Where the data comes from

Every number on this site comes from a published source. This page says which one, how current it is, and where judgement was involved rather than data.

The sources

Why 195

The generator counts 195 sovereign states: the 193 members of the United Nations plus Vatican City and Palestine, both UN observer states. Counts of 196 or 197 add Taiwan and Kosovo, which are recognised by some countries and not others. Both appear here when territories are switched on, so you can work with either count.

Territories

Thirty-four places in the database are not sovereign states: dependencies, overseas departments and territories such as Puerto Rico, Greenland, Guam, the Faroe Islands and Western Sahara. They are excluded from the draw by default and included by the “Include territories” switch. Nothing here is a statement about anyone’s political claim; it follows the UN membership list because that is the only line that can be drawn consistently.

Transcontinental countries

Several countries sit across a continental boundary and no classification pleases everyone. This site assigns each to the continent where most of its population lives. That puts Russia in Europe, since around three quarters of Russians live west of the Urals, and Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia in Asia. Egypt is filed under Africa, as the Sinai is a small share of both its land and its population.

What is approximate

Populations are estimates, not counts, and for countries without a recent census they can differ by several percent between sources. Areas vary slightly depending on whether inland water is included. Figures are rounded on screen for readability — small states are shown to the nearest thousand people, large ones to the nearest hundred thousand.

Found a mistake

Tell us through the contact form. Corrections that come with a source are usually live within a few days.