List of countries by continent

Understanding the world list

How many countries are in this list?

Hookito’s directory contains 208 countries and territories. It is the same collection used by the random country generator and flag quiz, giving you a consistent set of names to browse, locate and practise. The total describes the places in this collection; it includes territories alongside countries.

Different country lists answer different questions. The United Nations lists 193 member states and two non-member observer states, the Holy See and the State of Palestine. Counting those two groups together gives 195. Hookito’s broader directory has a different scope, so its 208 entries should not be read as 208 sovereign states or as a UN membership list.

Antarctica is excluded from this directory. Each included place appears once, even when it has connections to more than one continent. The numbers beside the continent links therefore add up to the directory total.

How the countries are grouped by continent

The six groups are Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Central America and the Caribbean sit within North America. Oceania includes Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific island entries in the collection. This gives you a way to study one part of the world at a time while keeping every row on one page.

Some countries span continental boundaries, and different references make different grouping choices. Hookito places Russia in Europe, Türkiye and Kazakhstan in Asia, and Egypt in Africa. Cyprus, Georgia and Armenia appear in Europe. These are the groupings used in Hookito’s directory; you can still look up a place by name if you expected to find it elsewhere.

Start with the continent jump links when you want to browse a region. Use Find on page when you already know a country, capital or two-letter code. Countries are alphabetical within their groups, making it easier to return to a name and compare it with the entries around it.

Reading the country names, flags and capitals

How to read the latitude and longitude

Country coordinates help turn a name into a position on Earth. Read latitude first: N means north of the equator and S means south. Then read longitude: E means east of the prime meridian and W means west. Compare latitude to get a sense of north-south position before using longitude to add the east-west part.

A country covers an area, so a single coordinate pair cannot describe its outline, islands or every city within it. Treat these points as approximate orientation aids. Extra decimal places make the displayed notation consistent; they do not turn the values into survey measurements or precise capital locations.

Give a country name some context

Use the list to learn countries and capitals

Choose a manageable set of entries, then switch between recalling a name, recognising a flag and locating a place. A short round with a clear question gives you something specific to check. You can repeat the same entries later or move to a different continent when you want a change.