In 2025, there were 195 recognized countries in the world, of which all but two, Vatican City and the State of Palestine, were also member states of the United Nations. While the total number changes depending on who you ask, the picture becomes even more fuzzy when it comes to micronations.

Defined as an "entity that claims to be an independent state but whose sovereignty is not recognized by the international community," per Britannica , they are as rich and varied as the people devising and inhabiting them. One of the oldest that is still in operation, the Principality of Sealand, was founded on an offshore platform in 1967, while in 2009, Thomas Frey suggested these island countries would "dramatically shift the face of global politics" in the coming decade, via Futurist Speaker .

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