Countries That Start With U

Sovereign countries (7)

Seven sovereign UN member states have English names beginning with U. Three of them share the prefix "United" — the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America — but the seven countries are otherwise scattered across four continents: Africa (Uganda), Eastern Europe (Ukraine), the Middle East (United Arab Emirates), Europe (United Kingdom), North America (United States), South America (Uruguay), and Central Asia (Uzbekistan).

Uganda

Kampala · Africa

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Ukraine

Kyiv · Europe

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United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi · Middle East

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United Kingdom

London · Europe

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United States of America

Washington, D.C. · North America

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Uruguay

Montevideo · South America

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Uzbekistan

Tashkent · Central Asia

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Territories and other entities (1)

Inhabited territories whose English names also begin with U. Both are unincorporated territories of the United States and are not sovereign UN member states, but each has its own administrative status.

United States Virgin Islands

Unincorporated U.S. territory

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

Countries That Start With T — Eleven nations from Tajikistan to Turkmenistan.
Countries That Start With V — Three nations — Vanuatu, Vatican City, and Venezuela — plus Vietnam.
Countries That Start With O — Just one country — Oman.

Quick answer for skimmers

Q: How many countries start with U?
A: Seven sovereign UN member states. Two inhabited United States territories also begin with U.

Q: Why is the United Kingdom's ISO code "gb"?
A: It comes from "Great Britain", the historical name for the main island shared by England, Scotland, and Wales. The full official country name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the ISO 3166-1 standard kept the older "GB" code rather than switching to "UK".

Q: Is the UK the same as England?
A: No. The United Kingdom is a sovereign state made up of four nations — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. England is one of those four constituent nations and is not itself a sovereign UN member state.

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