How many countries are there?

Easy, just grab a map and start counting, yes?

No.

Not all maps are created equal, borders will differ depending on who you got that map from.

So if individuals disagree, then surely a committee will save the day.

Go to the United Nations, find the room where the countries sit, each with a little name tag,

start counting and get an answer.

Now, of course, countries come and countries go, but at the time this video was made,

the answer is 193.

Fastest video ever, right?

Except you know this isn't over.

The United Nations list is less a complete class roster than a club membership that doesn't include

everyone.

Take Vatican City, who is a country but is too cool for school when it comes to being a member of the United Nations. And while Vatican City's exact situation is complicated, he's straightforward compared to

other non-United Nations countries, or places.

The terminology is going to have to be a bit unclear here.

Take Kosovo, who wants to join the UN Club, but membership requires none of these five countries

to reject you.

And while the United States, the United Kingdom, and France think Kosovo is a country, Russia and China think she's just a rebellious part of Serbia, and so veto her membership.

As for everyone else, just over half recognize Kosovo as independent, and Kosovo adorably has a website

where she thanks each one in their own language.

But Kosovo is not the only other place that wants to be considered a real country. There's Transnistria, the Nagoro-Karabakh Republic,

...