Answer:
There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine
Not included in this total count of 195 countries are:
•Taiwan - the United Nations considers it represented by the People's Republic of China
•The Cook Islands and Niue, both states in free association with New Zealand which are members of several UN specialized agencies and have been recognized "full treaty-making capacity", but are neither member states nor non-member observer states.
•Dependencies (or dependent territories, dependent areas, dependencies) and Areas of Special Sovereignty (autonomous territories)
•Other countries recognized by the United Nations as not being self-governing
