List of national border changes (1914–present)

Since World War I, there have been many changes in borders between nations, detailed below. For information on border changes from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to 1914, see the list of national border changes (1815–1914). Cases are only listed where there have been changes in borders, not necessarily including changes in ownership of a territory. For instance, many European colonies in Africa became independent without any adjustment to their borders, although some did have many changes. Also mentioned are some de facto changes, not recognized by the international community, such as Crimea, and South Ossetia.

Over 40% of the world’s borders today were drawn as a result of British and French imperialism. The British and French drew the modern borders of the Middle East, the borders of Africa, and in Asia after the independence of the British Raj and French Indochina and the borders of Europe after World War I as victors, as a result of the Paris treaties.[1][2][3] As a result of New Imperialism, the European countries with the most colonies throughout history were: the United Kingdom (130), France (90), Portugal (52), Spain (44), the Netherlands (29), Germany (20), Russia (17), Denmark (9), Sweden (8), Italy (7), Norway (6), and Belgium (3).[4]

Africa

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  • 1919–1922 — The Treaty of Versailles divides Germany's African colonies into mandates of the victors (which largely become new colonies of the victors). Most of Cameroon becomes a French mandate with a small portion taken by the British and some territory incorporated into France's previously existing colonies; Togo is mostly taken by the British, though the French gain a slim portion; German East Africa was separated between Belgium (Rwanda and Burundi), Portugal (the Kionga Triangle) and the United Kingdom (Tanganyika, later merging with Zanzibar to form Tanzania); and German South-West Africa (Namibia) becomes a mandate of South Africa. In September, France settles its African colonial borders with Italian Libya. On September 8, following the signing of the Anglo-French Convention of September 8, 1919, the borders of Italian Libya and French Chad are settled to the present-day boundaries.[5] A few days later, the borders of western and southwestern Libya are extended to their current boundaries after French concessions with the Franco-Italian Arrangement of 12 September 1919.[6]
  • 1925 May 15 — The Tangier International Zone is established after France and Spain end their control over parts of the city.
  • 1924 June 15 — The UK cedes a portion of Jubaland to Italy (Trans-Juba, it. Oltregiuba) as a reward for the Italians having joined the Allies in World War I.
     
    Italian East Africa was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
  • 1925 — The eastern borders of Libya and British Egypt are changed to their present boundaries, with the exception of parts of present-day southern Libya still remaining part of British Sudan.[5]
  • 1931 — France moves the control of the area of the present day Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture from the territory of Niger in French West Africa to Chad in French Equatorial Africa.[7]
  • 1934 — The borders of Libya are changed to their present-day boundaries after the Italo-British-Egyptian Agreement, British Sudan cedes northern territory to Libya.[5]
  • 1935 — The Franco-Italian Agreement cedes the Aouzou Strip from French Chad to Italian Libya.
  • 1936 — After the success of Italy during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Ethiopia is annexed by Italy. Ethiopia joins with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland to form Italian East Africa. The international community does not accept Italy's occupation of Ethiopia and maintains relations with exiled Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
  • 1940 – 1943 — With the outbreak of World War II, war arrives in Africa in 1940, with Italy joining the war, initially British forces in British Somaliland are defeated by the Italians coming from Italian East Africa and the territory is taken. However, by 1941, the British retake lost territory and take over Italian East Africa. In North Africa, after a period of retreat into Libya, Italian forces receive vital aid from the German army and the Germans move deep into Egypt by 1942, before beginning to lose ground. By 1943, The German and Italian forces retreat from Libya and capture Tunisia from France prior to fleeing to Sicily.
  • 1948 January 12 — The Prince Edward Islands are annexed by the Union of South Africa.
  • 1951 December 24 — The Kingdom of Libya becomes independent.
  • 1952 September 11 — British-administered Eritrea is joined into a federation with Ethiopia.[8]
 
British decolonization in Africa.

Asia

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Europe

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Map of territorial changes in Europe after World War I (as of 1923).
 
Changes in national boundaries after the end of the Cold War.
 
Poland is divided between its neighbors
 
Yugoslavia is partitioned
    • 1941 April 14 — The German-occupied parts of Slovenia are put under civil administration and attached to adjacent Reichsgaue. Similarly to Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine, these areas were never fully annexed, instead being set up in preparatation for eventual integration.[24]
    • 1941 April 24 — The Bulgarian Occupation zone and the territory to be annexed into Italian Albania is agreed upon after multiple meetings with Germany.[25]
    • 1941 May 3 — Italy issues a Royal Degree, annexing parts of Slovenia as the Province of Ljubljana.[26]
    • 1941 May 14 — Bulgaria annexes the occupied areas of Greece.[27]
    • 1941 May 18 — The main Treaty of Rome of 1941 settles the Dalmatian territory annexed by Italy from the Independent State of Croatia. Later treaties define their borders in Ljubljana and Italian-occupied Montenegro.
    • 1941 June 30 — Bulgaria fully incorporates its occupied territories in Yugoslavia.[28] As the war continues, Germany allows Bulgarian troops to occupy more territory to free up forces for the Eastern Front.
    • 1941 August 16 — The Yugoslav territories occupied by Hungary are put under civilian administration and fully integrated four months later.[29]
 
German-occupied Europe at the height of the Axis conquests in 1942
  • 1941 August 1 — Following Operation Barbarossa, the Bialystok District is formed and put under Civil Administration, being attached to an adjacent Reichsgau, again in preparation for eventual annexation. It's expanded to include the city of Grodno three months later.
  • 1941 August 19 — After the liberation of Bessarabia, Romania integrates the reconquered territories as the autonomous Bessarabia Governorate.[30]
  • 1941 December 9 — Finland re-integrates the territories lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty during the Continuation War.[31]
  • 1942 November 11 — Case Anton is executed, ending the nominal independence of Vichy France and placing the entire country under German-Italian military administration.
  • 1943 September 10 — In response to the Italian surrender, Germany executes Operation Achse and invades their former ally, setting up a puppet state in northern Italy. In addition to taking over all territories previously under Italian occupation, Germany splits apart lands from the Italian Social Republic, forming the Operational Zones of the Adriatic Littoral and of the Alpine Foothills in northeastern Italy and attaching them to adjacent Reichsgaue.
  • 1944 September 19 — The Moscow Armistice is signed between Finland and the Soviet Union, ending hostilities between the two countries. Finland is forced to return all territory previously ceded with the Moscow Peace Treaty in addition to Petsamo and a lease on Porkkala.
  • 1945 — End of the War — With the total defeat of Germany, the war is finally over. All territorial changes made by the Axis Powers are fully reverted, with the notable exception of Bulgaria keeping Southern Dobruja.
 
Post-war border changes in Central Europe and creation of the Communist Eastern Bloc
 
Regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia since 2014 (Crimea) and 2022 (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia), with a red line marking the area of actual control by Russia on 30 September 2022.

North America

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Oceania

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Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986

South America

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World maps showing borders

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(Click to enlarge)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Manning, Patrick (1990). Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades. London: Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ Lovejoy, Paul E. (2012). Transformations of Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. London: Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Martin Klein, "Slave Descent and Social Status in Sahara and Sudan", in Reconfiguring Slavery: West African Trajectories, ed. Benedetta Rossi (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009), 29.
  4. ^ "A map of Europe based on how many colonies each country had". 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  5. ^ a b c "International Boundary Study No. 10: Libya–Sudan Boundary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26., United States Department of State, October 16, 1961
  6. ^ "International Boundary Study No. 1: Algeria–Libya banaba" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-09-09., United States Department of State, April 28, 1961
  7. ^ "International Boundary Study No. 3 (Revised): Chad–Libya Boundary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-16., United States Department of State, December 15, 1978
  8. ^ "UN Resolution 390 A (V) passed to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia". zantana. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Occupation during and after the War (China)". International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 2018-08-21.
  10. ^ "RossTuva | ТЫВА Tuva". hubert-herald.nl. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  11. ^ "China and Japan - Treaty for the settlement of outstanding questions relative to Shantung, signed at Washington February 4, 1922". www.worldlii.org. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  12. ^ Ristaino, Marcia R. (1991). "Constitutional Framework". In Worden, Robert L.; Savada, Andrea Matles (eds.). Mongolia: a country study (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 175–178. ISBN 0-16-029462-2. OCLC 21600294.
  13. ^ "Qatar completes border demarcation with Saudi Arabia". Doha News. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Ukraine declares its independence | January 22, 1918".
  15. ^ "Vatican City turns 91". Vatican News. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2024. The world's smallest sovereign state was born on February 11, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy
  16. ^ "Case concerning the Legal Status of the South-Eastern Territory of Greenland". WorldCourts. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  17. ^ Jesenský, Marcel (2014). The Slovak–Polish Border, 1918–1947. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-44964-1.
  18. ^ Grupińska, Anka. "Incorporation of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus into the USSR". POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  19. ^ First published in English as Finland – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Treaty of Peace. Signed at Moscow, 12 March 1940; ratifications exchanged, 21 March 1940. The American Journal of International Law 34 (3), Supplement: Official Documents. (July 1940), pp.127–131.
  20. ^ O'Connell, Vincent (2013). ""Left to Their Own Devices". Belgium's Ambiguous Assimilation of Eupen-Malmedy (1919-1940)" (PDF). Journal of Belgian History. 43 (4): 32.
  21. ^ Klaus A. Maier [in German] (1991). Dean S., McMurry (ed.). Germany and the Second World War - Volume II - Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe. Clarendon Press. p. 311. ISBN 0-19-822885-6.
  22. ^ Kroener, Bernhard R. (2000). Germany and the Second World War - Volume V. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-19-822887-2. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  23. ^ Kroener, Bernhard R. (2000). Germany and the Second World War - Volume V. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 172. ISBN 0-19-822887-2. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  24. ^ Fischer, Bernd J. (199). Albania at War 1939-1945. Purdue University Press. p. 84. ISBN 1-55753-141-2.
  25. ^ "3 maggio 1941, viene istituita la provincia di Lubiana". Italiani in Guerra - Le guerre degli italiani dal risorgimento ai giorni nostri (in Italian). Italiani in Guerra. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  26. ^ Mazower, Mark (2000). After the War was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 1943–1960. Princeton University Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-0691058429.
  27. ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, Europe, Volume II, Document 982 - The Yugoslav Minister (Fotitch) to the Secretary of State". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 29 August 2024. There have been published by the Bulgarian Government in their official gazette (No. 166 of July 31 of this year) three decrees of which the first, under No. 2620, concerns the creation of the new Bulgarian district of Skoplje; the second, under No. 2618, creating the district of Bitolj, and the third, under No. 2619, joining four Yugoslav counties to the existing district of Sofia.
  28. ^ Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  29. ^ Scurtu, Ioan (2015). "Basarabia în documente semnate de marile puteri (1920–1947)". Revista de Istorie a Moldovei (in Romanian). 93 (1): 83.
  30. ^ Vehviläinen, Olli (2002). Finland in the Second World War: between Germany and Russia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-333-80149-9.
  31. ^ "Treaty of Peace with Italy (volume 49, number 747, article 21)" (PDF). United Nations. Treaties and International Agreements Registered or Filed and Recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations. 1950.
  32. ^ "Vertrag zwischen der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft und dem Fürstentum Liechtenstein über eine allgemeine Revision der Landesgrenze im Abschnitt Rhein–Würznerhorn". Fedlex (in German).
  33. ^ "Convention entre la Confédération Suisse et la République Italienne concernant une modification de la frontière dans le Val di Lei". Fedlex (in French).
  34. ^ a b Bilefsky, Dan (28 November 2016). "Belgium and the Netherlands Swap Land, and Remain Friends". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  35. ^ "Limburg tijdens jaarwisseling stukje groter geworden".
  36. ^ "Overeenkomst tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en het Koninkrijk België tot wijziging van de grens in het Kanaal van Terneuzen naar Gent, Brussel, 06-01-1993".
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  39. ^ Timeline: Papua New Guinea, BBC News Online, May 5, 2009