Yes, I fully agree with Kavan Ratnatunga and wonder what the Guinness uses for definition of a "Country?"

The total number of countries (independent nations) in the world are 196 comprising 193 member countries of the UN, 2 recognized non-member countries of the UN (Vatican and Palestine) and one independent non-member country (Taiwan).

I read somewhere that in 2007, Sanjay Relan of Hong Kong entered the Guinness Book of World Records for collecting bank notes representing 221 countries. How can they mention 221 when the total number of countries in 2007 were only 195 (excluding Palestine which was recognized by the UN as a non-member country in 2012)?

I also read another website carrying an article in the Thiruvananthapuram edition of The Hindu dated Nov 16, 2006 that Justin Gilbert Lopez was managed to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest collection of coins with a total of 255 coins representing 255 countries. He broke the record of Sanjay Relan from Hong Kong who had collected a total of 235 coins from 235 countries."

How these misleading information is being published about the number of countries of the world - 221, 235 & 255 - when the actual number of countries was only 195 then.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:NEW COIN KING CROWNED BY GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n47a27.html)