The 193 Countries Worldwide

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THE 193 COUNTRIES

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WORLD WALKS

WORLD STATISTICS

HOW MANY COUNTRIES ARE THERE IN THE WORLD?

Most Populous Cities (2004)
(Including Urbanised Areas)
#  City             Population
1  Tokyo, JPN        28,000,000
2  New York C, USA   20,100,000
3  Mexico City, MEX  18,100,000
4  Bombay, IND       18,000,000
5  Sao Paulo, BRZ    17,700,000
6  Los Angeles, USA  15,800,000
7  Shanghai, CHN     14,200,000
8  Lagos, NGR        13,500,000
9  Calcutta, IND     12,900,000
10 Buenos Aires, ARG 12,500,000
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Largest River
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River Nile (Africa)
(L. Victoria-Mediterranean Sea)
4,160 miles (6,695km)
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Largest Lake
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Caspian Sea (Asia)
RUS/AZE/IRN/TUM/KZK
143,200sq. mi (370,886sq. km)
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Highest Mountain
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Mount Everest
Nepal, Himalayas Region
8848 metres
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UK STATISTICS
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Largest River
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River Severn
England/Wales
220 miles (354km)
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2. River Thames (215mi/346km)
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Largest Lake
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Lough Neagh
Northern Ireland
147.39sq. miles
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Highest Mountain
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Ben Nevis
Scotland, Cairngorms Region
1344 metres
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WEATHER RECORDS (WORLD)
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Worldwide Highest Temperature
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57.7C (135.9F)
Al'Aziziyah, Libya, Africa
13/09/1922
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Worldwide Coldest Temperature
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-89.2C (-128.6F)
Vostock II, Antarctica
21/07/1983
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Worldwide Driest place
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Arica, Chile, South America
0.76mm every year
(went 14 years without rain)
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Worldwide Wettest place
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Mt Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii
168mm every year
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UK WEATHER RECORDS
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Highest Recorded Temperature
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38.5C (101.3F)
Brogdale, nr Faversham, Kent
10/08/2003
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Lowest Recorded Temperature
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-27.2C (-17F)
Braemar, Grampian, Scotland
10/01/1982, 11/02/1895
Altnaharra, Highland, Scotland
30/12/1995
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Wettest 24 Hours
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279mm
Martinstown, nr Dorchester
18/07/1955
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Most monthly sunshine
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384 hours (12.39hrs per day)
Eastbourne/Hastings, E Sussex
July 1911
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Highest Recorded gust
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150 knots (172.6mph)
Caingorm (1,245m), Scotland
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It seems like a simple question. Just add them all up and you get the answer. The trouble is that different governments and organizations don't always agree on how many there are. The reasons for the differences can all be attributed either firstly to politics, or secondly to the rather loose definition of a country.

The political problems come from some governments recognizing particular 'countries' whilst other governments claim that they are aren't countries at all.

For example, between the end of the second world war and the fall of the USSR, the Soviet Union occupied Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. As far as the USSR was concerned those countries were now part of the USSR and not independent countries. The UK, however, continued to recognize them as independent countries that had been 'occupied' by an invading force.

More recently Taiwan has been the main source of disagreement. Until 1971, it was a member of the UN and even the security council, but then China insisted that Taiwan was actually a province of China and not an independent country. The people of Taiwan, and it's government, still insist they are not part of mainland China. Taiwan is recognized as being independent by some governments, but not all of them; it's not recognized by the United States.

China also considers Tibet to be another of it's provinces - even though it had to invade it to take control - but most of the rest of the world has a very different view.

So, if you are in China, there are already two 'countries' to remove from the list.

Definitions of what constitutes a country also vary. Some will go with the simple view that if it is a member of the United Nations(UN) it's a country. By that reckoning there are 192 countries in the world. But Vatican City is undoubtedly a country, and not a member of the UN, so that means the total must now be 193!

Oh and then there are Taiwan and Tibet - so that's 195.

There are also very many colonies, territories and dependencies that are sometimes considered to be countries, and sometimes not. For example, Greenland seems like a country, but it is actually part of Denmark. In the UK most of the population consider England and Scotland to be different countries, and Wales to be a principality. However, when it comes to international relations, they are all represented by the UK government, so according to many definitions they aren't countries or even nation states.

If you check the UK government web site they don't seem to view England and Scotland as different countries in an international sense. Instead they say of the UK ...

The full title of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Great Britain (or just Britain) does not include Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK.

So, cutting a long story short, most authorities agree that there are around 193 countries in the world, but there is no guaranteed correct answer. Some authorities suggest there are more like 266 of them.

But, going for the most popular answer, here's a list showing the most generally accepted countries of the world, complete with their capital cities.

1 DOWN, 192 TO GO...
To date, there are 193 countries, with Vatican City the smallest (0.2sq. miles, with a population of 770), and Russia the largest by size (6,600,000 sq. miles). China is the most populous country, and reached 1,300,000,000 (1.3 billion) on Thursday 6th January 2005, over 4 years earlier than predicted.

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

193 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

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