Wikipedia

List of former sovereign states

A historical sovereign state is a state that once existed, but has since been dissolved due to conflict, war, rebellion, annexation, or uprising. This page lists sovereign states, countries, nations, or empires that ceased to exist as political entities sometime after 1453, grouped geographically and by constitutional nature.[note 1]

Criteria for inclusion

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The criteria for inclusion in this list are similar to that of the list of states with limited recognition. To be included here, a polity must have claimed statehood and either:

  • had de facto control over a territory, a population, a government, a capacity to enter into relations with other states, or
  • have been recognised as a state by at least one other state.

This is not a list for all variant governments of a state, nor is it a list of variations of countries' official long form name. For purposes of this list, the cutoff between medieval and early modern states is the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Ancient and medieval states

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Modern states and territories by geography

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Africa

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Morocco (Maghreb al-Aqsa)

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Egypt, Sudan and Libya

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Algeria and Tunisia (Central Maghreb)

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Comoro Islands

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Madagascar

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Horn of Africa

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Western Africa

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African Great Lakes

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Eastern Africa

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Central Africa

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Southern Africa

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Asia

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Central Asia (Including East Turkestan)

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East Asia

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Japanese Archipelago
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Korean Peninsula
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West Asia

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Afghanistan
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Balochistan
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Anatolia
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Cyprus
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Mesopotamia
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Iran (Persia)
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Levant
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Arabian Peninsula
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South Asia

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Southeast Asia

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Europe

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Nordic countries

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In the Nordic countries, unions were personal, not unitary

Modern France

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The German-speaking world

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Switzerland

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Italy

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Modern United Kingdom

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Ireland

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Benelux

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Iberian countries

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Poland

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Ukraine

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Crimea

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Baltic countries and Belarus

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Russia

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Hungary

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Czechia and Slovakia

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Southeastern Europe

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Caucasus

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North America

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Canada

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Caribbean Islands

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Central America

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Mexico

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United States

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Oceania

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South America

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Argentina

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Bolivia

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Brazil

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Chile

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Colombia

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Ecuador

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Guyana

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Paraguay

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Peru

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Uruguay

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Venezuela

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Other

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Modern states and territories by type

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Dismembered countries

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These states are now dissolved into a number of states.

Nominally independent homelands of South Africa

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Four of the homelands, or bantustans, for black South Africans, were granted nominal independence by the apartheid regime of South Africa. Not recognised by other nations, these effectively were puppet states and were re-incorporated in 1994.

  • Bophuthatswana – Declared independence in 1977, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Ciskei – Declared independence in 1981, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Transkei – Declared independence in 1976, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Venda – Declared independence in 1979, reincorporated in 1994.

Secessionist states

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These nations declared themselves independent, but failed to achieve it in fact or did not seek permanent independence and were either re-incorporated into the mother country or incorporated into another country.

Annexed countries

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These nations, once separate, are now part of another country. Cases of voluntary accession are included.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ The asserted sovereignty of some states listed here was generally unrecognized; the list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies article may contain further information regarding such states.
  2. ↑ The Nawabs of Bengal ruled the Bengal Subah – a province of the Mughal Empire which pretty much became independent from 1717.
  3. ↑ Partially recognized state existed after WWII

References

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Further reading

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  • Berge, Bjørn (2017). Nowherelands: An Atlas of Vanished Countries 1840–1975. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500519905. 240pp.
  • Harding, Les. Dead Countries of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Aden to Zululand. Scarecrow Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8108-3445-6.
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