_#_Entities: Some of the nations, dependent areas, areas of special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government. Nation refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory. Dependent area refers to a broad category of political entities that are associated in some way with a nation. Names used for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names. The long-form name is included in the Government section and an entry of "none" indicates a long-form name does not exist. In some instances, no short-form name exists—then the long-form name must serve for all usages.
There are 247 entities in the Factbook that may be categorized as follows:
NATIONS
157 UN members (there are 159 members in the UN, but only 157 are
included in The World Factbook because Belorussia
(Byelorussia) and Ukraine are constituent republics of the Soviet
Union)
13 nations that are not members of the UN—Andorra, Federated States of
Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, North Korea,
San Marino, South Korea, Switzerland, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vatican City
OTHER
1 Taiwan
DEPENDENT AREAS
6 Australia—Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island,
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and
McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island
2 Denmark—Faroe Islands, Greenland
16 France—Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic
Lands, Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova Island,
Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Pierre and
Miquelon, Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna
2 Netherlands—Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
3 New Zealand—Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau
3 Norway—Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
1 Portugal—Macau
16 United Kingdom—Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands,
Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Montserrat,
Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South
Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
15 United States—American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island,
Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands,
Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll,
Puerto Rico, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau),
Virgin Islands, Wake Island
MISCELLANEOUS
7 Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone,
Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, West Bank, Western Sahara
OTHER ENTITIES 4 oceans—Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean 1 World === 247 total
Notes: The US Government has not recognized the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union as constituent republics during World War II. Those Baltic states are not members of the UN and are not included in the list of nations. The US Government does not recognize the four so-called "independent" homelands of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, and Venda in South Africa.
_#_Gross domestic product (GDP): The value of all goods and services produced domestically.
_#_Gross national product (GNP): The value of all goods and services produced domestically, plus income earned abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production.