I count a country if I clear customs and immigration, or would have if the border I crossed had formalities. I counted Denmark after I flew in one morning, had a meeting, had lunch, had another meeting, and flew out without having slept there. (I've slept there since, as it happens, but that's irrelevant.) I also counted Hungary after a day trip to Budapest from Vienna.

As for "what is a country?" - lists have anywhere from 193 (UN members) or 195 (UN members and observer states) to 262. I tend to be conservative, using the expanded UN list plus Antarctica. (Fascinating place, BTW; highly recommended if you've never been.) I don't count Aruba or the Cayman Islands; they're dependencies despite having a good deal of self-government. I also count the U.K. as one country, not four, and so on. Fortunately, the exact number of countries I've visited doesn't affect my life in any significant way.

I agree with your first assessment. If you clear customs and set foot beyond the airport/train property, I would count that. As such, I’m counting Luxembourg as I once drove through the country and purposely had a meal there but my total “stay” was only 2 hours max.

I partially disagree about Cayman et al. Having been (and spent nights) to several Caribbean islands including the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Sint Maarten, I count those as separate “countries” even though they are dependencies of other countries. That said, as a US citizen, I don’t count Puerto Rico. So, I know this is inconsistent. By that same notion, I only count the 4 “countries” in the UK as one country but I count Vatican City as a separate country. Again, I know inconsistent.

This is always a debate in every forum.
I use nomadmania UN and UN+ lists.
They also had a poll recently on what constitutes a visit, and the results were all over the place as expected.

Bottom line was you count however and whatever you want to count.

Some people count walking around the table at the DMZ as 'visited' DPRK, just so they can say 193! ....:rolleyes:

If I haven't left the airport, I haven't entered the country. My conundrum is Sinai, when under Israeli control. I don't count it as another country.

My thinking on counting Curacao, Sint Maarten, and the Faroes is that they have different entry rules from the countries that ultimately govern them.

The other question is countries that existed when I visited them but don't now. For me, one is East Germany, back when it was the DDR.

I had the same thought about how to count countries that no longer exist as well as places like Ukraine that weren’t actually a country when I was there,

Clearing immigration, let alone spending a night, is not always an option, as I shall explain in the following.

My "rule" is that I've had to have feet on the ground to call it a visit. Otherwise my countless trips to Iraq and Afghanistan wouldn't count as visits, and albeit I never left the airports, I've certainly been there (and got the .... scared out of me when mortar rounds started landing not many meters away from our aircraft)! .

If they have their own flag under which they compete at international events (e.g. Football WC or EC), a parliament and (some) autonomy, I'd count it as a country.

I too have been to countries which no longer exists (Eastern Germany, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia), but I certainly would count them as countries as they were very much in existence when I dropped by.

Ommv

I include travel connections. Thus Macau Japan …
still not sure how or even if I got to Guangzhou in 1992 via both Macau and hong Kong. Maybe it wasn’t via Macau. I flew into HK on 4/18/1992 (after u2 / pixies 4/17/1992 at arco arena) a few days later was in Guangzhou.

I use the UN list of countries. As such, though I have been to places like Guam, Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten, Bermuda they are not a separate country so they do not count. I do count Vatican City.

As for counting a country, airport transfers do not count for a visit.

That raises the question of what, exactly, "leaving the airport" means. My first visit to Australia was on a mileage run, going for the 150,000 AA miles to anyone who visited all six continents on oneWorld partners (none had scheduled service to Antarctica) during the summer of either 2020 or 2021. (I made it.) I landed in Perth (cheap QF flight from SIN), cleared immigration, left the terminal building, walked around in the parking lot for a couple of minutes breathing genuine Australian air, came back in, bought a souvenir T-shirt (still have it) and a box of Tic-Tacs (long since gone), and boarded the return flight (IIRC, on the same aircraft). I considered myself at the time to have visited Australia. Other opinions?

(Since then I've been back to Oz eight or ten times, one of the visits three weeks long, so my having been there is no longer at issue.)

As for having to spend the night: One of my trips to Norway was on s cruise that didn't spend any nights in port as it sailed from one fjord to the next. We got off the boat several times, ate several meals (mostly lunches) on shore, etc., etc., but didn't spend a night on shore (though some were surely inside Norway's territorial waters). Would the "you have to spend a night there" set count this as visiting Norway? (As with Australia, other visits have made the question moot as regards myself, but I'm wondering how they'd feel about that. Come to think of it, my only visits to Spain and Portugal were on cruise ships, though we docked in Lisbon overnight so I guess Portugal isn't in question. Have I visited Spain? My Starbucks souvenir coffee mug says "yes.")

I tend to agree that you have to leave the grounds of the airport property, train station, cruise terminal / dock, etc. I spent a total of about one hour in San Marino - took photos, got scolded by the polizia, bought gas (it was cheaper than Italy), and bought a packet of proscuitto at the same place.

Boots on the ground allows for - well I walked on the tarmac because our 787 parked at a remote stand...

I don't think one has to spend the night. For me (and I am unanimous in that), if I've had some sort of activity other than changing planes and using airport facilities, I've probably been to the country. And that would include cruise stops.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...55891129ce.jpg

I remember that movie! :D🛫:D🛫:D

this country checking was fun - I hadn’t ever actually typed out a list so I made my list of countries and year - the year was the first time I went. Granted some places I’ve visited for many years yet only 1 listing. Having friends in bruxelles meant going there once a year for 15 years plus while there, visiting other places in Belgium and even doing road trips outside of Belgium. It was great for me to see that Belgium had so many amazing places and nature spots… just like everywhere else including my own backyard. Definitely part of my lessening interest in flying to other places when I can read ft trs and enjoy where I live.

Never saw it - I just knew the expression and of course that it was a movie. Same can apply for city names.

I have several measures, each resulting in a different number.

Count A: must have been in the country for a total of 30 days or more in one or several visits as well as have a deep understanding of the country. Country count: 6
Count B: Been inside the country except for airport only visits.
Count C: Airport only visits count. I usually use this number
Count D: All political divisions count. For example, West Berlin was not technically part of West Germany but was a free city. East Jerusalem was not universally recognized as part of Israel. Jersey and Guernsey are separate countries from the UK. Alderney is not because it is considered part of Guernsey.
Puerto Rico has a separate Olympic team and is counted separately from the United States.