Historical world map · 1891
World map in 1891
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 54 independent states and 87 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 141 mapped geometries with source labels representing 141 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 141
- Labeled geometries
- 141
- Distinct labels
- 141
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1891
Static map preview for 1891
Load the interactive view only when you want place search, year comparison, point history, or detailed border inspection.
Border changes
What changed on the world map in 1891
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1891. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Tanzania appears as a territory of Germany.
- Malawi appears as a territory of United Kingdom.
- Kenya gains about 571,826 km² of territory.
- Angola gains about 307,154 km² of territory.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo gains about 209,665 km² of territory.
- Mozambique gains about 152,455 km² of territory.
- Zimbabwe gains about 655,007 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1891
Usable source labels can mix states, empires, dependencies, cultural regions, and other mapped entities. Wording follows the dataset rather than forcing every shape into a modern-country category.
- Distinct named labels
- 141
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (54)
- Argentina
- Austria-Hungary
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Iran (Persia)
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea (until 1945)
- Liberia
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Mexico
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Nicaragua
- Oman
- Orange Free State
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Transvaal
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Colonies and dependent territories (87)
- United Kingdom (47)
- Afghanistan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, British Bechuanaland, British Somaliland, Brunei, Cape Colony, Egypt, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lagos, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Natal, New South Wales, New Zealand, Newfoundland, Oil Rivers Protectorate, Pahang, Territory of Papua, Perak, Queensland, North Borneo, Sarawak, Selangore, Sierra Leone, South Australia, Sri Lanka, Straits Settlements, Tasmania, Trinidad and Tobago, Unfederated Malay States, Victoria, Western Australia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe
- France (13)
- Algeria, Cambodia, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, French Guiana, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Reunion, Senegal, Tunisia
- Germany (6)
- German Solomon Islands, German Togoland, Kamerun, Namibia, German New Guinea, Tanzania
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Spain (5)
- Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spanish West Africa
- Austria-Hungary (2)
- Bosnia, Herzegovina
- Russia (2)
- Bokhara, Khiva
- Belgium (1)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- United States (1)
- Alaska
Precision in the source
Not every border deserves the same confidence
Precision is inherited from the dataset when available. It describes how the line was encoded, not the overall certainty of every historical claim inside the polygon.
- Determined by international law
- 141
These precision categories cover all mapped geometries. Label coverage is reported separately above, so the two sets of counts should not be added together.
Source, license, and download
Sovereign-border dataset of independent states and colonies, dated to the day. It fills every year since 1886 in which state borders changed and covers 2011 through 2023 annually. It does not code wartime occupation. Coverage: Independent states and dependent territories, 1886–2023; each frame shows borders on 1 July
Reuse terms: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Check the original project for full attribution and reuse requirements.