I want to ride a bicycle in every country in the world. Coming up with a list of countries wasn’t as easy as I thought though!

Coming up with a list of all the countries in the world…

It’s not straightforward!

There’s a few reasons for this. Firstly, what is a country?

I was born in England (which is a country – I think or thought), but it’s part of a Kingdom. Which means….

Actually I have no idea what it means!

Also, I might call a country one name (Greece) for example. But the people who actually live there might call it something different (Hellenic Republic).

So, rather than overthink it, I decided to create my list of all the countries in the world by using the United Nations membership list. If you see the name of a country hyperlinked it means I have ridden a bicycle there, and also written a country overview blog post. At the side of each country name, I have written when I visited on a bicycle during my Cycling Everywhere trip.

Note 1: This isn’t my first rodeo, and I’ve already cycled through a lot of countries on previous bike tours. Most of these tours are documented on an older blog. I’m still unsure whether to count these or reset the country counter to zero for this blog. I’ll let you know when I know!

Note 2: If I do decide to continue an open-ended bicycle tour, it is highly likely I will visit some countries more than once due to the impossibility of creating a RTW contiguous cycling route that includes every country. If during the course of the bikepacking trip a country should be created or cease to exist (hey, it’s a crazy world, anything can happen!), I’ll update the list accordingly.

List of countries I plan to ride a bike in

(Update May 2025)

  • Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
  • Republic of Albania
  • People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
  • Principality of Andorra
  • Republic of Angola
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Republic of Argentina
  • Republic of Armenia
  • Commonwealth of Australia
  • Republic of Austria
  • Republic of Azerbaijan
  • Commonwealth of the Bahamas
  • Kingdom of Bahrain
  • People’s Republic of Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Republic of Belarus
  • Kingdom of Belgium
  • Belize
  • Republic of Benin
  • Kingdom of Bhutan
  • Plurinational State of Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Republic of Botswana
  • Federative Republic of Brazil
  • Negara Brunei Darussalam
  • Republic of Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Republic of Burundi
  • Kingdom of Cambodia
  • Republic of Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Republic of Cabo Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Republic of Chad
  • Republic of Chile
  • People’s Republic of China
  • Republic of Colombia
  • Union of the Comoros
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Republic of Costa Rica
  • Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
  • Republic of Croatia
  • Republic of Cuba
  • Republic of Cyprus
  • Czech Republic (Czechia)
  • Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Kingdom of Denmark
  • Republic of Djibouti
  • Commonwealth of Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Republic of Ecuador
  • Arab Republic of Egypt
  • Republic of El Salvador
  • Republic of Equatorial Guinea
  • State of Eritrea
  • Republic of Estonia
  • Kingdom of Eswatini
  • Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
  • Republic of Fiji
  • Republic of Finland
  • Republic of France
  • Gabonese Republic (Gabon)
  • Republic of The Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Federal Republic of Germany
  • Republic of Ghana
  • Hellenic Republic (Greece)
  • Grenada
  • Republic of Guatemala
  • Republic of Guinea
  • Republic of Guinea-Bissau
  • Co-operative Republic of Guyana
  • Republic of Haiti
  • Republic of Honduras
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Republic of India
  • Republic of Indonesia
  • Islamic Republic of Iran
  • Republic of Iraq
  • Ireland
  • State of Israel
  • Republic of Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
  • Republic of Kazakhstan
  • Republic of Kenya
  • Republic of Kiribati
  • State of Kuwait
  • Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)
  • Lao People’s Democratic Republic
  • Republic of Latvia
  • Republic of Lebanon
  • Kingdom of Lesotho
  • Republic of Liberia
  • State of Libya
  • Principality of Liechtenstein
  • Republic of Lithuania
  • Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
  • Republic of Madagascar
  • Republic of Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Republic of Maldives
  • Republic of Mali
  • Republic of Malta
  • Republic of the Marshall Islands
  • Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  • Republic of Mauritius
  • United Mexican States (Mexico)
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Principality of Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Kingdom of Morocco
  • Republic of Mozambique
  • Republic of the Union of Myanmar
  • Republic of Namibia
  • Republic of Nauru
  • Nepal
  • Kingdom of the Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Republic of Nicaragua
  • Republic of the Niger
  • Federal Republic of Nigeria
  • Republic of North Macedonia
  • Kingdom of Norway
  • Sultanate of Oman
  • Islamic Republic of Pakistan
  • Republic of Palau
  • Republic of Panama
  • Independent State of Papua New Guinea
  • Republic of Paraguay
  • Republic of Peru
  • Republic of the Philippines
  • Republic of Poland
  • Portuguese Republic (Portugal)
  • State of Qatar
  • Republic of Korea
  • Republic of Moldova
  • Romania
  • Russian Federation
  • Republic of Rwanda
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Independent State of Samoa
  • Republic of San Marino
  • Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
  • Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Republic of Senegal
  • Republic of Serbia
  • Republic of Seychelles
  • Republic of Sierra Leone
  • Republic of Singapore
  • Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
  • Republic of Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Federal Republic of Somalia
  • Republic of South Africa
  • Republic of South Sudan
  • Kingdom of Spain
  • Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
  • Republic of the Sudan
  • Republic of Suriname
  • Kingdom of Sweden
  • Swiss Confederation (Switzerland)
  • Syrian Arab Republic
  • Republic of Tajikistan
  • Kingdom of Thailand
  • Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
  • Republic of Togo
  • Kingdom of Tonga
  • Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
  • Republic of Tunisia
  • Republic of Türkiye
  • Turkmenistan
  • Tuvalu
  • Republic of Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • United Republic of Tanzania
  • United States of America
  • Oriental Republic of Uruguay
  • Republic of Uzbekistan
  • Republic of Vanuatu
  • Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
  • Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
  • Republic of Yemen
  • Republic of Zambia
  • Republic of Zimbabwe

Think somewhere is missing from the list?

Several notable countries or disputed territories are not included in the United Nations membership list, either because they are not universally recognized as sovereign states or are not members of the UN for political or historical reasons. Here’s an overview of the most significant ones:

Notable Non-UN Members

1. Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • Why it’s missing: Taiwan was a founding member of the UN as the Republic of China (ROC). However, in 1971, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758, recognizing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate representative of China in the UN. Taiwan is no longer a member, and its sovereignty is disputed by the PRC.
  • Status: Recognized by a few countries; operates independently.

2. Kosovo

  • Why it’s missing: Declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but its sovereignty is not universally recognized. Around 100 UN member states recognize Kosovo, but key countries (e.g., Russia, China) do not, preventing its UN membership.
  • Status: Recognized by some countries, including the United States and much of the EU.

3. Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

  • Why it’s missing: Claimed by Morocco, though the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) has declared independence and is recognized by some countries and the African Union. The UN considers Western Sahara a non-self-governing territory.
  • Status: Disputed territory.

Disputed or Partially Recognized States

4. Palestine

  • Why it’s missing: Palestine is recognized as a UN observer state, not a full member. Efforts for full membership have been blocked in the UN Security Council due to lack of consensus.
  • Status: Partially recognized; widely recognized by UN member states.

5. Northern Cyprus

  • Why it’s missing: Declared independence in 1983 but is only recognized by Turkey. The rest of the world considers it part of the Republic of Cyprus.
  • Status: Not widely recognized.

6. Abkhazia and South Ossetia

  • Why they’re missing: These territories declared independence from Georgia in the 1990s, but are recognized only by a few countries, including Russia. The UN and most nations consider them part of Georgia.
  • Status: Limited recognition.

7. Transnistria

  • Why it’s missing: A breakaway region of Moldova, it has declared independence but is not recognized by any UN member state.
  • Status: Unrecognized; de facto independent.

8. Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)

  • Why it’s missing: A disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Declared independence but is not recognized by any UN member state.
  • Status: Unrecognized; currently under Azerbaijan’s control after recent conflict.

9. Somaliland

  • Why it’s missing: Declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is not recognized internationally. It operates as a de facto independent state.
  • Status: Not recognized.

Other Territories

  • Puerto Rico: A territory of the United States; not a sovereign state.
  • Hong Kong and Macau: Special Administrative Regions of China; not sovereign states.
  • Greenland: An autonomous territory of Denmark; not a sovereign state.