Politics
Charted: UN Member States Not Recognized by Other Members
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Charted: UN Member States Not Recognized by Other Members
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
There are currently 193 member states in the United Nations. And despite the UN granting membership by recognizing sovereignty, not all nations recognize each other individually.
This chart by creator Julie Peasley, breaks down the complex geopolitics at play. To read it: follow the arrow from one country to the other UN member that they do not recognize.
The creator chose to limit this visualization to UN member states only and not include:
- Observer states (i.e. Palestine)
- Partially recognized states (i.e. Kosovo, Cook Islands, Niue)
- Countries not recognized by the UN (i.e. Taiwan, Western Sahara)
The Murky Waters of International Relations
A brief glance at the chart shows two countries drawing the most diplomatic ire: China and Israel.
Briefly speaking, many Pacific and Atlantic islands do not recognize China, and most of the Muslim world doesn’t recognise Israel.
UN Member State | ❌ Does Not Recognize |
---|---|
🇵🇰 Pakistan | 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇧🇿 Belize | 🇨🇳 China, 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇧🇹 Bhutan | 🇨🇳 China |
🇸🇿 Eswatini | 🇨🇳 China |
🇬🇹 Guatemala | 🇨🇳 China |
🇭🇹 Haiti | 🇨🇳 China |
🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis | 🇨🇳 China |
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia | 🇨🇳 China |
🇻🇨 Saint Vincent… | 🇨🇳 China |
🇲🇭 The Marshall Islands | 🇨🇳 China |
🇵🇼 Palau | 🇨🇳 China |
🇵🇾 Paraguay | 🇨🇳 China |
🇹🇻 Tuvalu | 🇨🇾 Cyprus |
🇹🇷 Türkiye | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇩🇿 Algeria | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇧🇩 Bangladesh | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇧🇴 Bolivia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇧🇳 Brunei | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇰🇲 Comoros | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇨🇺 Cuba | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇩🇯 Djibouti | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇮🇷 Iran | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇮🇶 Iraq | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇰🇼 Kuwait | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇱🇧 Lebanon | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇱🇾 Libya | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇲🇻 Maldives | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇲🇱 Mali | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇲🇷 Mauritania | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇳🇮 Nicaragua | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇳🇪 Niger | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇰🇵 North Korea | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇴🇲 Oman | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇶🇦 Qatar | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇸🇴 Somalia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇸🇾 Syria | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇹🇳 Tunisia | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇻🇪 Venezuela | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇾🇪 Yemen | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇯🇵 Japan | 🇰🇵 North Korea |
Source: Wikipedia.
The China bloc is explained by Beijing’s stance: no state can recognize both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the same time.
As a result, all the countries here who don’t recognize China, currently see Taiwan as a sovereign country.
Finally, animosity around Israel’s recognition stems from the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Most Arab nations opposed the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine and invaded Israel, leading to the 1948 war.
At various times, different Arab countries have spoken in favor of normalizing relations, on the condition that Israel withdraw from Palestinian territories.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
Julie Peasley is a prolific creator, and placed as runner-up in Voronoi’s Visual of the Year 2024. If you like big visualizations that can be dived into, check out: Political Leaning in the U.S. by Occupation.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Markets
Charted: Approval Ratings of 24 World Leaders in 2025
This chart shows the newest approval ratings of world leaders in 24 countries around the world. Most are not well-liked.

Charted: Approval Ratings of 25 World Leaders in 2025
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Last year, half the world’s population voted in elections. Some governments changed. Others came back. And still others stayed in power.
Now a month into the new year, how do the people feel about their leadership?
We chart the newest approval ratings of world leaders in 24 countries around the world, based on data collected by Morning Consult between Jan. 21–27, 2025.
Per the source: ratings reflect a trailing seven-day simple moving average of views among adults in each country surveyed.
Some Recently Elected (Or Re-Elected) Leaders Are Popular
India’s Narendra Modi (75% approve) and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum (66% approve) top this rating sample of world leaders.
Leader | Country | Approve (%) | No Opinion (%) | Disapprove (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Narendra Modi | 🇮🇳 India | 75 | 6 | 19 |
Claudia Sheinbaum | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 66 | 7 | 26 |
Javier Milei | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 65 | 5 | 30 |
Karin Keller-Sutter | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 56 | 24 | 20 |
Donald Trump | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 52 | 10 | 38 |
Anthony Albanese | 🇦🇺 Australia | 46 | 11 | 42 |
Dick Schoof | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 42 | 19 | 39 |
Donald Tusk | 🇵🇱 Poland | 42 | 11 | 47 |
Giorgia Meloni | 🇮🇹 Italy | 42 | 7 | 51 |
Ulf Kristersson | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 38 | 11 | 51 |
Cyril Ramaphosa | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 37 | 9 | 54 |
Alexander De Croo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 35 | 22 | 43 |
Recep Tayyip Erdogan | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 33 | 11 | 56 |
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 33 | 8 | 59 |
Pedro Sanchez | 🇪🇸 Spain | 33 | 5 | 62 |
Jonas Gahr Store | 🇳🇴 Norway | 30 | 9 | 60 |
Keir Starmer | 🇬🇧 UK | 27 | 11 | 61 |
Shigeru Ishiba | 🇯🇵 Japan | 25 | 21 | 54 |
Karl Nehammer | 🇦🇹 Austria | 24 | 9 | 67 |
Justin Trudeau | 🇨🇦 Canada | 22 | 7 | 71 |
Olaf Scholz | 🇩🇪 Germany | 20 | 6 | 74 |
Emmanuel Macron | 🇫🇷 France | 18 | 7 | 75 |
Yoon Suk-Yeol | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 17 | 8 | 75 |
Petr Fiala | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 16 | 7 | 77 |
Modi was re-elected for a third term as India’s prime minister last May and Sheinbaum became Mexico’s (and North America’s) first woman president last October.
President Donald Trump, just sworn in for a second term, also makes the top five with a 52% approval rating. Relatedly, people in other countries may not be as pleased about a second Trump presidency.
However, the People Are Unhappy
In most of these countries, the majority of people disapprove of their current government leader.
Among the least-liked leaders is Yoon Suk Yeol, the suspended South Korean president who is currently detained on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
And then there’s France’s Emmanuel Macron, with three quarters of the population disapproving. According to Euronews, his ratings plummeted after he called for snap elections in 2024.
Finally, there’s Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Fiala’s government is struggling to handle the country’s economic problems and is deeply unpopular after breaking a promise to not raise taxes.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
Are you a political junkie and want more data insights? We’ve got you covered. Check out: Top U.S. Industries by Lobbying Spend in 2023 for your next conversation starter.
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