My Ultimate Extensive List of Every Country or Significant Region in the World

“Travel the world and the seven seas; everybody’s looking for something” – Eurythmics.

Nobody will ever visit every country in the world, I stand by that. There are too many of them, (I count 627 currently) with more being formed every day and more debates than we ever need. And yes, I mean real countries. As long as a country is recognised by itself and is separate and external from another country, then it’s a separate country as far as I’m concerned. While I hate big organisations like FIFA, Untied Nations and the Travelers Century Club, it’s time for a real list from a whackpacker about what countries are real and what aren’t. All of these are real countries, in my eyes and in those nations eyes. This will hopefully form the basis of an extensive country list better than that from the horrendous corrupt FIFA or UN (a cover name for the USA or any country that deems itself superior to others). Move over global organisations who don’t travel; step in people who do travel, and the most travelled Northern Irish-born person I know. #dontstopliving #northernirishmaninpoland

I bring you my personal, selfish list of every country or significant separate region in the world. I aim to include a current updated list and will constantly update this as the political situation changes and new countries get formed. From Karakalpakstan to United States of America.

What is a Country? How Many Countries Are There?

• 627 – My latest list is pretty thorough and shows 627 real countries in the world (this list). 193 of them are fake however
• 193 (Fakes) – The United Nations has 193 member states, 3 observer states and a country with no land (Sovereign Order of Malta). I recognise most of these 193 as fake.
• 211 – FIFA claims there are 211 countries, all of whom have a registered national football team.
• 225 – The British Foreign and Commonwealth office states that there are 225 countries and territories.
• The Traveller’s Century Club states that there are 325 sovereign nations, territories, enclaves, and islands.
• The Most Traveled Persons website states that there are 875 unique parts of the world.
• The Best Traveled states that there are 1281 unique places in the world.
• Global Gaz claims there are 193 countries that he personally wants to visit.
• Northern Irishman in Poland, Jonny Blair, claims there are an endless list of countries and even this blog or your Mum’s shop can be a country if “it wants to be”.
• I don’t personally recognise entities such as United Kingdom, PR China, Spain or United States of America, but parts of them have been included on my list to make things clearer for others, otherwise, USA and Spain would be omitted completely.

The debate goes on about what is a country and what isn’t and while I see myself as very much a separatist and a person in support of smaller countries and regions, I decided to compile a huge list of all potential countries, significant regions and disputed territories in the world. As a Northern Irish Nationalist, I’m fed up hearing people talking about a country called United Kingdom. There is no such country! I’ve never heard about anyone being a “United Kingdomist”. You’re either Welsh, English, Scottish, British or Northern Irish. I cut it into quarters, and then it became even more separate, including the likes of Guernsey, Podjistan, Lagoan Isles etc. as separate countries again. Yes, the geographical area known as the British Isles actually has about 15 countries in it!

 

Within those four countries with FIFA recognised football teams, there are many more countries that border them, here are just four examples…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All four of those are legitimate countries as well. So this is an extensive list of all countries and territories which I have built using the Travellers Century Club list, the United Nations List, FIFA as well as the small countries/micronations that are recognised only by a minority. But importantly they are still countries. I am aware of a few big name travellers like Lee Abbamonte and Gunnar Garfors who have been to over 200 countries around the world, others such as Michael Palin and Graham Hughes look set to stick to organisations such as the UN or FIFA to make their judgement. But nobody has been to all these places yet, so here’s a challenge for all the big travellers out there – can you visit them all in a lifetime?? Is it possible?? I don’t think it is possible to visit every country in the world. In fact, the leader of Podjistan told me that I could be the country’s only ever tourist, as the country may not permit any future foreign visits! I’d love to try and get to the 300 mark though, it would be some achievement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will be difficult to visit every country, given that countries like Austenasia only opened up to backpackers last year and some of the obscure micronations still attract zero tourists, Westarctica and Sealand for example. And even when I toured Adammia, Lagoan Isles and Lovely, I rarely saw another tourist. Other countries like Saudi Arabia and Algeria have strict visa regulations and some island countries are so remote there is NO public or organised transport out to them (Sealand and Elleore being the most obvious examples).

So without further ado or debate, here’s the Don’t Stop Living list of countries in the world, standing at 625. If you own a country or are President/Ruler of a country not on this list, please email me to jonny(at) dontstopliving (dot) net to be added to the list as long as you are a real country.

* Those bold and underlined in black, I have personally visited in some shape or form.

** Please note this list is not extensive, and has some overlaps of countries in it to encompass different potential names for countries, therefore no numbers have been added and this list will be constantly updated:

Abelden
Abkhazia
Admiralty Islands
Aerican Empire
Aeterna Lucina
Adammia
Afghanistan
Agalega
Aitutaki
Ajman
Akhzivland
Aland Islands
Albania
Aldabra
Alderney
Algeria
Amirante Island
Andaman-Nicobar Islands
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua
Aramoana
Argentina
Argentine Antarctica
Armenia
Aruba
Ascension
Atafu
Atlantium
Austenasia
Australia
Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
Austria
Autistan
Autopia
Avram
Awdalland
Azad Jammu
Azania
Azawad
Azerbaijan
Azores Islands
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Barbuda
Barony of Caux
Barotseland
Basque Country
Basutoland
Bavaria
Baystead
Bechuanaland
Belarus
Belgium
Belize (British Honduras)
Benin
Bequia
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bialenia
Bir Tawil
Bismark Archipelago
Bolivia
Bonaire
Bonin
Borovnia
Bosnia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana
Bougainville
Bouvet Island
Brazil
Britain
British Antarctica
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
British West Florida
Brittany
Brunei
Bulgaria
Bumbunga
Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
Burma (see Myanmar)
Burundi
Cabinda
Caicos
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Canary Islands
Canouan (see Staint Vincent & Deps.)
Canton (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Cape Verde Islands
Caroline Islands (see Micronesia, Federated States of )
Carriacou (see Grenada & Deps.)
Cascadia
Catalonia
Cayman Islands
Celebes
Celestia
Central African Republic
Ceuta
Ceylon (see Sri Lanka)
Chad
Chagos Archipeloago (see British Indian Ocean Territory)
Channel Islands
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Belarus and Ukraine)
Chile
China, People’s Republic of
Christiania
Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
Christmas Island (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Church State of Rotria
Chuuk (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
Ciprofloksja
Cocos Islands (Keeling)
Colombia
Comoro Islands (Anjouan, Moheli, Grand Comoro)
Conch Republic
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Republic of
Cook Islands
Copeman Empire
Coral Sea Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Crozet (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
Cuba
Curacao
Cyprus
Czechia (Czech Republic)
Dahomey
Davis (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
Denmark
Diego Garcia (see British Indian Ocean Territory)
Djibouti
Dodecanese Islands (Rhodes)
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Dominion of British West Florida
Donetsk People’s Republic
Donkey Kong Country
Don’t Stop Living
Druze Villages
Duchy of Avram
Dutch New Guinea (see Irian Jaya)
Dzaoudzi (see Mayotte)
Easter Island
East Batawia
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
Elgaland-Vargaland
El Salvador
Elsanor
Ellice Islands (see Tuvalu)
Empire of Atlantium
Enderbury (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Eneko Island
England
Eniwetok (see Marshall Islands, Republic of)
Enen Kio
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fakaofu (see Tokelau Islands)
Falkland Islands
Fanning (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Faroe Islands
Farquhar (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
Federacja Slawonii
Federal Commonwealth of Sirocco
Fernando do Noronha
Fernando Poo (see Equatorial Guinea)
Fiji Islands
Finland
Flandrensis
Forvik
France
Free Borough of Llanwrst
Freedomland
Freedonia
French Guyana
French Guinea
French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier)
French Southern & Antarctic Territory (Kerguelen,Crozet, Amsterdam, St. Paul)
Frestonia
Fujeirah
Funafuti (see Tuvalu)
Futuna (see Wallis & Futuna Islands)
Gabon
Galapagos Islands
Galdamug
Gambia
Gambier (see French Polynesia)
Gaugazia
Garapenia
Gaza Strip
Georgia
Germany
Ghana (Gold Coast, British Togoland)
Gibraltar
Gilberts (see Kiribati)
Glacier Republic
Global Country of World Peace
Glorioso (see Reunion & Deps.)
Glorious Dictatorial Republic of Andersonia
Gorno Badakhshan
Graham Land (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
Grand Comoro (see Comoro Islands)
Great Britain
Great Republic of Rough and Ready
Great United Kissean Kingdom
Greece
Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
Grenada
Grenadines
Guadalcanal
Guadeloupe
Margarita Island
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana (British Guiana)
Hainan Island
Haiti
Hajducka Republika
Hay on Wye
Heard (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
Herm
Herzegovina (see Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Himan and Heeb
Honduras
Hong Kong
Howland (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Humanity
Hungary
Hutt River Province
Ibrosian Protectorate
Iceland
Imperial Kingdom of Calsahara
Imperial Throne
India
Indonesia
Indonesian Borneo (see Kalimantan)
Insulo de la Rozoj (Esperanto for Rose Island)
International Waters (officially when you are “x” miles from land, you are no longer in an actual country but in “international waters”, this therefore is a country of its own and probably the largest country in the world!)
Ionian Islands (Corfu, etc.)
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Irian Jaya (Dutch New Guinea)
Islandia
Isle of Man
Israel
Italian Somaliland (see Somalia)
Italy
Ivory Coast
Iwo Jima (see Ogasawara)
Jamaica
Japan
Java
Jersey
Jordan
Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island)
Jubaland
Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
Kaliningrad
Kalmykia
Kashmir
Kashubia
Karakalpakstan
Kazakhstan
Keeling
Kenya
Kerguelen (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
Kingdom of Elleore
Kingdom of L’Anse-Saint-Jean
Kingdom of North Dumpling Island
Kingdom of Romkerhall
Kingdom of Sedang
Kingdom of Trio
Kingdom of Tuyuhun (uses Kugaria’s forum)
Kingdom of Tycho
Kiribati
Kongresowka
Korea, North (Democratic People’s Repbublic of Korea)
Korea, South (Republic of Korea)
Kosovo
Kosrae (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
Krolestwo Dreamlandu (Kingdom of Dreamland)
Krolestwo Kabuto
Księstwo Sarmacji
Kugaria
Kugel Mugel
Kurdistan
Kuwait
Kwajalein
Kyrgyzstan
Lagoan Isles
Lakshadweep
Lampedusa
Ladonia
Lakotah
L’Anse Saint-Jean
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Leblandia
Leeward Islands, French (St. Martin)
Leeward Islands, Netherlands (Saba, St. Eustatius)
Lesotho (Basutoland)
Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali,Timor, Indonesia)
Leylandistan
Liberia
Liberland
Libya
Liechtenstein
Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
Lithuania
Lizbekistan
Lord Howe Island
Lovely (Kingdom  of Lovely)
Loyalty Islands (see New Caledonia & Deps.)
Luhansk People’s Republic
Lundy
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Macquarie (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
Madagascar
Madeira
Malawi (Nyasaland)
Malaysia
Maldive Islands
Mali
Malta
Marie Galante (see Guadeloupe & Deps.)
Mariehamn (see Aland Islands)
Maritime Republic of Eastport
Marlborough
Marquesas Islands
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius & Deps. (Agalega, St. Brandon)
Mawson (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
Mayotte (Dzaoudzi)
Melchizedek
Melilla
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
Midway Island
Mikrosławia
Minerva
Miquelon (see St. Pierre & Miquelon)
Moheli (see Comoro Islands)
Moldova
Molossia
Moluka
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morac Songhrati
Morocco, Kingdom of
Morocco, Spanish (Ceuta, Melilla)
Moskitia
Mozambique
Mulerkiz
Murrawarri
Mustique
Myanmar (Burma)
Nagorno Karabakh
Nakhichevan
Namibia
Narnia (wardrobe in Belfast, Northern Ireland)
Nation of Celestial Space
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles (see St. Maarten)
Netherlands Guiana (see Suriname)
Neue Slowenische Kunst
New Atlantis
New Britain
New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands)
New Georgia
New Hebrides Islands
New Ireland
New Utopia
New Wessex
New Zealand
New Zealand Antarctica (Ross Dependency)
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
North Borneo (see Sabah)
Northern Cyprus
Northern Forest Archipelago
Northern Ireland
Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
Norway
Noumea
Nova Roma
Nova Troie
Nukualofa
Nunaat
Nutopia
Nyasaland
Ocean Island
Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima)
Oman
Other World Kingdom
Outer Baldonia
Pago Pago
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Palmer Peninsula (see Argentine Antarctica and Chilean Antarctica)
Palmyra (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Penrhyn (see Cook Islands)
People’s Commune of Otautahi
Perloja
Peru
Pescenica
Petroburg
Philippines
Phoenix/Line Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
Pitcairn Island
Podjistan
Poland
Polish Antarctica
Ponderosa
Portugal
Prince Edward Island
Principe (see Sao Tome & Principe)
Principality of Islandia
Principality of Voodice
Providencia (see San Andres & Providencia)
Przedruś
Puerto Rico
Puntland
Pustkowia Winków
Qatar
Quebec (French Canada)
Queen Maud Land (see Norwegian Antarctica)
Rainbow Creek
Rarotonga(see Cook Islands)
Ras Al Khaimah
Redonda
Republic of Frigus
Republic of Ireland (Eire, Irish Free State)
Republic of Rathnelly
Republic of Saugeais
Republic of Speerland
Republic of West Phalia
Reunion
Rhodes (see Dodecanese Islands)
Rio Muni (see Equatorial Guinea)
Robbie the Pict
Robinson Crusoe Island (see Juan Fernandez Islands)
Rockall
Rodriguez Island
Romania
Rose Island
Ross Dependency (see New Zealand Antarctica)
Russia
Rwanda
Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów
Saba (see Leeward Islands, Netherlands)
Sabah (North Borneo)
Saltee Islands
Samoa (Apia)
Samoa, American (Pago Pago)
San Andres & Providencia
San Escobar (Witold Waszykowski blunder)
San Marino
San Serriffe (Guardian newspaper story)
Santera
Sao Tome & Principe
Sarafan
Sarawak
Sardinia
Sark
Sarmacja
Saugeais
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Sealand
Seborga
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Shan State
Siberia
Sierra Leone
Sikkim
Singapore
Slokani (The Autocratic Republic of)
Slovakia
Slovenia
Slowjamastan
Snake Hill
Socialist Union of the Wakatipu
Solomon Islands
Somalia (Italian Somaliland)
Somaliland
South Africa
South Georgia
South Orkney
South Ossetia
South Sandwich
South Shetland
Sovereign Kingdom of Kemetia
Spain
Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Bear Island)
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
Srpska
State of NSK
State of Sabotage
St. Barts
St. Brandon (see Mauritius & Deps.)
St. Eustatius (see Leeward Islands, Netherlands)
St. Helena
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles)
St. Martin (see Leeward Islands, French)
St. Paul (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
St. Pierre & Miquelon
St. Vincent & Deps. (Bequia, Canouan Grenadines)
Sudan
Suderland
South Sudan
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Sumatra (Indonesia)
Suriname (Netherlands Guiana)
Svalbard
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tahiti
Taiwan (Republic of China)
Tajikistan
Talossa
Tanzania
Tasmania
Thailand
The Artemis Project
The Berry Peoples Republic
The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
The Metropolitan Electorate of Fidelis
Tibet
Tierra del Mar (Land of Sea)
Timor Leste
Tobago (see Trinidad)
Togo
Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union)
Tonga
Tortola (see Virgin Islands, British)
Trans Dniester (Transnistria)
Transnational Republic
Trinidad & Tobago
Tristan da Cunha
Trizondal
Tromelin (see Reunion & Deps.)
Trumania
Tuamotu
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks & Caicos Islands
Tuvalu (Ellice Islands, Funafuti, Vaitapu)
Uganda
Ukraine
Umm Al Qaiwain
Union Island (see Tokelau Islands)
Unironia
United Kingdom
United Oceania
Upper Volta (see Burkina Faso)
Urbino (dependency of Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów)
Uruguay
U.S. Virgin Islands
Utopia
Uzbekistan
Uzupis
Vaitapu (see Tuvalu)
Valtio Kingdom
Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands)
Vatican City
Venezuela

Veyshnoria
Vietnam
Vikesland
Volcano Island (see Ogasawara)
Wake Island
Wales
Wallachia
Wallis & Futuna Islands
Wandystan
Wanstonia
Wa State
Waveland
Wendland
Westarctica
Western Sahara
West Papua
Whangamomona
Wirtland
Wurstlandia
Wy
Yap
Yemen
Zambia
Zanzibar
(Federal Republic of ) Zealandia
(Kingdom of) Zealandia
Zil Elwannyen Sesel (Aldabra, Farquhar, Amirante Is.)
Zimbabwe
Zjednoczone Socjalistyczne Królestwo Hirschbergii i Weerlandu

This list would be cheating of course due to the amount of repeats, but I’ve covered 223 on that list above, and in terms of FIFA countries, I’m on about 170 and in terms of genuine countries I recognise myself, I’m on 223.

On the Most TravelledPeople.com website, I have visited around 350 out of about 875 places on their map. I am the most travelled Northern Irish-born person on their list. Please please do get in touch if you are a Northern Irish-born person who has travelled this much, I would love to interview you on the site and meet up!

It’s all a matter of debate but nice to have a record of where we have been.

I’m still trying to work out which is more legit to be a country between Austenasia and the United States.

To remind you that this isn’t the only crazy part of my blog, here are some cool articles on my other disputed countries and regions visits from my travels, all of which are countries in my book:

– Wales
– Adammia
– Andaman Islands
– Gorno Badakhshan
– Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
– Andorra
– Don’t Stop Living
– Krolestwo Dreamlandu
– The Vatican City
– Austenasia
– Sark
– Northern Ireland
– Uzupis
– Scotland
– Macao
– Frestonia
– Kosovo
– Transnistria
– Christiania
– French Guyana
– Hong Kong
– Nagorno Karabakh
– Ladonia
– Lagoan Isles
– People’s Republic of Podjistan
– Taiwan
– Karakalpakstan
– San Marino
– England
– Herm
– Guernsey
– Jersey
– Druze People
– Lovely