Country/Catalogs

The word country is not defined easily. In its simplest form, a country is just an area of land. However, it is also commonly used to refer to the State that controls the land or to refer to the nation that lives on the land. This is often additionally confused since the territory, state (government) and nation frequently share the same name. So we could consider a country to be the entity that is formed by all three parts, State (government), Nation (people) and territory (land).

However, complications can arise. For example the territory of the islands of Ireland are not coterminous with the territory controlled by a single Irish State. There are clear cultural affinities north and south of a border between two sovereign entities, but almost all the inhabitants of the Irish islands still consider themselves Irish and living in the country of Ireland. In other cases, such as the American aboriginals, the nation remains but has been stripped of its territory. Without territory, it cannot be considered a country.

This list tries to use an inclusive definition. For the most part, it contains internationally recognised countries with a fully autonomous and independent state with recognised territory that is home to the population of that State. However, at the bottom of the page we have also listed some states or territories that are disputed. We have also tried to explain in brief the reason for the dispute.

Some territories, commonly referred to as countries, make up part of a larger State through union. For example Scotland, England and Wales are all commonly known as countries. However, they are not independent of each other. While Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have a level of autonomy through recent devolution of powers, they remain a constituent part of the United Kingdom. Other territories display a high level of autonomy but are considered to belong to or be dependant upon a larger state. We have not listed such territories in column 1 of the table but rather listed them as a division of the parent state.

Widely Recognised Countries

Name	Capital	Currency	Population 2005 (Thousands)
Afghanistan	Kabul	Afghani	29,863
Albania	Tirana	Lek	3,130
Algeria	Algiers	Algerian dinar	32,854
Andorra	Andorra la Vella	Euro	67
Angola	Luanda	Kwanza	15,941
Antigua and Barbuda	Saint John's	East Caribbean dollar	81
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Argentine peso	38,747
Armenia	Yerevan	Armenian dram	3,016
Australia	Canberra	Australian dollar	20,155
Austria	Vienna	Euro	8,189
Azerbaijan	Baku	Azerbaijani manat	8,411
Bahamas	Nassau	Bahamian dollar	323
Bahrain	Manama	Bahraini dinar	727
Bangladesh	Dhaka	Taka	141,822
Barbados	Bridgetown	Barbadian dollar	270
Belarus	Minsk	Belarusian rouble	9,755
Belgium	Brussels	Euro	10,419
Belize	Belmopan	Belizean Dollar	270
Benin	Porto Novo (Official) Cotonou (De facto)	CFA franc	8,439
Bhutan	Thimphu	Ngultrum	2,163
Bolivia	Sucre (Judicial) La Paz (Administrative)	Boliviano	9,182
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sarajevo	convertible mark	3,907
Botswana	Gaborone	Botswana pula	1,765
Brazil	Brasilia	Brazilian real	186,405
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	Bruneian dollar	374
Bulgaria	Sofia	Lev	7,726
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	CFA franc	13,228
Burundi	Bujumbura	Burundi franc	7,548
Cambodia	Phnom Penh	Cambodian riel	14,071
Cameroon	Yaoundé	CFA franc	16,322
Canada	Ottawa	Canadian dollar	32,623
Cape Verde	Praia	Cape Verdean escudo	507
Central African Republic	Bangui	CFA franc	4,038
Chad	N'Djamena	CFA franc	9,749
Chile	Santiago	Chilean peso	16,295
China, People's Republic of	Beijing	Renminbi	1,315,844
Colombia	Bogota	Colombian peso	45,600
Comoros	Moroni	Comorian franc	798
Congo, Democratic Republic of the...	Kinshasa	Congolese franc	57,549
Congo, Republic of the	Brazzaville	CFA franc	3,999
Costa Rica	San José	Costa Rican colón	4,327
Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro		18,154
Croatia	Zagreb	Kuna	4,551
Cuba	Havana	Cuban peso	11,269
Cyprus	Nicosia	Cypriot pound	835
Czech Republic	Prague	Czech koruna	10,220
Denmark	Copenhagen	Danish krone	5,431
Djibouti	Djibouti		793
Dominica	Roseau		79
Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo		8,895
Ecuador	Quito		13,228
Egypt	Cairo		74,033
El Salvador	San Salvador		6,881
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo		504
Eritrea	Asmara		4,401
Estonia	Tallinn		1,330
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa		77,431
Fiji	Suva		848
Finland	Helsinki	Euro	5,249
France	Paris	Euro	60,496
Gabon	Libreville		1,384
Gambia	Banjul		1,517
Georgia	Tbilisi		4,474
Germany	Berlin	Euro	82,689
Ghana	Accra		22,113
Greece	Athens	Euro	11,120
Grenada	St. George's		103
Guatemala	Guatemala City		12,599
Guinea	Conakry		9,402
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau		1,586
Guyana	Georgetown		751
Haiti	Port-au-Prince		8,528
Holy See	Vatican	Euro
Honduras	Tegucigalpa		7,205
Hungary	Budapest		10,098
Iceland	Reykjavik		295
India	New Delhi		1,103,371
Indonesia	Jakarta		222,781
Iran	Tehran		69,515
Iraq	Baghdad		28,807
Ireland	Dublin	Euro	4,240
Israel	Jerusalem	New (Israeli) Sheqel (NIS)	6,725
Italy	Rome	Euro	58,093
Jamaica	Kingston	Jamaican dollar	2,651
Japan	Tokyo	Yen	128,085
Jordan	Amman		5,703
Kazakhstan	Astana		14,825
Kenya	Nairobi		34,256
Kiribati	South Tarawa		99
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of	Pyongyang		22,488
Korea, Republic of	Seoul		47,817
Kuwait	Kuwait City		2,687
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek		5,264
Laos	Vientiane		5,924
Latvia	Riga		2,307
Lebanon	Beirut		3,577
Lesotho	Maseru		1,795
Liberia	Monrovia		3,283
Libya	Tripoli		5,853
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	Swiss Franc	35
Lithuania	Vilnius		3,431
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Euro	465
Madagascar	Antananarivo		18,606
Malawi	Lilongwe		12,884
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur		25,347
Maldives	Malé		329
Mali	Bamako		13,518
Malta	Valletta		402
Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic of	Skopje		2,034
Marshall Islands	Majuro		62
Mauritania	Nouakchott		3,069
Mauritius	Port Louis		1,245
Mexico	Mexico City	Mexican peso	107,029
Micronesia, Federated States of...	Palikir		110
Moldova	Chisinau		4,206
Monaco	Monaco	Euro	35
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar		2,646
Montenegro	Podgorica	Euro
Morocco	Rabat		31,478
Mozambique	Maputo		19,792
Myanmar	Naypyidaw		50,519
Namibia	Windhoek		2,031
Nauru	none		14
Nepal	Kathmandu		27,133
Netherlands	Amsterdam The Hague (seat of govt.)	Euro	16,299
New Zealand	Wellington	New Zealand Dollar	4,028
Nicaragua	Managua		5,487
Niger	Niamey		13,957
Nigeria	Abuja		131,530
Norway	Oslo	Norwegian Krone	4,620
Oman	Muscat		2,567
Pakistan	Islamabad		157,935
Palau	Melekeok		20
Panama	Panama City		3,232
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby		5,887
Paraguay	Asuncion	Guarani	6,158
Peru	Lima	Peruvian sol	27,968
Philippines	Manila		83,054
Poland	Warsaw		38,530
Portugal	Lisbon	Euro	10,495
Qatar	Doha		813
Romania	Bucharest		21,711
Russia	Moscow	Ruble	143,202
Rwanda	Kigali		9,038
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre		43
Saint Lucia	Castries		161
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Kingstown		119
Samoa	Apia		185
San Marino	San Marino	Euro	28
Sao Tome and Principe	Sao Tome		157
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh		24,573
Senegal	Dakar		11,658
Serbia	Belgrade		10,503
Seychelles	Victoria		81
Sierra Leone	Freetown		5,525
Singapore	Singapore		4,326
Slovakia	Bratislava		5,401
Slovenia	Ljubljana	Euro	1,967
Solomon Islands	Honiara		478
Somalia	Mogadishu		8,228
South Africa	Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial)		47,432
Spain	Madrid	Euro	43,064
Sri Lanka	Colombo		20,743
Sudan	Khartoum		36,233
Suriname	Paramaribo		449
Swaziland	Mbabane		1,032
Sweden	Stockholm	Swedish krona	9,041
Switzerland	Bern	Swiss Franc	7,252
Syria	Damascus		19,043
Tajikistan	Dushanbe		6,507
Tanzania	Dodoma		38,329
Thailand	Bangkok		64,233
Timor-Leste	Dili		947
Togo	Lomé		6,145
Tonga	Nuku'alofa		102
Trinidad and Tobago	Port of Spain		1,305
Tunisia	Tunis		10,102
Turkey	Ankara		73,193
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat		4,833
Tuvalu	Funafuti		10
Uganda	Kampala		28,816
Ukraine	Kiev		46,481
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi		4,496
United Kingdom	London	Pound sterling	59,668
United States of America	Washington	United States dollar	298,213
Uruguay	Montevideo	Uruguayan peso	3,463
Uzbekistan	Tashkent		26,593
Vanuatu	Port Vila		211
Venezuela	Caracas	Venezuelan bolivar	26,749
Viet Nam	Ha Noi	Vietnamese dong	84,238
Yemen	Sana	Yemeni rial	20,975
Zambia	Lusaka	Zambian kwacha	11,668
Zimbabwe	Harare	Zimbabwean dollar	13,010

Other less well recognised countries

Some territories effectively behave as independent countries but have, for one reason or another, not received wide recognition, or they are disputed or claimed by another country.

Name	Capital	Currency	Population
China, Republic of	Taipei	Taiwan Dollar	22,858,872
Kosovo	Priština
Northern Cyprus	Nicosia	Turkish New Lira
Palestine	Jerusalem (claimed), Ramallah de facto
Transnistria	Tiraspol	Transnistrian ruble	555,347
Western Sahara

Notes and References

• List of recognised counties sourced form UN member states list
• Population data sourced form [# | Add address here]