MTP

MOST TRAVELED PEOPLE

1º Jantar Viajantes

Porto, 15 de Maio 2010

www.novosdescobridores.com
 País
O que é um país?

0. Quantos países há no mundo?

(“How many countries are there in the world?” David Madore)

1. ONU (192)
Critério: membros da ONU

2. Wikipédia (192+11=203)
Critério: nações soberanas

3. ONU (192+45=237)
Critério: nações autónomas (com elevado grau de independência)

4. ISO (192+54=246)
Critério: nações autónomas (com elevado grau de independência)

5. Travelers’ Century Clube (320)

Critério: decisão da Direcção

6. Wikipédia (192+51=343)
Critério: nações autónomas (com elevado grau de independência)

7. Most Traveled People (872)

Critério: votação por membros do MTP

2
 0. Quantos países há no mundo?
How many countries are there in the world?

David Madore

Sounds like an innocent question! Yet one could hardly get more dangerously political.
Countries are supposed to get each their own two-letter TLD in the DNS, or ccTLD (such as,
.de for Germany), and this is the cause for economic battles which further complicate the
diplomatic difficulties.
Basically, there are four official sources:
• The Secretariat of the United Nations publishes the occasional “Country Names” in its
Terminology bulletin: this is a list of States Member of the United Nations, Members of the
Specialized Agencies or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice (so they
say). Each country's name is given in short (usual) form and formal (long) form, together
with the corresponding adjective and name of the inhabitants, all in each of the six official
languages of the United Nations: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.
Thus, for China, one reads: China / Chine (la) / China / Китай / 中国 / ‫الصين‬, and then “the
People's Republic of China” in all these languages, then “Chinese”, and lastly the ISO
alpha-2/3 country codes (see below) and the date of admission to the United Nations
(where relevant).
The edition I managed to get my hands on (and it wasn't easy! well, actually I just ordered
it from Amazon) seems to be the latest at this time; it dates back to July 1997 but comes
with two corrigenda (January 1998 and September 2000) lists 193 countries (numbered 1
through 193, plus 126bis for Niue, and minus 187 which is just a cross-reference from
Vatican City State to the Holy See). To which list Timor-Leste should be added, which
joined the UN on 2002-09-27, but it does not seem that the Terminology bulletin has been
updated to reflect this.
This makes 194 countries, of which 191 are members of the United Nations (the three
which are not are: the Cook Islands, the Holy See and Niue; Switzerland was the last to
join before Timor-Leste, on 2002-09-10). I suppose the list is the object of bitter diplomatic
quarrels (why, there are even diplomatic quarrels, which I should tell something of
someday, about whether Belarus should be called “le Bélarus” or “la Biélorussie” in
French). No Taiwan, of course, since the United Nations adheres to this ridiculous
diplomatic fiction that Taiwan is no independent state but a province of China—not that
anyone believes it, but one simply cannot get both Chinas in the same organization, they
automatically cancel out. True, the list makes no claim at being a comprehensive list of all
countries in the world, only, I quote again, States Member of the United Nations, Members
of the Specialized Agencies or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
• Another important UN publication, from the Statistics Division, is Standard Country or Area
Codes for Statistical Use (Standard country or area codes and geographical regions for
statistical use). It comes, of course, with a lot of disclaimers concerning the fact that the
listing of “areas” do not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of
countries or territories by the United Nations. And Taiwan is cited as a province of China.
Each country or area is given with its common name (again, in each of the same six
official languages), its three-digit code (the basic purpose of the table) and the ISO alpha-
3 code. The data are available from the UN's Web site.
The list includes all the countries listed in the “Country Names” Terminology bulletin, with
the same names, and adds 39 codes, from American Samoa to Western Sahara, including
the Channel Islands, Greenland, the French overseas (island by island), the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Puerto Rico, and, as I mentioned, Taiwan, province of China. This
brings us to 232 codes.
Of course, of these 232, not all are countries: Guadeloupe definitely isn't, nor is the
Western Sahara. On the other hand, Taiwan certainly is (no matter what the UN and the
3
 People's Republic of China say), and so is Timor-Leste (it is now even a UN permanent
member). Whether the Occupied Palestinian Territory is is a highly political question. For
New Caledonia it is a question of time or of definition. And for Gibraltar, also, the question
is delicate.
• Then comes the ISO. Their ISO 3166 standard (Codes for the representation of names of
countries and their subdivisions), part 1 (“Country codes”) is supposed to be the
international standard for country codes. It does say country codes (the bit about
subdivisions concerns the second part of the standard, but ISO 3166-1 is supposedly a list
of country codes). Each country is listed with three codes, alpha-2 (two letters), alpha-3
(three letters) and numeric-3 (three numbers, a code which coincides with that of the UN's
Statistics Division).
In line with their usual totally absurd policy, ISO try to make you pay CHF148 (currently
that's EUR97.78, or USD111.58) for some information that the United Nations give out for
free. Just so you can have ISO's stamp on it! Never mind. Actually, in an act of great
generosity, the ISO 3166 maintenance agency will let you access an on-line version of the
alpha-2 code list with English country names.
The ISO 3166-1 list claims to be based only on the United Nations' official lists described
above (they make this claim so as to throw off people who plague them with demands to
a country code so they can have their own ccTLD); in fact it is false. In comparison with
the United Nations' Statistics Division's list, ISO removes the Channel Islands (830) and
the Isle of Man (833), but adds Bouvet Island (BV/BVT), the British Indian Ocean Territory
(IO/IOT), Christmas Island (CX/CXR), the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CC/CCK), the French
Southern Territories (TF/ATF), Heard Island et the McDonald Islands (HM/HMD), South
Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GS/SGS), the United States Minor Outlying
Islands (UM/UMI), and lastly a big piece, Antarctica (AQ/ATA). (There are also a few minor
differences in naming; for example, the United Nations write “Faeroe Islands” whereas ISO
writes “Faroe Islands”; also, the “United States of America” are simply called the “United
States” in ISO 3166-1, and the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”
simply becomes the “United Kingdom”; but basically the names are the same. Note that
the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the United Kingdom is “GB”, not “UK”; and the alpha-3
code is “GBR”.)
This brings us to a total of 239 codes.
• Last comes the IANA. In their handling of the root domain of the name hierarchy, IANA are
bound by the rules of RFC 1591, which states that The IANA is not in the business of
deciding what is and what is not a country. So, in creating the country code TLDs, the
IANA is supposed to blindly reproduce the ISO 3166-1 list.
Not so! There are six deviations between the ccTLD database table and the ISO 3166-1 list
and alpha-2 codes: namely, .ac (Ascension Island), .gg (Guernsey), .im (Isle of Man), .je
(Jersey), .tp (East Timor, whereas ISO 3166-1 gives “TL” for Timor-Leste), and, weirdest of
all, .uk (United Kingdom, replacing the normal ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, “GB”). The
addition of the Channel Island (Jersey and Guernsey) and the Isle of Man is reasonable
since they are in the UN's Statistics Division's list, and the use of “UK” rather than “GB”
for the United Kingdom is certainly historical. However, Ascension Island beats me: if I
believe my dictionary, it is a British meteorological station in the South Atlantic, with
around 300 inhabitants, and is administratively bound to Saint Helena (which already has
the “SH” ISO 3166-1 code, and associated .sh domain).
Anyway, this brings now to 243 codes, which is indeed the IANA ccTLD count. (Note that
besides these 243 country code top-level domains, there are also 14 generic top-level
domains, viz. .aero, .biz, .com, .coop, .edu, .gov, .info, .int, .mil, .museum, .name, .net,
.org, and .pro, and one infrastructure top-level domain, .arpa: so there are 258 top-level
domains alltogether.)
This is still not the end of the story, however, for the DNS: because IANA's list and the
Root Zone file that is used by the DNS root name servers do not coincide exactly. First of
all, the .eh (Western Sahara) and .kp (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) zones,
although in IANA's list, do not have name servers. Second, there are two “rogue” top-level
domains which are in the name servers but not in IANA's list: namely, .su (the former code
4
 for the Soviet Union, which is marked as transitionally reserved by ISO 3166) and .gb (the
correct ISO code for the United Kingdom); the .su domain is apparently still being used; as
for the .gb domain, a text comment in the DNS entries states that This domain is frozen
and will be phased out. Domain names for United Kingdom go under .uk. For details see
the web page on: www.nic.uk. So there are indeed 258 top-level domains currently
defined, but not exactly the 258 which should be.
There used to be in ISO 3166-1 an “FX” code for “Metropolitan France” (many contry lists still
have this entry); someone (being unsatisfied with the way the .fr domain was managed) tried
to convince Jon Postel to create a .fx ccTLD, but failed. The code has since disappeared (it is
marked as “exceptionally reserved”). At various other times, there were also codes such as
“BU” (Burma), “CS” (Czechoslovakia), “DD” (German Democratic Republic), “NT” (Zeus knows
what!), “SF” (Finland, variously), “SU” (USSR), “YD” (Democratic Yemen) and “ZR” (Zaire),
which vanished for various reasons, and are or were transitionally reserved. “TP” (East Timor)
is also transitionally reserved. The “ZZ” code is reserved for an unkown or unspecified
country, “AA” is reserved for Zeus knows what, and “Xx” and some “Qx” codes are reserved
for private use (whatever that might be). The “AC” (Ascension Island), “GG” (Guernsey), “IM”
(Isle of Man), “JE” (Jersey) and “UK” (United Kingdom, variously) codes used by IANA are
exceptionally reserved, and so are, for various other reasons, “AX” (Åland) [update: on 2004-
02-13, the ISO 3166 maintenance agency has decided to include an entry for Åland Islands
with alpha code AX/ALA and numeric code 248; this page should be updated to reflect this
fact], “CP” (Clipperton Island), “DG” (Diego Garcia), “EA” (Ceuta, Melilla), “EU” (the European
Union), “IC” (Canary Islands), and “TA” (Tristan da Cunha). Lastly, there are some variant
(incorrect) codes which should not be used, such as “DY” for Benin (correct code is “BJ”),
“EW” for Estonia (correct is “EE”), and so forth.
The “PS/PSE” code for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Palestine) was added to ISO 3166-1
(effective 1999-10-01) after the area was entered in the UN's Statistical Division's list
(Palestine has a permanent observer status in the UN's General Assembly, as does the Holy
See, the European Union or the Sovereign Military Order of Malta) in September 1999. The .ps
top-level domain was delegated by IANA in March 2000.
Another note concerns Yugoslavia. What has been variously called “the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)”, then “the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”, and then
simply (transitionally) “Yugoslavia” by the United Nations, was informed by the General
Assembly on 1992-09-22 (resolution 47/1) that it could not continue what was formerly the
(UN founding member) “Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”. On 2001-11-01, it became a
new UN member and on 2003-02-04 changed its name to “Serbia and Montenegro”. This
means that references to “Yugoslavia” (or variants thereof) will cease to appear in UN
publications, and the Statistics Division now lists the country as “Serbia and
Montenegro” (891). The ISO 3166-1 maintenance agency might consequently decide to
change the “YU/YUG” code of Yugoslavia to something different for Serbia and Montenegro;
so far they have decided to maintain the status quo. (On the one hand, changing the code is
unpleasant, especially if IANA decides to follow. On the other hand, it would be strange to
continue using the same code when the United Nations have formally declared that the two
are not the same.) [Update: on 2003-07-23, the ISO 3166 maintenance agency has decided
to delete the YU/YUG code for Yugoslavia and to replace it with CS/SCG for Serbia and
Montenegro, the numeric code 891 remaining unchanged; the YU/YUG code remains
transitionally reserved for a period of five years. This page should be updated to reflect this
fact.] While we're at it, there is the case of “The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia” (MK/MKD), often abreviated to FYROM, which got this perfectly ridiculous name
because of political reasons (essentially the insistence on the part of Greece and Bulgaria that
it could not simply be “Macedonia”).
Also, there is the question of the European Union. So far they have been using a .int domain,
namely .eu.int. Since the EU is not a country, it cannot be a UN member (it has permanent
observer status). Nor is it part of a country: since the geographical divisions made for
statistical purposes by the UN's Statistics Division cannot overlap, there cannot be one for the
EU. Of course, the ISO 3166 maintenance agency has then refused to attribute the “EU”
alpha-2 code to the European Union (but it did reserve it exceptionally for that purpose). This
caused some problem, because the unified currency, the Euro, was registered by ISO 4217 as
“EUR”, and the first two letters of an ISO 4217 alpha-3 code are supposed to be identical with
5
the ISO 3166 alpha-2 code, so there should have been an “EU” alpha-2 code in ISO 3166.
Anyway, great political pressures are being set on various bodies to make the “EU” code
official and create a .eu top-level domain, which ICANN has, so far, refused.
Finally, I can say a word of the Order of Malta, or, more precisely, the “Sovereign Military
Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta” (it is essential to get the
name right, because there are countless pseudo-Orders of Malta with names that sound
almost exactly like that but have nothing or very little authentic about them). They have UN
permanent observer status, and can legitimately be considered as a sovereign State, but one
without a territory: although the UN do not recognize them as such, some independant States
do (most notably, Italy, and the Order has an embassy in Rome, on the Aventine; also,
naturally, the Holy See). There is little likelihood, however, that the Order should get an
ISO 3166-1 code ever.
Of course, all of this does not answer the original question. That should be somewhere
between 194 and 239, but nobody seems to have a good answer.
Addendum [2003-08-03]: Marco Schmidt (marcoschmidt@users.sourceforge.net) compiled his
own list of countries and territories and their codes, which seems to be one of the most
reliable on the Web.

6
7
 1. ONU (192)

United Nations Member States

These are the 192 Member States of the United Nations with dates on which they joined the
Organization, following the admission Montenegro on 28 June 2006:

Member Date of
Afghanistan 19 November
Albania 14 December
Algeria 8 October 1962
Andorra 28 July 1993
Angola 1 December 1976
Antigua and Barbuda 11 November
Argentina 24 October 1945
Armenia 2 March 1992
Australia 1 November 1945
Austria 14 December
Azerbaijan 2 March 1992
Bahamas 18 September
Bahrain 21 September
Bangladesh 17 September
Barbados 9 December 1966
Belarus[1] 24 October 1945
Belgium 27 December
Belize 25 September
Benin 20 September
Bhutan 21 September
Bolivia 14 November
Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] 22 May 1992
Botswana 17 October 1966
Brazil 24 October 1945
Brunei Darussalam 21 September
Bulgaria 14 December
Burkina Faso 20 September
Burundi 18 September
Cambodia 14 December
Cameroon 20 September
Canada 9 November 1945
Cape Verde 16 September
Central African Republic 20 September
Chad 20 September
Chile 24 October 1945
China 24 October 1945
Colombia 5 November 1945
Comoros 12 November
Congo (Republic of the) 20 September
Costa Rica 2 November 1945
Côte d’Ivoire 20 September
Croatia[3] 22 May 1992
Cuba 24 October 1945
Cyprus 20 September
Czech Republic[4] 19 January 1993
Democratic People’s Republic of 17 September
Democratic Republic of the Congo[5] 20 September
Denmark 24 October 1945
Djibouti 20 September
Dominica 18 December
Dominican Republic 24 October 1945
Ecuador 21 December
Egypt[6] 24 October 1945
El Salvador 24 October 1945

8
Member Date of
Equatorial Guinea 12 November
Eritrea 28 May 1993
Estonia 17 September
Ethiopia 13 November
Fiji 13 October 1970
Finland 14 December
France 24 October 1945
Gabon 20 September
Gambia 21 September
Georgia 31 July 1992
Germany[7] 18 September
Ghana 8 March 1957
Greece 25 October 1945
Grenada 17 September
Guatemala 21 November
Guinea 12 December
Guinea-Bissau 17 September
Guyana 20 September
Haiti 24 October 1945
Honduras 17 December
Hungary 14 December
Iceland 19 November
India 30 October 1945
Indonesia[8] 28 September
Iran 24 October 1945
Iraq 21 December
Ireland 14 December
Israel 11 May 1949
Italy 14 December
Jamaica 18 September
Japan 18 December
Jordan 14 December
Kazakhstan 2 March 1992
Kenya 16 December
Kiribati 14 September
Kuwait 14 May 1963
Kyrgyzstan 2 March 1992
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 14 December
Latvia 17 September
Lebanon 24 October 1945
Lesotho 17 October 1966
Liberia 2 November 1945
Libya 14 December
Liechtenstein 18 September
Lithuania 17 September
Luxembourg 24 October 1945
Madagascar 20 September
Malawi 1 December 1964
Malaysia[9] 17 September
Maldives 21 September
Mali 28 September
Malta 1 December 1964
Marshall Islands 17 September
Mauritania 27 October 1961
Mauritius 24 April 1968
Mexico 7 November 1945
Micronesia (Federated States of) 17 September
Monaco 28 May 1993
Mongolia 27 October 1961
Montenegro[10] 28 June 2006
Morocco 12 November
Mozambique 16 September
Myanmar 19 April 1948
Namibia 23 April 1990
Nauru 14 September
Nepal 14 December

9
Member Date of
Netherlands 10 December
New Zealand 24 October 1945
Nicaragua 24 October 1945
Niger 20 September
Nigeria 7 October 1960
Norway 27 November
Oman 7 October 1971
Pakistan 30 September
Palau 15 December
Panama 13 November
Papua New Guinea 10 October 1975
Paraguay 24 October 1945
Peru 31 October 1945
Philippines 24 October 1945
Poland 24 October 1945
Portugal 14 December
Qatar 21 September
Republic of Korea 17 September
Republic of Moldova 2 March 1992
Romania 14 December
Russian Federation[11] 24 October 1945
Rwanda 18 September
Saint Kitts and Nevis 23 September
Saint Lucia 18 September
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 16 September
Samoa 15 December
San Marino 2 March 1992
Sao Tome and Principe 16 September
Saudi Arabia 24 October 1945
Senegal 28 September
Serbia[12] 1 November 2000
Seychelles 21 September
Sierra Leone 27 September
Singapore 21 September
Slovakia[13] 19 January 1993
Slovenia[14] 22 May 1992
Solomon Islands 19 September
Somalia 20 September
South Africa 7 November 1945
Spain 14 December
Sri Lanka 14 December
Sudan 12 November
Suriname 4 December 1975
Swaziland 24 September
Switzerland 10 September
Sweden 19 November
Syria[15] 24 October 1945
Tajikistan 2 March 1992
Thailand 16 December
The former Yugoslav Republic of 8 April 1993
Timor Leste 27 September
Togo 20 September
Tonga 14 September
Trinidad and Tobago 18 September
Tunisia 12 November
Turkey 24 October 1945
Turkmenistan 2 March 1992
Tuvalu 5 September
Uganda 25 October 1962
Ukraine 24 October 1945
United Arab Emirates 9 December 1971
United Kingdom 24 October 1945
United of Republic of Tanzania[17] 14 December
United States 24 October 1945
Uruguay 18 December
Uzbekistan 2 March 1992

10
 Member Date of
Vanuatu 15 September
Venezuela 15 November
Viet Nam 20 September
Yemen[18] 30 September
Zambia 1 December 1964
Zimbabwe 25 August 1980
[1]
On 19 September 1991, Byelorussia informed the United Nations that it had changed its name to Belarus.
[2]
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an original Member of the United Nations, the Charter having been signed
on its behalf on 26 June 1945 and ratified 19 October 1945, until its dissolution following the establishment and subsequent
admission as new Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted as a
Member of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution A/RES/46/237 of 22 May 1992.
[3]
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an original Member of the United Nations, the Charter having been signed
on its behalf on 26 June 1945 and ratified 19 October 1945, until its dissolution following the establishment and subsequent
admission as new Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Republic of Croatia was admitted as a Member of the United
Nations by General Assembly resolution A/RES/46/238 of 22 May 1992.
[4]
Czechoslovakia was an original Member of the United Nations from 24 October 1945. In a letter dated 10 December 1992, its
Permanent Representative informed the Secretary-General that the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic would cease to exist on
31 December 1992 and that the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, as successor States, would apply for membership in the
United Nations. Following the receipt of its application, the Security Council, on 8 January 1993, recommended to the General
Assembly that the Czech Republic be admitted to United Nations membership. The Czech Republic was thus admitted on 19
January of that year as a Member State.
[5]
Zaire joined the United Nations on 20 September 1960. On 17 May 1997, its name was changed to the Democratic Republic
of the Congo.
[6]
Egypt and Syria were original Members of the United Nations from 24 October 1945. Following a plebiscite on 21 February
1958, the United Arab Republic was established by a union of Egypt and Syria and continued as a single Member. On 13 October
1961, Syria, having resumed its status as an independent State, resumed its separate membership in the United Nations. On 2
September 1971, the United Arab Republic changed its name to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
[7]
The Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were admitted to membership in the United Nations
on 18 September 1973. Through the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, effective
from 3 October 1990, the two German States have united to form one sovereign State.
[8]
By letter of 20 January 1965, Indonesia announced its decision to withdraw from the United Nations “at this stage and under
the present circumstances”. By telegram of 19 September 1966, it announced its decision “to resume full cooperation with the
United Nations and to resume participation in its activities”. On 28 September 1966, the General Assembly took note of this
decision and the President invited representatives of Indonesia to take seats in the Assembly.
[9]
The Federation of Malaya joined the United Nations on 17 September 1957. On 16 September 1963, its name was changed
to Malaysia, following the admission to the new federation of Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak. Singapore became
an independent State on 9 August 1965 and a Member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965.
[10]
Montenegro held a 21 May 2006 referendum and declared itself independent from Serbia on 3 June. On 28 June 2006 it was
accepted as a United Nations Member State by General Assembly resolution A/RES/60/264.
[11]
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was an original Member of the United Nations from 24 October 1945. In a letter dated
24 December 1991, Boris Yeltsin, the President of the Russian Federation, informed the Secretary-General that the membership
of the Soviet Union in the Security Council and all other United Nations organs was being continued by the Russian Federation
with the support of the 11 member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
[12]
In a letter dated 3 June 2006, the President of the Republic of Serbia informed the Secretary-General that the membership of
Serbia and Montenegro was being continued by the Republic of Serbia, following Montenegro’s declaration of independence. On
4 February 2003, following the adoption and promulgation of the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro by the
Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the official name of “ Federal Republic of Yugoslavia” was changed to Serbia and
Montenegro. The Socialist “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an original Member of the United Nations, the Charter having
been signed on its behalf on 26 June 1945 and ratified 19 October 1945, until its dissolution following the establishment and
subsequent admission as new Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was admitted as a
Member of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution A/RES/55/12 of 1 November 2000.
[13]
Czechoslovakia was an original Member of the United Nations from 24 October 1945. In a letter dated 10 December 1992, its
Permanent Representative informed the Secretary-General that the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic would cease to exist on
31 December 1992 and that the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, as successor States, would apply for membership in the
United Nations. Following the receipt of its application, the Security Council, on 8 January 1993, recommended to the General
Assembly that the Slovak Republic be admitted to United Nations Membership. The Slovak Republic was thus admitted on 19
January of that year as a Member State.
[14]
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an original Member of the United Nations, the Charter having been signed
on its behalf on 26 June 1945 and ratified 19 October 1945, until its dissolution following the establishment and subsequent
admission as new Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Republic of Slovenia was admitted as a Member of the
United Nations by General Assembly resolution A/RES/46/236 of 22 May 1992.
[15]
Egypt and Syria were original Members of the United Nations from 24 October 1945. Following a plebiscite on 21 February
1958, the United Arab Republic was established by a union of Egypt and Syria and continued as a single Member. On 13 October
1961, Syria, having resumed its status as an independent State, resumed its separate membership in the United Nations.
[16]
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an original Member of the United Nations, the Charter having been signed
on its behalf on 26 June 1945 and ratified 19 October 1945, until its dissolution following the establishment and subsequent
admission as new Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. By resolution A/RES/47/225 of 8 April 1993, the General
Assembly decided to admit as a Member of the United Nations the State being provisionally referred to for all purposes within the
United Nations as “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” pending settlement of the difference that had arisen over its
name.

11
 2. Wikipédia (192+11=203)

Criteria for inclusion

This list derives its definition of a state from Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention of 1933.
According to the Convention, a state should possess the following qualifications:
• (a) a permanent population
• (b) a defined territory
• (c) government
• (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

In respect of the last qualification, the role of recognition by other states can often be crucial
since it implies acceptance into the international community.[62] The list includes all states
which are often regarded as satisfying these criteria and claim to be sovereign and
independent. However, in many cases, whether an entity satisfies the Montevideo Convention
criteria is disputed. It is also important to note that there is a divergence of opinion in
international law on whether the Montevideo Convention criteria alone are sufficient qualities
of statehood. Links to different theories on this question are provided below.

On the basis of the above criteria, this list includes the following 203 entities:

• 193 sovereign states with general international recognition:

o 192 member states of the United Nations
o One state with general international recognition, governed by the Holy See (a
United Nations permanent observer in the category "Non-member states"[63]):
Vatican City

• 10 sovereign states lacking general international recognition, none of which are

members of the United Nations:
o One state with diplomatic relations with more than 100 states and informal
relations with 25 others, governed by the Palestinian National Authority and the
Palestine Liberation Organization (a United Nations permanent observer):
Palestine
o One state, recognized by 67 United Nations member states and by Taiwan,
informal relations with six others: Kosovo
o One state, recognized by 46 other states, a member of the African Union, in
partial control of the Western Sahara (listed by the United Nations as a non self-
governing territory): the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
o One state, competing for recognition with another state, currently recognized by
23 United Nations member or observer states as the state representing China,
but no longer recognised by the United Nations as of 25 October 1971: the
Republic of China
o Two states, recognized by four United Nations member states, by Transnistria
and by each other: Abkhazia and South Ossetia
o One state, recognized by one United Nations member state and having informal
relations with 19 more: Northern Cyprus
o One state, recognized by Abkhazia and South Ossetia: Transnistria
o One state recognized by Transnistria: Nagorno-Karabakh
o One state not recognized by any other state: Somaliland

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Excluded from the list above are the following noteworthy entities that do not satisfy all the
qualifications in the Montevideo Convention or which do not claim to be sovereign and
independent:

• Antarctica as a whole has no government and no permanent population. Seven states

claim portions of Antarctica and five of these have reciprocally recognised one
another's claims.[64] These claims, which are regulated by the Antarctic Treaty System,
are neither recognised nor disputed by any other signatory state.[65]
• The European Union, a sui generis supranational organisation which currently has
27 member states. The member states have transferred a measure of their legislative,
executive, and judicial powers to the institutions of the EU, and as such the EU has
some elements of sovereignty, without generally being considered a sovereign state.
The European Union does not claim to be a sovereign state and has only limited
capacity for relations with other states.
• The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a United Nations observer in the
category "Other entities having received a standing invitation to participate as
observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining
permanent offices at Headquarters."[66] The order has bi-lateral diplomatic relations
with 104 states, but has no territory other than extraterritorial areas within Rome.[67] Its
website asserts that "it has always been recognised by nations as an independent
subject of international law."[68] The order's Constitution states: "The Order is a subject
of international law and exercises sovereign functions." [69] Although the order
frequently asserts its sovereignty, including in its name, it does not claim to be a
sovereign state. It lacks a defined territory. As with other embassies, Italy could
theoretically break diplomatic relations with the order and oblige the non-Italian
members to leave Italian territory. Since all its members are citizens of other states,
almost all of them live in their native countries, and those who reside in the order's
extraterritorial properites in Rome do so only in connection with their official duties, the
order lacks the characteristic of having a permanent population.
• States forming part of a federal union, for which, see: federated state. Such entities do
not claim to be independent, as their respective governments have surrendered
sovereignty to a federal government.
• Dependent territories that are under the sovereignty of states from the above lists.
• Uncontacted peoples who exercise varying degrees of de facto soveriegnty over the
areas under their control, but either live in societies that cannot be defined as states or
whose statuses as such are currently too data deficent to be definitively known.
• Entities considered to be micronations, such as The Principality of Sealand, are not
included, even though they generally claim to be sovereign and independent, and try to
enter into diplomatic relations with states that are listed. It is often up to debate
whether a micronation truly controls its claimed territory. The permanent populations
of micronations are generally small.

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 3. ONU - Nações autónomas (192+45=237)

A lista engloba os 192 países da ONU mais 45 territórios autónomos (listados em baixo). A
Lista é semelhante à da ISO (Critério 4), estando os países diferentes sublinhados.

Countries or areas, codes and abbreviations

Numerical Country or area name ISO ALPHA-3
code code

248 Åland Islands ALA

016 American Samoa ASM
660 Anguilla AIA
533 Aruba ABW
060 Bermuda BMU
092 British Virgin Islands VGB
136 Cayman Islands CYM
830 Channel Islands
344 China, Hong Kong Special Administrative HKG
446 China, Macao Special Administrative Region MAC
184 Cook Islands COK
234 Faeroe Islands FRO
238 Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FLK
254 French Guiana GUF
258 French Polynesia PYF
292 Gibraltar GIB
304 Greenland GRL
312 Guadeloupe GLP
316 Guam GUM
831 Guernsey GGY
336 Holy See VAT
833 Isle of Man IMN
832 Jersey JEY
474 Martinique MTQ
175 Mayotte MYT
500 Montserrat MSR
530 Netherlands Antilles ANT
540 New Caledonia NCL
570 Niue NIU
574 Norfolk Island NFK
580 Northern Mariana Islands MNP
275 Occupied Palestinian Territory PSE
612 Pitcairn PCN
630 Puerto Rico PRI
638 Réunion REU
652 Saint-Barthélemy BLM
654 Saint Helena SHN
663 Saint-Martin (French part) MAF
666 Saint Pierre and Miquelon SPM
744 Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands SJM
772 Tokelau TKL
796 Turks and Caicos Islands TCA
850 United States Virgin Islands VIR
876 Wallis and Futuna Islands WLF
732 Western Sahara ESH
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 4. ISO - Nações autónomas (192+54=246)
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International
Standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 161 countries, with a Central Secretariat in
Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge
between the public and private sectors. (http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm)

A lista engloba os 192 países da ONU mais 54 territórios autónomos (listados em baixo). A
Lista é semelhante à da ONU (países autónomos, Critério 3), estando os países diferentes
sublinhados.
Country names ISO 3166-1-alpha-2
code
ÅLAND ISLANDS AX
AMERICAN SAMOA AS
ANGUILLA AI
ANTARCTICA AQ
ARUBA AW
BERMUDA BM
BOUVET ISLAND BV
BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY IO
CAYMAN ISLANDS KY
CHRISTMAS ISLAND CX
COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS CC
COOK ISLANDS CK
FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS) FK
FAROE ISLANDS FO
FRENCH GUIANA GF
FRENCH POLYNESIA PF
FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES TF
GIBRALTAR GI
GREENLAND GL
GUADELOUPE GP
GUAM GU
GUERNSEY GG
HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS HM
HOLY SEE (VATICAN CITY STATE) VA
ISLE OF MAN IM
JERSEY JE
MACAO MO
MARTINIQUE MQ
MAYOTTE YT
MONTSERRAT MS
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AN
NEW CALEDONIA NC
NIUE NU
NORFOLK ISLAND NF
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS MP
PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, OCCUPIED PS
PITCAIRN PN
PUERTO RICO PR
RÉUNION RE
SAINT BARTHÉLEMY BL
SAINT HELENA, ASCENSION AND TRISTAN DA CUNHA SH
SAINT MARTIN MF
SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON PM
SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS GS
SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN SJ
TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA TW
TOKELAU TK
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS TC
UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS UM
VIRGIN ISLANDS, BRITISH VG
VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S. VI
WALLIS AND FUTUNA WF
WESTERN SAHARA EH

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 5. Travelers' Century Club (320)

About the Travelers' Century Club

Membership in the Travelers' Century Club (TCC) is limited to those travelers who have visited
one hundred or more countries of the world. It was first organized in Los Angeles in 1954 by a
group of the world's most widely traveled people. The idea has attracted the interest of the
world travelers everywhere and we now have members throughout the world, as well as the
United States.

Travelers' Century Club

P.O. Box 7050 Santa Monica, CA 90406-7050
Tel: 310-458-3454 Fax: 310-395-9511
E-mail: tccclub3@verizon.net www.travelerscenturyclub.org

Country Status
Our Rules Established in 1970

1. Government/Administration: Any geographic area with a sovereign government or

separately administered as a colony, protectorate, trusteeship territory, territory or mandate
shall be considered as a separate country.

2. Enclaves/Continental Separation: Continental land areas having a common

government or administration but which are geographically discontinuous either by reason
of being separated by foreign land not under their control, by being located on separate
continents, or by being separated by a natural body of water shall be considered as separate
countries provided their population exceeds 100,000. Multiple fragments separated by the
same foreign country shall only count for one country.

3. Federations: A geographic entity which is a federation of separate geographically

definable entitles, each of which is a separate republic/emirate/kingdom in its own right shall
be counted as separate countries.

4. Islands/island Groups:

a. In island/island group not separately defined under section I shall be considered a

separate country if.
1. It is situated at least 200 miles from the closest continental portion of its
administrating country; or
2. Being located within 200 miles, it has a population exceeding 100,000 and is
administered as distinctively separate state(s), province(s), or department(s).
b. Island groups that are parts of an island country within the definition of section I shall be
considered separate countries if.,
1. They are situated at least 200 miles from the closest portion of the same island
country; or
2. Being located within 200 miles, they have a population exceeding 100,000 and are
administered as distinctively separate states, provinces, or departments.

5. Disputed Status: Geographically defined areas which have historically had an

independent identity and whose current political status is the subject of dispute shall be
counted as separate countries.

6. Unpopulated/Unadministered Areas: Any area which is unadministered or has no

resident population will not be considered as a separate country, except for the political

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divisions of the Antartica.

7. Grandfather Clause. An area which is recognized as a country in the past may be

retained as a country even if it does not fit any of the above criteria and any country that is
deleted from the list will still count for the purposes of having reached the minimum number
of countries required for membership or for the 150 or 200 country levels.

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 6 – Wikipédia - Nações Autónomas (192+51=343)

Countries with undisputed status (193)

Afghanistan - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Argentina - Armenia -
Australia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Bahamas - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belarus - Belgium - Belize
- Benin - Bhutan - Bolivia - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Botswana - Brazil - Brunei - Bulgaria - Burkina Faso
- Burundi - Cambodia - Cameroon - Canada - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Chile -
China - Colombia - Comoros - Congo (Democratic Republic) - Congo (Republic) - Costa Rica - Côte
d'Ivoire - Croatia - Cuba - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Djibouti - Dominica - Dominican Republic
- East Timor - Ecuador - Egypt - El Salvador - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Estonia - Ethiopia - Fiji -
Finland - France - Gabon - The Gambia - Georgia - Germany - Ghana - Greece - Grenada - Guatemala -
Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Guyana - Haiti - Honduras - Hungary - Iceland - India - Indonesia - Iran - Iraq -
Ireland - Israel - Italy - Jamaica - Japan - Jordan - Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kiribati - Korea (Democratic
People's Republic) - Korea (Republic) - Kuwait - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Latvia - Lebanon - Lesotho - Liberia -
Libya - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Macedonia (Republic) - Madagascar - Malawi - Malaysia
- Maldives - Mali - Malta - Marshall Islands - Mauritania - Mauritius - Mexico - Micronesia (Federated
States) - Moldova - Monaco - Mongolia - Montenegro - Morocco - Mozambique - Myanmar - Namibia -
Nauru - Nepal - The Netherlands - New Zealand - Nicaragua - Niger - Nigeria - Norway - Oman - Pakistan
- Palau - Panama - Papua New Guinea - Paraguay - Peru - Philippines - Poland - Portugal - Qatar -
Romania - Russia - Rwanda - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines -
Samoa - San Marino - São Tomé and Príncipe - Saudi Arabia - Senegal - Serbia - Seychelles - Sierra
Leone - Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - Solomon Islands - Somalia - South Africa - Spain - Sri Lanka -
Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Sweden - Switzerland - Syria - Tajikistan - Tanzania - Thailand - Togo -
Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tunisia - Turkey - Turkmenistan - Tuvalu - Uganda - Ukraine - United Arab
Emirates - United Kingdom - United States - Uruguay - Uzbekistan - Vanuatu - Vatican City - Venezuela -
Vietnam - Yemen - Zambia - Zimbabwe

Countries with disputed status (11)

Abkhazia - China (Republic)/Taiwan - Kosovo - Nagorno-Karabakh - Northern Cyprus - Palestine -
Somaliland - South Ossetia - Tamil Eelam - Transnistria - Western Sahara

Dependencies and other overseas territories (67)

Akrotiri and Dhekelia - Åland- American Samoa- Anguilla - Aruba - Ascension Island - Ashmore and
Cartier Islands - Baker Island- Bermuda - Bouvet Island - British Indian Ocean Territory - British Virgin
Islands - Cayman Islands - Christmas Island - Clipperton Island - Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Cook Islands -
Coral Sea Islands - Falkland Islands - Faroe Islands - French Guiana - French Polynesia - French Southern
and Antarctic Lands - Gibraltar - Greenland - Guadeloupe - Guam - Guantanamo Bay - Guernsey - Heard
Island and McDonald Islands - Hong Kong - Howland Island - Isle of Man - Jan Mayen - Jarvis Island -
Jersey - Johnston Atoll - Kingman Reef - Macau - Martinique - Mayotte - Midway Atoll - Montserrat -
Navassa Island - Netherlands Antilles - New Caledonia - Niue - Norfolk Island - Northern Mariana Islands
- Palmyra Atoll - Pitcairn Islands - Puerto Rico - Réunion - Saint Helena - Saint-Barthélemy - Saint Martin
(French) - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands - Svalbard - Tokelau -
Tristan da Cunha - Turks and Caicos Islands - United States Virgin Islands - Wake Island - Wallis and
Futuna

Disputed areas (3)

Kashmir - Paracel Islands - Spratly Islands

Subnational autonomous entities (69)

Aceh - Adjara - Adygea - Altai - Andalusia - Aosta Valley - Athos - Azores - Balearic Islands -
Bashkortostan - Basque Country - Bougainville - Brussels - Buryatia - Canary Islands - Catalonia -
Chechnya - Chivasia - Corsica - Crimea - Curaçao - Dagestan - Easter Island - England - Bosnia and
Herzegovina (Federation - Flanders - Friuli-Venezia Giulia - Gagauzia - Galicia - Galápagos Islands -
Gorno-Basakhshan - Guanxi - Ingushetia - Inner Mongolia - Kabadino-Balkaria - Kalmykia - Karachay-
Cherkessia - Karakalpakstan - Karelia - Khakassia - Komi - Kurdistan (Iraqi) - Madeira - Mari El -
Mordovia - Mindanao - Nakhchivan - Navarre - Nevis - Ningxia -North Ossetuia-Alania - Northern Ireland
- Quebec - Saint Martin (Dutch) - Sakha - Sardinia - Scotland - Sicily - Srpska - Tatarstan - Tibet -
Trentino-Alto Adige - Tuva - Udmurtia - Vojvodina - Wales - Wallonia - Xinjiang - Zanzibar

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Former countries (10)
Austria-Hungary - Byzantine Empire - Caliphate - Czechoslovakia - Frankish Empire - Inca Empire -
Macedonian Empire - Roman Empire - Soviet Union - Yugoslavia

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 7 – Most Traveled People (872)

What is MTP?
MTP (Most Traveled People) is a club for travelers who aspire to go "everywhere."
MTP voting members decide how to divide up the land area of the world into distinct areas.
Currently, the MTP Master List is 873 items long. These items are UN countries, territories,
dependencies, states or provinces of large countries, island groups, isolated islands, or
enclaves and exclaves.
MTP Voting members have either visited 100 MTP locations, or voted prior to July 1, 2007,
when the current voting system was implemented.

Why was MTP founded?

MTP was founded in 2005 to create a community and standards body for extreme travelers. A
lack of standards had existed since the year 2000, when Guinness declared itself unable to
continue to judge the Most Traveled category. Guinness requested that a legitimate 3rd party
organization pick up this task, so MTP was born. MTP's original Master List of 573 countries
and territories began by rationalizing the 4 most commonly-used existing lists (TCC, Guinness,
DXCC, and John Todd lists) into a single, more detailed list. Each of those previous 4 lists
accounted for certain areas differently, resulting in confusion, and many competing claims.
Since then, MTP voters have added 300 items to the list, mostly by voting to divide large
countries into their constituent states or provinces.

What if I haven't traveled to many places?

You are still very welcome at MTP! The important thing is that you are interested in travel, in
geography, and in life experiences around the world. As long as you truly aspire to be well-
traveled, you can be one of the Most-Traveled.

How can anyone really define "Most Traveled?"

MTP uses the phrase "Most Traveled" to mean pure geographic coverage of the land on Earth.
There is no further subjective criteria. This is because different people have different travel
goals, and different travel styles. For example, some people choose to spend substantially in
order to travel in luxury, while others take great pride in their resourcefulness and see
authenticity in their frugality. Some strive only to eat local dishes, to use local transportation,
to find local romance, etc. - and count their successes in their own individual ways. While such
experiences are certainly core to everyone's travel experience, they are individually
subjective. And as such, MTP does not try to objectify or quantify them.

What proof of visits is required?

Some form of proof of travel is necessary to prevent fraudulent claims. Although there is no
single type of proof which covers each type of visit, there are several ways in which a traveler
can sufficiently demonstrate that he has been to a country or territory.
The categories of proof below can be used in combination (or, occasionally, alone) as proof of
a visit. Travelers should keep in mind the general rule: “The more proof, the better.” In
descending order of sufficiency,
1. Passport entry stamp (required where offered, either within passport, or on separate
paper, as in cases of Israel, North Korea, etc.). A visa which supports the entry stamp
should be present where required. Note: A visa without accompanying entry stamp is
not proof of travel. A visa alone is only proof of purchasing a visa.
2. Airline, rail, or boat ticket stubs showing travel both to and from the target.
3. Credit card records showing meals or lodging within the target.
4. Signed Affidavit or Certificate of Travel from a ship Captain or other authority.
5. Signed and Witnessed Affidavit of Travel from the traveler himself.
6. Photograph of traveler within the territory, including local sign or icon where possible.
E.g. “Welcome to Tristan da Cunha,” “Geographic South Pole,” “Republic of Abkhazia”

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Note: Photographic evidence is not normally acceptable alone; it must be accompanied by
other supporting proof.
Note: In cases of incomplete proof due to fire, theft, etc., an oral interview administered by an
interviewer with travel experience in the claimed region may suffice.

How does MTP define a "visit?"

For the purposes of this website, a visit shall be as follows:
1. Across borders where immigration is regulated, official entry must be made through
immigration/passport control.
2. Across borders where passport control does not exist or is unregulated, such as
between states within a country, or between countries under a common border
agreement, such as the EU, the traveler must stand with both feet on land fully within
those borders. This includes landing on islands. Sailing through territorial waters alone
does not count, nor does flying through territorial airspace.
3. In the case of islands where landing is prohibited by law due to wildlife concerns or
other natural heritage status, it is acceptable to touch a portion of the island above the
waterline (whether while swimming or from a boat) in lieu of landing.

Does an airport transfer count as a visit?

For MTP, the short answer is 'no.'

Is MTP free to join?

MTP monthly dues are US$4.95, or US$49.95 per year (2-year discount $89.95). All dues go
towards the many costs of running MTP, like server hosting, storage, database maintenance,
mapping software, and especially, paying the programmers.

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