This is an alphabetical list of the independent countries of the world. This includes not only de jure independent countries, but also de facto independent countries, state for some explanation of the difference between these. To be listed here as a de facto independent country, article 1 of the Montevideo Convention from 1933 is followed, which means that entity should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states. Furthermore, the entity doesn't accept that it de jure belongs to another country. In the case a de facto independent country is included in this list, a note explains why this country is included. There are also a list of dependent territories and a list of disputed or occupied areas.
Other articles focus on imaginary countries, micronations and former countries (see List of extinct countries, empires, etc.). One can also browse countries by capital city, by continent, by population, by area, by population density, by gross domestic product, by date of nationhood and by time zone. Also, you can see a list of island countries.
The WikiProject Countries is an attempt to formulate a template for the country articles and expands articles with public ___domain sources (see Status of the porting of the CIA World Factbook, Status of the porting of U.S. Dept of State info).
For more sources, see Geographic references.
A
Abkhazia7 - Afghanistan - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Argentina - Armenia - Australia - Austria - Azerbaijan
B
The Bahamas - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belarus - Belgium - Belize - Benin - Bhutan - Bolivia - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Botswana - Brazil - Brunei - Bulgaria - Burkina Faso - Burma (now Myanmar) - Burundi
C
Cambodia - Cameroon - Canada - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Chile - People's Republic of China - Republic of China1 (Taiwan) - Colombia - Comoros - Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) - Republic of the Congo - Costa Rica - Côte d'Ivoire - Croatia - Cuba - Cyprus8 - Czech Republic
D
E
East Timor - Ecuador - Egypt - El Salvador - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Estonia - Ethiopia
F
G
Gabon - The Gambia - Georgia - Germany - Ghana - Greece - Grenada - Guatemala - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Guyana
H
Haiti - Holy See (see Vatican City4) - Honduras - Hungary
I
Iceland - India - Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Ivory Coast (see Côte d'Ivoire)
J
K
Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kiribati - Korea, North - Korea, South - Kuwait - Kyrgyzstan
L
Laos - Latvia - Lebanon - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg
M
Republic of Macedonia6- Madagascar - Malawi - Malaysia - Maldives - Mali - Malta - Marshall Islands - Mauritania - Mauritius - Mexico - Federated States of Micronesia - Moldova - Monaco - Mongolia - Morocco - Mozambique - Myanmar
N
Namibia - Nauru - Nepal - Netherlands - New Zealand2 - Nicaragua - Niger - Nigeria - Northern Cyprus8 - North Korea - Norway
O
P
Pakistan - Palau - Palestine (see West Bank, Gaza Strip)3 - Panama - Papua New Guinea - Paraguay - Peru - Philippines - Poland - Portugal
Q
R
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Samoa - San Marino - São Tomé and Príncipe - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - Serbia and Montenegro - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - Solomon Islands - Somalia - Somaliland7 - South Africa - South Korea - South Ossetia7 - Spain - Sri Lanka - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Sweden - Switzerland - Syria
T
Taiwan (see Republic of China1) - Tajikistan - Tanzania - Thailand - Timor Leste (see East Timor) - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tunisia - Turkey - Turkmenistan - Tuvalu
U
Uganda - Ukraine - United Arab Emirates - United Kingdom - United States of America - Uruguay - Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu - Vatican City4 (Holy See) - Venezuela - Vietnam
W
Y
Z
Notes
About the status/sovereignty of countries listed
- 1 Republic of China (Taiwan): see Political status of Taiwan
- 2 Cook Islands and Niue are in free association with New Zealand (see also Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ)) and can be found at the list of dependent territories
- 3 Palestine: "State of Palestine" was declared 1988 and recognized by a series of Arab and Muslim countries, see also: proposals for a Palestinian state and Palestinian territories. Gaza Strip, West Bank, Israel include country articles about areas in the Palestine region.
- 4 Vatican: see Holy See
- 5 Western Sahara: see Politics of Western Sahara
- 6 Republic of Macedonia: known also as "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", see Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia.
- 7 Abkhazia, Somaliland, and South Ossetia are self-declared independent states with no international recognition from any other nation: see List of unrecognized countries.
- 8 The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus seceded from Cyprus, but is only recognized by Turkey.
Related topics
- List of reference tables#List of countries and other entities
- Geography
- The Earth
- Continent
- Thirty most populous cities in the world
- Micronations
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