Historical world map · 1963
World map in 1963
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 119 independent states and 44 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 163 mapped geometries with source labels representing 163 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 163
- Labeled geometries
- 163
- Distinct labels
- 163
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1963
Static map preview for 1963
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 1963
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1963. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Kenya becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Zanzibar becomes independent from United Kingdom.
- Singapore ceases to exist as a separate entity.
- North Borneo ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Malaysia.
- Sarawak ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Malaysia.
- Dutch New Guinea passes from United Nations to Indonesia.
- Malaysia gains about 197,441 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1963
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
- 163
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (119)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- 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
- Jamaica
- 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
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Uganda
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Vietnam, Republic of
- Yemen
- Yugoslavia
Colonies and dependent territories (44)
- United Kingdom (22)
- Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Federation of South Arabia, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, Kenya, Lesotho, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Qatar, North Borneo, Sarawak, Solomon Islands, Eswatini, United Arab Emirates, Zanzibar
- France (8)
- Comoros, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Reunion
- Portugal (5)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
- Spain (2)
- Equatorial Guinea, Spanish Sahara
- Egypt (1)
- Gaza
- Jordan (1)
- West Bank
- 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
- 163
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.