Over the course of a lifetime, Andre Brugiroux claims he has visited every country on Earth — 251 countries or territories by his count, which included unrecognized states such as Somaliland or Tristan da Cunha island, the most remote inhabited archipelago of the world.
The adventurer left France at 17 and worked as a waiter in Scotland.
From 1967 to 1973, he traveled over 240,000 miles by hitchhiking on cars, boats, and planes, spending no more than one dollar a day.
“After a month, I realized I was spending a dollar a day. And I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute, if you keep on spending a dollar a day, the whole world is yours.’ That’s when I realized that if I only hitchhiked without going to hotels, I could see the whole world.”
His journey to every country on Earth only came to a temporary end when he caught dysentery, forcing him to return to France.
But after he was well enough, he was on the road again.
“There are countries where I didn’t manage to get an invite to sleep in other’s home. So on some occasions, why not in prison? So, I would go to the main prison (mimics knocking and door opening), ‘Hello Sir, I’m on a world tour and I’m looking for a place to sleep with my sleeping bag, would you have an empty cell?’.”
He visited Somaliland in Africa (his country n° 250). In December 2011 André visited the recently-born country of South Sudan (n° 251). His dream is therefore totally fulfilled. He visited every country in the world.
Brugiroux finally settled down outside Paris in 2019.
He has written several books and produced a documentary using footage he recorded on his trips.
“Man everywhere has got a heart and feelings. We all know joy and pain.”
“This is true and that’s why my conclusion is that the Earth is only one country and we are all citizens of that one country. It is very important to understand that. And by traveling, we can drop our prejudices. This is why traveling is also important.”
Countries and territories visited
BEFORE DEPARTURE (1937-1955)
(List drawn up according to the administrative division of the year 2000)
1 – France – (1937) *
2 – Switzerland – (1944)
3 – Liechtenstein – (1953)
4 – Austria
5 – Belgium – (1954)
6 – West Germany
7 – Luxembourg
* The number to the right of the country is that of the first date of visit; it is not repeated for each country that has been visited in the same year. Even if they have been visited, uninhabited islands and islands contiguous to a country are not mentioned (Corsica is included in France, for example).
PREPARATION FOR A WORLD TOUR (1955-1967)
8 – Great Britain – (1955)
9 – Eire – (1956)
10 – Spain – (1957)
11 – Algeria – (1958)
12 – Chad
13 – French Congo
14 – Gabon – (1959)
15 – Belgian Congo
16 – Cabinda – (1959)
17 – Cameroon
18 – Niger
19 – Monaco – (1960)
20 – Czechoslovakia – (1962)
21 – Italy
22 – Vatican – (1963)
23 – San Marino
24 – Yugoslavia – (1964)
25 – Slovenia – (1960)
26 – Croatia
27 – Macedonia
28 – Bulgaria
29 – Canada – (1965)
30 – USA – (1966)
AROUND THE WORLD IN STOP (1967-1973)
31 – Mexico – (1967)
32 – Guatemala
33 – San Salvador
34 – Honduras
35 – Nicaragua
36 – Costa Rica
37 – Panama
38 – Ecuador – (1968)
39 – Peru
40 – Bolivia
41 – Argentina
42 – Paraguay
43 – Brazil
44 – Uruguay
45 – Chile
46 – Colombia
47 – Venezuela
48 – Alaska
49 – French Polynesia
50 – Cook Islands
51 – New Zealand
52 – Australia
53 – Timor
54 – Indonesia
55 – Singapore
56 – Malaysia
57 – Thailand
58 – Laos
59 – Cambodia
60 – Vietnam
61 – Philippines
62 – Hong Kong
63 – Macau
64 – Taiwan
65 – Japan
66 – South Korea
67 – USSR
68 – Romania
69 – Turkey
70 – Syria – (1971)
71 – Lebanon
72 – Jordan
73 – Iraq
74 – Iran
75 – Pakistan
76 – India
77 – Nepal
78 – Ceylon
79 – Afghanistan
80 – Kuwait
81 – Saudi Arabia
82 – North Yemen / South Yemen
83 – Djibouti
84 – Ethiopia
85 – Eritrea
86 – Kenya
87 – Uganda – (1972)
88 – Rwanda
89 – Burundi
90 – Tanzania
91 – Somalia
92 – Zambia
93 – Rhodesia
94 – Botswana
95 – South Africa
96 – Namibia
97 – Angola
98 – Lesotho
99 – Swaziland
100 – Mozambique
101 – Malawi
102 – Zanzibar
103 – Madagascar
104 – Central African Republic
105 – Nigeria
106 – Dahomey
107 – Togo
108 – Ghana
109 – Upper Volta
110 – Mali
111 – Ivory Coast
112 – Liberia
113 – Sierra Leone
114 – Gambia
115 – Senegal
116 – Mauritania
117 – Rio de Oro
118 – Canary Islands
119 – Morocco
120 – Ceuta
121 – Tunisia
122 – Libya
123 – Egypt
124 – Sudan
125 – Cyprus
126 – Israel
127 – Palestine
128 – Greece
129 – Hungary
130 – Poland
131 – Finland
132 – Norway
133 – Sweden
134 – Denmark
135 – Holland
SINCE 1974
136 – Portugal
137 – Haiti
138 – Guadeloupe
139 – Martinique
140 – Iceland – (1977)
141 – Guinea-Bissau – (1978)
142 – Seychelles – (1980)
143 – Reunion and Tromelin
144 – Mauritius
145 – Mayotte
146 – Comoros
147 – Andorra
148 – French Guiana
149 – Suriname
150 – Guyana
151 – Trinidad and Tobago (1982)
152 – Barbados
153 – Burma
154 – New Caledonia
155 – Wallis and Futuna
156 – Vanuatu
157 – Solomon – (1983)
158 – Papua New Guinea
159 – Fiji
160 – Tonga
161 – Samoa
162 – American Samoa
163 – China – (1984)
164 – Mongolia
165 – St-Pierre and Miquelon
166 – Greenland – (1985)
167 – Belize
168 – Jamaica
169 – Cayman
170 – Malta
171 – Turks and Caicos – (1987)
172 – Dominican Republic
173 – Bahamas
174 – Tibet
175 – Sikkim
176 – Bangladesh
177 – Cape Verde – (1988)
178 – Gibraltar
179 – Azores
180 – Madeira
181 – Anguilla (1989)
182 – Saint-Kitts and Névis
183 – Antigua
184 – Montserrat
185 – Dominica
186 – Saint Lucia
187 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
188 – Granada
189 – Netherlands Antilles
190 – Aruba
191 – Puerto Rico
192 – British Virgins
193 – American Virgins
194 – Guinea – (1990)
195 – Spitsbergen
196 – Maldives – (1991)
197 – Andaman and Nicobar
198 – Brunei
199 – Albania
200 – Saint-Thomas and Prince
201 – Equatorial Guinea
202 – Lithuania
203 – Latvia
204 – Estonia
205 – Channel Islands
206 – Falklands
207 – Easter Island (1994)
208 – Ste-Hélène and Ascension
209 – Man
210 – Hawaii
211 – Marshall
212 – Micronesia (1995)
213 – Guam
214 – Northern Mariana Islands
215 – Palau
216 – Nauru
217 – Kiribati
218 – Tuvalu
219 – Faroe Islands
220 – Bahrain – (1996)
221 – Qatar
222 – Oman
223 – Cuba
224 – Kaliningrad
225 – Belarus
226 – Ukraine
227 – Moldova
228 – Slovakia
229 – United Arab Emirates
230 – Armenia
231 – Georgia
232 – Azerbaijan
233 – Bosnia and Herzegovina
234 – Antarctica (1998)
235 – Bermuda
236 – Kerguelen
237 – Bhutan (1999)
238 – Kyrgyzstan
239 – Kazakhstan
240 – Uzbekistan
241 – Turkmenia
242 – Tajikistan
243 – Norfolk
244 – Tokelau
245 – Pitcairn
246 – Nunavut
247 – Niue – (2002)
248 – North Korea
249 – Mustang – (2004)
250 – Somaliland – (2007)
251 – South Sudan – (2011)
Countries and territories to visit
0
Zero!
All the countries and territories of the world were visited between 1943 and 2011. Today, André Brugiroux continues to travel to “polish” certain countries he saw badly the first time, for various reasons.
Note that Serbia and Montenegro (in 1964) and Kosovo (in 2008) were visited, but are not listed.
