How many countries are there in the world?

This question is a little tricky, because it really depends on who you ask. Well, one may think that the number of countries would be the same as the number of United Nations members, 191, but not so fast. Vatican City which is actually a country decided not to join. Okay, well that makes it 192 then. Once again, some would argue with this, especially the people of Taiwan. Taiwan has basically every thing going for them to make them an independent country except for the fact that some of the major players do not agree (such as China and the USA). This is because China stakes a claim to Taiwan.

So the next time someone asks you the question, you are pretty safe sticking somewhere between 190 and 193. By the way, until recently that last statement would have read 189 and 192. This is because East Timor was recently introduced as the newest member

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