List Of Countries

Hi,I am a new stamp collector and I have a question. I am going to try to collect at least one stamp from every country in the world(ambitous, huh?) and I am trying to find a comprehensive list of all the countries. Wikipedia has this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...stage_stamps

Is that correct? Or is there a better source?

I am bidding on a Scotts catalog right now, I know that will help a lot.

Thanks for all your help!

stefanib123,
Currently there are 195 countries. That could be a place to start.
But try this site: http://www.linns.com/reference/enti...ntities.aspx

That is linn's the stamp mag/newspaper.

Good hunting
Mike

Here's a site with a a more complete list of 249......a list of all places that ever issued stamps would be close to 300.

http://www.nationsonline.org/onewor...he_world.htm

It is ambitious and it sounds like a fun approach. Whatever the number of legitimate countries - remember that there are a lot of "fake country" issues out there. Not that they wouldn't make a nice little mini-collction themselves.

Stefani:

I think you've opened a great can of worms here

As others have alluded, there's going to be a difference in the number of countries, the number of stamp-issuing entities, etc.

When thinking about your project, my first reaction was that I would probably organize the collection not alphabetically, but by continent. But then, what would I do with the Falklands? Geographically, it's part of South America, politically, it's a territory of the U.K. So, my plan started falling apart.

Now I'm thinking alphabetic would be best. I'd use a three-ring binder, one country per page. Do the easy ones first and as you progess, you can make decisions about Dead Dountries, dependencies, etc. You'll never have to "re-do" your plan because you can insert new pages where appropriate.

In my short time here, I've gathered that a lot of folks make their own album pages. It should be pretty straightforward to design a template that would give your album consistency. In my mind, I see a title with the country name at the top, then a paragraph or two of basic info about the country; below that, a mounted stamp, then a paragraph about the stamp itself.

If you later decide to collect an entire country, you could use these "single stamp" pages as a front cover or title page for the whole-country collection. Possibilities are endless.

Finally, one more thing -- a resource -- for learning about countries. For a good overview, I like to use the CIA World Factbook. The online version is:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publica...k/index.html

Thanks for a thought-provoking thread.
KirkS

This is an area that if been doing a lot of research in and actual plan to put together a series of books over the next few years on postal stamp issuing entities. The are in fact over 40-50,000 locations that issued or had issued for them. Over the years if seen some lists, but they are all unsupported with no details or stamps. That's part of what I'll try to show.
I did not go that route in the first post since no need to confuse a rookie collector with that information.

Good Luck,
Mike

FORTY THOUSAND ? How can that be ??

I could believe one thousand, but I don't think there's been 40,000 governments in the history of the world, much less stamp-issuing entities.

I'm amazed. Skeptical, but amazed :-)

KirkS,
One thing to look at is that not at stamps issuing entities are governments. There are thousands & thousand of private companies & persons who have issued stamps for postage. The single largest contributor is the United States. Government authorized precancels, example the state of Iowa
has 871 different cities or Pennsylvania 1523 you can start to see how this can add up.

More later if you like!
Mike

There's a nice compilation that I refer to frequently in Linn's "World Stamp Almanac".

Someone else here also collects a cover from each country. On each page you could have a stamp and a cover from each country that could make it more interesting and unique. There is a lot of material to be had for a $1.00 or less.

Another thing to consider are countries that no longer exist right now

.....and countries that will exist in the future.

Michael...there is no more room, for new countries

Bob,
There is plenty of room !
The whole world is open and ripe..........

Palestine, Greater Arabia, Kurdistan, Gaza, Talibanstan, Wonderland [The happy nation...yet to be confirmed], Outer China, Greater China, The Cape of no Hope, Oldfoundland, Greater Persia, ....and the list can go on.

Londonbus1......Looking for a place to hide

Stephani Take your time...the stamps will still be around..you can get stamps from most of the countries for 10 cents apiece or less..we all make mistakes when we start..like paying too much..there is a market price..but there is also always someone who wants to unload..would you rather buy from a dealer with a large store or someone who wants to unload at almost any price ??? When you get 50 posts I bet there will be plenty of people here that will help you...I gorantee..there is no shortage of stamps out there..they just have to get into the right hands !!

Londonbus
you forgot werizitsan!

I just did a quick count and found I have stamps from about 285 countries/ territories.

Richard