Decolonisation: world in 1945 and 1994
Colonial empires dissolve into dozens of independent states. Between 1945 and 1994, 37 states appear on the map of world and 32 disappear. Among those that vanish: USSR, Antarctica, Xinjiang. New on the map: Russia, Kazakhstan, Greenland. China gains the most territory.
Open 1994 in the interactive map
States that disappeared
| State | Area in 1945 |
|---|---|
| USSR | 21.76 million km² |
| Antarctica | 12.19 million km² |
| Xinjiang | 1.63 million km² |
| Angola (Portugal) | 1.24 million km² |
| Tibet | 1.14 million km² |
| Manchuria | 1.12 million km² |
| Cyrenaica (UK) | 870,000 km² |
| Mozambique (Portugal) | 780,000 km² |
| Northern Rhodesia | 760,000 km² |
| Madagascar (France) | 580,000 km² |
| Fezzan (France) | 520,000 km² |
| Rhodesia | 390,000 km² |
New states on the map
| State | Area in 1994 |
|---|---|
| Russia | 16.57 million km² |
| Kazakhstan | 2.71 million km² |
| Greenland | 2.09 million km² |
| Libya | 1.62 million km² |
| Angola | 1.24 million km² |
| Mozambique | 780,000 km² |
| Zambia | 760,000 km² |
| Ukraine | 590,000 km² |
| Madagascar | 580,000 km² |
| Turkmenistan | 480,000 km² |
| Uzbekistan | 450,000 km² |
| Zimbabwe | 390,000 km² |
States that grew or shrank
| State | Change in area |
|---|---|
| China | +3.89 million km² |
| Denmark | −2.09 million km² |
| Indonesia | +380,000 km² |
| Somalia | +200,000 km² |
| Cameroon | +50,000 km² |
What happened in between
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Partition and Indian independence | Delhi |
| 1949 | NATO founded; Germany divided | Berlin |
| 1949 | The People's Republic of China is proclaimed | Beijing |
| 1950 | The Incheon landing | Battle of Incheon |
| 1954 | Battle of Dien Bien Phu | Battle of Dien Bien Phu |
| 1957 | Treaty of Rome | Rome |
| 1959 | The Cuban Revolution | Havana |
| 1960 | The Year of Africa: seventeen African states become independent | Lagos |
| 1961 | Berlin Wall built | Berlin |
| 1962 | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Havana |
| 1964 | Nelson Mandela is imprisoned on Robben Island | Robben Island |
| 1968 | Prague Spring | Prague |
| 1975 | Fall of Saigon: the Vietnam War ends | Ho Chi Minh City |
| 1979 | The Iranian Revolution | Tehran |
| 1986 | Chernobyl disaster | Chernobyl |
| 1989 | Fall of the Berlin Wall | Berlin |
Battles of the period
- Battle of Incheon · 1950
- Battle of Dien Bien Phu · 1954
- Robben Island · 1964
- Chernobyl · 1986
- Maastricht · 1992
People of the period
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1869 – 1948 | Mahatma Gandhi | Leader of Indian independence |
| 1874 – 1965 | Winston Churchill | British prime minister |
| 1876 – 1948 | Muhammad Ali Jinnah | Founder of Pakistan |
| 1878 – 1953 | Joseph Stalin | Soviet leader |
| 1889 – 1964 | Jawaharlal Nehru | First prime minister of India |
| 1890 – 1970 | Charles de Gaulle | President of France |
| 1890 – 1969 | Ho Chi Minh | Vietnamese revolutionary leader |
| c. 1897 – 1978 | Jomo Kenyatta | First president of Kenya |
| 1909 – 1972 | Kwame Nkrumah | First leader of Ghana |
| 1918 – 1970 | Gamal Abdel Nasser | President of Egypt |
Questions
How did the map of world change between 1945 and 1994?
Between 1945 and 1994, 37 states appear on the map of world and 32 disappear. Among those that vanish: USSR, Antarctica, Xinjiang. New on the map: Russia, Kazakhstan, Greenland. China gains the most territory.
Which states disappeared from the map of world between 1945 and 1994?
USSR, Antarctica, Xinjiang, Angola (Portugal), Tibet, Manchuria, Cyrenaica (UK), Mozambique (Portugal), Northern Rhodesia, Madagascar (France).
Which new states appeared between 1945 and 1994?
Russia, Kazakhstan, Greenland, Libya, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Ukraine, Madagascar, Turkmenistan.
Borders are drawn from the nearest available maps and are approximate.
Last updated 10 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.