Historical world map · 1956
World map in 1956
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 89 independent states and 79 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 168 mapped geometries with source labels representing 168 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 168
- Labeled geometries
- 168
- Distinct labels
- 168
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1956
Static map preview for 1956
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 1956
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1956. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Sudan becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Tunisia becomes independent from France.
- Morocco becomes independent from France.
- British Togoland ceases to exist as a separate entity.
- Spanish Morocco ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Morocco.
- Southern zone of Spanish Morocco appears as a territory of Spain.
- Ghana gains about 26,630 km² of territory.
- Morocco gains about 24,107 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1956
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
- 168
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (89)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- France
- East Germany
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran (Persia)
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- North Korea
- South Korea
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Vietnam, Republic of
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
Colonies and dependent territories (79)
- United Kingdom (35)
- Aden, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, British Cameroons, British Somaliland, Brunei, Cyprus, East Aden Protectorate, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nigeria, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Eswatini, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zanzibar
- France (24)
- Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Niger, Reunion, Senegal, Togo
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Spain (3)
- Equatorial Guinea, Southern zone of Spanish Morocco, Spanish West Africa
- United States (3)
- Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico
- Belgium (2)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda-Urundi
- Netherlands (2)
- Suriname, Dutch New Guinea
- Egypt (1)
- Gaza
- Jordan (1)
- West Bank
- 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
- 168
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.