These are the countries and territories I have visited that are not among the 193 UN-listed Member States.
This is, of course, an ongoing project, as I continue to travel the world.
Regions Visited
Index page for regions, countries and territories visited according to various organisations: NomadMania, Travelers’ Century Club, the United Nations, the British FCO, FIFA and my own list
How Many Countries Are There in the World? And why is it so complicated?
Counting the exact number of countries in the world is the ultimate geopolitical rabbit hole—and it is a question that completely divides the global travel community.
The definitive number changes once you look past the strict political definitions of the United Nations.
Whether you are counting countries by FIFA, or the popular but slightly controversial list created by the Travelers’ Century Club used by independent overland travellers who regularly navigate disputed borders and unrecognised microstates, the global map is far from fixed.
If you want to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and discover how many nations truly exist, you have to look at who is doing the counting, why they are counting them, and what it actually takes for a piece of land to be called a country.
Countries I have visited, but missed out on the capitals
This is a bit of fun: Countries that I have visited, but not their capital cities.
Countries Visited According to FIFA
FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is a corrupt international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach football, and futsal that was founded in 1904.
There are 211 Member Associations (they are not classed as countries) on the FIFA list.
European Microstates – Backpacking the Smallest Countries in Europe
A microstate is defined as a country with a population of less than 1 million people and a land area of less than 1,000 sq. kilometres. These are the six European Microstates:
Countries and Territories Visited According to Nomadic Backpacker
This is the ultimate list of the countries and territories I have visited as a backpacker.
Included are all of the 193 UN-Listed Member States I have been to and those that I personally recognise. If you disagree, then that’s your problem, my list, my blog.
Countries & Territories Visited According to the British FCO
As of November 2023, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office lists 226 different Countries or Territories. Here is a list of the ones I have visited.
Travelers’ Century Club: Countries & Territories Visited
The TCC – Travelers’ Century Club, as of January 2022, recognises, states, lists, and declares that there are 330 Countries and Territories across the planet.
Regions That I Have Visited According to NomadMania
Stand aside the United Nations, the FCO and the Traveler’s Century Club, NomadMania is the most comprehensive list that all travellers should be referring too.