In most graphs, when we use the word “countries”, we refer to the 195 states recognised by the UN which include 193 member states and 2 observing states. Sometimes we also include Hong Kong and Taiwan, as many users want to compare their progress compared to independent countries.
We usually color-code our graphs by these four regions of the world.
Visit this online spreadsheet to see which countries belong to which region, and more properties UN membership date, OECD countries, World Bank groups, latitude, longitude, etc.
Or download it as an Excel file »