There are so many countries in the world - regions identified as distinct entities
I know I read once how many there were but I lost track, do you know?
Yes there are a lot.  Sometimes it refers to sovereign states and political entities while at other times just the state
Oh okay so how do you tell the difference then? Or you just know by memory?
I am not sure but international law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, certain land, and one government
oh okay, but do you know anything about the process regarding that? And what if a state wants to recede?
I am not sure.  Some federated states are part of a union and only have partial sovereignty but others are whole countries