How many Countries are there on Earth?

Lana Turner, the famous Hollywood actress of yesteryear, when asked her age, answered with a straight face, “I don’t really know because it keeps changing every minute".

Believe it or not, so it almost is with the number of countries on Earth.

• In 1945, when WW-II ended, there were 74 countries.
• By 1970, the number had swelled to 127 countries (that were either members of the UN or were observer-States) or that had de facto sovereign control over their territories).
• Today, there are 232 such territories (World Population Review).
• In the last 51 years alone, we have added 105 new countries – about 2½ new countries every year, or one new country every 177 days.
• This figure does not include territories that are still fighting for independence or claiming to be independent countries but are not sufficiently recognised as such. These include:

o   Kosovo (landlocked; North of Greece and East of Italy)

o   Abkhazia (with access to Black Sea, with Georgia in the East and Russia in the North). 5 countries recognise it as a separate country.

o   South Ossetia (landlocked, with Russia to its North and otherwise surrounded by Georgia). 5 countries recognise it as a separate country.

o   Transnistria (landlocked mountainous strip of land between Moldova and Ukraine stretching from its South-East to North-West and Ukraine from its South East to its North West). No UN Member country recognises it as a separate country, but Abkhazia and South Ossetia (themselves not recognised) do recognise it.

o   Taiwan (Republic of China) Its political status is ambiguous. The PRC (What we know s China) rules only Mainland China and has no control of Taiwan, but claims Taiwan as part of its territory under its "One China Principle".15 countries recognise Taiwan as a country.  

o   Tibet (Landlocked, mountainous, shares its southern border with India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. Lies to the South-West of China, and is under political control of China)

o   Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

o   Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Earlier called Western Sahara)

o   Nagorno-Karabakh (disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russia enforcing agreements)

Phew! An easy question to answer, right?