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In the past, many states, countries or territories have been in existence. This page attempts to list them, grouped into a number of categories.
See also: list of countries, list of historical national capitals
Ancient Afro-Eurasian civilizations
Territories that disappeared in ancient history.
Ancient American civilizations See also: Pre-Inca cultures
Middle ages
Pre-colonial Africa See also: List of Great Lakes kingdoms
Modern times - Historical states of Italy
- In and around what is now Poland
Former colonies, possessions, protectorates and territories These were all colonies, most of which were renamed after their independence. - Afars and Issas - French territory between 1967 and 1977, called French Somaliland before that. Became independent as Djibouti.
- Basutoland - Since 1868 a British protectorate, later colony (governed from South Africa). Became independent as Lesotho in 1966.
- Bechuanaland - Since 1884 a British protectorate, later colony (governed from South Africa). Became independent as Botswana in 1966.
- Belgian Congo - Belgian colony from 1908 until 1960, when the it became independent as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- British Guiana - became Guyana
- British Honduras - became Belize
- British North America - thirteen of the British colonies broke away and formed the USA while the loyal colonies eventually became Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago
- Congo Free State - Name of the state owned from 1884 by King Leopold II of Belgium, later mostly annexed by his country in 1908, then known as Belgian Congo.
- Dahomey - This African kingdom was acquired by France. In 1904, it was made part of the French West African federation. It became independent in 1960, changing its name in 1975 to Benin.
- Danish West Indies - Danish colony, sold in 1917 to the United States. Now known as the United States Virgin Islands.
- Dutch Guiana - became Suriname
- French Equatorial Africa - A French federation of colonies, formed in 1910, containing the colonies of Gabon, Middle Congo, Chad and Ubangi-Shari. The territories became autonomous parts of France in 1958, and the federation was dissolved.
- French Somaliland - became Afars and Issas then independent Djibouti
- French Sudan - A French colony, part of the French West African federation since 1904. In 1959 it formed the independent Mali Federation together with Senegal, which fell apart in 1960, after which the country was renamed Mali.
- French West Africa - dissolved into Mali, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Upper Volta, Niger, Guinea, Dahomey, and Togo
- German East Africa - became Tanganyika, now in Tanzania
- German New Guinea - protectorate from 1884 until conquered by Australia in 1914.
- German South-West Africa - A German colony from 1884 to 1915, after which it became South African held territory until 1990, when the country became independent as Namibia.
- Gold Coast - A British colony since 1874, it became independent as Ghana in 1957.
- Hong Kong - colony of the United Kingdom, sovereignty transferred to the People's Republic of China on July 1, 1997, as a "Special Administrative Region".
- Indo-China - French territory until 1949. Became independent as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
- Italian East Africa - Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland together with occupied Ethiopia.
- Italian North Africa - became Libya
- Macao - colony of Portugal, sovereignty transferred to the People's Republic of China on December 20, 1999, as a "Special Administrative Region".
- Middle Congo - A French colony, previously named French Congo, became independent as the Republic of the Congo in 1960.
- Minorca - British colony returned to Spain
- Netherlands East Indies - A collection of Dutch colonies, officially since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, up to 1799 controlled by the Dutch East India Company but occupied and administered by the British in an interregnum during the Napoleonic Wars under the authority of the Kew Letters. Became independent as Indonesia in 1949.
- Netherlands Guiana - became Suriname
- Netherlands New Guinea - adjacent to the Netherlands East Indies until 1949, became part of Indonesia in 1969 as Irian Jaya.
- New France was conquered by Britain; various parts of it later became part of Canada and the United States.
- New Hebrides - Condominium until 1980. Became independent as Vanuatu.
- New Netherlands - A Dutch colony in the present-day United States, mainly in and around the state of New York. It was conquered by Great Britain in 1664.
- Northern Rhodesia - became Zambia in 1964.
- Nyasaland - British protectorate, previously called British Central Africa, it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. It became part of a federation with Rhodesia in 1953, and became independent as Malawi in 1964.
- Oubangui-Chari - became Central African Republic
- Panama Canal Zone - US territory until 1979. Became part of Panama.
- Portuguese East Africa - became Mozambique
- Portuguese Guinea - became Guinea-Bissau
- Portuguese India - became part of India
- Portuguese Timor - The eastern side of the island of Timor was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when independence was declared as East Timor. Indonesian troops seized the country, but the country was finally declared independent in 2002.
- Portuguese West Africa - became Angola
- Rhodesia - name for Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) while unilaterally claiming independence, 1965-1979.
- Ruanda-Urundi - UN Trusteeship until 1962. Became independent as Burundi and Rwanda.
- Protectorate of South Arabia - Federation until 1967, consisting of British colony of Aden and numerous protectorates. Became independent as People's Republic of Yemen (from 1970 People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) see: South Yemen.
- South-West Africa - In 1915, South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa, which it held under mandate until 1922, after which they remained ruling the territory until its independence in 1990 as Namibia.
- Southern Rhodesia - British colony, unilaterally declared itself independent as Rhodesia in 1965, renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia 1979, then gained international recognition as Zimbabwe 1980.
- Spanish Empire
- The Straits Settlements - British colony until 1946. Became independent as Malaya and Singapore.
- Tanganyika - British territory until 1961. From then independent until 1964, when it became part of Tanzania.
- The colonies of Vancouver Island, Upper Canada and Lower Canada (later, the Province of Canada), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, plus the territory of Rupert's Land, spent much time reorganizing themselves into various patterns; they all eventually became part of Canada.
Dissolved countries These states are now dissolved into a number of countries. - Austria-Hungary - This double monarchy was formed in 1867 from the Habsburg empire, having an Austrian and a Hungarian part. In 1918, the empire was split into Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929).
- Greater Colombia - Simón Bolívar forged this state from parts of the Spanish Empire. It split into Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador. In 1863 New Grenada changed its name to Colombia and Panama split from it in 1903.
- Yugoslavia - State created from parts of Austria-Hungary and Kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro in 1918/1929. Re-created after World War II, dissolved when four out of six constituent republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) seceded in 1990s. Remaining two republics officially renamed back into Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
- Czechoslovakia - State created from parts of Austria-Hungary, which dissolved after World War I. In 1993, the country was split into two parts, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- West Indies Federation - Federal state created by Britain in 1952 that simultaneously granted independence to all former British colonies in the Caribbean. The federation collapsed after Jamaica voted to separate.
- Mali Federation - In 1959 formed by Senegal and French Sudan, both parts of French West Africa, as an independent nation. It fell apart in 1960 into Senegal and Mali.
- Soviet Union or USSR - Formed after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918, made up of several republics which have since become independent as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.
- United Arab Republic - A union formed by Egypt and Syria in 1958 was dissolved in 1961, though Egypt used the name until 1971.
- United Provinces of Central America also known as United States of Central America-- independent 1823; fell apart into separate states in civil war 1838-1840.
- Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (or The Commonwealth of the Two Nations) partitioned in 1772-1795 among Russia, Prussia and Austria. These lands are distrubuted today among Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, and partly Russia.
- Kalmar Union - united Denmark, Norway and Sweden under one monarch.
- Senegambia - Loose confederation between African countries of Senegal and Gambia that existed from 1982 to 1989
- United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 - 1830) (Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden/Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas) created during the Congress of Vienna in 1815, dissolved to Belgium (revolted 1830), Luxembourg (left 1835) and Netherlands.
- Golden Horde - in 1430s into Kazan Khanate, Crimean Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate, Siberian Khanate, Big Horde; Russia finaly became independent
Renamed countries These country names have been replaced.
"Independent" homelands of South Africa These homelands, for black people, were granted "independence" from South Africa. Not recognised by other nations, they were officially re-incorporated in 1994.
Secessionist states These nations declared themselves independent, but failed to achieve or did not seek permanent independence and were either re-incorporated into the mother country or incorporated into another country. |
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