The United Nations officially recognizes 193 countries, as well as two non-member observers and dozens of territories. These countries and territories can be divided any number of ways, from each country's credit rating or CO₂ emissions to their gold reserves, cheese consumption or the number of letters in their names.
For example, the United Nations recognizes 31 countries with six-letter names, 26 have five-letter names, and another 12 have four-letter names. Going the other direction, 26 countries have eight-letter names, 14 have nine-letter names, 19 have ten-letter names, and a few country names even have 11, 12, 13, or more letters. However, the largest category is seven-letter names, which includes 42 countries. Additionally, most of these categories grow larger if one includes not just UN-member countries, but also independent territories such as Tokelau or partially recognized countries such as Kosovo.
Seven-letter countries in Europe
Sixteen UN-member countries in Europe have seven letters in their names. These countries include the Eastern European nations of Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Belarus, and Moldova. In Western Europe, Belgium and Ireland each have seven letter names. The Central European countries with seven letters include Austria and Germany. Additionally, Albania, Andorra, and Croatia are located in Southern Europe, and Estonia is in Northern Europe. Three Nordic Countries have seven letter names: Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. Europe is also partial home to two transcontinental seven-letter countries, Armenia and Georgia, which are usually tallied with Asia.
Seven-letter countries in Asia and Oceania
Six Asian countries have chosen seven-letter names. These include Vietnam and Myanmar in Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle Eastern countries Bahrain, an oil-rich kingdom in the Persian Gulf, and Lebanon, which borders the Mediterranean Sea. The two transcontinental countries of Georgia and Armenia along Asia's European border complete the continent's seven-letter set.
In Oceania, the New Zealand territory of Tokelau and the sovereign country of Vanuatu both have seven letters in their names.
Seven-letter countries in Africa
The countries of Africa include a dozen seven-letter countries, as well as two island territories, spread all around the continent. On the northern coast are Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, all clustered above the Sahara Desert in North Africa. Liberia and Senegal lie in West Africa, balanced by Somalia and Eritrea far to the east in the Horn of Africa. Nigeria lies roughly halfway between these countries, tiny Burundi is nearly dead-center of the continent, and the island country of Comoros lies off the continent's east coast. Finally, two seven-letter countries, Namibia and Lesotho, are located down near Africa's southern tip.
Africa also includes two tiny seven-letter island territories, Mayotte and Reunion, which are considered part of France and located off Africa's southeast coast, near Comoros and Madagascar.
Seven-letter countries in North America and South America
While mainland North America lacks any countries with seven-letter names, the Caribbean island countries of Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Bahamas are part of North America and have seven-letter names. A trio of seven-letter countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, and Uruguay, are located on the South American mainland.
Sources differ over whether to consider Grenada and the Dutch territory Curacao, both located in the Lesser Antilles islands, to be part of North America or South America, but there is no dispute that these too have seven-letter names. So do both Antigua and Barbuda—although they are officially considered a single country whose name has either 14 or 17 letters.