The World As We Know It
Every time a country's boundary changes or it changes it's name, it renders all current atlases out of date. Now with the use of the internet, it is all too easy to change; but printed copies are not so easy. Here are some of the changes that our world maps have seen over the past 100 years.
This map shows the world as it was in 1922. In this year alone there were 3 changes including the creation of the Union of Soviet Social Republics followed by 2 changes in 1923 and one in 1925 being the change of Norway's capital city's name from Kristiania to Oslo. In 1927, Australia moved it's capital from Melbourne to Canberra then in 1929 the Vatican City declared independence from Italy. A particularly poignant one considering more recent events is that in October 1932, Iraq became independent from the United Kingdom.
After incorporating the changes from previous maps, this 1935 map lasted a year before any changes were made. However in 1937 Japan invades China and with the Munich Agreement in 1938, this transferred the Sudatenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany and part of Slovakia to Hungary. In 1939 after the outbreak of World War II, Poland was partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1940, Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine but in 1944, France regained it back and following the end of World War II, Poland declared its independence.
During 1958, there were massive changes in the middle east with Syria and Egypt forming the United Arab Republic then joining North Yemen to form the United Arab States. The following year, Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states of the United States of America respectively. During the 1960's, 21 countries gained independence from the United Kingdom including Cyprus in 1960, Singapore in 1963 and Barbados in 1966.
During 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights after winning the six days war. This was followed in 1971 with the formation of the United Arab Emirates UAE) and the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
During the early 1970's, many countries gained independence including Cape Verde from Portugal, Papa New Guinea from Australia and Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom. Following the Vietnam War, 1975 saw North and South Korea reunited and in 1982, Queen Elizabeth signed her authorisation for Canada to be completely independent from the UK with a new constitution.
1991 saw Kuwait liberated from Iraq the day before the end of the Gulf War and major changes came in the east with the dissolution of the USSR and places such as Latvia, Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbyjian become countries in their own right. This was followed in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In 1995, India changed the name of Bombay to Mumbai and on 1st July 1997, Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the Peoples Republic of China. New Year's Eve 1999 saw the Panama Canal Zone transferred from the United States to Panama. A new millennium brought three new states in India and the State of Bahrain became the Kingdom of Bahrain. Following the invasion of Afghanistan, The Islamic State of Afghanistan became the Traditional Islamic State of Afghanistan.
Since 2005, there have been few countries changing hands but rather name changes and states merging. 2006 saw Serbia and Montenegro become two separate states, in 2008 Ha Tay Province and Hanoi merged in Vietnam, 2009 required arbitration between Slovenia and Croatia regarding a border dispute that resulted in Slovenia lifting the veto of Croatia to enter the EU. July 2011 saw the latest change when The Republic of South Sudan declared independence from the Republic of Sudan that can be seen on the latest world map.
The World As We Know It was produced on behalf of Hotel Club; where you can find hotels in Bali to experience the world as you know it.
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Tags: Facts, STORIES, The World As We Know It, TRAVEL
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11 Respones to "The World As We Know It"
Wow, very interesting post. When I was a kid, I memorized the World Atlas. Back then, Yugoslavia and the USSR have not splintered yet. And Eritrea was still part of Ethiopia. So till now, I could not remember these "new" countries. :))
November 22, 2011 at 7:41 PM
@AJ: That just proves that everything changes :)
@Ads: Indeed true, Atlases somehow are never that accurate since there are a lot of changes happening around :)
Thanks for the visit Ads
Hi I had this link on my blogroll please include also mine
November 23, 2011 at 7:34 AM
the atlas that i bought when i was still in college is still with me, due to this post i am curious to open it and compare with the latest edition :)
November 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM
@Joy: Well, they still works though, :D
Good source of information about the historical variation on the world map.
November 24, 2011 at 10:03 PM
Isn't that interesting... I have an atlas of the world I had used in elementary school, it represents the world that doesn't exists anymore...
What expects us in 2012? Maybe Republic of Kosovo is the next newcomer on the map?
November 25, 2011 at 5:13 PM
I feel my brain actually grow while reading. I suck at geography and reading stuff about maps can be boring for me. But this was cool to know.
November 27, 2011 at 6:18 PM
Wow that was a lot of information. Great job about this post. World history has never been one of my favorite subjects but I love trivia like this. :)
November 28, 2011 at 7:38 AM
@PinayWriter: Glad you like it :D
@Tiffany: Happy to share resources
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