Countries List

A clear, complete list of the world’s countries: the 193 member states of the United Nations and the two UN observer states, the Holy See and Palestine — 195 in total — with each capital city and continent. Download it as a printable PDF, a sortable Excel sheet, or quiz sheets for geography practice.

How many countries are there?

There is no single official count, but the most common answer is 195: the 193 member states of the United Nations plus two non-member observer states, the Holy See (Vatican City) and the State of Palestine. Other lists add or remove territories whose status is disputed or who are not UN members, such as Taiwan and Kosovo, which are recognised by some countries but not others. This list follows the UN membership plus observer states, the approach used by many schools and atlases.

Countries by continent

Africa has 54 countries, Asia 47, Europe 43, North America (including Central America and the Caribbean) 23, South America 12, and Oceania 14. Russia and Türkiye span Europe and Asia and are listed as Europe/Asia. Continent assignments for a few countries, such as Cyprus, Armenia and Georgia, vary between sources.

Countries A–Z (first 40)

The full list of all 195 countries with capitals and continents is in the printable pack and the Excel sheet.

Countries with more than one capital

Several countries divide capital functions between cities. South Africa has three: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial). Bolivia’s constitutional capital is Sucre, while the government sits in La Paz. The Netherlands’ capital is Amsterdam, but the government and parliament are in The Hague. Eswatini has Mbabane (executive) and Lobamba (legislative). Sri Lanka’s official capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, next to Colombo, the commercial capital. Côte d’Ivoire’s official capital is Yamoussoukro, while many institutions remain in Abidjan.

Recent changes worth knowing

• South Sudan became independent in 2011, the newest UN member state.
• Eswatini is the name used since 2018 for the country formerly called Swaziland.
• North Macedonia has been the country’s name since 2019.
• Türkiye is the name the country asked the UN to use from 2022.
• Kazakhstan’s capital is Astana (called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022).
• Burundi made Gitega its political capital in 2019.

What is in the pack

• Printable countries list — all 195 countries with capitals and continents, A–Z.
• Excel spreadsheet — sort and filter by continent, with columns to add population, languages or notes for projects.
• Countries by continent — one page per continent.
• Capitals quiz sheets — country listed, capital blank, with answer keys.
• Countries checklist — tick off countries you have visited or studied.

Uses

Geography lessons and homework, quiz nights, travel planning and bucket lists, forms and databases that need a country dropdown, and classroom projects in which each student researches a country. The spreadsheet is a handy starting point for adding population, area, currency or language data from an official source.

Formats

Printable PDFs (US Letter; print on A4), an Excel workbook with the full list, and editable Word quiz sheets.

Accuracy and updates

Country names and capitals change occasionally. This list reflects UN membership and commonly cited capitals at the time of writing. For official or legal purposes, check the United Nations’ list of member states and each government’s own sources.