List of sovereign states in the 1990s

This is a list of sovereign states in the 1990s, giving an overview of states around the world during the period between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 1999. It contains 241 entries, arranged alphabetically, with information on the status and recognition of their sovereignty. It includes 197 widely recognized sovereign states, 28 entities which claim an effective sovereignty but are considered de facto dependencies of other powers by the general international community, 2 associated states, 14 states which were initially unrecognized but then gained full recognition later in the decade, and 1 state which was initially widely recognized but then lost full recognition later in the decade.

Members or observers of the United Nations

Non-UN members or observers

Widely-recognized

Others

Other entities

Excluded from the list above are the following noteworthy entities which either were not fully sovereign or did not claim to be independent:

Antarctica as a whole had no government and no permanent population. Seven states claimed portions of Antarctica and five of these had reciprocally recognised one another's claims. These claims, which were regulated by the Antarctic Treaty System, were neither recognised nor disputed by any other signatory state.

East Timor was occupied and administered by Indonesia until October 1999 as Timor Timur, but this was not recognized by the United Nations, which considered it to be Portuguese territory under Indonesian occupation. In October 1999, Indonesia relinquished control over the territory to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, which took over responsibility for it.

Estonia was a part of the Soviet Union until August 1991, but its annexation was not widely recognized. A government in exile claimed independence for Estonia until 15 September 1992, but aside from its embassies in the West it controlled no territory.