Historical world map · 1947
World map in 1947
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 71 independent states and 98 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 169 mapped geometries with source labels representing 169 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 169
- Labeled geometries
- 169
- Distinct labels
- 169
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1947
Static map preview for 1947
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 1947
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1947. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Pakistan becomes an independent state.
- India becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Burkina Faso reappears as a territory of France.
- Bhutan passes from United Kingdom to India.
- Jammu and Kashmir appears as a territory of India.
- Kashmir (North, Azad) appears as a territory of Pakistan.
- Côte d'Ivoire loses about 146,123 km² of territory.
- Mali loses about 48,673 km² of territory.
- Niger loses about 77,543 km² of territory.
- Czechoslovakia gains about 15,795 km² of territory.
- Hungary loses about 15,795 km² of territory.
- China gains about 61,087 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1947
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
- 169
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (71)
- 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
- Philippines
- 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 (98)
- 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 (29)
- Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, 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
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- United States (5)
- Alaska, Germany, Hawaii, South Korea, Puerto Rico
- 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
- 169
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.