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Continent With the Most Countries 2023

Which continent has the most countries? If one assumes the Earth is divided into seven continents and lists the countries by continent according to the United Nations' membership list, the continent with the most countries is Africa.

How Many Countries Does Each Continent Have?

ContinentNumber of countries (U.N.)
Africa54
Antarctica0
Asia46
Europe46
North America23
Oceania14
South America12

Alternate theories about countries and continents

It is important to recognize that the above totals are based upon a very specific set of definitions, which have a significant impact on the data. For example, while the most widely taught geological theory divides the Earth into seven continents, this is not a constant. Competing theories promote six, five, or even four-continent arrangements that may merge North and South America into a single continent called America; combine Europe and Asia into Eurasia; or fuse Europe, Asia, and Africa into a single supercontinent called Afro-Eurasia.

Similarly, due to the intricacies of international politics, the precise number of countries in the world is a surprisingly debatable topic. The United Nations (U.N.) membership list, which was used in compiling the above totals, currently recognizes 193 sovereign countries, two observer states (Vatican City and Palestine), and nearly 100 non-member territories. Meanwhile, the U.S. CIA considers several of those territories (such as Kosovo) to be countries in their own right, resulting in a list of 237 countries.

Obviously, these differences have an impact upon the number of countries in each of the world's continents—as do transcontinental countries such as Russia, which have land in multiple continents but are assigned to one continent or the other for rostering purposes.

Countries of Africa

Approximately 27% of the world's countries are located on just one continent: Africa. As of 2022, Africa has 54 U.N.-recognized countries on its 30.3 million km² (11.7 million mi²). The largest countries in Africa by area are Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. Algeria is also the tenth-largest globally. The wealthiest of these countries are Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt. Africa is home to a large number of the world's developing, underdeveloped, and least-developed countries, with only its most-developed country, Mauritius, ranking above .800 in the Human Development Index.

AlgeriaEquatorial GuineaMadagascarSenegal
AngolaEritreaMalawiSeychelles
BeninEswatiniMaliSierra Leone
BotswanaEthiopiaMauritaniaSomalia
Burkina FasoGabonMauritiusSouth Africa
BurundiGambiaMoroccoSouth Sudan
CameroonGhanaMozambiqueSudan
Cape VerdeGuineaNamibiaTanzania
Central African RepublicGuinea-BissauNigerTogo
ChadIvory CoastNigeriaTunisia
ComorosKenyaRep. of the CongoUganda
DR CongoLesothoRwandaZambia
DjiboutiLiberiaSao Tome and PrincipeZimbabwe
EgyptLibya

Countries of Europe

Europe holds 46 U.N.-recognized countries in its 10,186,000 km² (9,932,836 mi²) of area. Seven of these countries are transcontinental, with territory in both Europe and Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey. Of these, Cyprus, Russia, and Turkey are considered European. Europe also includes Kosovo, a prominent territory that wishes to secede from Serbia, but has thus far been unsuccessful in that pursuit.

Russia is both the largest country in Europe and the largest country in the world, spanning over 17 million km² (6.599 million mi²). Europe also includes several of the world's smallest, happiest, safest, and most environmentally friendly nations. The richest European countries are Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. Additionally, five European countries have the highest GDP per capita ratings in the world: Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, and Iceland.

Countries of Asia

The most populous continent in the world, Asia boasts more than 4.4 billion residents, spread across 46 U.N.-recognized countries (the same number as Europe) and approximately 44.5 million km² (17.2 million mi²) of area. Eight Asian countries are transcontinental. Seven have territory in both Europe and Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey. Of these, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan are considered Asian. Asia's eighth transcontinental country is Egypt, which is predominantly located in Africa, but whose Sinai Peninsula is considered part of Asia.

Although Russia would technically be the largest country in Asia, it is typically considered a European country. As a result, China, India, and Kazakhstan are considered the largest countries in Asia. All three countries are also among the ten largest countries in the world.

Countries of North America

North America has a total of 23 U.N.-recognized countries and an area of just over 24,709,000 km² (9,540,000 mi²), which is inhabited by roughly 500 million people. The countries of Central America are generally considered part of North America, and so are included in its total. The largest countries in North America are Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Canada is the largest country in North America as well as the second-largest country globally, and the U.S. is the third-most populous country.

Countries of Oceania

Oceania spans over 8,525,989 km² (3,291,902 mi²) and is home to about 42.9 million people. There are a total of 14 U.N.-recognized countries in Oceania/Australia, all of which are island countries. Oceania's largest countries are Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand.

Countries of South America

The continent with the fewest countries (save Antarctica, which lacks permanent residents) is South America, which has just 12 U.N.-recognized nations within its 17,840,000 km² (6,890,000 mi²) area. The largest country in South America is Brazil, which also contains the majority of the Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the "lungs of the world". The next-largest countries in South America are Argentina and Peru.

As in Africa, many South American countries are still developing and may be quite poor compared to the high-income countries of Europe. However, many are nonetheless considered quite safe

Note: Countries with an entry in the 'Transcontinental' column are only counted on their primary continent. (Ex: Russia is counted with Europe, but is also transcontinental with Asia). The U.N. recognizes as countries 193 member states and two non-voting observer states (Vatican City and Palestine). However, there also exist dozens of unrecognized territories—Kosovo, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau in particular—which may or may not be considered countries by other sources, organizations, or governments.

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Country
Continent
Count
Transcontinental
AfghanistanAsia48
AlbaniaEurope44
AlgeriaAfrica54
AndorraEurope44
AngolaAfrica54
Antigua and BarbudaNorth America23
ArgentinaSouth America12
ArmeniaAsia48Europe
AustraliaOceania14
AustriaEurope44
AzerbaijanAsia48Europe
BahamasNorth America23
BahrainAsia48
BangladeshAsia48
BarbadosNorth America23
BelarusEurope44
BelgiumEurope44
BelizeNorth America23
BeninAfrica54
BhutanAsia48
BoliviaSouth America12
Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope44
BotswanaAfrica54
BrazilSouth America12
BruneiAsia48
BulgariaEurope44
Burkina FasoAfrica54
BurundiAfrica54
CambodiaAsia48
CameroonAfrica54
CanadaNorth America23
Cape VerdeAfrica54
Central African RepublicAfrica54
ChadAfrica54
ChileSouth America12
ChinaAsia48
ColombiaSouth America12
ComorosAfrica54
Costa RicaNorth America23
CroatiaEurope44
CubaNorth America23
CyprusEurope48Europe
Czech RepublicEurope44
DenmarkEurope44
DjiboutiAfrica54
DominicaNorth America23
Dominican RepublicNorth America23
DR CongoAfrica54
EcuadorSouth America12
EgyptAfrica54Asia
El SalvadorNorth America23
Equatorial GuineaAfrica54
EritreaAfrica54
EstoniaEurope44
EswatiniAfrica54
EthiopiaAfrica54
FijiOceania14
FinlandEurope44
FranceEurope44
GabonAfrica54
GambiaAfrica54
GeorgiaAsia48Europe
GermanyEurope44
GhanaAfrica54
GreeceEurope44
GrenadaNorth America23
GuatemalaNorth America23
GuineaAfrica54
Guinea BissauAfrica54
GuyanaSouth America12
HaitiNorth America23
HondurasNorth America23
HungaryEurope44
IcelandEurope44
IndiaAsia48
IndonesiaAsia48
IranAsia48
IraqAsia48
IrelandEurope44
IsraelAsia48
ItalyEurope44
Ivory CoastAfrica54
JamaicaNorth America23
JapanAsia48
JordanAsia48
KazakhstanAsia48Europe
KenyaAfrica54
KiribatiOceania14
KuwaitAsia48
KyrgyzstanAsia48
LaosAsia48
LatviaEurope44
LebanonAsia48
LesothoAfrica54
LiberiaAfrica54
LibyaAfrica54
LiechtensteinEurope44
LithuaniaEurope44
LuxembourgEurope44
MadagascarAfrica54
MalawiAfrica54
MalaysiaAsia48
MaldivesAsia48
MaliAfrica54
MaltaEurope44
Marshall IslandsOceania14
MauritaniaAfrica54
MauritiusAfrica54
MexicoNorth America23
MicronesiaOceania14
MoldovaEurope44
MonacoEurope44
MongoliaAsia48
MontenegroEurope44
MoroccoAfrica54
MozambiqueAfrica54
MyanmarAsia48
NamibiaAfrica54
NauruOceania14
NepalAsia48
NetherlandsEurope44
New ZealandOceania14
NicaraguaNorth America23
NigerAfrica54
NigeriaAfrica54
North KoreaAsia48
North MacedoniaEurope44
NorwayEurope44
OmanAsia48
PakistanAsia48
PalauOceania14
PalestineAsia48
PanamaNorth America23
Papua New GuineaOceania14
ParaguaySouth America12
PeruSouth America12
PhilippinesAsia48
PolandEurope44
PortugalEurope44
QatarAsia48
Republic of the CongoAfrica54
RomaniaEurope44
RussiaEurope44Asia
RwandaAfrica54
Saint Kitts and NevisNorth America23
Saint LuciaNorth America23
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesNorth America23
SamoaOceania14
San MarinoEurope44
Sao Tome and PrincipeAfrica54
Saudi ArabiaAsia48
SenegalAfrica54
SerbiaEurope44
SeychellesAfrica54
Sierra LeoneAfrica54
SingaporeAsia48
SlovakiaEurope44
SloveniaEurope44
Solomon IslandsOceania14
SomaliaAfrica54
South AfricaAfrica54
South KoreaAsia48
South SudanAfrica54
SpainEurope44
Sri LankaAsia48
SudanAfrica54
SurinameSouth America12
SwedenEurope44
SwitzerlandEurope44
SyriaAsia48
TajikistanAsia48
TanzaniaAfrica54
ThailandAsia48
Timor LesteAsia48
TogoAfrica54
TongaOceania14
Trinidad and TobagoNorth America23
TunisiaAfrica54
TurkeyAsia48Europe
TurkmenistanAsia48
TuvaluOceania14
UgandaAfrica54
UkraineEurope44
United Arab EmiratesAsia48
United KingdomEurope44
United StatesNorth America23
UruguaySouth America12
UzbekistanAsia48
VanuatuOceania14
Vatican CityEurope44
VenezuelaSouth America12
VietnamAsia48
YemenAsia48
ZambiaAfrica54
ZimbabweAfrica54
showing: 195 rows

Sources