Country bagging

His Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State requests and requires in the Name of His Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

Europe

	Andrew			Matthew			Richard
al Albania
ad Andorra
at Austria
be Belgium
ba Bosnia and Herzegovina
bg Bulgaria
hr Croatia
cy Cyprus
cz Czech Republic
dk Denmark
ee Estonia
fi Finland
fr France
de Germany
gr Greece
hu Hungary
is Iceland
ie Ireland
it Italy
ko Kosovo
lv Latvia
li Liechtenstein
lt Lithuania
lu Luxembourg
mt Malta
md Moldova
mc Monaco
me Montenegro
nl Netherlands
mk North Macedonia
no Norway
pl Poland
pt Portugal
ro Romania
ru Russia
sm San Marino
rs Serbia
sk Slovakia
si Slovenia
es Spain
se Sweden
ch Switzerland
tr Turkey
gb United Kingdom
ua Ukraine
va Vatican City
Europe Total	45 countries 39 overnights 42 capitals			35 countries 28 overnights 30 capitals			40 countries 30 overnights 33 capitals

Asia

	Andrew			Matthew			Richard
bn Brunei
kh Cambodia
cn China
in India
id Indonesia
il Israel
jp Japan
jo Jordan
kz Kazakhstan
kg Kyrgyzstan
la Laos
my Malaysia
mv Maldives
mn Mongolia
mm Myanmar
kp North Korea
om Oman
ph Philippines
ps Palestine
qa Qatar
sg Singapore
kr South Korea
lk Sri Lanka
tw Taiwan
th Thailand
ae United Arab Emirates
uz Uzbekistan
vn Vietnam
Asia Total	14 countries 11 overnights 9 capitals			22 countries 21 overnights 19 capitals			10 countries 7 overnights 6 capitals

Rest of the World

	Andrew			Matthew			Richard
ag Antigua & Barbuda
au Australia
ca Canada
cl Chile
co Colombia
cr Costa Rica
cu Cuba
dm Dominica
gm Gambia
ke Kenya
mx Mexico
ma Morocco
nz New Zealand
ni Nicaragua
pa Panama
ws Samoa
za South Africa
to Tonga
tn Tunisia
us United States
Rest of World total	8 countries 8 overnights 5 capitals			11 countries 11 overnights 7 capitals			7 countries 5 overnights 4 capitals

Overall

Key

• have set foot on or passed through country on land-based transport
• have stayed within the country for a continuous 24 hour period
• set foot in the city centre of the country's capital city

Gallery

Infrequently asked questions

Can I count England, Scotland, Wales, Hong Kong, Easter Island (...) separately?

No. Dependencies, territories, subdivisions etc are counted as part of their "parent" countries, for example Hong Kong to China, Wales to United Kingdom and Easter Island to Chile.

Can I count Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan, South Ossetia...?

We recognise all UN member states (193), UN observer states (Vatican City and Palestine), and states recognised by at least 10 UN member states (Kosovo, Western Sahara, Taiwan).

What about former countries, like East Germany or Czechoslavakia?

We use current boundaries, so if you visited Bratislava in 1981, this currently counts as a bag of Slovakia. If you visited both East and West Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, you now only get the single bag of Germany.

What if I visit Crimea?

A lively argument will ensue.

Does it count if I'm just changing planes at an airport?

For countries, provided you get off the plane, yes. For capitals, no.

But that's unfair and illogical! You haven't seen a country properly if you just see the airport.

Nobody claimed this game was fair or logical.

Latest activity

• October 2023 - Richard bags  Pretoria and  South Africa

• 2019-2022 - A global pandemic ensues

• December 2019 - Ruby enters the game
• Feburary 2019 - Matt  sleeps in Qatar, bags Colombia, Panama City and Panama (claiming the baton)
• Feburary 2019 - Macedonia is renamed to North Macedonia

• November 2018 - Thomas enters the game

• November 2017 - Andrew bags  Podgorica
• October 2017 - Julia enters the game
• September 2017 - Gabriel enters the game
• May 2017 - Richard bags  Amsterdam
• March 2017 - Andy bags  Warsaw
• February 2017 - Andy bags  Helsinki
• January 2017 - Matt bags  Madrid, Cuba and  Havana (photos), and  Mexico

• December 2016 - Andy bags  Lisbon
• May 2016 - Matt bags  Santiago and  Chile (photos)
• April 2016 - Matt bags  Washington D.C. (photos)
• March 2016 - Andy bags  Rabat
• January 2016 - Andy bags  Berlin

• August 2015 - Matt bags  Liechtenstein and  Vaduz
• April 2015 - Richard bags  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan and Bishkek (photos)
• March 2015 - Richard bags  Uzbekistan and  Tashkent (photos)
• March 2015 - Andy bags  Tunisia and  Tunis (photos),  Uzbekistan and  Tashkent
• Feburary 2015 - Andy bags  Portugal
• January 2015 - Andy bags  Nicaragua (claiming the baton) and  Managua, and  Costa Rica (photos)

• December 2014 - Andy bags  Bucharest and  Romania,  Chisinau and  Moldova (photos), and  United States (photos)
• June 2014 - Matt bags  Reykjavik and  Iceland (photos)
• April 2014 - Andy bags  Madrid
• April 2014 - Richard bags  Moscow and   Russia (photos)
• February 2014 - Andy bags  Nairobi and   Kenya (photos)

• December 2013 - Andy  sleeps in Morocco (photos)
• September 2013 - Matt  sleeps in Slovakia (photos)
• July 2013 - Andy bags  Pristina and  Kosovo, bags  Skopje and  sleeps in Macedonia, bags  Tirana and  sleeps in Albania (photos)
• July 2013 - Matt bags  Malé and  Maldives (photos)
• February 2013 - Richard bags  Tel Aviv and  Israel,  Jerusalem and  Palestine (photos)
• February 2013 - Andy bags  Colombo and  Sri Lanka (photos)

• December 2012 - Matt bags  Muscat and  Oman (photos)
• November 2012 - Andy bags  Sofia (photos)
• October 2012 - Matt bags  Kyiv and  Ukraine
• August 2012 - Andy bags  San Marino and  San Marino (photos)
• June 2012 - Andy bags  Liechtenstein and  Vaduz (photos)
• April 2012 - Matt bags Tokyo (photos)
• April 2012 - Richard bags Singapore
• February 2012 - Richard bags  Thailand and  Australia (photos), Andy bags  Qatar (photos)

• December 2011: Andy bags  Jordan and  Amman (photos)
• July 2011: Richard bags  Canada and  Ottawa (photos)
• July 2011:  South Sudan declares independence from Sudan
• May 2011: Matt  sleeps in Taiwan and bags  Taipei (photos), bags  Bangkok (photos)
• March 2011: Matt bags  Samoa and  Apia (photos)
• February 2011: Matt bags  New Zealand and  Wellington (photos) (photos),  Tonga and  Nuku'alofa (photos)
• January 2011: Matt bags  Australia (photos)

• October 2010: Matt bags  Hanoi (photos)
• May 2010: Andy  sleeps in Hungary

• December 2009: Andy bags  Hanoi. Matt bags  Romania and  Bucharest (photos)
• November 2009: Andy bags  Vientiane and  Cambodia,  Phnom Penh and  Vietnam. (photos)
• October 2009: Andy bags  United Arab Emirates,  Malaysia and  Kuala Lumpur,  Thailand,  Myanmar (Burma) and  Laos. (photos)
• June 2009: Andy bags  Iceland and  Reykjavik (photos)
• April 2009: Andy bags  Andorra and  Andorra La Vella (photos)
• March 2009: Andy bags  Morocco (photos)
• January 2009: Andy bags  Gambia (photos). Matt bags  Brunei and  Bandar Seri Begawan (photos).

• December 2008: Richard bags  Liechtenstein and  Vaduz,  Slovakia and  Bratislava,  Hungary and  Budapest (photos)
• November 2008: Matt controversially bags  Taiwan (Republic of China) (photos)
• August 2008: Matt bags  South Korea and  Seoul (photos)
• July 2008: Andy bags  Cyprus and  Nicosia (photos). His visit to  Northern Cyprus is not recognised at the present time.
• April 2008: Matt bags  Vientiane (photos),  Cambodia and  Phnom Penh (photos)  Vietnam (photos),  Singapore and  Singapore (photos). Richard bags  Sarajevo (photos).
• March 2008: Matt  sleeps in Malaysia (photos) and bags  Thailand (photos),  Myanmar (Burma) (photos) and  Laos (photos)
• February 2008: Andy bags  Poland (photos)

• November 2007:  Kosovo declares independence from Serbia
• October 2007: Matt bags  Canada
• September 2007: Richard and Andy bag  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Montenegro and  Albania and  sleep in Croatia.
• August 2007: Matt bags  North Korea and  Pyongyang
• July 2007: Matt bags  Qatar and  Doha
• May 2007: Richard bags  Latvia and  Riga,  Estonia and  Tallinn, Finland and  Helsinki
• April 2007: Richard bags  Poland and  Warsaw,  Lithuania and  Vilnius
• March 2007: Matt bags  Japan
• February 2007: Andy bags  Estonia and  Tallinn,  Latvia and  Riga,  Lithuania and  Vilnius

• December 2006: Matt bags  United States
• October 2006: Andy bags  Malta and  Valletta.
• September 2006: Richard bags  UAE,  China and  Beijing.
• July 2006: Matt bags  Philippines and  Manila
• June 2006: Serbia and Montenegro dissolves. Previous visits are now counted as Serbia
• April 2006: Richard bags  Andorra and  Andorra de Vella,  Monaco and  Monaco-Ville,
   San Marino and  San Marino

• November 2005: Matt  sleeps in Poland, bags  Hungary and  Budapest
• October 2005: Matt bags  Beijing,  Mongolia,  Ulan Batur,  Russia and  Moscow.
• September 2005: Matt bags  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  Indonesia and  China.
• August 2005: Andy bags  India and  Delhi, Richard bags  India and  Delhi, Matt bags  UAE,
   Sri Lanka and  Colombo.
• June 2005: Andy  sleeps in Slovakia
• January 2005: Matt bags Delhi.

• September 2004: Matt bags India.
• August/September 2004: Richard bags Roseau, Dominica and Antigua & Barbuda
• July 2004: Andy bags Finland
• July 2004: Matt bags Turkey and Bulgaria, Andy bags Bulgaria, Richard bags  Turkey.

Maps

A "hexagonal visualisation" of this page is also available. Each country is represented by a hexagon of equal size: here are the maps for Andrew, Matthew and Richard and our combined map.

You can also link here to create your own map using an URL of the following form. name should be a URL-escaped name, and countries should be a comma-separated list of uppercase ISO country codes.

Links

Other country-baggers (who may use rather looser definitions of 'country' can be found here and here. If you're a country-bagger and would like a link to your website, do feel free to contact me.