Countries

I like to collect countries. But I have no plans to visit every one in the world by a set time. If I had, I wouldn’t have gone back to the same places twice, or even more than 40 times in some cases.

But what constitutes a country?

UN member states is one list to go by. However, it’s not without ‘flaws’. Switzerland joined the UN in 2002, yet no one would claim Switzerland wasn’t a country before 2002.

Then there’s the Travelers’ Century Club. TCC counts 321 countries, or as they call it: countries and territories that are politically, ethnologically or geographically different. In some cases, I can’t understand their reasoning. They include Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish enclaves in Morocco, but not Llivia, the Spanish enclave in France. They include the Balearics as a separate country, but not Catalonia or Euskadi. They count Abkhazia, but not Chechnya. They count Prince Edward Island, but not Quebec. That said, the TCC-list has inspired me to visit a few places I might not have bothered with otherwise, like the strangely fascinating Transdniestr and the Republika Srpska. Or Prince Edward Island and the Faroe Islands, two of our favourite places. Of the 321 countries listed, I’ve been to 147. It’s good fun and I’m nearly a silver member. Here’s my TCC-list.

In the end, though, I’ll stick with the 193 UN member countries, and add a few that are not members of the UN because one of the mighty countries of the Security Council is blocking their membership. Specifically, that means Palestine and Kosovo. I’ll also add Vatican City, Taiwan, the contested Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (better known as Western Sahara), and the autonomous region of Tibet. A few more might belong here, but this is it for now. Sophie’s World, then, has 199 countries and I have visited half of those. The girls have been around, too. Alex (*a) has had more travelling years and has, of course, been around more. Just an asterisk means both girls have visited.

AFRICA (16)

  1. Algeria
  2. Angola
  3. Benin
  4. Botswana
  5. Burkina Faso
  6. Burundi
  7. Cameroon
  8. Cape Verde Islands
  9. Central African Republic
  10. Chad
  11. Comoros
  12. Republic of Congo
  13. Democratic Republic of Congo
  14. Djibouti
  15. Egypt*
  16. Equatorial Guinea
  17. Eritrea
  18. Ethiopia
  19. Gabon
  20. Gambia
  21. Ghana
  22. Guinea
  23. Guinea-Bissau
  24. Ivory Coast
  25. Kenya
  26. Lesotho
  27. Liberia
  28. Libya
  29. Madagascar
  30. Malawi
  31. Mali
  32. Mauritania
  33. Mauritius *a
  34. Morocco
  35. Mozambique
  36. Namibia
  37. Niger
  38. Nigeria
  39. Rwanda
  40. Sao Tome & Principe
  41. Senegal
  42. Seychelles *a
  43. Sierra Leone
  44. Somalia
  45. South Africa
  46. South Sudan
  47. Sudan
  48. Swaziland
  49. Tanzania
  50. Togo
  51. Tunisia
  52. Uganda
  53. Western Sahara
  54. Zambia
  55. Zimbabwe

ASIA – PACIFIC (22)

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Australia*
  3. Bahrain
  4. Bangladesh
  5. Bhutan
  6. Brunei
  7. Cambodia
  8. China*
  9. Fiji Islands*
  10. India *a
  11. Indonesia *a
  12. Iran
  13. Iraq
  14. Israel *a
  15. Japan *a
  16. Jordan
  17. Kazakhstan
  18. Kiribati
  19. Kuwait
  20. Kyrgyzstan
  21. Korea, North
  22. Korea, South
  23. Laos
  24. Lebanon
  25. Malaysia*
  26. Maldives
  27. Marshall Islands
  28. Micronesia, Federated States of
  29. Mongolia
  30. Myanmar (Burma)
  31. Nauru
  32. Nepal
  33. New Zealand*
  34. Oman*
  35. Palestine *a
  36. Papua New Guinea
  37. Pakistan
  38. Philippines
  39. Qatar
  40. Samoa*
  41. Saudi Arabia
  42. Singapore*
  43. Solomon Islands
  44. Sri Lanka
  45. Syria
  46. Taiwan
  47. Tajikistan
  48. Thailand *a
  49. Tibet
  50. Timor Leste
  51. Tonga*
  52. Turkmenistan
  53. Tuvalu
  54. United Arab Emirates*
  55. Uzbekistan
  56. Vanuatu
  57. Vietnam
  58. Yemen

AMERICAS (25)

  1. Antigua & Barbuda *a
  2. Argentina
  3. Bahamas
  4. Barbados
  5. Belize*
  6. Bolivia
  7. Brazil
  8. Canada*
  9. Chile
  10. Colombia*
  11. Costa Rica*
  12. Cuba *a
  13. Dominica *a
  14. Dominican Republic
  15. Ecuador
  16. El Salvador
  17. Grenada
  18. Guatemala*
  19. Guyana
  20. Haiti
  21. Honduras*
  22. Jamaica *a
  23. Mexico*
  24. Nicaragua
  25. Panama*
  26. Paraguay
  27. Peru
  28. St. Kitts & Nevis *a
  29. St. Lucia
  30. St. Vincent & the Grenadines
  31. Surinam
  32. Trinidad & Tobago
  33. Uruguay
  34. United States*
  35. Venezuela

EUROPE (46)

  1. Albania
  2. Andorra
  3. Armenia
  4. Austria *a
  5. Azerbaijan
  6. Belarus
  7. Belgium *a
  8. Bosnia & Herzegovina*
  9. Bulgaria*
  10. Croatia*
  11. Cyprus *a
  12. Czech Republic *a
  13. Denmark*
  14. Estonia*
  15. Finland *a
  16. France*
  17. Georgia
  18. Germany*
  19. Greece *a
  20. Hungary *a
  21. Iceland*
  22. Ireland*
  23. Italy*
  24. Kosovo
  25. Latvia *a
  26. Liechtenstein
  27. Lithuania
  28. Luxembourg *a
  29. Macedonia
  30. Malta
  31. Moldova *a
  32. Monaco
  33. Montenegro*
  34. Netherlands *a
  35. Norway*
  36. Poland *a
  37. Portugal*
  38. Romania *a
  39. Russia*
  40. San Marino
  41. Serbia
  42. Slovakia *a
  43. Slovenia *a
  44. Spain *a
  45. Sweden*
  46. Switzerland *a
  47. Ukraine
  48. United Kingdom*
  49. Vatican City*

Updated 1 January 2013