At present, the UN recognises a total of 197 countries. This includes 193 member countries, two UN observers (Holy See (Vatican) and Palestine), and Taiwan and Kosovo, each widely regarded as self-governed territories.
So the answer is not as straight forward as you may think, strange right?. So these are the answers you might get.

195 countries : 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.  Of these 195 countries in the world:
54 countries are in Africa
48 in Asia
44 in Europe
33 in Latin America and the Caribbean
14 in Oceania
2 in Northern America

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196 countries ; Unless you don’t count Taiwan.
Taiwan is not considered an official country by many, which would bring the count down to 195 countries. Although Taiwan operates as an independent country, many countries (including the U.S.) do not officially recognize it as one. Because the People’s Republic of China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China, countries who wish to maintain diplomatic relations with China have had to sever their formal relations with Taiwan (more than 100 countries, however, have unofficial relations with Taiwan).

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