As of 2022 the United Nations acknowledges that 193 independent countries exist in the world today. Wikipedia lists 193 as of 2022, which includes sovereign states and dependent territories. So it appears the number of countries and territories that exist in the world today are up for debate.
People take their own personal interpretation, which is what I have done when creating my own list of places in the world I’ve traveled. I know this is a hot topic, one which gets people arguing: from the fact that Taiwan may not be considered independent from China or that you have to factor in the number of days or time spent in a country to make it a legitimate “visit.”
My personal travel list reflects the tourism philosophy that I have only ever visited a county if I have gotten to know the culture in an intimate way. For the most part this means I’ve been in a destination for at least 3 days.
Destinations which I have technically visited such as Samoa, where I had a 6 hour layover, are not included in this list as I did not have a chance to experience their culture, other than the washroom at the airport!
I’ve also technically included some countries twice, like France and Tahiti, and the United States and Puerto Rico. While technically part of the same country, they are far removed and feature such a unique history and culture….a journey requires its own unique story.
- Canada
- United States
- Hawaii
- Costa Rica
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Bahamas
- US Virgin Islands
- St. Martin
- England
- France
- Spain
- Portugal
- Norway
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Germany
- Holland
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Italy
- Switzerland
- Liechtenstein
- Scotland
- South Korea
- North Korea
- Japan
- Philippines
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Cambodia
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Laos
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Indonesia
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Fiji
- Chile
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Bolivia
- Peru
- Ecuador
- Mexico
- Belize
- Guatemala
- Panama
- Galapagos Islands
- Iceland
- Finland
- Russia
- Latvia
- Estonia
- South Africa
- Ireland
- United Arab Emirates
- Turkey
- Czech Republic
- Namibia
- Cuba
- Jamaica
- Puerto Rico
- Curacao
- Nicaragua
- Greece
- Israel
- Tahiti
- Bermuda
- India
- Maldives
- Bosnia
- Croatia
- Wales
- Jordan
- Egypt
- Brazil
- Vatican City
- Colombia
- Taiwan
- Myanmar
- Morocco
- Poland
- Malta
- Romania
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- Bulgaria
Two countries on your impressive list stick out like a sore thumb to me.
1) England – I’m English, so what did you think of my country?
2) North Korea – Firstly, how the hell did you get in (and out)? Secondly, what’s it like? I want to learn as much about the DPRK because it is just so secretive.
I’m also English my family moved to Canada two generations ago and I’ve been to England many times. North Korea is crazy. You should watch the National Geographic Special “Inside North Korea” with Lisa Ling its so interesting. Before 2008 (when a South Korean woman got shot on her trip to the North) they had over a million tourists travel to North Korea (through the south korean militarized zone). The tours were three days and involved a lot of mountain hikes.
You should watch the Departures episode (you can watch it on Citytv online) where they go to DPRK you will learn lots about it.