How Many Countries (But Who's Counting?) - 2015 Year End Edition

We've been counting up countries once or twice annually just for the heck of it since early 2009. In 2015 we added Fiji and Gibraltar to our list of “countries” visited.

Based on the Century Travelers' Club current list of 324 entities, we've therefore been in a total of 99 "countries" to date. You'll notice the following list includes a lot of places that aren't sovereign states, but it's a harmless way for us to keep tabs on our travels. We've compiled the actual sovereign states we've visited below this list:

Pacific Ocean (6/39)
Australia

Fiji Islands
French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier)
Hawaiian Islands
New Zealand
Tasmania

North America (4/6)

Alaska
Canada
Mexico
U.S. (continental)

Central America (5/7)
Belize (British Honduras)
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Honduras
Panama
 

South America (5/14)
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Uruguay
 

Caribbean (15/30)
Antigua & Deps. (Barbuda, Redonda)
Bahamas
Barbados
Cayman Islands
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Leeward Islands, French (St. Martin)
Puerto Rico
St. Barts
St. Kitts
St. Lucia
St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles)
Turks and Caicos Islands
Virgin Islands, U.S. (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas)
Virgin Islands, British (Tortola, etc.)
 

Atlantic Ocean (6/13)
Azores Islands
Bermuda
Canary Islands
Cape Verde Islands
Iceland
Madeira
 

Europe and Mediterranean (36/67)
Austria
Belgium
Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca)
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany

Gibraltar
Greece
Hungary
Ionian Islands (Corfu, etc.)
Ireland (Eire)
Ireland, Northern (Ulster)
Italy

Liechtenstein 

Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Sicily
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey in Europe (Istanbul)
Vatican City
Wales

Antarctica (0/7)

None

Africa (7/55)
Egypt in Africa
Lesotho
Morocco
Senegal (plane refueling at Dakar - did not formally enter)
South Africa
Swaziland
Zimbabwe

 
Middle East (0/21)
None
 

Indian Ocean (1/14)
The Maldives
 

Asia (14/51)
Cambodia
China, People's Rep.
Hong Kong
India
Japan
Korea, North (DMZ tour only)
Korea, South
Malaysia
Singapore
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey in Asia
Vietnam

If we restrict our list only to sovereign nations, we've visited 74 of 195 such entities:

Antigua
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Brazil
Cambodia
Canada
Cape Verde
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia

Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Holy See (Vatican City)
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Korea (North) - DMZ tour only
Korea (South)
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Panama
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Senegal (plane refueling at Dakar - did not formally enter)
Singapore
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Swaziland

Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Vietnam
Zimbabwe 

Looking at it another way, we've visited sovereign countries whose total territory covers 37.3% of the world's surface:


Finally, we've actually visited a higher percentage of the world's current sovereign states - 38% - than our presence in 30% of the Century Club's entries. But who's counting?

We’re already looking forward to at least one or two new entries in 2016.