The simplest way to work out how much of the world you've seen is to divide your country count by the size of the list you count against: 30 countries is about 16% of the 193 UN member states. Two other measures give very different answers. By land area, a single trip to Russia covers about an eighth of the land outside Antarctica. By population, China and India together are home to more than a third of the world's people. Each number is fair; they measure different things.
Way 1: your share of the countries
Divide the countries you've visited by the number on your list, then multiply by 100. The list matters as much as your count:
| Countries visited | of 193 (UN) | of 195 | of 250 | of 330 (TCC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 5.2% | 5.1% | 4.0% | 3.0% |
| 25 | 13.0% | 12.8% | 10.0% | 7.6% |
| 50 | 25.9% | 25.6% | 20.0% | 15.2% |
| 100 | 51.8% | 51.3% | 40.0% | 30.3% |
One catch: the same trips give a different count on each list. A traveler with 50 UN countries might have 60 on the 250 list and 80 on the Travelers' Century Club's. Compare like with like, using the guide to which list to count by.
This measure treats every country the same. Vatican City counts exactly as much as Russia. That's the point for many travelers: every border crossed is a new place, a new currency or a new language. It also means a week of short hops in Europe can move your percentage more than a month in Brazil.
Way 2: your share of the land
Add up the land area of the countries you've visited and divide by the world's land. By Natural Earth's country outlines, excluding Antarctica:
- Russia alone is about 12.6% of the land.
- The ten largest countries (Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil, Australia, India, Argentina, Kazakhstan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) together cover about 54%.
- The United States, Canada and Mexico make up about 15.8%.
- All 27 EU countries together are about 3.1%.
The largest countries page lists them in order. Decide up front whether you include Antarctica: by the same outlines it's about 8% of all land, so including it lowers everyone's share.
The flaw is obvious. A weekend in Moscow "covers" an eighth of the world's land, though you saw one city. Land share measures how big your countries are, not how much of them you saw.
Way 3: your share of the people
Add up the populations of the countries you've visited and divide by the world's. By Natural Earth's estimates from around 2019:
- China and India together hold about 36% of the world's people.
- The ten most populous countries hold nearly 58%.
- The 27 EU countries together hold under 6%.
Populations change every year, so treat any figure as approximate. This measure rewards the places where most people actually live, and it's a useful corrective if your travels have stayed in Europe and North America.
Three travelers, three ways
| Traveler | Countries | Share of 193 | Share of land | Share of people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ten Western European countries (France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece) | 10 | 5.2% | 1.7% | 5.0% |
| A North American road trip (US, Canada, Mexico) | 3 | 1.6% | 15.8% | 6.4% |
| China and India | 2 | 1.0% | 9.3% | 36.0% |
The traveler with the most countries has seen the smallest share of both the land and the people. None of these numbers is wrong. Pick the one that matches what you care about, or keep all three.
A fourth way: go deeper than countries
Countries are a coarse unit. Many travelers also count states and provinces (all 50 US states is a classic goal), regions, or cities. It's a fairer picture of a big country: three trips to the United States might be three states or thirty. Globestamp works this way too, with regions and states, cities, airports and World Heritage Sites as layers on the globe, alongside your count and your share of the world.
Why your map looks bigger than it is
Many flat world maps, including most web maps, use the Mercator projection, which stretches the far north and south. On one, Greenland looks about as big as Africa, yet Africa is roughly 14 times larger by Natural Earth's outlines. Color in Canada, Russia and Scandinavia and your map looks enormous; color in ten countries near the equator and it looks small. A globe, or an equal-area map, shows the true proportions. Try it with the free visited countries map.