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 Hong Kong Dollar Macao pataca	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	Djibouti franc	793
Dominica	Roseau	East Caribbean dollar	79
Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo	Dominican peso	8,895
Ecuador	Quito	United States dollar	13,228
Egypt	Cairo	Egyptian pound	74,033
El Salvador	San Salvador	El Salvador colón United States dollar	6,881
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	CFA franc	504
Eritrea	Asmara	Nakfa	4,401
Estonia	Tallinn	Kroon	1,330
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	Birr	77,431
Fiji	Suva	Fiji dollar	848
Finland	Helsinki	Euro	5,249
France	Paris	Euro	60,496
Gabon	Libreville	CFA franc	1,384
Gambia	Banjul	Dalasi	1,517
Georgia	Tbilisi	Lari	4,474
Germany	Berlin	Euro	82,689
Ghana	Accra	Cedi	22,113
Greece	Athens	Euro	11,120
Grenada	St. George's	East Caribbean dollar	103
Guatemala	Guatemala City	Quetzal United States dollar	12,599
Guinea	Conakry	Guinea franc	9,402
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	CFA franc	1,586
Guyana	Georgetown	Guyana dollar	751
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	Gourde	8,528
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	Lempira	7,205
Hungary	Budapest	Forint	10,098
Iceland	Reykjavik	Icelandic Króna	295
India	New Delhi	Indian rupee	1,103,371
Indonesia	Jakarta	Rupiah	222,781
Iran	Tehran	Iranian rial	69,515
Iraq	Baghdad	Iraqi dinar	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	Jordanian dinar	5,703
Kazakhstan	Astana	Tenge	14,825
Kenya	Nairobi	Kenyan shilling	34,256
Kiribati	South Tarawa	Australian dollar	99
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of	Pyongyang	North Korean won	22,488
Korea, Republic of	Seoul	South Korean won	47,817
Kuwait	Kuwait City	Kuwaiti dinar	2,687
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	Kyrgyz som	5,264
Laos	Vientiane	Kip	5,924
Latvia	Riga	Lats	2,307
Lebanon	Beirut	Lebanese pound	3,577
Lesotho	Maseru	Loti South African rand	1,795
Liberia	Monrovia	Liberian dollar	3,283
Libya	Tripoli	Libyan dinar	5,853
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	Swiss franc	35
Lithuania	Vilnius	Litas	3,431
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Euro	465
Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic of	Skopje	Macedonian denar	2,034
Madagascar	Antananarivo	Malagasy ariary Malagasy franc	18,606
Malawi	Lilongwe	Malawian kwacha	12,884
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Ringgit	25,347
Maldives	Malé	Rufiyaa	329
Mali	Bamako	CFA franc	13,518
Malta	Valletta	Maltese lira	402
Marshall Islands	Majuro	United States dollar	62
Mauritania	Nouakchott	Ouguiya	3,069
Mauritius	Port Louis	Mauritius rupee	1,245
Mexico	Mexico City	Mexican peso	107,029
Micronesia, Federated States of...	Palikir	United States dollar	110
Moldova	Chisinau	Moldovan leu	4,206
Monaco	Monaco	Euro	35
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar	Tugrik (tögrög)	2,646
Montenegro	Podgorica	Euro	620
Morocco	Rabat	Moroccan dirham	31,478
Mozambique	Maputo	Metecal	19,792
Myanmar (Burma)	Naypyidaw	Kyat	50,519
Namibia	Windhoek	Namibian dollar	2,031
Nauru	none	Australian dollar	14
Nepal	Kathmandu	Nepalese rupee	27,133
Netherlands	Amsterdam	Euro	16,299
New Zealand	Wellington	New Zealand Dollar	4,028
Nicaragua	Managua	Córdoba	5,487
Niger	Niamey	CFA franc	13,957
Nigeria	Abuja	Naira	131,530
Norway	Oslo	Norwegian Krone	4,620
Oman	Muscat	Omani riyal	2,567
Pakistan	Islamabad	Pakistani rupee	157,935
Palau	Melekeok	United States dollar	20
Panama	Panama City	Balboa	3,232
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Kina	5,887
Paraguay	Asuncion	Guarani	6,158
Peru	Lima	Peruvian sol	27,968
Philippines	Manila	Philippine peso	83,054
Poland	Warsaw		38,530
Portugal	Lisbon	Euro	10,495
Qatar	Doha	Qatari riyal	813
Romania	Bucharest	Romanian leu	21,711
Russia	Moscow	Ruble	143,202
Rwanda	Kigali	Rwandan franc	9,038
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre		43
Saint Lucia	Castries	East Caribbean dollar	161
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Kingstown		119
Samoa	Apia	Tala	185
San Marino	San Marino	Euro	28
Sao Tome and Principe	Sao Tome		157
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Sudi Arabian riyal	24,573
Senegal	Dakar	CFA franc	11,658
Serbia	Belgrade	Serbian dinar Euro	10,503
Seychelles	Victoria	Seychelles rupee	81
Sierra Leone	Freetown	Leone	5,525
Singapore	Singapore	Singapore dollar	4,326
Slovakia	Bratislava	Netherland Antilles	5,401
Slovenia	Ljubljana	Euro	1,967
Solomon Islands	Honiara	Solomon Islands dollar	478
Somalia	Mogadishu	Somali shilling	8,228
South Africa	Pretoria (executive) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judicial)	Rand	47,432
Spain	Madrid	Euro	43,064
Sri Lanka	Colombo	Sri Lankan rupee	20,743
Sudan	Khartoum	Sudanese dinar	36,233
Suriname	Paramaribo	Suriname guilder	449
Swaziland	Mbabane	Emalangeni South African rand	1,032
Sweden	Stockholm	Swedish krona	9,041
Switzerland	Bern	Swiss Franc	7,252
Syria	Damascus	Syrian pound	19,043
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	Somoni	6,507
Tanzania	Dodoma	Tanzanian shilling	38,329
Thailand	Bangkok	Bahr	64,233
Timor-Leste	Dili	CFA franc	947
Togo	Lomé	CFA franc	6,145
Tonga	Nuku'alofa	Pa'anga	102
Trinidad and Tobago	Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago dollar	1,305
Tunisia	Tunis	Tunisian dinar	10,102
Turkey	Ankara	Turkish Lira	73,193
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	Turkmen manat	4,833
Tuvalu	Funafuti	Australian dollar	10
Uganda	Kampala	Ugandan shilling	28,816
Ukraine	Kiev	Hryvnia	46,481
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates dirham	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	Uzbek som	26,593
Vanuatu	Port Vila	Vatu	211
Vatican City	Vatican	Euro
Venezuela	Caracas	Venezuelan bolivar	26,749
Vietnam	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	No data available Census in progress
Northern Cyprus	Nicosia	Turkish New Lira	264,172 (2006)
Palestine	Jerusalem (claimed), Ramallah de facto		3,900,000
Transnistria	Tiraspol	Transnistrian ruble	555,347
Western Sahara	Laâyoune	Moroccan dirham	341,000

Notes and References

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