The short answer: 193 UN member states, 195 if you include the two observer states (Vatican City and Palestine), and up to 197–203 depending on how you count partially recognized territories. I’m João Leitão, founder of RJ Travel — and over 20+ years I’ve personally visited 145+ of them, including most of the ones almost no one goes to. Here’s the definitive breakdown, plus an interactive map so you can track your own count.

The Quick Answer: 193, 195, 197 — or 203?

It depends on who’s counting. The number you’ll see most often is 193, because that’s the number of full UN member states. But “country” is a fuzzier word than people think. Here are the four numbers you’ll see across credible sources, and why they differ:

The 193 figure is the one to quote in essays and quiz answers. 195 is the most honest political answer. 197–203 is the answer if you actually try to travel to all of them — because Taiwan, Kosovo and a handful of de-facto states have airports, governments, currencies and visa stamps, even if the UN doesn’t list them.

GAME » How Many Countries Have You Visited?

193 UN member states. Tap every country you’ve been to and see your traveler rank.

Track How Many Countries You’ve Visited

If you want to see flights instead of countries, we also built a free flight mapper and a flight time calculator.

The 193 UN Countries, Broken Down by Continent

Africa is the largest by country count — and, not coincidentally, the continent where I’ve spent the most time. Below is the breakdown the UN uses; each card shows where RJ Travel actively runs trips.

Countries Most Travelers Will Never Reach

Most people will visit 10–20 countries in a lifetime. The average American passport holder has been to 4. The countries below are the ones that almost never make it onto a bucket list — partly because they’re hard, partly because the headlines are scary, and partly because there are very few operators who can actually get you in. They’re also the trips that stay with people the longest. These are the destinations RJ Travel runs every month:

• Iraq — Babylon at sunrise, Najaf at night, the marshes of the south where the world’s first cities were born. Safer than the news suggests; harder logistics than most agencies will admit.
• Libya — Leptis Magna and Sabratha are arguably the best Roman ruins on the planet, and you’ll have them to yourself. We were one of the first agencies back after the borders reopened.
• Afghanistan — Band-e Amir’s lakes, the Bamiyan valleys, the Minaret of Jam. Travel here is slow and bureaucratic, but no country humbles you faster.
• Yemen — Sanaa’s old city and the dragon-blood trees of Socotra. Currently our most-requested “I want to go somewhere no one I know has been” trip.
• Turkmenistan — White-marble Ashgabat is one of the strangest cities on earth, and the Darvaza gas crater is still burning after 50 years.
• Mauritania — The iron-ore train across the Sahara is on every serious traveler’s list; almost no one actually does it.
• Syria — Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited capital in the world. Aleppo is rebuilding. Most of the country is open again.
• Chad — The Ennedi Plateau is a sandstone wonderland on the level of Wadi Rum or Monument Valley, and you might see no other tourist in a week.

Disputed and Unrecognized States

This is where “how many countries are there?” stops being a quiz question and starts being a political one. These territories function as countries in most practical ways — they have governments, borders, and (mostly) currencies — but they’re not full UN members. They’re what pushes the count from 195 toward 203.

Hardcore “every country” travelers — like the members of the Most Traveled People list — generally aim for around 193. Aiming for 203 is for the people who really, truly want to go everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

João Leitão

Founder & CEO of RJ Travel. 20+ years of travel across 145+ countries. Professional tour leader specializing in frontier destinations including Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, and 25+ more. Featured in Lonely Planet, Daily Mail, and Wanderlust Magazine. Licensed tour operator in the UAE (License #2323876) and Morocco (License #ODV-13817).