Historical world map · 1946
World map in 1946
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 70 independent states and 97 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 1946
Static map preview for 1946
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 1946
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1946. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Syria becomes independent from France.
- Jordan becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Philippines becomes independent from United States.
- Inini ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to France.
- Federated Malay States ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United Kingdom.
- Straits Settlements ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United Kingdom.
- Unfederated Malay States ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United Kingdom.
- Malaysia appears as a territory of United Kingdom.
- Singapore appears as a territory of United Kingdom.
- Comoros appears as a territory of France.
- French Guiana gains about 70,643 km² of territory.
- Madagascar loses about 1,701 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1946
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 (70)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- France
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Iran (Persia)
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Oman
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Thailand
- Tibet
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
Colonies and dependent territories (97)
- United Kingdom (48)
- Aden, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, British Cameroons, British Somaliland, British Togoland, Brunei, Cyprus, East Aden Protectorate, Eritrea, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Italian Somaliland, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Myanmar, Newfoundland, Nigeria, Mandatory Palestine, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe
- France (27)
- Algeria, Benin, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Morocco, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Niger, Reunion, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Vietnam
- United States (6)
- Alaska, Germany, Hawaii, South Korea, Philippines, Puerto Rico
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Spain (3)
- Equatorial Guinea, Spanish Morocco, Spanish West Africa
- Belgium (2)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda-Urundi
- Netherlands (1)
- Suriname
- 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.