There is a fascinating thread nearby - "Sponsor a FlyerTalker for this?" Where Randy is looking for a couple of intrepid souls to represent FT on a round world travel adventure.

In the course of that very long thread, lots of FlyerTalkers have listed the very many countries/regions they have visited. Many of those extensive travel outlines have surprised me. That FT trip is not something I'd have time to do these days, but boy it does sound like quite an adventure of a lifetime for whomever is chosen.

Doc just posted a long index on that thread of every *country* that exists in the world, which is quite some reading. No list is ever going to 100% "correct" but these 2 lists below from WorldAtlas seem pretty darn close to me. It gives a total of 250 different countries and recognised territories/dependencies that are all possible for a tourist to visit. (I can think of a few like Ross Dependency and British Antarctic Territory that should be added, and some like Palmyra Atoll, Coral Sea Islands, Kingman Reef, Navassa Island etc that should not be in there in a fit, but that's for another thread.)

These 2 lists do NOT include non-existent "countries" or "territories/dependencies" often commonly misidentified as such - like Scotland, Tasmania, Easter Island, Wales, Newfoundland, Alaska, Micronesia, Lappland, Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, etc, etc


http://www.worldatlas.com/dependtr.htm in conjunction WITH -

http://www.worldatlas.com/nations.htm

Be interesting to see postings here of where FlyerTalkers have been on their travels. It may even assist Randy and his team in their decision if extensive travel experience is a criteria? Be nice if countries from these two lists were the only ones "claimed", for the sake of some overall consistency. And opinions will also vary on this, but I personally do not think/regard a purely transit stop via an airport at Bahrain, Singapore, Frankfurt, Reyjkavik, etc counts as "visiting" that country.

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