The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. |
(As released by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, January 19, 2001)
See also:
Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty
How's That Place Spelled? (GEOnet)
Geographic Learning Site (GLS)
State Department Country Background Notes
Total count of Independent States: 191
* Diplomatic relations with the United States
+ Member of United Nations
! New change, since previous list
STATE
Short-form name | Long-form name | FIPS Code (see note 2) |
Capital |
Afghanistan *+ | Islamic State of Afghanistan | AF | Kabul |
Albania *+ | Republic of Albania | AL | Tirana |
Algeria *+ | Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria | AG | Algiers |
Andorra *+ | Principality of Andorra | AN | Andorra la Vella |
Angola *+ | Republic of Angola | AO | Luanda |
Antigua and Barbuda *+ | (no long-form name) | AC | Saint John's |
Argentina *+ | Argentine Republic | AR | Buenos Aires |
Armenia *+ | Republic of Armenia | AM | Yerevan |
Australia *+ | Commonwealth of Australia | AS | Canberra |
Austria *+ | Republic of Austria | AU | Vienna |
Azerbaijan *+ | !Republic of Azerbaijan | AJ | Baku |
Bahamas, The *+ | Commonwealth of The Bahamas | BF | Nassau |
Bahrain *+ | State of Bahrain | BA | Manama |
Bangladesh *+ | People's Republic of Bangladesh | BG | Dhaka |
Barbados *+ | (no long-form name) | BB | Bridgetown |
Belarus *+ | Republic of Belarus | BO | Minsk |
Belgium *+ | Kingdom of Belgium | BE | Brussels |
Belize *+ | (no long-form name) | BH | Belmopan |
Benin *+ | Republic of Benin | BN | Porto-Novo |
Bhutan + | Kingdom of Bhutan | BT | Thimphu |
Bolivia *+ | Republic of Bolivia | BL | La Paz (administrative) Sucre (legislative/judiciary) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina *+ | (no long-form name) | BK | Sarajevo |
Botswana *+ | Republic of Botswana | BC | Gaborone |
Brazil *+ | Federative Republic of Brazil | BR | Brasília |
Brunei *+ | Negara Brunei Darussalam | BX | Bandar Seri Begawan |
Bulgaria *+ | Republic of Bulgaria | BU | Sofia |
Burkina Faso *+ | Burkina Faso | UV | Ouagadougou |
Burma *+ | Union of Burma | BM | Rangoon |
Burundi *+ | Republic of Burundi | BY | Bujumbura |
Cambodia *+ | Kingdom of Cambodia | CB | Phnom Penh |
Cameroon *+ | Republic of Cameroon | CM | Yaoundé |
Canada *+ | (no long-form name) | CA | Ottawa |
Cape Verde *+ | Republic of Cape Verde | CV | Praia |
Central African Republic *+ | Central African Republic | CT | Bangui |
Chad *+ | Republic of Chad | CD | N'Djamena |
Chile *+ | Republic of Chile | CI | Santiago |
China *+ (see note 3) | People's Republic of China | CH | Beijing |
Colombia *+ | Republic of Colombia | CO | Bogotá |
Comoros *+ | Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros | CN | Moroni |
Congo (Brazzaville) *+ (see note 4) | Republic of the Congo | CF | Brazzaville |
Congo (Kinshasa) *+ (see note 4) | Democratic Republic of the Congo | CG | Kinshasa |
Costa Rica *+ | Republic of Costa Rica | CS | San José |
Côte d'Ivoire *+ | Republic of Côte d'Ivoire | IV | Yamoussoukro |
Croatia *+ | Republic of Croatia | HR | Zagreb |
Cuba + | Republic of Cuba | CU | Havana |
Cyprus *+ | Republic of Cyprus | CY | Nicosia |
Czech Republic *+ | Czech Republic | EZ | Prague |
Denmark *+ | Kingdom of Denmark | DA | Copenhagen |
Djibouti *+ | Republic of Djibouti | DJ | Djibouti |
Dominica *+ | Commonwealth of Dominica | DO | Roseau |
Dominican Republic *+ | Dominican Republic | DR | Santo Domingo |
Ecuador *+ | Republic of Ecuador | EC | Quito |
Egypt *+ | Arab Republic of Egypt | EG | Cairo |
El Salvador *+ | Republic of El Salvador | ES | San Salvador |
Equatorial Guinea *+ | Republic of Equatorial Guinea | EK | Malabo |
Eritrea *+ | State of Eritrea | ER | Asmara |
Estonia *+ | Republic of Estonia | EN | Tallinn |
Ethiopia *+ | Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | ET | Addis Ababa |
Fiji *+ | Republic of the Fiji Islands | FJ | Suva |
Finland *+ | Republic of Finland | FI | Helsinki |
France *+ | French Republic | FR | Paris |
Gabon *+ | Gabonese Republic | GB | Libreville |
Gambia, The *+ | Republic of The Gambia | GA | Banjul |
Georgia *+ | !Republic of Georgia | GG | T'bilisi |
Germany *+ | Federal Republic of Germany | GM | Berlin |
Ghana *+ | Republic of Ghana | GH | Accra |
Greece *+ | Hellenic Republic | GR | Athens |
Grenada *+ | (no long-form name) | GJ | Saint George's |
Guatemala *+ | Republic of Guatemala | GT | Guatemala |
Guinea *+ | Republic of Guinea | GV | Conakry |
Guinea-Bissau *+ | Republic of Guinea-Bissau | PU | Bissau |
Guyana *+ | Co-operative Republic of Guyana | GY | Georgetown |
Haiti *+ | Republic of Haiti | HA | Port-au-Prince |
Holy See * | Holy See | VT | Vatican City |
Honduras *+ | Republic of Honduras | HO | Tegucigalpa |
Hungary *+ | Republic of Hungary | HU | Budapest |
Iceland *+ | Republic of Iceland | IC | Reykjavík |
India *+ | Republic of India | IN | New Delhi |
Indonesia *+ | Republic of Indonesia | ID | Jakarta |
Iran + | Islamic Republic of Iran | IR | Tehran |
Iraq + | Republic of Iraq | IZ | Baghdad |
Ireland *+ | (no long-form name) | EI | Dublin |
Israel *+ | State of Israel | IS | (see note 5) |
Italy *+ | Italian Republic | IT | Rome |
Jamaica *+ | (no long-form name) | JM | Kingston |
Japan *+ | (no long-form name) | JA | Tokyo |
Jordan *+ | Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | JO | Amman |
Kazakhstan *+ | Republic of Kazakhstan | KZ | Astana |
Kenya *+ | Republic of Kenya | KE | Nairobi |
Kiribati *+ | Republic of Kiribati | KR | Tarawa |
Korea, North + | Democratic People's Republic of Korea | KN | P'yongyang |
Korea, South *+ | Republic of Korea | KS | Seoul |
Kuwait *+ | State of Kuwait | KU | Kuwait |
Kyrgyzstan *+ | Kyrgyz Republic | KG | Bishkek |
Laos *+ | Lao People's Democratic Republic | LA | Vientiane |
Latvia *+ | Republic of Latvia | LG | Riga |
Lebanon *+ | Lebanese Republic | LE | Beirut |
Lesotho *+ | Kingdom of Lesotho | LT | Maseru |
Liberia *+ | Republic of Liberia | LI | Monrovia |
Libya *+ | !Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | LY | Tripoli |
Liechtenstein *+ | Principality of Liechtenstein | LS | Vaduz |
Lithuania *+ | Republic of Lithuania | LH | Vilnius |
Luxembourg *+ | Grand Duchy of Luxembourg | LU | Luxembourg |
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of *+ | The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | MK | Skopje |
Madagascar *+ | Republic of Madagascar | MA | Antananarivo |
Malawi *+ | Republic of Malawi | MI | Lilongwe |
Malaysia *+ | (no long-form name) | MY | Kuala Lumpur |
Maldives *+ | Republic of Maldives | MV | Male |
Mali *+ | Republic of Mali | ML | Bamako |
Malta *+ | !Republic of Malta | MT | Valletta |
Marshall Islands *+ | Republic of the Marshall Islands | RM | Majuro |
Mauritania *+ | Islamic Republic of Mauritania | MR | Nouakchott |
Mauritius *+ | Republic of Mauritius | MP | Port Louis |
Mexico *+ | United Mexican States | MX | Mexico |
Micronesia, Federated States of *+ | Federated States of Micronesia | FM | Palikir |
Moldova *+ | Republic of Moldova | MD | Chisinau |
Monaco *+ | Principality of Monaco | MN | Monaco |
Mongolia *+ | (no long-form name) | MG | Ulaanbaatar |
Morocco *+ | Kingdom of Morocco | MO | Rabat |
Mozambique *+ | Republic of Mozambique | MZ | Maputo |
Namibia *+ | Republic of Namibia | WA | Windhoek |
Nauru *+ | Republic of Nauru | NR | Yaren District (no capital city) |
Nepal *+ | Kingdom of Nepal | NP | Kathmandu |
Netherlands *+ | Kingdom of the Netherlands | NL | Amsterdam The Hague (seat of gov't) |
New Zealand *+ | (no long-form name) | NZ | Wellington |
Nicaragua *+ | Republic of Nicaragua | NU | Managua |
Niger *+ | Republic of Niger | NG | Niamey |
Nigeria *+ | Federal Republic of Nigeria | NI | Abuja |
Norway *+ | Kingdom of Norway | NO | Oslo |
Oman *+ | Sultanate of Oman | MU | Muscat |
Pakistan *+ | Islamic Republic of Pakistan | PK | Islamabad |
Palau *+ | Republic of Palau | PS | Koror |
Panama *+ | Republic of Panama | PM | Panama |
Papua New Guinea *+ | Independent State of Papua New Guinea | PP | Port Moresby |
Paraguay *+ | Republic of Paraguay | PA | Asunción |
Peru *+ | Republic of Peru | PE | Lima |
Philippines *+ | Republic of the Philippines | RP | Manila |
Poland *+ | Republic of Poland | PL | Warsaw |
Portugal *+ | Portuguese Republic | PO | Lisbon |
Qatar *+ | State of Qatar | QA | Doha |
Romania *+ | (no long-form name) | RO | Bucharest |
Russia *+ | Russian Federation | RS | Moscow |
Rwanda *+ | Rwandese Republic | RW | Kigali |
Saint Kitts and Nevis *+ | Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis | SC | Basseterre |
Saint Lucia *+ | (no long-form name) | ST | Castries |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *+ | (no long-form name) | VC | Kingstown |
Samoa *+ | Independent State of Samoa | WS | Apia |
San Marino *+ | Republic of San Marino | SM | San Marino |
Sao Tome and Principe *+ | Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe | TP | São Tomé |
Saudi Arabia *+ | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | SA | Riyadh |
Senegal *+ | Republic of Senegal | SG | Dakar |
Seychelles *+ | Republic of Seychelles | SE | Victoria |
Sierra Leone *+ | Republic of Sierra Leone | SL | Freetown |
Singapore *+ | Republic of Singapore | SN | Singapore |
Slovakia *+ | Slovak Republic | LO | Bratislava |
Slovenia *+ | Republic of Slovenia | SI | Ljubljana |
Solomon Islands *+ | (no long-form name) | BP | Honiara |
Somalia *+ | (no long-form name) | SO | Mogadishu |
South Africa *+ | Republic of South Africa | SF | Pretoria (administrative) Cape Town (legislative) Bloemfontein (judiciary) |
Spain *+ | Kingdom of Spain | SP | Madrid |
Sri Lanka *+ | Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | CE | Colombo !Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte (legislative) |
Sudan *+ | Republic of the Sudan | SU | Khartoum |
Suriname *+ | Republic of Suriname | NS | Paramaribo |
Swaziland *+ | Kingdom of Swaziland | WZ | Mbabane (administrative) Lobamba (legislative) |
Sweden *+ | Kingdom of Sweden | SW | Stockholm |
Switzerland * | Swiss Confederation | SZ | Bern |
Syria *+ | Syrian Arab Republic | SY | Damascus |
Tajikistan *+ | Republic of Tajikistan | TI | Dushanbe |
Tanzania *+ | United Republic of Tanzania | TZ | Dar es Salaam Dodoma (legislative) |
Thailand *+ | Kingdom of Thailand | TH | Bangkok |
Togo *+ | Togolese Republic | TO | Lomé |
Tonga *+ | Kingdom of Tonga | TN | Nuku'alofa |
Trinidad and Tobago *+ | Republic of Trinidad and Tobago | TD | Port-of-Spain |
Tunisia *+ | Republic of Tunisia | TS | Tunis |
Turkey *+ | Republic of Turkey | TU | Ankara |
Turkmenistan *+ | (no long-form name) | TX | Ashgabat |
Tuvalu * | (no long-form name) | TV | Funafuti |
Uganda *+ | Republic of Uganda | UG | Kampala |
Ukraine *+ | (no long-form name) | UP | Kiev |
United Arab Emirates *+ | United Arab Emirates | TC | Abu Dhabi |
United Kingdom *+ | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | UK | London |
United States + | United States of America | US | Washington, DC |
Uruguay *+ | Oriental Republic of Uruguay | UY | Montevideo |
Uzbekistan *+ | Republic of Uzbekistan | UZ | Tashkent |
Vanuatu *+ | Republic of Vanuatu | NH | Port-Vila |
Venezuela *+ | Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela | VE | Caracas |
Vietnam *+ | Socialist Republic of Vietnam | VM | Hanoi |
Yemen *+ | Republic of Yemen | YM | Sanaa |
Yugoslavia *+ | Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | YI | Belgrade |
Zambia *+ | Republic of Zambia | ZA | Lusaka |
Zimbabwe *+ | Republic of Zimbabwe | ZI | Harare |
OTHER
Short-form name | Long-form name | FIPS Code (see note 2) | Capital |
Taiwan (see note 6) | (no long-form name) | TW | T'ai-pei |
NOTES
Note 1: In this listing, the term "independent state" refers to a people politically organized
into a sovereign state with a definite territory recognized as independent by the US.
Note 2: Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4 codes.
Note 3: With the establishment of diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979, the
US Government recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government
of China and acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only one China and that
Taiwan is part of China.
Note 4: "Congo" is the official short-form name for both the Republic of the Congo and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. To distinguish one from the other, the U.S. Department
of State adds the capital in parentheses. This practice is unofficial and provisional.
Note 5: In 1950 the Israel Parliament proclaimed Jerusalem as the capital. The US, like
most other countries that have embassies in Israel, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Note 6: Claimed by both the Government of the People's Republic of China and the authorities
on Taiwan. Administered by the authorities on Taiwan. (see note 3)
Source: Office of The Geographer and Global Issues, Bureau of Intelligence and Research,
U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
How's That Place Spelled?
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