This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories of the world by continent, displayed with their respective national flags, including the following entities: * By association within the UN system: * The 193 United Nations member states (UN). * Vatican City (administered by the Holy See, a UN observer state), which has diplomatic relations with 183 countries as of 7 Jan 2019. * Palestine (a UN observer state), which has diplomatic relations with 138 countries as of 31 July 2019. * By Other States * Generally this contains states with limited recognition and associated states not members of the United Nations * Partially recognised de facto sovereign states without UN membership, such as the Republic of Kosovo and Taiwan (Republic of China) * De facto sovereign states lac