Historical world map · 1921
World map in 1921
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 64 independent states and 103 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 167 mapped geometries with source labels representing 167 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 167
- Labeled geometries
- 167
- Distinct labels
- 167
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1921
Static map preview for 1921
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 1921
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1921. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Mongolia becomes an independent state.
- Ireland becomes an independent state.
- China loses about 1,562,919 km² of territory.
- Poland gains about 103,780 km² of territory.
- Russia loses about 103,780 km² of territory.
- United Kingdom loses about 69,579 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1921
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
- 167
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (64)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iran (Persia)
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Oman
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Tibet
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
Colonies and dependent territories (103)
- United Kingdom (46)
- Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, British Cameroons, British Somaliland, Brunei, Cyprus, Egypt, Federated Malay States, Fiji, Gambia, German Togoland, Ghana, Guyana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Newfoundland, Nigeria, Mandatory Palestine, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Straits Settlements, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Unfederated Malay States, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe
- France (29)
- Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Morocco, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Niger, Reunion, Senegal, Syria, Tunisia, Vietnam
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- United States (5)
- Alaska, Haiti, Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico
- Japan (3)
- Korea (until 1945), Southern Sakhalin Island, Taiwan
- Spain (3)
- Equatorial Guinea, Spanish Morocco, Spanish West Africa
- Belgium (2)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda-Urundi
- League of Nations (1)
- Danzig
- South Africa (1)
- Namibia
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
- 167
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.