What Makes a Country

How Many Countries in the World?

You can't be a Real Country unless you have A BEER and an airline -
it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER.

- Frank Zappa (1940-93)
US rock musician

The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.

- Benjamin Disraeli

● Map of World Population Distribution ●

This question isn't as easy to answer as you might think. Supposedly, each country has a two-letter-designation (TLD) assigned to them for the internet - only some entities that aren't countries (including a few uninhabited islands) have a TLD as well. The US Postal Service (USPS) has a list of countries on their website - only they include some places that are no longer countries or that aren't quite countries. I tried the UN - they had a list of countries that are members - and stress there are non-member countries not listed. I went to an encyclopedia site (about.com - WWW) that purported to have a list of all countries - of course, its list didn't match any of the others. (The Visit column below denotes countries that have visited this website in the last 3 months. This is what motivated me to create this page - I wondered how many countries had not visited and found determining what was a "country" difficult.) Finally, I went to the CIA factsheet website for their list - only to find they included oceans and even world in their country list (along with lots of other debris), so I didn't list them because their list was too long, though you may want to give them a visit (all URLs are at the bottom of this page).

Here's my best shot. I'll keep working on this. Explanatory notes are also at the bottom of the page.

TLD	USPS	UN	WWW	Visit	Name	See Also:	Admitted: UN	Notes
	x			-	Afars	Djibouti
AF	x	x	x	x	Afghanistan		19-Nov-46
AL	x	x	x	x	Albania		14-Dec-55
DZ	x	x	x	x	Algeria		8-Oct-62
AS	x			x	American Samoa			US possession
AD	x	x	x	x	Andorra		28-Jul-93
AO	x	x	x	x	Angola		1-Dec-76
AI	x			x	Anguilla	Saint Kitts and Nevis NOTE2, NOTE4		British dependency; 7k people, received independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1980
AQ				x	Antarctica			Not generally considered a country; 14 million sq km; 4k (in summer) people (1k in winter)
AG	x	x	x	x	Antigua and Barbuda	NOTE2	11-Nov-81
AR	x	x	x	x	Argentina		24-Oct-45
AM	x	x	x	x	Armenia		2-Mar-92
AW	x			x	Aruba	Netherlands Antilles
AC	x			x	Ascension			Interesting history
AU	x	x	x	x	Australia		1-Nov-45
AT	x	x	x	x	Austria		14-Dec-45
AZ	x	x	x	x	Azerbaijan		9-Mar-92
BS	x	x	x	x	Bahamas	about.com says Commonwealth of the Bahamas NOTE2	18-Sep-73	700 islands and 2400 uninhabited islets; 300k people
BH	x	x	x	x	Bahrain		21-Sep-71
BD	x	x	x	x	Bangladesh		17-Sep-74
BB	x	x	x	x	Barbados	NOTE2	9-Dec-66
BY	x	x	x	x	Belarus	Byelorussia	19-Sep-91	Byelorussia until then; would like to merge w/ Russia; feeling not mutual
BE	x	x	x	x	Belgium		27-Dec-45
BZ	x	x	x	x	Belize	British Honduras	25-Sep-81	formerly British Honduras
BJ	x	x	x	x	Benin		20-Sep-60
BM				x	Bermuda			UK territory; E of NC; 53.3sqkm; 138 coral islands; no freshwater rivers or lakes; 64k people; formerly Somers Island
BT	x	x	x	x	Bhutan		21-Sep-71
BO	x	x	x	x	Bolivia		14-Nov-45
BA	x	x	x	x	Bosnia-Herzegovina	UN, About.com say Bosnia and Herzegovina	22-May-92	Complicated history
BW	x	x	x	x	Botswana		17-Oct-66
BV				-	Bouvet Island			Norwegian territory tld is reserved; uninhabited; SSW of the Cape of Good Hope (S Africa); 58.5 sq km
BR	x	x	x	x	Brazil		24-Oct-45
IO				x	British Indian Ocean Territory			Inhabitants evacuated to Mauritius; only US/UK Military left
VG				x	British Virgin Islands	NOTE2		British dependency; 6 of the 9 major islands, 25 of 75 minor islets
BN	x	x	x	x	Brunei Darussalam	about.com calls it Brunei	21-Sep-64
BG	x	x	x	x	Bulgaria		14-Dec-55
BF	x	x	x	x	Burkina Faso		20-Sep-60
	x			-	Burma	See Myanmar; USPS still says it's Burma; NOTE6		Known as Myanmar since 1989 after name change by military
BI	x	x	x	x	Burundi		18-Sep-62
KH	x	x	x	x	Cambodia		14-Dec-55
CM	x	x	x	x	Cameroon		20-Sep-60
CA	x	x	x	x	Canada		9-Nov-45
CV	x	x	x	x	Cape Verde		16-Sep-75	off the coast of Western Africa; population 410k; 42% of the population is under 14; 4,033 sq km
KY	x			x	Cayman Islands	NOTE2		British dependency
CF	x	x	x	x	Central African Republic		20-Sep-60
TD	x	x	x		Chad (also Tchad)		20-Sep-60
				-	Channel Islands	See Jersey, Guernsey as separate entries		Alderney, Sark, Jersey, Guernsey
CL	x	x	x	x	Chile		24-Oct-45
CN	x	x	x	x	China (includes Tibet)		24-Oct-45	Several territorial disputes include China (Spratlys, Kashmir)
CX	x			x	Christmas Island
CC				x	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Some sources say only Cocos Islands		27 coral islands in the Indian Ocean 1/2 between Sri Lanka & Australia; territory of Australia; 14 sq km pop 632
CO	x	x	x	x	Colombia	See Caribbean map	5-Nov-45
KM	x	x	x		Comoros(, Federal Islamic Republic of)		12-Nov-75	4 main volcanic islands; one, Mayotte, is now independent but has a relationship with France
CG	x	x	x	x	Congo (Brazzaville, Republic of the		20-Sep-60	former French region of Middle Congo; 342k sq km; 3 million people
CD	x	x	x	x	Congo, Democratic Republic of the		20-Sep-60	formerly Belgian Congo, then renamed Zaire, now back to Congo
CK				x	Cook Islands			Self-governing in free association with NZ; 240 sq km; 7 coral atolls 8 volcanic isles pop 20k; former Harvey Islands
CR	x	x	x	x	Costa Rica	See Caribbean map	2-Nov-45
CI	x	x	x	x	Cote d'lvoire		20-Sep-60
HR	x	x	x	x	Croatia (Hrvatska), the Republic of	about.com says Croatia	22-May-92	formerly Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
CU	x	x	x	x	Cuba	See Caribbean map	24-Oct-45
CY	x	x	x	x	Cyprus		20-Sep-60
CZ	x	x	x	x	Czech Republic		19-Jan-93
CS				x	(former)Czechosolovia		originally 24-Oct-45
DK	x	x	x	x	Denmark		24-Oct-45
DJ	x	x	x	x	Djibouti		20-Sep-77	formerly French Somaliland and French Territory of the Afars and Issas; eastern Africa 22,000 sq km 450+k people
DM	x	x	x	x	Dominica	NOTE2	18-Dec-78
DO	x	x	x	x	Dominican Republic	See Caribbean map	24-Oct-45
				-	East Timor	See Timor-L'este
EC	x	x	x	x	Ecuador		21-Dec-45
EG	x	x	x	x	Egypt		24-Oct-45
SV	x	x	x	x	El Salvador		24-Oct-45
GQ	x	x	x	x	Equatorial Guinea	See West Africa and Oil	12-Nov-68
ER	x	x	x	x	Eritrea		28-May-93
EE	x	x	x	x	Estonia		17-Sep-91
ET	x	x	x	x	Ethiopia		13-Nov-45
FK	x				Falkland Islands	See South Georgia		British protectorate (they fought a war over them not long ago); also called Malvinas
FO	x			x	Faroe Islands			Also spelled Faeroe
FJ	x	x	x	x	Fiji		13-Oct-70
FI	x	x	x	x	Finland		14-Dec-55
FR	x	x	x	x	France		24-Oct-45
FX				?	France (European Territory)	Apparently no longer assigned		possibly Corsica?
GF	x				French Guiana (Guyana)
PF	x			x	French Polynesia			Society Islands, Tuamotu Islands, Marquisas Islands, Gambier Islands, Austral Islands
TF					French Southern Territories and Antarctic Lands			no permanent inhabitants
				-	French West Indies	See Guadeloupe or Martinique
	x		x	-	Futuna	See Wallis and Futuna Islands
GA	x	x	x	x	Gabon		20-Sep-60
GM	x	x	x	x	Gambia	about.com says The Gambia	21-Sep-65
GE	x	x	x	x	Georgia, Republic of	UN, about.com list only as Georgia	31-Jul-92
DE	x	x	x	x	Germany		originally 18-Sep-73	UN joined East and West 3-Nov-90
GH	x	x	x	x	Ghana		8-Mar-57
GI	x			x	Gibraltar			British; this is disputed by Spain; may soon change hands, though residents not pleased
GB	x			x	Great Britain	See United Kingdom
	x			-	Great Britain and Northern Ireland
GR	x	x	x	x	Greece		25-Oct-45
GL	x			x	Greenland
GD	x	x	x	x	Grenada	NOTE2	17-Sep-74
	x			-	Grenadines	See Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
GP	x			x	Guadeloupe	part of French West Indies with Martinique See Caribbean map
GU	x			x	Guam			US territory 161,000 people; largest and southernmost island in Marianas Archipelago
GT	x	x	x	x	Guatemala		21-Nov-45
GG				x	Guernsey (Channel Islands)
GN	x	x	x	x	Guinea		12-Dec-58
GW	x	x	x		Guinea-Bissau		17-Sep-74
GY	x	x	x	x	Guyana		20-Sep-66	formerly British Guiana
HT	x	x	x	x	Haiti	See Caribbean map	24-Oct-45
HM				x	Heard and McDonald Islands			subantarctic Australian nature preserve; barren, uninhabited
HN	x	x	x	x	Honduras		17-Dec-45
HK	x			x	Hong Kong			Chinese territory
HU	x	x	x	x	Hungary		14-Dec-55
IS	x	x	x	x	Iceland		19-Nov-46
IN	x	x	x	x	India		30-Oct-45
ID	x	x	x	x	Indonesia		28-Sep-50	Quit UN 20-Jan-65 rejoined 28-Sep-66
IR	x	x	x	x	Iran (Islamic Republic of)		24-Oct-45	formerly Persia
IQ	x	x	x	x	Iraq	See Middle East	21-Dec-45
IE	x	x	x	x	Ireland (Eire)		14-Dec-55
IM				x	Isle of Man
	x			-	Isle of Pines	See Caribbean map		ceded by the US to Cuba in 1925, though, curiously, many Americans continued to live there; 1902 sq mi
IL	x	x	x	x	Israel	See Middle East	11-May-49
	x			-	Issas	See Djibouti		name change in 1977; eastern Africa
IT	x	x	x	x	Italy		14-Dec-55
JM	x	x	x	x	Jamaica	NOTE2	18-Dec-62	2.3 million people
JP	x	x	x	x	Japan		18-Dec-56
JE				x	Jersey (Channel Islands)
JO	x	x	x	x	Jordan	See Middle East	14-Dec-55	formerly Trans-Jordan; was also called Hashemite Kingdom
	x			-	Kalimantan			Indonesia - balance of island of Borneo not Brunei or Malaysia; Dayaks are killing Muslim Madurese relocated there by govt
KZ	x	x	x	x	Kazakhstan	See Guide to the 'Stans	2-Mar-92
KE	x	x	x	x	Kenya		16-Dec-63
KI	x	x	x	x	Kiribati		14-Sep-99	formerly Gilbert Islands
KP	x	x	x	-	Korea, Democratic Peoples Republic of (North Korea)	about.com lists North Korea	17-Sep-91
KR	x	x	x	x	Korea, Republic of (South Korea)	about.com lists South Korea	17-Sep-91
	x			-	Koror	See Palau		This is the capital of Palau
KW	x	x	x	x	Kuwait		14-May-63
KG	x	x	x	x	Kyrgyzstan	See Guide to the 'Stans	2-Mar-92
LA	x	x	x	x	Lao People's Democratic Republic	about.com lists Laos	14-Dec-55
LV	x	x	x	x	Latvia		17-Sep-91
LB	x	x	x	x	Lebanon		24-Oct-45	Also see Two Opposing Views for history of the area
LS	x	x	x	x	Lesotho		17-Oct-66
LR	x	x	x	x	Liberia		2-Nov-45
LY	x	x	x	x	Libyan (also spelled Lybian) Arab Jamahiriya	about.com lists Libya	14-Dec-55
LI	x	x	x	x	Liechtenstein, Principality of		18-Sep-90	between Austria & Switzerland; 160 sq km; 33k people; very prosperous, low (18%) taxes
LT	x	x	x	x	Lithuania		17-Sep-91
LU	x	x	x	x	Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of		24-Oct-45	Founded in 963; 2,586 sq km, roughly 500k people; wealthy
MO	x			x	Macao (Macau)			Chinese sovereignty as a "special administrative region" since 20-December-1999; was Portuguese
MK	x	x	x	x	Macedonia(, Republic of) The former Yugoslav Republic of	about.com lists Macedonia though name disputed by Greece	8-Apr-93	formerly part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; name dispute
MG	x	x	x	x	Madagascar	See also French Southern Territories	20-Sep-60	Malagasy Republic
	x			-	Madena Islands
MW	x	x	x	x	Malawi		1-Dec-64
MY	x	x	x	x	Malaysia	Sabah is North Borneo	17-Sep-57	formerly Federation of Malaya until 16-Sep-63 when Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak added; Singapore left 9-Aug-65
MV	x	x	x	x	Maldives		21-Sep-65
ML	x	x	x	x	Mali		28-Sep-60
MT	x	x	x	x	Malta		1-Dec-64	Islands south of Sicily; 316 sq km; 400k people; not enough fresh water - relies on desalinisation
MH	x	x	x	x	Marshall Islands(, Republic of the)		17-Dec-61	US Trust Territory along with Mariana and Caroline archipelagos; compact of Free Association 1986
MQ	x			x	Martinique	part of French West Indies with Guadeloupe See map
MR	x	x	x	x	Mauritania		7-Oct-61
MU	x	x	x	x	Mauritius	See also French Southern Territories	24-Apr-68
YT				-	Mayotte claimed by both Comoros and France	Currently unused		part of the Comoros archipelago; 200,000 people
MX	x	x	x	x	Mexico		7-Nov-45
FM	x	x	x	x	Micronesia(, Federated States of)		17-Sep-91	4 states: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae
	x			-	Midway Islands (See USA Minor Outlying Islands)
	x			-	Miquelon (See Saint Pierre and Miquelon)
MD	x	x	x	x	Moldova, Republic of	about.com says Moldova	2-Mar-92	Moldavia
MC		x	x	x	Monaco	USPS says country is owned by France	28-May-93	southern coast of France; 1.95 sq km; 32k people; defence is the responsibility of France
MN	x	x	x	x	Mongolia		27-Oct-61
MS	x			x	Montserrat	NOTE2		British dependency
MA	x	x	x	x	Morocco		12-Nov-56
MZ	x	x	x	x	Mozambique		16-Sep-75
MM	x	x	x	x	Myanmar	USPS says Burma; NOTE6	19-Apr-48	formerly Burma; name changed in 1989 by the military
NA	x	x	x	x	Namibia (South-West Africa)		23-Apr-90
NR	x	x	x	x	Nauru		14-Sep-99	21 sq km
NP	x	x	x	x	Nepal		14-Dec-55
NL	x	x	x	x	Netherlands		10-Dec-45	also known as Holland
AN	x			x	Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands West Indies)
NT				x	Neutral Zone			Apparently disputed parts of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, now discontinued
	x			-	Nevis (See Saint Christopher and Nevis)
NC	x			x	New Caledonia			owned by France; Loyalty Islands
NZ	x	x	x	x	New Zealand		24-Oct-45	Aotearoa
NI	x	x	x	x	Nicaragua	See Caribbean map	24-Oct-45
NE	x	x	x	x	Niger		20-Sep-60
NG	x	x	x	x	Nigeria		7-Oct-60
NU				x	Niue (New Zealand)			260 sq km
NF				x	Norfolk Island (Australia)
MP	x			x	Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth of
NO	x	x	x	x	Norway		27-Nov-45
OM	x	x	x	x	Oman		7-Oct-71
PK	x	x	x	x	Pakistan		30-Sep-47
PW	x	x	x	x	Palau		15-Dec-94	US Possession; more than 300 of the westernmost Caroline Islands, SE of Philippines; 458 sq km 19.5k people
PS				x	Palestinian Territories, Occupied	See Middle East		West Bank and Gaza; total 3.5 million people; status vague; not a country, nor exactly part of Israel; each listed by CIA as separate countries
PA	x	x	x	x	Panama	See Caribbean map	13-Nov-45
PG	x	x	x	x	Papua New Guinea		10-Oct-75	Admiralty Islands
PY	x	x	x	x	Paraguay		24-Oct-45
PE	x	x	x	x	Peru		31-Oct-45
PH	x	x	x	x	Philippines		24-Oct-45
PN	x			x	Pitcairn Island			47 sq km
PO	x	x	x	x	Poland		24-Oct-45
PT	x	x	x	x	Portugal		14-Dec-55
PR	x		x	x	Puerto Rico	See Caribbean map		US Commonwealth; 4 million people
QA	x	x	x	x	Qatar		21-Sep-71
RE	x			x	Réunion (French)			750,000 people; in the Indian Ocean
RO	x	x	x	x	Romania		14-Dec-55
RU	x	x	x	x	Russian Federation	about.com lists Russia	24-Oct-45	formerly USSR; name changed 24-Dec-91; 11 countries in Commonwealth of Independent States
RW	x	x	x	x	Rwanda		18-Sep-62
	x			-	Saint Barthelemy	USPS says St Barthelemy; also called St Barts See Caribbean map		named for Columbus' brother; owned by French, Maltese, Caribs, French, Swedes, now French again; dependency of Guadeloupe
	x			-	Saint Christopher and Nevis	See Saint Kitts and Nevis See Caribbean map
SH	x			x	Saint Helena
	x			-	Saint Kitts	USPS says St Kitts; See Saint Kitts and Nevis
KN	x	x	x	x	Saint Kitts and Nevis	NOTE2	23-Sep-83	Saint Kitts formerly called Saint Christopher; 39k people; Anguilla received independence in 1980
LC	x	x	x	x	Saint Lucia	NOTE2	18-Sep-79
PM	x			x	Saint Pierre and Miquelon
	x			-	Saint Vincent	USPS says St Vincent; see Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
VC	x	x	x	x	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	NOTE2	16-Sep-80
		x	x	x	Samoa	USPS says ONLY Western Samoa; NOTE3	15-Dec-76
SM	x	x	x	x	San Marino		2-Mar-92
ST	x	x	x	x	São Tomé and Principe		16-Sep-75	Two islands and smaller islets off the coast of Gabon; on the equator
SA	x	x	x	x	Saudi Arabia		24-Oct-45	See also Iraq for origins of the present-day country
SN	x	x	x	x	Senegal		28-Sep-60
	x		x	-	Serbia and Montenegro [State Community of] -(also see Yugoslavia)	NOTE7 about.com lists Serbia and Montenegro [Yugoslavia]		Yugoslavia has an interesting and complex history
SC	x	x	x	x	Seychelles		21-Sep-76
SL	x	x	x	x	Sierra Leone		27-Sep-61
SG	x	x	x	x	Singapore		21-Sep-65
SK	x	x	x	x	Slovakia (Slovak Republic)		19-Jan-93	formerly part of Czechoslovakia; name change 31-Dec-1992
SI	x	x	x	x	Slovenia, Republic of		22-May-92	formerly part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
SB	x	x	x	x	Solomon Islands		19-Sep-78
SO	x	x	x	-	Somalia	Currently unused	20-Sep-60	Somililand; Somali Democratic Republic
ZA	x	x	x	x	South Africa		7-Nov-45
GS			x	x	South Georgia and South Sandwich Isles	USPS lists only S Georgia; says part of Falklands NOTE5		British protectorate since 1908; volcanic; uninhabited (2000 people during height of whaling);
ES	x	x	x	x	Spain		14-Dec-55
LK	x	x	x	x	Sri Lanka		14-Dec-55	formerly Ceylon
SD	x	x	x	x	Sudan		12-Nov-56
SR	x	x	x	x	Suriname		4-Dec-75
SJ				-	Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands	Not in use		Norwegian territories near Arctic; Svalbard 62,049 sq km 4 main 150 small islands, 2,868 people; Jan Mayen 373 sq km; radio station personnel only
SZ	x	x	x	x	Swaziland		24-Sep-68
SE	x	x	x	x	Sweden		19-Nov-45
CH	x	x	x	x	Switzerland		10-Sep-02
SY	x	x	x	x	Syrian Arab Republic	See Middle East about.com says Syria	24-Oct-45
TW	x		x	x	Taiwan, Province of China	USPS, about.com list Taiwan		formerly Formosa; status disputed; "special" member (to please China) of groups like Olympics and (soon) WTO
TJ	x	x	x	x	Tajikistan	See Guide to the 'Stans	2-Mar-92
TZ	x	x	x	x	Tanzania, United Republic of	name change 26-Apr-64	1-Nov-64	formerly Tanganyika, admitted 14-Dec-61; Zanzibar 16-Dec-63; merged to be Tanzania; readmitted
TH	x	x	x	x	Thailand		16-Dec-46	formerly Siam
TP	x	x	x	x	Timor-L'este	USPS, about.com say East Timor	27-Sep-02
TG	x	x	x	x	Togo		20-Sep-60
TK	x			x	Tokelau (Union) Group (Samoa)
TO	x	x	x	x	Tonga		14-Sep-99	formerly called Friendly Islands
TT	x	x	x	x	Trinidad and Tobago	NOTE2	18-Sep-62
	x			-	Tristan da Cunha			Remotest inhabited island, British protectorate; < 300 people; mid-way between S Africa & S America
TN	x	x	x	x	Tunisia		12-Nov-56
TR	x	x	x	x	Turkey		24-Oct-45
TM	x	x	x	x	Turkmenistan	See Guide to the 'Stans	2-Mar-92
TC	x			x	Turks and Caicos Islands	NOTE2		British dependency
TV	x	x	x	x	Tuvalu		5-Sep-00	formerly Ellice Islands; 9 coral atolls, 26 sq km
UG	x	x	x	x	Uganda		25-Oct-62
UA	x	x	x	x	Ukraine		24-Oct-45
AE	x	x	x	x	United Arab Emirates		9-Dec-71
UK		x	x	x	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	about.com lists United Kingdom NOTE1	24-Oct-45	England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
	x			-	United Nations, New York
US	x	x	x	x	United States		24-Oct-45
UM				-	USA Minor Outlying Islands	See list. Not in use		Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnston, Midway, Navassa, Palmyra, Wake, Enenkio
VI	x			x	US Virgin Islands	See Caribbean map		US territory; 3 of 9 main islands, 50 of the 75 islets; 125k people
SU				x	(former) USSR	See Russian Federation
UY	x	x	x	x	Uruguay		18-Dec-45
UZ	x	x	x	x	Uzbekistan	See Guide to the 'Stans	2-Mar-92
VU	x	x	x	x	Vanuatu		15-Dec-81
VA	x		x	x	Holy See/Vatican City
VE	x	x	x	x	Venezuela	See Caribbean map	15-Nov-45
VN	x	x	x	x	Viet Nam (Vietnam)	about.com says Vietnam	20-Sep-77
WF	x			x	Wallis and Futuna Islands			Called Uvea by the Polynesians; the two island groups are 230km apart; 3 islands 20 islets
EH				-	Western Sahara	Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic		formerly part of Mauritania; annexed by Morocco 1979; disputed; independence recognised by 55 countries
WS	x			x	Western Samoa	See Samoa NOTE3
	x			-	Yap Micronesia	See Micronesia, Federated States of
YE	x	x		x	Yemen		30-Sep-47
YU	x	x		x	Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of	NOTE7 about.com says Serbia-Montenegro	1-Nov-00	formerly part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; originally admitted to UN 19-Oct-45
ZR				-	Zaire	Now Congo, Democratic Republic of		formerly Zaire
ZM	x	x	x	x	Zambia		1-Dec-64
ZW	x	x	x	x	Zimbabwe		25-Aug-80	formerly Rhodesia

					NOTE1 - the USPS lists Great Britain and Northern Island, NOT United Kingdom	NOTE2 - The Commonwealth Caribbean Islands are Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward Islands (Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada), Barbados, the Leeward Islands (Antigua and Barbuda, St Christopher [now St Kitts] and Nevis, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, and Montserrat), and the so-called Northern Islands (the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands). See map.	NOTE3 - The USPS lists Savaii Island in Western Samoa as being owned by the British *NOTE4 - See Beneath an English Heaven* by Donald E Westlake**	NOTE5 see sgisland.org NOTE6 - since 1989 military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state, a decision not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma; the US government did not adopt the name, derived from the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw NOTE7 - February 2003 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officially became the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro

					No X in Col A means no TLD assigned for internet access	See TLD world map and flags www4.plala.or.jp		No x in Col E means have not visited this website
					No x in Col B means not listed with the USPS	See ircalc.usps.gov		You might also want to see CIA World Factbook
					No x in Col C means not a member of the UN	See un.org		UN information updated 27 Sep 2002
					No x in Col D means not country on about.com	See geography.about.com

"Countries" the CIA denoted that are not in the above list include: Arctic Ocean, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Atlantic Ocean, Baker Island, Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Coral Sea Islands, Europa Island, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Gaza Strip, Glorioso Islands, Howland Island, Indian Ocean, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Juan de Nova Island, Kingman Reef, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, Pacific Ocean, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Southern Ocean, Spratly Islands, Tromelin Island, Wake Island, West Bank, Western Sahara, World.

"Countries" that the CIA did not mention (or else called something slightly different) include: Afars; Brunei Darussalam (they say only Brunei); Channel Islands; (former) Czechoslovakia; Comoros, Federal Islamic Republic of (they say only Comoros); French Southern Territories (they say French Southern and Antarctic Lands); French West Indies; Futuna (they say only Wallis and Futuna); Great Britain; Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Grenadines (they say only Saint Vincent and the Grenadines); Isle of Man (they say Man, Isle of); Isle of Pines; Issas; Kalimantan; Korea; Democratic People's Republic of (they say only Korea, North); Korea, Republic of (they say only Korea, South); Koror; Lao People's Democratic Republic (they say only Laos); Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (they say only Libya); Madena Islands; Miquelon (the say only Saint Pierre and Miquelon); Myanmar (they say only Burma); Neutral Zone; Nevis (they say only Saint Kitts and Nevis); Palestinian Territories, Occupied (they say Gaza Strip and West Bank); Russian Federation (they say only Russia); Saint Barthelemy, Saint Christopher and Nevis (they say only Saint Kitts and Nevis); Saint Vincent (they say only Saint Vincent and the Grenadines); Serbia-Montenegro (they say only Yugoslovia); Svalbard and Jan Mayen (they say each separately); Syrian Arab Republic (they only say Syria); Taiwan, Province of China (they only list Taiwan); Timor Leste (they only say East Timor); Tokelau (Union) Group (Samoa) (they only say Tokelau); Tristan de Cunha; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (they say only United Kingdom); USA Minor Outlying Islands (they say each separately except for Enenkio, which is not listed at all); US Virgin Islands (they say only Virgin Islands); (former) USSR; Yap Micronesia; Zaire.

The ISO ALPHA-3 Code lists a country called Åland Islands, which is not included on any other list.

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