The independent country is not only self-governed nation with own authorities, this status needs the international diplomatic recognition of sovereignty. Thereby, we can say, that the total number of independent states in the world are 197, including fully recognized 193 members of the United Nations, 2 countries, Vatican City and Palestine, have the status of permanent observers in the UN. Another 2 states we include are Kosovo (recognized by 111 UN members) and Taiwan (recognized by 22 countries).
Vatican City
Vatican City State was founded following the signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy on February 11th 1929.
These were ratified on June 7th 1929. Its nature as a sovereign State distinct from the Holy See is universally recognized under international law.
Palestine
The State of Palestine is recognized by 136 UN members and since 2012 has a status of a non-member observer state in the United Nations – which amounts to a de facto, or implicit, recognition of statehood. It is a member of the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, G77, and the International Olympic Committee.
Kosovo
On 17 February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 111 UN member states. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013, it has accepted the legitimacy of its institutions. Kosovo has a lower-middle-income economy and has experienced solid economic growth over the last decade by international financial institutions, and has experienced growth every year since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Taiwan
China has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the Republic of China (Taiwan) is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today 20 countries recognize the ROC as the sole legal representative of China, but many other states maintain unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor.
| Rank | Sovereign State | Total in km2 | Notes |
| – | World | 510,072,000 | |
| 1. | Russia | 17,098,246 | Largest country in the world (10.995% of the world’s landmass); its Asian portion makes it the largest country in Asia, and its European portion of roughly 3,960,000 km2 (1,530,000 sq mi) makes it the largest country in Europe. |
| – | Antarctica | 14,000,000 | 13,720,000 km2 (5,300,000 sq mi) (98%) of land area is covered by ice. Though not itself a country, areas are claimed by a number of countries. |
| 2. | Canada | 9,984,670 | Largest country in the Western Hemisphere, with the largest surface area of water. Total area and water area figures include area covered by freshwater only, and do not include internal waters (non-freshwater) of about 1,600,000 km2, or territorial waters of 200,000 km2 |
| 3. | United States | 9,525,067 | Second largest country in the Americas, after Canada. Secondary figures for total area and water area denote the inclusion of all coastal and territorial waters into the statistical area. |
| 4. | China | 9,640,011 | Second largest country in Asia, after Russia. Excludes Taiwan (total 36,193 km2). Figures for total area and water area also exclude all coastal and territorial waters |
| 5. | Brazil | 8,515,767 | The largest country in South America and in the Southern Hemisphere. Largest contiguous territory in the Americas. |
| 6. | Australia | 7,692,024 | The largest country in Oceania, the largest country without land borders, and the largest country completely in the Southern Hemisphere. |
| 7. | India | 3,287,263 | Third largest country in Asia. |
| 8. | Argentina | 2,780,400 | The largest Spanish-speaking country and second largest country in South America. |
| 9. | Kazakhstan | 2,724,900 | Largest landlocked country. |
| 10. | Algeria | 2,381,741 | The largest Arabic-speaking country and largest country in Africa. |
| 11. | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2,344,858 | Largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa and the largest officially Francophone country. 2nd largest country in Africa. |
| 12. | Saudi Arabia | 2,149,690 | Largest country in the Middle East. |
| 13. | Mexico | 1,964,375 | Clipperton Island (8.9 km², controlled by France) is not included. |
| 14. | Indonesia | 1,910,931 | The largest archipelagic state and island state in the world by area and population. |
| 15. | Sudan | 1,861,484 | Formerly the largest country in Africa. It is now the 3rd largest country in Africa. |
| 16. | Libya | 1,759,540 | |
| 17. | Iran | 1,648,195 | |
| 18. | Mongolia | 1,564,110 | |
| 19. | Peru | 1,285,216 | |
| 20. | Chad | 1,284,000 | |
| 21. | Niger | 1,267,000 | |
| 22. | Angola | 1,246,700 | |
| 23. | Mali | 1,240,192 | |
| 24. | South Africa | 1,221,037 | |
| 25. | Colombia | 1,141,748 | |
| 26. | Ethiopia | 1,104,300 | |
| 27. | Bolivia | 1,098,581 | |
| 28. | Mauritania | 1,030,700 | |
| 29. | Egypt | 1,002,450 | |
| 30. | Tanzania | 945,087 | |
| 31. | Nigeria | 923,768 | |
| 32. | Venezuela | 916,445 | |
| 33. | Pakistan | 881,912 | Also known as Islamic Republic Of Pakistan. |
| 34. | Namibia | 825,615 | |
| 35. | Mozambique | 801,590 | |
| 36. | Turkey | 783,562 | |
| 37. | Chile | 756,102 | |
| 38. | Zambia | 752,612 | |
| 39. | Myanmar | 676,578 | Also known as Burma. |
| 40. | Afghanistan | 652,230 | |
| 41. | South Sudan | 644,329 | |
| 42. | France | 640,679 | Figures include metropolitan France (in Europe) as well as the five overseas regions. This does not include New Caledonia (an autonomous sui generis collectivity), the five autonomous overseas collectivities, and the two uninhabited territories (the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Clipperton Island) which are listed individually, although also part of the French Republic. |
| 43. | Somalia | 637,657 | |
| 44. | Central African Republic | 622,984 | |
| 45. | Ukraine | 603,500 | Largest country wholly in Europe. |
| 46. | Madagascar | 587,041 | |
| 47. | Botswana | 581,730 | |
| 48. | Kenya | 580,367 | |
| 49. | Yemen | 527,968 | |
| 50. | Thailand | 513,120 | |
| 51. | Spain | 505,992 | |
| 52. | Turkmenistan | 488,100 | |
| 53. | Cameroon | 475,442 | |
| 54. | Papua New Guinea | 462,840 | |
| 55. | Sweden | 450,295 | |
| 56. | Uzbekistan | 447,400 | |
| 57. | Morocco | 446,550 | |
| 58. | Iraq | 438,317 | |
| 59. | Paraguay | 406,752 | |
| 60. | Zimbabwe | 390,757 | |
| 61. | Japan | 377,930 | |
| 62. | Germany | 357,114 | Before the 1990 German reunification, West Germany 248,577 (95,976) and East Germany 108,333 (41,828) |
| 63. | Republic of the Congo | 342,000 | |
| 64. | Finland | 338,424 | |
| 65. | Vietnam | 331,212 | |
| 66. | Malaysia | 330,803 | |
| 67. | Norway | 323,802 | |
| 68. | Ivory Coast | 322,463 | |
| 69. | Poland | 312,679 | |
| 70. | Oman | 309,500 | |
| 71. | Italy | 301,336 | |
| 72. | Philippines | 300,000 | |
| 73. | Ecuador | 276,841 | |
| 74. | Burkina Faso | 274,222 | |
| 75. | New Zealand | 270,467 | |
| 76. | Gabon | 267,668 | |
| – | Western Sahara | 266,000 | Disputed territory. |
| 77. | Guinea | 245,857 | |
| 78. | United Kingdom | 242,495 | |
| 79. | Uganda | 241,550 | |
| 80. | Ghana | 238,533 | |
| 81. | Romania | 238,397 | |
| 82. | Laos | 236,800 | |
| 83. | Guyana | 214,969 | |
| 84. | Belarus | 207,600 | |
| 85. | Kyrgyzstan | 199,951 | |
| 86. | Senegal | 196,722 | |
| 87. | Syria | 185,180 | |
| 88. | Cambodia | 181,035 | |
| 89. | Uruguay | 176,215 | |
| 90. | Suriname | 163,820 | Smallest country in South America. |
| 91. | Tunisia | 163,610 | |
| 92. | Bangladesh | 147,570 | |
| 93. | Nepal | 147,181 | Largest country in the Himalayan range |
| 94. | Tajikistan | 143,100 | |
| 95. | Greece | 131,990 | |
| 96. | Nicaragua | 130,373 | Largest country in Central America. |
| 97. | North Korea | 120,540 | |
| 98. | Malawi | 118,484 | |
| 99. | Eritrea | 117,600 | |
| 100. | Benin | 114,763 | |
| 101. | Honduras | 112,492 | |
| 102. | Liberia | 111,369 | |
| 103. | Bulgaria | 110,879 | |
| 104. | Cuba | 109,884 | Largest country in Caribbean |
| 105. | Guatemala | 108,889 | |
| 106. | Iceland | 103,000 | |
| 107. | South Korea | 100,210 | |
| 108. | Hungary | 93,028 | |
| 109. | Portugal | 92,090 | |
| 110. | Jordan | 89,342 | |
| 111. | Serbia | 88,361 | |
| 112. | Azerbaijan | 86,600 | Largest country in Caucasus |
| 113. | Austria | 83,871 | |
| 114. | United Arab Emirates | 83,600 | |
| 115. | Czech Republic | 78,865 | |
| 116. | Panama | 75,417 | |
| 117. | Sierra Leone | 71,740 | |
| 118. | Ireland | 70,273 | |
| 119. | Georgia | 69,700 | |
| 120. | Sri Lanka | 65,610 | |
| 121. | Lithuania | 65,300 | |
| 122. | Latvia | 64,559 | |
| 123. | Togo | 56,785 | |
| 124. | Croatia | 56,594 | |
| 125. | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 51,209 | |
| 126. | Costa Rica | 51,100 | |
| 127. | Slovakia | 49,037 | |
| 128. | Dominican Republic | 48,671 | |
| 129. | Estonia | 45,227 | |
| 130. | Denmark | 43,094) | Metropolitan Denmark only, without Greenland and the Faroe Islands. |
| 131. | Netherlands | 41,850 | Includes the special municipalities, but excludes other countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, shown separately. |
| 132. | Switzerland | 41,284 | |
| 133. | Bhutan | 38,394 | |
| – | Taiwan | 36,193 | Before the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Republic of China included Mainland China, Mongolia, Taiwan and other areas, totaling 11,418,174 km2 (4,408,582 sq mi |
| 134. | Guinea-Bissau | 36,125 | |
| 135. | Moldova | 33,846 | |
| 136. | Belgium | 30,528 | |
| 137. | Lesotho | 30,355 | |
| 138. | Armenia | 29,743 | |
| 139. | Solomon Islands | 28,896 | |
| 140. | Albania | 28,748 | |
| 141. | Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 | |
| 142. | Burundi | 27,834 | |
| 143. | Haiti | 27,750 | |
| 144. | Rwanda | 26,338 | |
| 145. | Macedonia | 25,713 | |
| 146. | Djibouti | 23,200 | |
| 147. | Belize | 22,966 | |
| 148. | El Salvador | 21,041 | Smallest country in continental North America. |
| 149. | Israel | 28,292 | |
| 150. | Slovenia | 20,273 | |
| 151. | Fiji | 18,272 | |
| 152. | Kuwait | 17,818 | |
| 153. | Swaziland | 17,364 | |
| 154. | East Timor | 14,874 | |
| 155. | Bahamas | 13,943 | |
| 156. | Montenegro | 13,812 | |
| 157. | Vanuatu | 12,189 | |
| 158. | Qatar | 11,586 | |
| 159. | The Gambia | 11,295 | Smallest country in continental Africa. |
| 160. | Jamaica | 10,991 | |
| – | Kosovo | 10,887 | |
| 161. | Lebanon | 10,452 | Smallest country in continental Asia. |
| 162. | Cyprus | 9,251 | |
| 163. | Palestine | 6,020 | |
| 164. | Brunei | 5,765 | |
| 165. | Trinidad and Tobago | 5,130 | |
| 166. | Cape Verde | 4,033 | |
| – | Northern Cyprus | 3,355 | |
| 167. | Samoa | 2,842 | |
| – | Hong Kong (China) | 2,755 | |
| 168. | Luxembourg | 2,586 | |
| 169. | Mauritius | 2,040 | |
| 170. | Comoros | 1,862 | |
| 172. | Kiribati | 811 | |
| 173. | Bahrain | 765 | |
| 174. | Dominica | 751 | |
| 175. | Tonga | 747 | |
| 176. | Singapore | 719 | |
| 177. | Federated States of Micronesia | 702 | |
| 178. | Saint Lucia | 616 | |
| 179. | Andorra | 468 | |
| 180. | Palau | 459 | |
| 181. | Seychelles | 452 | Smallest country in Africa. |
| 182. | Antigua and Barbuda | 442 | |
| 183. | Barbados | 430 | |
| 184. | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 389 | |
| 185. | Grenada | 344 | |
| 186. | Malta | 316 | |
| 187. | Maldives | 300 | Smallest country in Asia. |
| 188. | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 261 | Smallest country in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. |
| 189. | Marshall Islands | 181 | |
| – | Aruba (Netherlands) | 180 | |
| 190. | Liechtenstein | 160 | |
| 191. | San Marino | 61 | |
| 192. | Tuvalu | 26 | Smallest Commonwealth realm. |
| 193. | Nauru | 21 | Smallest island country, smallest republic and smallest country that isn’t a city-state. |
| 194. | Monaco | 2.02 | Smallest country with a coastline. |
| 195. | Vatican City | 0.44 | Smallest country in the world. |
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