Who is the only country not in the WHO?

It's probably nothing, or maybe it's something, I just don't know...

Recently I found myself wondering how many countries are members of the World Health Organization (WHO). I did some Yandexing (like Googling except with less censorship) and discovered that every single country on the planet is a member of the WHO except one! That’s right, 194 out of 195 total countries in the world are ALL members of the WHO. Can you guess which country is the odd one out? I’ll give you a hint, it’s small and it’s rich, and no it’s not Monaco.

If you guessed Liechtenstein then you’re correct! This little country nestled between Switzerland and Austria has a population of only ~39,000 people but, according to the Washington Diplomat, it is the wealthiest country in the world! Strangely, if you Google “Wealthiest Countries in the World” the top result lists the 51 richest countries and little Liechtenstein isn’t one of them. And, before you ask, appending the search with “per capita” still doesn’t surface humble Liechtenstein.

So why, if the rest of the planet saw fit to sign-up, did little Liechtenstein decline to enroll? Well, I did some more Googling and asked the question, “why isn’t Liechtenstein a member of the WHO?” Here’s the response I received from Google:

That’s right, the reason the wealthiest country on the planet isn’t a member of the WHO is that they can’t afford it! Now, have you ever had someone try to sell you something you didn’t want so to avoid offending the person you simply said you couldn’t afford it? Well, maybe that’s the situation here and Google’s just trying to be polite. Or, maybe there’s some other explanation? I really don’t know so that’s where you come in. What do you think? Do you believe Google or do you think the truth is something different?

Let me know your ideas!

John