Countries That Start With A

Sovereign countries (11)

Eleven sovereign UN member states have English names beginning with A. A handful of inhabited territories, dependencies, and special zones also start with A — listed below in their own section. The total count of "A" entries depends on which list you consult, but the sovereign-nation answer is fixed at eleven.

Afghanistan

Kabul · Asia

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Albania

Tirana · Europe

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Algeria

Algiers · Africa

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Andorra

Andorra la Vella · Europe

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Angola

Luanda · Africa

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Antigua and Barbuda

Saint John's · The Caribbean

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Argentina

Buenos Aires · South America

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Armenia

Yerevan · Asia

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Australia

Canberra · Oceania

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Austria

Vienna · Europe

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Azerbaijan

Baku · Asia

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Territories and other entities (5)

Inhabited territories, dependencies, and special zones whose English names also begin with A. These are not sovereign UN member states but have their own administrative status.

American Samoa

Unincorporated U.S. territory

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Anguilla

British Overseas Territory

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Aruba

Constituent country, Kingdom of the Netherlands

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Akrotiri

UK Sovereign Base Area on Cyprus

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Antarctica

No sovereign government — governed by the Antarctic Treaty

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Browsing the alphabet is a popular way to teach geography. Try the neighbouring letters:

Countries That Start With B — Eighteen nations from Bahamas to Burundi.
Countries That Start With Z — Two nations — Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Countries That Start With O — Just one country — Oman.

Quick answer for skimmers

Q: How many countries start with A?
A: Eleven sovereign UN member states. Several inhabited territories and one international treaty zone (Antarctica) also begin with A.

Q: Is Antarctica a country?
A: No. Antarctica has no native population and no sovereign government — it is governed under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which sets the continent aside for peaceful, scientific use.

Q: Why do Australia and Austria sound so similar?
A: They are unrelated linguistically. "Australia" comes from Latin terra australis (southern land); "Austria" comes from Old High German Ostarrîchi (eastern realm). The accidental near-rhyme has confused mailrooms for two centuries.

Country profiles mentioned in this post: