Historical world map · 1959
World map in 1959
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 92 independent states and 73 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 165 mapped geometries with source labels representing 165 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 165
- Labeled geometries
- 165
- Distinct labels
- 165
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1959
Static map preview for 1959
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 1959
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1959. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Alaska ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United States.
- Senegal ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to France.
- Hawaii ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United States.
- United States gains about 1,522,930 km² of territory in 2 separate changes during the year.
- Mali gains about 195,997 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1959
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
- 165
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (92)
- 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
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran (Persia)
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- North Korea
- South Korea
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- 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 (73)
- United Kingdom (33)
- Aden, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, British Cameroons, British Somaliland, Brunei, Cyprus, East Aden Protectorate, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Nigeria, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Eswatini, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zanzibar
- France (22)
- Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Madagascar, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Niger, Reunion, Togo
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Belgium (2)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda-Urundi
- Netherlands (2)
- Suriname, Dutch New Guinea
- Spain (2)
- Equatorial Guinea, Spanish Sahara
- United States (2)
- Hawaii, Puerto Rico
- 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
- 165
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.