Historical world map · 1979
World map in 1979
A CShapes frame of independent states, colonies, and dependent territories in a year when borders changed. On 1 July, CShapes counts 149 independent states and 10 colonies and dependent territories. This sourced reconstruction contains 159 mapped geometries with source labels representing 159 distinct names.
- Mapped geometries
- 159
- Labeled geometries
- 159
- Distinct labels
- 159
- Data source
- CShapes 2.1 borders
World map preview and interactive explorer for 1979
Static map preview for 1979
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 1979
Independence, new states, transfers between rulers, and border changes recorded in CShapes during 1979. The map above shows borders as of 1 July.
- Egypt gains about 60,567 km² of territory.
- Israel loses about 60,568 km² of territory.
- Mauritania loses about 97,802 km² of territory.
- Morocco gains about 97,802 km² of territory.
Named in the source
Countries, territories, and regions mapped in 1979
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
- 159
- Unlabeled geometries
- 0
Independent states (149)
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- 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
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- 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 (10)
- France (6)
- French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Reunion
- 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
- 159
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.