USA 326 Washington Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami
Indonesia 261 Jakarta Jakarta, Manado, Pontianak
Pakistan 211 Islamabad Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi
Brazil 208 Brasilia Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Curitiba
Nigeria 193 Abuja Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan
Bangladesh 208 Dhaka Dhaka, Chittagong
Russia 146 Moscow Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Chelyabinsk, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Rostov
Japan 126 Tokyo Tokyo, Kyoto, Yokohama, Sapporo, Osaka

There are 19 kingdoms among the sovereign powers:

  1. Bahrain.
  2. Belgium.
  3. Butane.
  4. Great Britain.
  5. Denmark.
  6. Jordan.
  7. Spain.
  8. Cambodia.
  9. Malaysia.
  10. Sweden.
  11. Tonga.
  12. Thailand.
  13. Monaco.
  14. Morocco.
  15. Lesotho.
  16. Swaziland.
  17. Saudi Arabia.
  18. Norway.
  19. Netherlands.

Unrecognized republics

Unrecognized republics are a general definition of territories that have independently declared themselves an independent state and have power, have territory, but have not received international recognition.

The territory of unrecognized republics may be under the control of one or more independent states.

There is a classification of unrecognized state entities:

Partially recognized
  • Khalistan;
  • South Ossetia;
  • Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus;
  • Abkhazia
Partially recognized states that control part of the land
  1. Taiwan (partially controlled by China).
  2. SADR - Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, most of which is controlled by Morocco
Unrecognized states
  • Islamic State;
  • Syrian Kurdistan;
  • Republic of Bansamoro;
  • People's Republic of Euahlai - Queensland;
  • Murrawarri Republic;
  • Republic of Hau Pakumoto;
  • Sealand;
  • Nagalim;
  • Sultanate of Sulu;
  • Bakassi;
  • Waziristan;
  • Shabwa Emirate;
  • Emirate of Abyan;
  • Shan State;
  • Wa State;
  • Jamaat Al-Shabab;
  • Al Sunna Walama'a;
  • Avaland;
  • Transnistria;
  • Azania;
  • Galmudug;
  • Jubaland;
  • Himan and Cheb;
  • Puntland;
  • Somaliland;
  • Nagorno-Karabakh Republic;
  • Donetsk People's Republic;
  • Lugansk People's Republic;
  • Catalonia;
  • Basque Country;
  • Andalusia;
  • Tamil Eelam

Lands of uncertain status

Territories with an uncertain status are those lands where the state power of another country is partially recognized, or captured during hostilities and not recognized, or partially recognized by the UN.

Territories with an uncertain status are considered:

  1. Palestine.
  2. West Sahara.
  3. Sealand.
  4. Order of Malta.
  5. Bir Tawil.
  6. Abkhazia.
  7. Kosovo.
  8. South Ossetia.
  9. SADR.
  10. Somaliland.
  11. Azawad.
  12. Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
  13. Mary Bird Land.
  14. Antarctica.

Dependent territories

A dependent territory is that part of the land on which a certain people lives and is subjugated to another metropolitan state.

Such territories have neither political nor economic power. There are 58 such lands in the world.

The largest lands are the islands:

  • Greenland;
  • Spitsbergen;
  • Puerto Rico;
  • Faroe islands;
  • New Caledonia.

The most dependent territories are:

  1. Great Britain (17);
  2. Australia.
  3. France.
  4. Netherlands.

Features of the Vatican

The area of ​​the Vatican is only 44 hectares. In addition, it is located in the vicinity of Rome, and is considered a city-state, and at the same time an enclave.

An enclave is a territory surrounded on all sides by another state. Singapore, Monaco and Hong Kong are also considered such city-states.

An interesting fact is that besides the Vatican, there are 3 more enclaves - San Marino (in the same Italy), as well as Swaziland and Lesotho (both located in South Africa).

Another name for the Vatican is the Holy See. The population of this country is 932 people.

Interesting facts about the Vatican:

  • railway length 0.86 km;
  • The President lives in the Lateran Palace;
  • There are 3,000 halls in the Vatican, most of them are open to the average person. The most famous hall is the Sistine Chapel;
  • the country is guarded by soldiers from Luxembourg;
  • St. Peter's Cathedral was built here.

Video: interesting information

There are 251 countries in the world, including 195 sovereign states. The political world is constantly changing, and therefore in the coming years it is possible that new ones will form and old ones will disappear.