# Atlas of Recognition > Interactive atlas of which of the 193 members of the United Nations recognise, or once recognised, 25 entities outside UN membership, with dates from 1948 to 10 October 2026 (events swept to 19 October 2026). Published by the Startup States Society, Geneva, as the companion to the monograph Recognition at the Margins by Julien Andrew Starr. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Canonical page: https://startupstates.swiss/atlas/limited/ ## How to read the data - Status codes: A, recognition documented and in force (the only status counted as current recognition); B, no act located; C, withdrawn by an act of the recognising state; D, frozen, suspended or qualified; E, evidence conflicting or insufficient (for example, a rival state's claim of withdrawal that the recognising state has not confirmed). - For the Republic of China (Taiwan), status A records formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, which the book treats as distinct from recognition in terms. - Relations with the Holy See, the Order of Malta, the Cook Islands and Niue are diplomatic relations with persons whose existence no state contests. - The atlas describes the practice of states and takes no position on the status of any entity. ## Counts at the cut-off date - State of Palestine: 154 members recognise at 10 October 2026; 3 in doubt. - Republic of Kosovo: 96 members recognise at 10 October 2026; 2 withdrawn, frozen or suspended; 22 in doubt. - Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic: 36 members recognise at 10 October 2026; 46 withdrawn, frozen or suspended; 2 in doubt. - Republic of China (Taiwan): 11 members recognise at 10 October 2026. Counted as diplomatic relations with Taipei. - Abkhazia: 4 members recognise at 10 October 2026; 3 withdrawn, frozen or suspended. - South Ossetia: 4 members recognise at 10 October 2026; 2 withdrawn, frozen or suspended. - Republic of Somaliland: 1 members recognise at 10 October 2026. - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: 1 members recognise at 10 October 2026. - Holy See (with the Vatican City State): relations with 181 members. Non-member observer state at the United Nations since 1964. Diplomatic relations with 184 states at the beginning of 2026, 181 of them UN members. - Sovereign Military Order of Malta: relations with 121 members. Observer at the General Assembly since 1994; no territory. The Order lists diplomatic relations with 118 states (September 2026); the map shows the 117 UN members identified. - Cook Islands: relations with 65 members. Self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1965. - Niue: relations with 29 members. Self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1974. - Republic of Biafra (no longer exists): recognised by 5 member(s). Surrendered 15 January 1970; recognitions lapsed. - Republic of Transkei (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Reincorporated into South Africa, 27 April 1994. - Republic of Bophuthatswana (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Reincorporated into South Africa, 27 April 1994. - Republic of Venda (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Reincorporated into South Africa, 27 April 1994. - Republic of Ciskei (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Reincorporated into South Africa, 27 April 1994. - Donetsk People's Republic (no longer exists): recognised by 3 member(s). Incorporated by Russia, 30 September 2022; the General Assembly called on states not to recognise. - Luhansk People's Republic (no longer exists): recognised by 3 member(s). Incorporated by Russia, 30 September 2022. - Republic of Crimea (2014) (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Treaty of accession with Russia, 18 March 2014. - Kherson region (2022) (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Incorporated by Russia the day after recognition. - Zaporizhzhia region (2022) (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Incorporated by Russia the day after recognition. - Republic of Kosova (1991) (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). Superseded by the declaration of independence of 2008. - State of Somaliland (1960) (no longer exists): recognised by 1 member(s). United with Somalia, 1 July 1960. - All-Palestine Government (no longer exists): recognised by 5 member(s). Offices closed in 1959. ## Data - [CSV, one row per member and entity](https://startupstates.swiss/atlas/limited/atlas-recognition.csv) - [JSON, statuses and dated events](https://startupstates.swiss/atlas/limited/atlas-recognition.json) - [Full dataset with codebook and source ledger, version 1.12 (XLSX)](https://startupstates.swiss/atlas/limited/Recognition_at_the_Margins_Dataset_v1.12.xlsx) ## Citation Julien Andrew Starr, Atlas of Recognition (Startup States Society, Geneva 2026) , companion to Recognition at the Margins: States with Limited Recognition, Diplomatic Reversal and the Practice of International Recognition, 1945-2026; dataset version 1.12. ## Related - [Startup States Society](https://startupstates.swiss/) - [Atlases of the Startup States Society](https://startupstates.swiss/atlas/)