Historical world map · 1938

World map in 1938

A reconstruction on the eve of the Second World War in Europe. This sourced reconstruction contains 254 mapped geometries. 175 have source labels representing 171 distinct names; 79 have no usable source label.

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Mapped geometries: 254
Labeled geometries: 175
Distinct labels: 171
Data source: Historical Basemaps borders

Historical world map reconstruction showing mapped regions in 1938 — Static map preview for 1938
Load the interactive view only when you want place search, year comparison, point history, or detailed border inspection.
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Named in the source

Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1938

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: 171
Unlabeled geometries: 79

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria (France)
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola (Portugal)
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgian Congo
Belgium
Belize
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
British Raj
British Somaliland
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burundi
Cambodia
Canada
Ceylon
Chile
Chinese warlords
Cochin China
Colombia
Congo (France)
Costa Rica
Cuba
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Dominion of Newfoundland
Dutch East Indies
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Emirate of Bin Shal'an
Empire of Japan
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea (Italy)

Show 123 more named labels

Estonia
Ethiopia (Italy)
Fiji
Finland
France
French Cameroons
French Equatorial Africa
French Guiana
French Indo-China
French Somaliland
French West Africa
Gambia, The
Germany
Gilbert and Elice Islands
Gold Coast
Greece
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Hail
Haiti
Hejaz
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italian Somaliland
Italy
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Laos
Latvia
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar (France)
Malawi
Malaysia
Mandatory Palestine (GB)
Martinique
Mesopotamia (GB)
Mexico
Mongolia
Montserrat
Morocco (France)
Mozambique (Portugal)
Muscat and Oman
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Hebrides
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Niue
Northern Rhodesia
Norway
Oman (British Raj)
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Rapa Nui
Rio De Oro
Romania
Rwanda (Belgium)
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saipan
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Siam
Sierra Leone
Southern Rhodesia
Spain
Spanish Sahara
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria (France)
Tanzania, United Republic of
Tibet
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad
Trucial Oman
Tunisia
Turkey
Turks and Caicos Islands
Uganda
Union of South Africa
United Kingdom
United States
United States Virgin Islands
Uruguay
USSR
Venezuela
Walbis Bay
Wallis and Futuna Islands
Xinjiang
Yemen
Yemen (UK)
Yugoslavia

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: 254

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

Historical boundary snapshots for countries and cultural regions, used through 2010. Coverage: 53 available snapshots from prehistory through 2010

Original source Download snapshot JSON

Reuse terms: GPL-3.0 repository license. Check the original project for full attribution and reuse requirements.

World map preview and interactive explorer for 1938

Not every border deserves the same confidence

Source, license, and download