Countries by Continent
SOTW covers 217 economies: the 193 UN member states and 24 territories and other economies with their own statistics. This page places each in a continent using the UN's M49 standard, splitting the Americas into North America (with Central America and the Caribbean) and South America.
Source: UN Statistics Division: standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49), checked October 21, 2026.
- UN member states
- 193
- All in a continent; observers not counted
- Economies with data
- 217
- Member states plus territories
- Africa
- 54 countries
- 54 economies with data
- Asia
- 47 countries
- 50 economies with data
How many countries are in each continent
| Continent | UN member states | Economies with data | Population | GDP | Land area | Most populous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 54 | 54 | 1.55 billion2025 | $3.63T2026 (IMF projection), 52 of 54 | 29,654,799 km²2024 | Nigeria |
| Asia | 47 | 50 | 4.80 billion2025 | $45.01T2026 (IMF projection), 45 of 50 | 31,077,902 km²2024 | India |
| Europe | 43 | 48 | 744.9 million2025 | $32.31T2026 (IMF projection), 42 of 48 | 22,125,093 km²2024, 46 of 48 | Russia |
| North America | 23 | 34 | 612.4 million2025 | $38.17T2026 (IMF projection), 24 of 34 | 20,897,914 km²2024, 33 of 34 | United States |
| South America | 12 | 12 | 437.8 million2025 | $5.32T2026 (IMF projection) | 17,387,407 km²2024 | Brazil |
| Oceania | 14 | 19 | 47.3 million2025 | $2.43T2026 (IMF projection), 14 of 19 | 8,491,963 km²2024 | Australia |
North America here is M49's Northern America together with Central America (including Mexico) and the Caribbean; South America is M49's South America. Latin America and the Caribbean has its own page.
North America
Oceania
Population by continent over time
About these figures
- Totals are sums of country figures for one year over the economies that have one, not official aggregates; each says how many it covers. Missing figures are not counted as zero.
- Growth, inflation and other rates are not added up or averaged into a group or continent rate, because an unweighted average gives a small economy the same weight as a large one.
- GDP is converted to US dollars at market exchange rates; GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusts for differences in price levels, so it is the better comparison of living standards and gives a different order.
- Territories and other economies that are not UN member states are marked in the table: Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), American Samoa (a US territory), Bermuda (a British overseas territory), Channel Islands (British Crown dependencies (Jersey and Guernsey)), Curaçao (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Cayman Islands (a British overseas territory), Faroe Islands (part of the Kingdom of Denmark), Gibraltar (a British overseas territory), Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark), Guam (a US territory), Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China), Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency), Macao (a special administrative region of China), Saint Martin (a French overseas collectivity), Northern Mariana Islands (a US territory), New Caledonia (a French territory), Puerto Rico (a US territory), West Bank and Gaza (World Bank figures for the West Bank and Gaza; the State of Palestine is a UN observer state), French Polynesia (a French overseas collectivity), Sint Maarten (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Turks and Caicos Islands (a British overseas territory), British Virgin Islands (a British overseas territory), U.S. Virgin Islands (a US territory) and Kosovo (not a UN member state).
- IMF figures for the current year are projections from the World Economic Outlook, revised at each release, not measured values.
Sources and definitions
- Population SP.POP.TOTL
- Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates. Unit: people. World Bank (World Development Indicators)
- GDP IMF.NGDPD
- Economic output at current prices, expressed using market exchange rates. Unit: current US dollars. International Monetary Fund (World Economic Outlook)
- GDP per person IMF.NGDPDPC
- Current-price economic output divided by the population. Unit: current US dollars. International Monetary Fund (World Economic Outlook)
- Land area AG.LND.TOTL.K2
- Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes. Unit: square kilometres. World Bank (World Development Indicators)
Questions
How many countries are there in each continent?
Counting UN member states and using the UN's M49 regions: Africa 54, Asia 47, Europe 43, North America 23, South America 12 and Oceania 14, 193 in all. Two UN observer states add to these: the State of Palestine, in Asia, and the Holy See (Vatican City), in Europe.
Which continent has the most people?
Asia: 4.80 billion people in 2025, with India the most populous economy. Each figure is a sum of World Bank country estimates.
Why do other sources give different counts?
Counts depend on which places are treated as countries and where the line between continents runs. This page counts UN member states and follows M49, which, for example, puts Cyprus and Turkey in Asia and all of Russia in Europe. Lists that count Taiwan, Kosovo or the Vatican, or that split Russia, give other totals.