The United States operates roughly 170 embassies worldwide, one in the capital of each country where it maintains full diplomatic relations and a resident mission. That figure is the headline answer to how many embassies the US has, but it undercounts the country’s broader diplomatic reach: the full network runs to about 270 additional posts, including consulates, permanent missions to international organizations, and specialized offices. The number also moves. New countries gain recognition, relations break down, security forces temporary closures, and proposed cuts could shrink the total in the coming years.
What Counts as a US Embassy
An embassy sits in the capital city of a sovereign nation and handles the full range of diplomatic work with that government: policy coordination, negotiations, visa issuance, and assistance to American citizens. An ambassador leads each one and serves as the President’s personal representative to the host country.1U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State Nominations
Not every country with which the US maintains relations has its own resident ambassador. A single ambassador is sometimes accredited to two or more countries at once, running operations from one embassy and making periodic visits to the others. Small island nations and microstates are often covered this way. The State Department also uses Virtual Presence Posts to stay engaged with cities or regions that lack a physical facility. Those aren’t buildings; staff from a nearby embassy travel in periodically and maintain a dedicated website for the area.2U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. The U.S. Government’s Overseas Presence
The Wider Network Beyond Embassies
The 170 embassies represent only part of the American diplomatic presence abroad. Consulates and consulates general handle much of the day-to-day work that touches travelers and citizens directly. A consulate general typically sits in a major city outside the capital and provides a full menu of services, including visa processing, passport emergencies, and birth registration. A consul general runs the office.3The National Museum of American Diplomacy. What is a U.S. Consulate? Smaller consulates cover more limited areas and may focus on specific tasks.
The embassy in each country has authority over every consular post inside its borders. That arrangement lets a consulate in a port city handle routine visa work while the embassy in the capital manages the political relationship, so the US can serve large countries without duplicating a full diplomatic setup in every city.
Separate from country-based embassies, the US runs permanent missions to international organizations, each led by its own ambassador. The best known is the US Mission to the United Nations in New York. Others operate in Geneva, Vienna, Rome, Paris, Montreal, and Nairobi, covering bodies such as UNESCO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the UN Environment Programme.4U.S. Department of State. IO’s Diplomatic Missions
Countries Where the US Has No Embassy
The US lacks an embassy in more places than most people expect, and the reasons vary. A few countries have no formal diplomatic relations with the United States at all. Iran, North Korea, and Bhutan fall in that group. In other cases, relations technically exist but the embassy has been closed or suspended because of conflict, security threats, or a breakdown in ties. Syria’s embassy has been suspended since 2012. Posts in Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Venezuela have been shuttered or downgraded at various points.
Several small Caribbean and African nations also lack a resident US embassy, not out of hostility but for logistical reasons. Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are covered by a nearby embassy in the region.
When a Third Country Steps In
Where no embassy exists because relations have been severed, the US sometimes relies on a “protecting power,” a third country that handles basic consular functions on its behalf. The best-known arrangement is with Switzerland, which has represented US interests in Iran since 1980 through a Foreign Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.5Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Embassy of Switzerland – Foreign Interests Section That office offers limited services to Americans in Iran, such as registration and emergency assistance, but cannot issue visas or perform immigration work.
As of early 2026, the Swiss Foreign Interests Section in Tehran has been temporarily closed because of military operations in the region. Switzerland has said its protecting power mandate can be exercised regardless of physical location, but Americans in Iran currently face even more limited assistance than usual.
Why the Number Could Drop
The US diplomatic footprint is under real pressure. In 2025, the State Department sent layoff notices to nearly 1,350 employees. By mid-2026, it had finalized separations for roughly 250 Foreign Service officers and 30 civil service employees. Department budget plans point to further reductions, with a target of approximately 11,000 Foreign Service employees and 6,000 civil service employees.
Internal State Department documents have recommended closing as many as 10 embassies and 17 consulates. Embassies on that list include posts in Malta, Luxembourg, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Proposed consulate closures would affect posts in France, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and South Korea. Additional proposals call for scaling back the diplomatic presence in Somalia and Iraq and testing lighter-footprint models at some posts, with smaller staffs and narrower missions.
Whether any of these closures happens depends on congressional funding and diplomatic considerations that could shift with global events. The trend line, for now, points toward a smaller network rather than a larger one.
What This Means If You Need Help Abroad
The count matters most when you need something from an embassy. Americans who rely on consular services in a country slated for closure would need to travel farther to reach the nearest open post. In countries with no US embassy at all, help is thin: a protecting power like Switzerland can pass messages and provide emergency support, but it cannot issue visas or take on immigration work, and it can be pulled offline by regional events. The State Department’s ability to assist in a crisis is real but tightly bounded, and it depends on there being a post within reach. Before you travel, check whether the country you’re visiting has a US embassy, a consulate, or neither, and know which nearby post covers you if it doesn’t.