I suppose the main box to be ticked is not having a Parliament established by legislation passed outwith the jurisdiction of that Parliament. Hence, he Scottish Parliament governs under the suffrance of the UK Parliament. It is not sovereign.

As for Northern Ireland, it doesn't even have an official flag. None of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or England has a national anthem independent of the UK, no head of state independent of the UK, no international recognition, no army, no foreign policy, no fiscal policy. Heck, not one of them even claims sovereignty. Those are some pretty important boxes left unticked.

Many countries operate with varying levels of regional government. That doesn't make them lots of little countries.

34

I thought a lot more of the islands in the Caribbean would be on the list. Removing them shortened my list considerably.

Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City

Only 16, with many, many more on my wish list.

Canada
Mexico
Bahamas
Cayman Islands
Belize
Jamaica
Honduras
UK: England, Scotland, Wales
France
Belgium
Germany
Portugal
Spain
Italy
Greece
Turkey

Looks like its 26 outside the US:

US (home) - 46 states plus DC: ND, SD, VT, and RI have not yet been blessed with my presence, nor have PR, the USVI, or any of the Pacific Island territories
Canada
Mexico

UK (England, Wales, Bermuda, pre-handover HK)
Ireland
France
Netherlands
Belgium
Spain
Germany
Denmark
Norway
Poland
Switzerland
Austria
Liechtenstein (its sovereign, right?)
Italy
Vatican City
Monaco (its sovereign too, right?)
Czech Republic

Egypt

UAE
India
Singapore
Japan
PRC

Argentina

In my book, if you have a soccer/football team you are a country
 

anyway, here's my list:

1. US
2. Canada (although I question whether it is really a country based on the Oscar-nominated song [family-friendly version] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOzG7bBylRo )
3. Mexico
4. Nicaragua
5. Argentina
6. Uruguay
7. French Polynesia
8. St. Lucia
9. Germany (really should count as 3 because I have West German, East German and plain old German stamps in various passports)
10. Netherlands
11. Belgium
12. Luxembourg
13. France
14. Spain
15. Monaco
16. Italy
17. Greece
18. Serbia
19. Bulgaria
20. Austria
21. Hungary
22. Poland
23. Czech Republic (also old Czechoslovakia, I was there the day they split the country)
24. Iceland
25. Ireland
26. Northern Ireland
27. England
28. Turkey
29. Russia
30. Hong Kong
31. Macau
32. China
33. Taiwan
34. Japan
35. Thailand

Perhaps of use to this thread... Passport Stamp offers a handy map link:

1. been to 43 States
2. Canada
3. Marshall Islands
4. Venezuela
5. Colombia
6. Puerto Rico
7. Bequia
8. Bahamas
9. Turks & Caicos
10. St. Lucia
11. Panama
12. Great Britain
13. BVI
14. 30 ft. from Mexican border while on Amtrak near El Paso (close enough!!)

1. been to 49 States (missing W.Va)
2. Canada
3. Brazil
4. Japan
5. South Korea
6. Taiwan
7. China
8. Malaysia
9. Thailand
10. Hong Kong (questionable)
11. Norway
12. Sweden
13. Great Britain (England and Wales)
14. Finland
15. Poland
16. Germany
17. Spain
18. France
19. Monaco
20. Portugal
21. India
22. Australia
23. New Zealand
24. Czech Republic (forgot that when totaling up Europe--was just a stroll across the Polish border)
25. New York City
26. New Orleans

countries visited
 

So far in the US;
Maine,
New Hampshire,
Mass
New york
Penn
NJ,
Del
Maryland,
Virginia
South Carolina plus Hilton Head
Florida
Georgia,
Texas
Wyoming
Washington
Alaska
Nevada,
Cali
Arizona
Hawaii
New Mex
DC

Strange that Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan aren't included since you need to go through immigrations while crossing over to China and they also have their own passport stamps.

As for my list of "real" countries they can be counted on 1 hand and so I'm too ashamed to list them here.

UK[Wales,Scotland,England and N. Ireland],Independent Ireland,Sweden,Denmark,Finland,Russia,Estonia,Lith urania,Neatherlands,Germany,France,Spain,Canary IS,Morocco,Italy incl. Vatican,San Merino,Switzerland,Austria,Monaco and Lichtenstein,Slovakia,Hungary,Romania,Croatia,Gree ce,Bulgaria,Turkey,Cyprus,Israel,Egypt,Australia,N ewZealand,Colombia,ABC islands,Bahamas,Mex,Canada,Nicaragua,Guatemala,Hon duras,Costa Rica,Panama,Caymans.:D

I will include one "defunct" country, because it was a country when I visited.

1. Austria
2. Bahamas
3. Belgium
4. Belize
5. Canada (6 provinces)
6. Costa Rica
7. Denmark
8. Dominica
9. Dominican Republic
10. Finland
11. France
12. East Germany (East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie)
13. West Germany (and Combined Germany)
14. Greece
15. Grenada
16. Haiti
17. Hungary
18. Iceland
19. Italy
20. Jamaica
21. Japan
22. North Korea (Panmunjom)
23. South Korea
24. Liechtenstein
25. Luxembourg
26. Mexico
27. Monaco
28. The Netherlands
29. Norway
30. Panama
31. Saint Kitts & Nevis
32. Saint Lucia
33. Slovakia
34. Spain
35. Sweden
36. Switzerland
37. United Kingdon
38. United States (48 States ex. Alaska/Hawaii, plus USVI (all) and Puerto Rico) and I have lived at least one year in Louisiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, California and New York.
39. Vatican City
40. Venezuela

Plus a few Caribbean Islands that are not considered countries, Anguilla, Aruba, BVI's (Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Cooper Island, Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke), Cayman Islands, Curacao, Martinique, St. Eustatius and St. Martin/Sint. Maarten.

I don't think I missed anything.

I hope to add a few more Asian countries later this year or next and would like to hit some Eastern European countries and South America in the next couple of years. Had a trip planned last year to Australia and New Zealand, but had to cancel.

So far -

Australia
New Zealand
Mexico
Canada
Ireland
England & Scotland
France
Germany
Austria
Netherlands
Italy
Vatican City
Greece
Turkey
Czech Republic
Egypt
Kenya
Tanzania
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Botswana
Jamaica
Netherlands Antilles
BVI
St Kitts & Nevis
Grenadines
Bahamas

Still to come:
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Thailand
Vietnam
Nepal
Spain
Portugal
Croatia
Montenegro
South Africa
India
Sri Lanka
Brazil
Argentina
Peru
Chile
Costa Rica

I have a small list here but hopefully it will grow as I get old :p

1. Hong Kong SAR (not a country, visited pre and post handover)
2. China
3. Australia (home)
4. New Zealand
5. USA
6. Canada
7. South Korea
8. Singapore
9. Thailand
10.Fiji
11.Finland
12.Estonia
13.Switzerland
14.France
15.Belgium
16.Netherlands
17.United Kingdom
18.French Polynesia (not a country, but gee it is a gorgous place!)

This is a link to a map on my facebook page,
curious to see if it works from here.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...&id=1016785276

The travelbuddy tool says I have:
visited 50% of the countries in the world!