Historical world map · 1962
World map in 1962
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 115 independent states and 49 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 164 mapped geometries with source labels representing 164 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 164
- Labeled geometries
- 164
- Distinct labels
- 164
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1962
Static map preview for 1962
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 1962
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1962. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Burundi becomes an independent state.
- Rwanda becomes an independent state.
- Algeria becomes independent from France.
- Jamaica becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Uganda becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Aden ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United Kingdom.
- East Aden Protectorate ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to United Kingdom.
- Rwanda-Urundi ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Burundi.
- Dutch New Guinea passes from Netherlands to United Nations.
- Federation of South Arabia appears as a territory of United Kingdom.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1962
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
- 164
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (115)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Republic of the Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- 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
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Vietnam, Republic of
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
Colonies and dependent territories (49)
- United Kingdom (26)
- Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Federation of South Arabia, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Eswatini, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zanzibar
- France (9)
- Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Reunion
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Netherlands (2)
- Suriname, Dutch New Guinea
- Spain (2)
- Equatorial Guinea, Spanish Sahara
- 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
- 164
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.