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Continent

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

South America

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List of Countries by Continent 2024

Snapshot

  • The United Nations recognizes 195 countries globally: 193 members and two non-member observer states – Vatican City and the State of Palestine.

  • Countries with 'territorial' status, such as Greenland (Denmark) and Puerto Rico (U.S.), are not independent nations but hold varying degrees of autonomy.

  • Transcontinental countries like Russia, Cyprus, and Egypt are counted in the continent where the majority of their land or population is located.

Continents are Earth’s primary land divisions. However, the exact number of continents on Earth is not universally agreed upon. Many nations use a system that divides the world into seven continents, which are (from largest to smallest in terms of land area): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia/Oceania. But some countries use other systems, which divide the world into fewer continents. For example, some combine North and South America into a single continent called simply "The Americas," or merge Europe and Asia into "Eurasia." Some lists also exclude Antarctica because it has no countries, nor even any permanent human residents. (Note: This article observes a seven-continent system.)

How many countries are there in the world?

The exact number of countries in the world is an even more hotly debated subject. A country is defined as a nation or sovereign state with its own independent government or as an area of land that forms an independent political unit with its own government. As of November 2021, the United Nations recognizes 195 countries in the world. 193 of these countries are members of the United Nations (UN) and two countries are not: Vatican City/Holy See and the State of Palestine, both of which are classified as non-member observer states.

However, U.N. membership is not the last word on the subject of nationhood. There also exist dozens of "territories" which are technically not countries because they are ruled by another nation. Some of these territories are largely independent, but still part of another country—for instance, Greenland is actually part of Denmark, and Puerto Rico is officially part of the United States (though not a state).

Even more confusingly, some would-be countries have declared their independence, but haven't yet been officially recognized by enough members of the United Nations (U.N.), and so are technically still considered territories, not countries. For example, Kosovo is treated as its own independent country by some U.N. members but still treated as part of Serbia by others. Another example is Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China), which was its own sovereign state until it was subsumed by mainland China, which prevents any attempt by the United Nations to reinstate Taiwan's full country status.

Many territories of all types will be included on this list but will be marked to distinguish them from the U.N.-recognized countries.

One final point regarding this particular list of countries per continent: A few countries bridge the gap between two continents, such as Russia (Europe/Asia), Cyprus (Europe/Asia), and Egypt (Africa/Asia). These transcontinental countries will be tallied with whatever continent the U.N. considers them.

Africa

Africa has a total of 54 countries, the most of any continent. The most populous of these countries is Nigeria, which has more than 211 million people. The largest country by land area in Africa is Algeria, which spans over 919,595 mi² (2,381,741 km²). Africa also has one of the world's best-known transcontinental countries, Egypt, whose northeastern corner extends into Asia. Below are the 54 countries in Africa in alphabetical order:

Countries of Africa:

Territories of Africa:

Asia

Asia has the second-highest number of countries of any continent, but exactly how many that is can be tricky to determine. The United Nations recognizes 49 countries in Asia, which is the most widely accepted number. However, depending upon which territories one recognizes and which intercontinental countries one includes, Asia could be said to have as few as 45 or as many as 53 countries.

The most populous country in Asia (and the world) is China, which has more than 1.4 billion people. The largest country by land area is Russia, which is 6.6 million square miles (17.125 million square kilometers)—however, because 78% of its people live in the European part of the country, Russia is generally considered to be a European country.

In fact, Asia is the continent with the largest number of transcontinental countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, and (surprisingly to many) Egypt, some of which are counted as Asian and some of which are not. Similarly, Cyprus is geographically located close to Asia's Middle East region but is widely considered a European country.

Finally, Asia also includes several partially recognized and/or disputed territories, such as Taiwan (claimed by China), Palestine (disputed territory), and China's two "Special Administrative Regions," Hong Kong and Macau. Below are all of the countries and territories in Asia, listed alphabetically:

Countries and territories of Asia:

Europe

Europe has 51 independent U.N.-recognized states. The largest country by both population and land area is Russia with 145.93 million people and spanning over 6.6 million square miles (17.125 million square kilometers). Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey are considered to be transcontinental countries, meaning that they are considered to be parts of both Asia and Europe. Europe’s countries are listed below in alphabetical order:

Countries of Europe:

Territories of Europe:

  • Åland (Finland)
  • Channel Islands (UK)
  • Faroe Islands (Denmark)
  • Gibraltar (UK)
  • Guernsey (UK - crown dependency)
  • Isle of Man (UK - crown dependency)
  • Jersey (UK - crown dependency)
  • Kosovo (partially recognized, claimed by Serbia)
  • Northern Cyprus (not recognized, claimed by Cyprus)
  • Northern Ireland (UK)
  • Svalbard (Norway)

North America

North America is made up of 23 countries and nearly as many territories. The most populated of these countries is the United States, which has a population of 329.9 million people. The largest country in North America by land area is Canada, which spans over 3.855 million square miles (9,984,670 square kilometers). Canada and the United States together occupy 79% of the continent’s total land area.

Countries of North America:

Territories of North America:

North America also has 22 territories, including some of the world's most compelling non-countries. For instance, Greenland is a vast island territory many times the size of its "parent" country, Denmark, and many smaller island territories in North America are sought-after vacation destinations, including Aruba, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In alphabetical order, North America’s 23 countries are as follows:

Oceania and Australia

Oceania has 14 countries and many overseas dependent territories. The largest country by population and land area is Australia, which is home to 25.63 million people and has 2.97 million square miles (7,692,024 square kilometers) of area. Oceania also boasts a large number of territories, many of which are controlled by the United States.

Countries of Oceania

Territories of Oceania:

South America

South America has 12 independent nations and a handful of dependent territories. The largest country in South America by population and land area is Brazil, which has about 211 million people and spans over 3.288 million square miles (8,515,7767 square kilometers). Brazil is also the country that contains the largest portion of the Amazon rainforest.

Countries of South America:

Territories of South America:

  • Bouvet Island (Norway)
  • Falkland Islands (UK)
  • French Guinea (France)
  • Nueva Esparta (Venezuela)
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)

Antarctica

There are technically no countries on the continent of Antarctica. However, seven sovereign states have territorial claims in Antarctica, resulting in the following territories:

Territories of Antarctica:

  • Adélie Land (France)
  • Argentine Antarctica (Argentina)
  • Australian Antarctic Territory (Australia)
  • British Antarctic Territory (UK)
  • Chilean Antarctic Territory (Chile)
  • Peter I Island (Norway)
  • Queen Maud Land (Norway)
  • Ross Dependency (New Zealand)

Additionally, the United States, Russia, Peru, and South Africa have all reserved their right to claim territory in Antarctica in the future if they so desire. Similarly, Brazil currently has a "zone of interest" but does not have an actual claim.

Download Table Data

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Country
Continent
RussiaAsiaEurope
AlgeriaAfrica
AngolaAfrica
BeninAfrica
BotswanaAfrica
Burkina FasoAfrica
BurundiAfrica
CameroonAfrica
Cape VerdeAfrica
Central African RepublicAfrica
ChadAfrica
ComorosAfrica
DjiboutiAfrica
DR CongoAfrica
EgyptAfrica
Equatorial GuineaAfrica
EritreaAfrica
EswatiniAfrica
EthiopiaAfrica
GabonAfrica
GambiaAfrica
GhanaAfrica
GuineaAfrica
Guinea BissauAfrica
Ivory CoastAfrica
KenyaAfrica
LesothoAfrica
LiberiaAfrica
LibyaAfrica
MadagascarAfrica
MalawiAfrica
MaliAfrica
MauritaniaAfrica
MauritiusAfrica
MayotteAfrica
MoroccoAfrica
MozambiqueAfrica
NamibiaAfrica
NigerAfrica
NigeriaAfrica
Republic of the CongoAfrica
ReunionAfrica
RwandaAfrica
Sao Tome and PrincipeAfrica
SenegalAfrica
SeychellesAfrica
Sierra LeoneAfrica
SomaliaAfrica
South AfricaAfrica
South SudanAfrica
SudanAfrica
TanzaniaAfrica
TogoAfrica
TunisiaAfrica
UgandaAfrica
Western SaharaAfrica
ZambiaAfrica
ZimbabweAfrica
AfghanistanAsia
ArmeniaAsia
AzerbaijanAsia
BahrainAsia
BangladeshAsia
BhutanAsia
BruneiAsia
CambodiaAsia
ChinaAsia
GeorgiaAsia
Hong KongAsia
IndiaAsia
IndonesiaAsia
IranAsia
IraqAsia
IsraelAsia
JapanAsia
JordanAsia
KazakhstanAsia
KuwaitAsia
KyrgyzstanAsia
LaosAsia
LebanonAsia
MacauAsia
MalaysiaAsia
MaldivesAsia
MongoliaAsia
MyanmarAsia
NepalAsia
North KoreaAsia
OmanAsia
PakistanAsia
PalestineAsia
PhilippinesAsia
QatarAsia
Saudi ArabiaAsia
SingaporeAsia
South KoreaAsia
Sri LankaAsia
SyriaAsia
TaiwanAsia
TajikistanAsia
ThailandAsia
Timor LesteAsia
TurkeyAsia
TurkmenistanAsia
United Arab EmiratesAsia
UzbekistanAsia
VietnamAsia
YemenAsia
AlbaniaEurope
AndorraEurope
AustriaEurope
BelarusEurope
BelgiumEurope
Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope
BulgariaEurope
CroatiaEurope
CyprusEurope
Czech RepublicEurope
DenmarkEurope
EstoniaEurope
Faroe IslandsEurope
FinlandEurope
FranceEurope
GermanyEurope
GibraltarEurope
GreeceEurope
GuernseyEurope
HungaryEurope
IcelandEurope
IrelandEurope
Isle of ManEurope
ItalyEurope
JerseyEurope
LatviaEurope
LiechtensteinEurope
LithuaniaEurope
LuxembourgEurope
MaltaEurope
MoldovaEurope
MonacoEurope
MontenegroEurope
NetherlandsEurope
North MacedoniaEurope
NorwayEurope
PolandEurope
PortugalEurope
RomaniaEurope
San MarinoEurope
SerbiaEurope
SlovakiaEurope
SloveniaEurope
SpainEurope
SwedenEurope
SwitzerlandEurope
UkraineEurope
United KingdomEurope
Vatican CityEurope
AnguillaNorth America
Antigua and BarbudaNorth America
ArubaNorth America
BahamasNorth America
BarbadosNorth America
BelizeNorth America
BermudaNorth America
British Virgin IslandsNorth America
CanadaNorth America
Cayman IslandsNorth America
Costa RicaNorth America
CubaNorth America
CuracaoNorth America
DominicaNorth America
Dominican RepublicNorth America
El SalvadorNorth America
GreenlandNorth America
GrenadaNorth America
GuadeloupeNorth America
GuatemalaNorth America
HaitiNorth America
HondurasNorth America
JamaicaNorth America
MartiniqueNorth America
MexicoNorth America
MontserratNorth America
NicaraguaNorth America
PanamaNorth America
Puerto RicoNorth America
Saint BarthelemyNorth America
Saint Kitts and NevisNorth America
Saint LuciaNorth America
Saint MartinNorth America
Saint Pierre and MiquelonNorth America
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesNorth America
Sint MaartenNorth America
Trinidad and TobagoNorth America
Turks and Caicos IslandsNorth America
United StatesNorth America
United States Virgin IslandsNorth America
American SamoaOceania
AustraliaOceania
Cook IslandsOceania
FijiOceania
French PolynesiaOceania
GuamOceania
KiribatiOceania
Marshall IslandsOceania
MicronesiaOceania
NauruOceania
New CaledoniaOceania
New ZealandOceania
NiueOceania
Northern Mariana IslandsOceania
PalauOceania
Papua New GuineaOceania
SamoaOceania
Solomon IslandsOceania
TokelauOceania
TongaOceania
TuvaluOceania
VanuatuOceania
Wallis and FutunaOceania
ArgentinaSouth America
BoliviaSouth America
BrazilSouth America
ChileSouth America
ColombiaSouth America
EcuadorSouth America
Falkland IslandsSouth America
French GuianaSouth America
GuyanaSouth America
ParaguaySouth America
PeruSouth America
SurinameSouth America
UruguaySouth America
VenezuelaSouth America
showing: 234 rows

How many countries are in each continent?

Africa includes 54 countries, Europe includes 51 countries, Asia includes 49 countries, North America includes 23 countries, South America includes 12 countries and Oceania includes 14 countries.

Frequently Asked Questions

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