How many countries are there? By most accounts, 195. There are 192 members of the United Nations. Therefore the number 192 is too often used to represent the number of countries in the world. There are 61 dependent areas, and six disputed territories. Places commonly confused as being countries include Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Greenland, Western Sahara, and even the components of the United Kingdom (such as Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England - they're not countries, states, or nation-states).
The one outsider, Taiwan meets most of the requirements of independent country or state status. However, due to political reasons, it fails to be recognized by much of the world, so some count 196. Kosovo, Montenegro, then East Timor are the world's youngest. Although another way to look at it is Uganda is the world's youngest country, since 50% of the population are under 14. By those rights Italy is the oldest.
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