List of countries in the world and complete facts by category (2026 Edition)

The world is divided into various economic and political blocks, making the definition of a 'country' vary depending on the context. How many countries are there in the world exactly? This question seems simple, but the answer can be quite confusing. Is it 193? 195? Or 211?

The world is divided into various economic and political blocks, making the definition of a 'country' differ by context. - 🖼️ detik360 Illustration

📋 AI Summary

• The number of official countries according to the United Nations (UN) is 193 Member States + 2 Observer States.
• In the world of sports, the number is higher: FIFA (211 members) and the Olympics (206 members).
• Global economic power is divided into major blocks such as the G7 (West) and BRICS (Emerging Economies).
• This article explores the full list of major blocks including ASEAN, NATO, OIC, and the Commonwealth.
• There are territories that function as countries but are not fully recognized, such as Taiwan and Kosovo.

Read Article FAQ

📝 Table of Contents

( +/- )

• 1. The Final Answer: How many countries are in the world?
• 2. UN vs FIFA vs Olympics: Why are the numbers different?
• 3. List of Economic Blocks & Superpowers (Geopolitics)
• 4. BRICS: The new challenger to the G7
• 5. NATO: The most influential military alliance
• 6. ASEAN, OIC & Commonwealth: Where does Malaysia stand?
• 7. 🇵🇸 Palestine's Status in the UN (2026 Facts)
• 8. OPEC: The Global Oil Producing Block
• 9. Complete List: 206+ Countries & Territories
• 10. Frequently Asked Questions: AI Quick Answers

🌐 1. The Final Answer: How many countries are in the world?

The answer to this question depends on "who" you ask. There is no single number agreed upon by all parties, but international standards usually refer to the United Nations (UN).

• 193 Countries: Full UN members.
• 195 Countries: Includes 2 "Non-Member Observer States" which are Palestine and the Holy See (Vatican City).
• 201+ Countries: If countries with limited recognition (De Facto) such as Taiwan, Kosovo, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and others are included.

🌐 2. UN vs FIFA vs Olympics: Why are the numbers different?

You may notice during the Olympic opening ceremony or World Cup qualifiers that the number of parading flags exceeds 195. This is because sports bodies recognize "autonomous territories" as separate entities.

Organization	Total Members	Reason for Difference
🇺🇳 UN (United Nations)	193	Only fully recognized sovereign states.
🏅 Olympics (IOC)	206	Includes territories like Puerto Rico, Hong Kong & Palestine.
⚽ FIFA	211	Allows UK territories (Scotland, Wales) to compete separately.

*Swipe left/right if viewing on mobile.

🌐 3. List of Economic Blocks & Superpowers

In today's world, countries no longer operate in isolation. Nations join forces to form "blocks" for economic, military, and political strength. Below is the breakdown of the major blocks governing the world.

🌐 4. BRICS: The new challenger to the G7

Originally consisting of 5 countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), this block has expanded rapidly in 2024/2025 as an alternative to Western economic dominance.

• Founding Members: 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇮🇳 India, 🇨🇳 China, 🇿🇦 South Africa.
• New Members (BRICS+): 🇪🇬 Egypt, 🇪🇹 Ethiopia, 🇮🇷 Iran, 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Quick Fact: Saudi Arabia was invited to join, but its official status remains a "strategic partner." Argentina withdrew at the last minute.

🌐 5. NATO & G7: The Western Strongholds

While BRICS represents the developing world, the G7 (Group of Seven) and NATO are symbols of traditional Western power (USA & Europe).

Block	Total Members	Key Nations / Notes
G7 (Advanced Economies)	7 (+EU)	🇺🇸 USA, 🇬🇧 UK, 🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇨🇦 Canada.
NATO (Military)	32	Latest members: 🇫🇮 Finland (2023) & 🇸🇪 Sweden (2024).
G20 (Major Economies)	19 + EU + AU	Combination of G7 + BRICS + Emerging Economies (Indonesia, Turkey, etc.).

🌐 6. ASEAN, OIC & Commonwealth: Where does Malaysia stand?

Malaysia practices a policy of neutrality and is active in various regional and international organizations.

• ASEAN (11 Countries):
  Members: 🇲🇾 Malaysia, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇹🇭 Thailand, 🇸🇬 Singapore, 🇻🇳 Vietnam, 🇵🇭 Philippines, 🇧🇳 Brunei, 🇰🇭 Cambodia, 🇱🇦 Laos, 🇲🇲 Myanmar, 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste*.
  *🇹🇱 Timor-Leste officially became the 11th member at the 47th ASEAN Summit (October 2025).
• OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation):
  Consists of 57 countries with major or significant Muslim populations, including Palestine. It is the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the UN.
• Commonwealth:
  A group of 56 countries, mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Head of the Commonwealth is King Charles III.

🌐 Status of 🇵🇸 Palestine in the UN (2026 Facts)

The issue of Palestine's membership is often a heated debate on the world stage. Although recognized as a state by the vast majority of the international community, its status at the UN has important technical differences.

Current Status: Non-Member Observer State

• 📍 Seat Rights: Palestine has an official seat in the UN General Assembly, placed alphabetically behind full member states.
• 📍 Right to Speak: Allowed to participate in debates, propose motions, and be involved in international conferences under the UN.
• 📍 Voting Rights: NOT allowed to vote on main General Assembly resolutions or the election of UN bodies.
• 📍 Path to Full Membership: Despite strong support from the majority of countries (including Malaysia), full membership for Palestine is often delayed in the UN Security Council due to veto powers.

Interestingly, 'observer' status at the UN does not prevent Palestine from being a full member of other international organizations. Palestine is recognized as sovereign by FIFA and the IOC, allowing their athletes to compete under the Palestinian flag and national anthem.

AI Note: Besides Palestine, Vatican City is the only other entity holding Non-Member Observer State status at the UN to date.

🛢️ OPEC: The Global Oil Producing Giant

OPEC or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental cartel that exerts significant influence over the stability of crude oil prices and the global economy.

OPEC Corporate Info (2026)

• 🏢 Headquarters: Vienna, Austria (Even though Austria itself is not an OPEC member).
• 🌍 Primary Purpose: To coordinate petroleum policies among member nations to ensure stable oil prices in the international market.
• 📊 OPEC+: A coalition of OPEC along with other producing nations (including Russia and Malaysia as partners) to control production quotas.

⛽ Official List of OPEC Members

As of now, OPEC consists of 12 core member countries controlling nearly 80% of the world's oil reserves:

Region	Member Countries
Middle East	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia, 🇦🇪 UAE, 🇮🇷 Iran, 🇮🇶 Iraq, 🇰🇼 Kuwait
Africa	🇩🇿 Algeria, 🇬🇦 Gabon, 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea, 🇱🇾 Libya, 🇳🇬 Nigeria, 🇨🇬 Congo
South America	🇻🇪 Venezuela

Note: Angola officially left OPEC in early 2024, while Qatar exited in 2019 to focus on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

Fun Fact: While Malaysia is not a permanent member of OPEC, we are an active member of the OPEC+ group. Malaysia is frequently involved in negotiations to cut or increase oil production to balance global supply.

🌐 Complete List: 206+ Countries & Territories

Below is a comprehensive list including UN member states, observer states, FIFA, IOC, and territories with special status in the international arena.

This is the part that confuses many. Why can England play in the World Cup but has no seat at the UN? Why is Taiwan in the Olympics but under a different name?

This table breaks down the membership status of selected countries and unique entities around the globe.

#	Country / Te	🇺🇳 PBB	🏅 IOC	⚽ FIFA
1	Afghanistan	✅	✅	✅
2	Afrika Selatan	✅	✅	✅
3	Albania	✅	✅	✅
4	Algeria	✅	✅	✅
5	Amerika Syarikat (USA)	✅	✅	✅
6	American Samoa*	❌	✅	✅
7	Andorra	✅	✅	✅
8	Angola	✅	✅	✅
9	Antigua & Barbuda	✅	✅	✅
10	Arab Saudi	✅	✅	✅
11	Argentina	✅	✅	✅
12	Armenia	✅	✅	✅
13	Aruba*	❌	✅	✅
14	Australia	✅	✅	✅
15	Austria	✅	✅	✅
16	Azerbaijan	✅	✅	✅
17	Bahamas	✅	✅	✅
18	Bahrain	✅	✅	✅
19	Bangladesh	✅	✅	✅
20	Barbados	✅	✅	✅
21	Belanda (Netherlands)	✅	✅	✅
22	Belarus	✅	✅	✅
23	Belgium	✅	✅	✅
24	Belize	✅	✅	✅
25	Benin	✅	✅	✅
26	Bermuda*	❌	✅	✅
27	Bhutan	✅	✅	✅
28	Bolivia	✅	✅	✅
29	Bosnia & Herzegovina	✅	✅	✅
30	Botswana	✅	✅	✅
31	Brazil	✅	✅	✅
32	British Virgin Islands*	❌	✅	✅
33	Brunei Darussalam	✅	✅	✅
34	Bulgaria	✅	✅	✅
35	Burkina Faso	✅	✅	✅
36	Burundi	✅	✅	✅
37	Cabo Verde	✅	✅	✅
38	Cambodia (Kemboja)	✅	✅	✅
39	Cameroon	✅	✅	✅
40	Canada	✅	✅	✅
41	Cayman Islands*	❌	✅	✅
42	Central African Republic	✅	✅	✅
43	Chad	✅	✅	✅
44	Chile	✅	✅	✅
45	China	✅	✅	✅
46	Colombia	✅	✅	✅
47	Comoros	✅	✅	✅
48	Congo (Brazzaville)	✅	✅	✅
49	Congo (DRC)	✅	✅	✅
50	Cook Islands*	❌	✅	✅
51	Costa Rica	✅	✅	✅
52	Cote d'Ivoire	✅	✅	✅
53	Croatia	✅	✅	✅
54	Cuba	✅	✅	✅
55	Cyprus	✅	✅	✅
56	Czechia (Republik Czech)	✅	✅	✅
57	Denmark	✅	✅	✅
58	Djibouti	✅	✅	✅
59	Dominica	✅	✅	✅
60	Dominican Republic	✅	✅	✅
61	Ecuador	✅	✅	✅
62	Egypt (Mesir)	✅	✅	✅
63	El Salvador	✅	✅	✅
64	Equatorial Guinea	✅	✅	✅
65	Eritrea	✅	✅	✅
66	Estonia	✅	✅	✅
67	Eswatini	✅	✅	✅
68	Ethiopia	✅	✅	✅
69	Fiji	✅	✅	✅
70	Finland	✅	✅	✅
71	France (Perancis)	✅	✅	✅
72	Gabon	✅	✅	✅
73	Gambia	✅	✅	✅
74	Georgia	✅	✅	✅
75	Germany (Jerman)	✅	✅	✅
76	Ghana	✅	✅	✅
77	Greece (Yunani)	✅	✅	✅
78	Grenada	✅	✅	✅
79	Guam*	❌	✅	✅
80	Guatemala	✅	✅	✅
81	Guinea	✅	✅	✅
82	Guinea-Bissau	✅	✅	✅
83	Guyana	✅	✅	✅
84	Haiti	✅	✅	✅
85	Honduras	✅	✅	✅
86	Hong Kong*	❌	✅	✅
87	Hungary	✅	✅	✅
88	Iceland	✅	✅	✅
89	India	✅	✅	✅
90	Indonesia	✅	✅	✅
91	Iran	✅	✅	✅
92	Iraq	✅	✅	✅
93	Ireland	✅	✅	✅
94	Israel	✅	✅	✅
95	Italy (Itali)	✅	✅	✅
96	Jamaica	✅	✅	✅
97	Japan (Jepun)	✅	✅	✅
98	Jordan	✅	✅	✅
99	Kazakhstan	✅	✅	✅
100	Kenya	✅	✅	✅
101	Kiribati	✅	✅	❌
102	Korea Utara (DPRK)	✅	✅	✅
103	Korea Selatan (ROK)	✅	✅	✅
104	Kosovo*	❌	✅	✅
105	Kuwait	✅	✅	✅
106	Kyrgyzstan	✅	✅	✅
107	Laos	✅	✅	✅
108	Latvia	✅	✅	✅
109	Lebanon	✅	✅	✅
110	Lesotho	✅	✅	✅
111	Liberia	✅	✅	✅
112	Libya	✅	✅	✅
113	Liechtenstein	✅	✅	✅
114	Lithuania	✅	✅	✅
115	Luxembourg	✅	✅	✅
116	Madagascar	✅	✅	✅
117	Malawi	✅	✅	✅
118	Malaysia	✅	✅	✅
119	Maldives	✅	✅	✅
120	Mali	✅	✅	✅
121	Malta	✅	✅	✅
122	Marshall Islands	✅	✅	❌
123	Mauritania	✅	✅	✅
124	Mauritius	✅	✅	✅
125	Mexico	✅	✅	✅
126	Micronesia (Federated States)	✅	✅	❌
127	Moldova	✅	✅	✅
128	Monaco	✅	✅	❌
129	Mongolia	✅	✅	✅
130	Montenegro	✅	✅	✅
131	Morocco (Maghribi)	✅	✅	✅
132	Mozambique	✅	✅	✅
133	Myanmar	✅	✅	✅
134	Namibia	✅	✅	✅
135	Nauru	✅	✅	❌
136	Nepal	✅	✅	✅
137	Netherlands (Belanda)	✅	✅	✅
138	New Zealand	✅	✅	✅
139	Nicaragua	✅	✅	✅
140	Niger	✅	✅	✅
141	Nigeria	✅	✅	✅
142	North Macedonia	✅	✅	✅
143	Norway	✅	✅	✅
144	Oman	✅	✅	✅
145	Pakistan	✅	✅	✅
146	Palau	✅	✅	❌
147	Palestine*	⚠️	✅	✅
148	Panama	✅	✅	✅
149	Papua New Guinea	✅	✅	✅
150	Paraguay	✅	✅	✅
151	Peru	✅	✅	✅
152	Philippines	✅	✅	✅
153	Poland	✅	✅	✅
154	Portugal	✅	✅	✅
155	Puerto Rico*	❌	✅	✅
156	Qatar	✅	✅	✅
157	Romania	✅	✅	✅
158	Russia (ROC)	✅	✅	✅
159	Rwanda	✅	✅	✅
160	Saint Kitts & Nevis	✅	✅	✅
161	Saint Lucia	✅	✅	✅
162	St. Vincent & Grenadines	✅	✅	✅
163	Samoa	✅	✅	✅
164	San Marino	✅	✅	✅
165	Sao Tome & Principe	✅	✅	✅
166	Saudi Arabia	✅	✅	✅
167	Senegal	✅	✅	✅
168	Serbia	✅	✅	✅
169	Seychelles	✅	✅	✅
170	Sierra Leone	✅	✅	✅
171	Singapore	✅	✅	✅
172	Slovakia	✅	✅	✅
173	Slovenia	✅	✅	✅
174	Solomon Islands	✅	✅	✅
175	Somalia	✅	✅	✅
176	South Africa	✅	✅	✅
177	South Sudan	✅	✅	✅
178	Spain (Sepanyol)	✅	✅	✅
179	Sri Lanka	✅	✅	✅
180	Sudan	✅	✅	✅
181	Suriname	✅	✅	✅
182	Sweden	✅	✅	✅
183	Switzerland	✅	✅	✅
184	Syria	✅	✅	✅
185	Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)*	❌	✅	✅
186	Tajikistan	✅	✅	✅
187	Tanzania	✅	✅	✅
188	Thailand	✅	✅	✅
189	Timor-Leste	✅	✅	✅
190	Togo	✅	✅	✅
191	Tonga	✅	✅	✅
192	Trinidad & Tobago	✅	✅	✅
193	Tunisia	✅	✅	✅
194	Turkey (Turkiye)	✅	✅	✅
195	Turkmenistan	✅	✅	✅
196	Tuvalu	✅	✅	❌
197	Uganda	✅	✅	✅
198	Ukraine	✅	✅	✅
199	United Arab Emirates (UAE)	✅	✅	✅
200	United Kingdom (UK)*	✅	✅	❌
201	Uruguay	✅	✅	✅
202	US Virgin Islands*	❌	✅	✅
203	Uzbekistan	✅	✅	✅
204	Vanuatu	✅	✅	✅
205	Vatican City**	⚠️	❌	❌
206	Venezuela	✅	✅	✅
207	Vietnam	✅	✅	✅
208	Yemen	✅	✅	✅
209	Zambia	✅	✅	✅
210	Zimbabwe	✅	✅	✅

Note: *Denotes Special Territory/Entity. **Vatican City is a UN observer but not a member of IOC/FIFA.
⚠️ Palestine and Vatican City (Holy See) are two entities recognized as sovereign states by the UN but hold observer status. This allows them to have diplomatic representation without voting on complex political issues in the Security Council.

Keywords: How Many Countries in the World UN Member States List 2026 FIFA Member Countries IOC Olympic Members List of ASEAN Countries OPEC Member States Palestine UN Status BRICS Plus Members World Country Facts UN FIFA Difference

💡 Q&A: Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions (Google)

1. ⚫ Is Taiwan considered a country?
   ➜ Technically, Taiwan functions as an independent nation (it has a government, currency, and military). However, at the UN level, it is not recognized as a sovereign state due to the "One China" policy.
2. 🔵 Is Hong Kong a country?
   ➜ No. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. It has its own legal and economic systems, but defense and foreign affairs are controlled by Beijing.
3. ⚫ Which is the newest country in the world?
   ➜ South Sudan is the youngest country recognized by the UN, gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
4. 🔵 Is Antarctica a country?
   ➜ No. Antarctica is a continent not owned by any country. It is managed under the Antarctic Treaty System for scientific and peaceful purposes only.
5. ⚫ What is the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom (UK)?
   ➜ Great Britain is the name of the island (comprising England, Scotland, and Wales). The United Kingdom is the sovereign state that includes Great Britain AND Northern Ireland.
6. 🔵 Which country has no official capital city?
   ➜ Nauru is the only country in the world without an official (de jure) capital city. Its administrative center is located in the Yaren District.
7. ⚫ Why does England play football separately but enters the UN as the UK?
   ➜ FIFA predates the modern UN and recognized the pioneering football associations (Home Nations) separately. The UN only admits full sovereign states.
8. 🔵 Who is the newest member of NATO?
   ➜ Sweden is the latest member to join NATO (March 2024), following Finland, bringing the total membership of the alliance to 32 countries.
9. ⚫ Which country has the most time zones?
   ➜ France holds the record with 12 time zones, not because of its mainland size, but due to its overseas territories scattered around the world.
10. 🔵 How many Muslim countries are in the world?
    ➜ There are 57 countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), though not all declare Islam as the official state religion, they have significant Muslim populations.

Reminder: Facts and figures may change according to current events. Please check the reference sources below for the most up-to-date information.

Reference Sources: United Nations, International Olympic Committee, FIFA, ASEAN Secretariat, OPEC, NATO, OIC-OCI, BRICS Information, G7/G20 Members

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