Historical world map · 1975
World map in 1975
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 142 independent states and 19 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 161 mapped geometries with source labels representing 161 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 161
- Labeled geometries
- 161
- Distinct labels
- 161
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1975
Static map preview for 1975
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 1975
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1975. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Mozambique becomes independent from Portugal.
- Cape Verde becomes independent from Portugal.
- Comoros becomes independent from France.
- Papua New Guinea becomes independent from Australia.
- Angola becomes independent from Portugal.
- Suriname becomes independent from Netherlands.
- Vietnam, Republic of ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Vietnam.
- Spanish Sahara ceases to exist as a separate entity; its capital passes to Morocco.
- Vietnam gains about 168,563 km² of territory.
- Mauritania gains about 97,802 km² of territory.
- Morocco gains about 171,269 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1975
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
- 161
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (142)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- 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
- Equatorial Guinea
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- East Germany
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran (Persia)
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kenya
- North Korea
- South Korea
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Eswatini
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Yemen, People's Republic of
- Yugoslavia
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Colonies and dependent territories (19)
- France (8)
- Comoros, Djibouti, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Reunion
- Portugal (3)
- Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor
- Netherlands (1)
- Suriname
- South Africa (1)
- Namibia
- Spain (1)
- Spanish Sahara
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
- 161
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.