THE WOR LD

The political world

Most densely populated country

Smallest country

Monaco: 40,680 people per sq mile

(15,646 people per sq km)

Vatican City: 0.17 sq miles (0.44 sq km)

Longest land borders

Russian Federation:
12,427 miles (20,000 km)

Longest single land border

There are 196 independent countries in the world today. With the exception of
Antarctica, where territorial claims have been deferred by international treaty,
every land area of the Earths surface either belongs to, or is claimed by, one
country or another. The largest country in the world is the Russian Federation, the
smallest is Vatican City. Some 60 overseas dependent territories remain,
administered variously by France, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, the UK, the US, and the Netherlands.

Largest country

Canada/USA: 5526 miles

(8893 km)

Russian Federation:
6,592,735 sq miles
(17,075,200 sq km)

Most populous City

Tokyo: 36,900,000
people

Most sparsely
populated country

Mongolia:
5 people per sq mile
(2 people per sq km)

Most populous country

China: 1,347,350,000 people

The map shows three main types of boundary between

states. Full borders represent internationally agreed and
recognized territorial boundaries. Undened borders
exist where no xed boundary between states has been
demarcated; the boundaries indicated in this way show
approximate areas of sovereignty. A disputed
border is indicated where a de facto
territorial boundary exists, which is not
S)
Aleutian Is (to U
agreed or is subject to arbitration.

ARC
O C ET I C
AN
Arctic C
ircle

Bering
S ea

Jan Mayen
(to Norway)

Reykjavik ICELAND

Hu d s on
Bay

C A N A

Faeroe Islands
(to Denmark)

D A

UNITED
KINGDOM
IRELAND
London
Isle of Man
(to UK)
Channel
Islands
(to UK)

Lake
Super ior

Seattle

Greenland
(to Denmark)

Baffin
Bay

USA

(Alaska)

PAC I F IC
O CEAN

Nauru: 8.2 sq miles

(21.2 sq km)

Australia: 2,967,893 sq miles

(7,686,850 sq km)

Lake Ottawa
Montreal
Lake
Huron
Michigan Toronto
Lake
Chicago
Ontar io
Lake
New York
Er ie
Washington, DC

St Pierre & Miquelon

(to France)

U N I T E D S TAT E S
OF AMERICA

San Francisco

Azores
(to Portugal)

Ceuta (to Spain)

Melilla (to Spain)

Dallas
Bermuda
(to UK)

Tropic of Cancer

MEXICO

Ca

IVORY
SIERRA LEONE
COAST
Yamoussoukro
LIBERIA
Abidjan Accra

G U YA N

Baker &
Howland Is
(to US)
Equator

SENEGAL
Dakar
MALI
GAMBIA
Bamako BURKINA
GUINEAGUINEA
BISSAU

NA

Clipperton Island
(to French Polynesia)

Palmyra Atoll
(to US)

Nouakchott
CAPE VERDE

GHA

COLOMBIA

Rabat
O
C
C

TA

Revillagigedo Islands
(to Mexico)

Quito
Jarvis I
(to US)

Galpagos Is
(to Ecuador)

ECUADOR
Fernando de Noronha
(to Brazil)

P E

Cook
Islands
(to NZ)

Lima

SAMOA
Wallis &
Futuna
American
(to France)
Samoa
(to US)

Ascension
(to St Helena)

Recife

Lake
Titicaca
La Paz

PAC I F IC
O CEAN

Belo Horizonte

R
PA

AG
UA
Y

Kermadec Islands
(to NZ)

Santiago

Juan Fernandez Islands

(to Chile)

14

So Paulo

Trindade
(to Brazil)
Rio de Janeiro

Asuncion

URUGUAY
Montevideo

Tristan da Cunha
(to St Helena)

Buenos Aires

Map key

A
I N
N T
A R G E

San Felix Island

(to Chile)
San Ambrosio
Island
(to Chile)

Sala y Gomez
(to Chile)

Easter Island
(to Chile)

St Helena
(to UK)

BOLIVIA

Pitcair n
Islands
(to UK)

O CEAN

Brasilia

Tropic of Capricorn

AT L A N T I C

Salvador

French Poly nesia

(to France)

Niue
TONGA (to NZ)

13

Tokelau
(to NZ)

12

WESTERN SAHARA
(occupied by Morocco)

Guadalajara

Johnston Atoll
(to US)

BAHAMAS

Casablanca

Canary Islands
(to Spain)

Turks & Caicos Is (to UK)

Havana
Puerto Rico (to US)
C UBA
Virgin Is
Cayman Is
British Virgin Is (to UK)
Mexico City
(to US)
(to UK)
Anguilla (to UK)
HAITI DOM.
r i JAMAICA
REP.
ANTIGUA
& BARBUDA
b
Guadeloupe (to France)
BELIZE b e a
I. ST KITTS &
n S Navassa
DOMINICA
GUATEMALA
e a (to US) NEVISMontserrat
Martinique (to France)
HONDURAS
Guatemala City
Curaao
(to UK)
ST LUCIA
(to Neth.)
ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
EL SALVADOR
BARBADOS
Aruba
Guatemala City
(to Neth.)
NICARAGUA
GRENADA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Caracas
COSTA RICA
PANAMA
VENEZUELA
Georgetown
SURINAME
Bogot
French Guiana
(to France)

Hawaii
(to US)

Kingman Reef
(to US)

AT L A N T I C
O CEAN

Madrid
SPAIN

RI

Gulf
of
Mexico

Madeira
(to Portugal)

Midway Islands
(to US)
Monterrey

Lisbon

Gibraltar (to UK)

Los Angeles

Guadalupe
(to Mexico)

PORTUG
AL

Smallest island country

Largest island country

International borders
4

NI

Gough Island
(to Tristan da Cunha)

Borders
Chatham Islands
(to NZ)

full borders

15

Falkland Islands
(to UK)

undefined borders

South Georgia & South

Sandwich Islands
(to UK)

disputed borders
indication of country extent
(island territories only)
indication of dependent territory extent
(island territories only)

16

South Orkney Islands

South Shetland Islands

Settlements

M E X I C O : independent state

17

Political status
Gibraltar (to UK): self-governing dependent territory

capital city

Laccadive Is (to India): non self-governing

major city

dependent territory, with parent state indicated

other city

Peter I Island
(to Norway)

c Circle
Antarcti

A
Ronne Ice
Shelf

e
Ross Icelf
Sh

xxviii

THE POLITICAL WOR LD

N

The world in 1914

Percentage of Earths land surface

controlled by colonial empires in 1914

The early years of the 20th century saw

the mainly European colonial empires
reaching their greatest extents by 1914.
Two world wars inaugurated their
disintegration, but even in 1950 there
were only 82 independent countries.
Since then, over 100 have gained their
independence, culminating in the breakup
of the Soviet Union and former
Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Independent: 29.8%

Colonial empires in 1914

Chinese: 6%
Ottoman: 1.5%
Russian: 15%
2

French: 7.7%

Portuguese: 1%

Belgian: 1.6%

Spanish: 1%

Italian: 1.8%
German: 1.6%

British: 21.5%

Japanese: 0.4%
United States: 7.6%

Dutch: 1.4%
Danish: 1.5%

TIC
ARC AN
E
C
O

Colonial Empires in 1914

T I O N
F E D E R A

SWE

NOR

EN

Baren ts Sea

R U S S I A N

Se

St Petersburg

of

Lak e
Ba ika l

Moscow

kh

POLAND BELARUS
NETH. Berlin
GERMANY
Kiev
Warsaw
BELGIUM
CZECH REP.
LUX.
UKRAINE
Paris LIECH. Vienna SLOVAKIA
FRANCE
Budapest
MOLDOVA
AUSTRIA

Ulan Bator
Harbin

A
M O N G O L I

pi

an

Sea

JORDAN

Cairo

I R A N

Riyadh

an

BAHRAIN

R
EGYPT

rs

KUWAIT

LIBYA

Gu

QATAR

lf
Muscat

AN
O

DJIBOUTI

Brazzaville

Ryukyu Is
(to Japan)

RWANDA

BRUNEI

IA

MALDIVES

Kuala Lumpar

SEYCHELLES

MICRONESIA

P A L AU

TANZANIA
Lake
Nyasa

ANGOLA

MALAWI
Lilongwe

DA

MI

MOZ

NA

ZIMBABWE

BI

BIA

Pretoria

Johannesburg
SWAZILAND

Runion
(to France)

MA

BOTSWANA

Tromelin
(to Runion)
Antananarivo

Rodrigues
(to Mauritius)

MAURITIUS

NAU RU

P A P UA
NEW
GUINEA

K I RI BAT I

Surabaya
Cocos
(Keeling)
Islands
(to Australia)

Mayotte
(to France)

UE

GA

Harare

AM

Lusaka

SC

ZAMBIA

Jakarta

Agalega Islands
(to Mauritius)

COMOROS

Java Sea

British Indian
Ocean Territory
(to UK)

Dar Es Salaam

Luanda

Christmas
Island
(to Australia)

SOLOM ON
I SL A N D S

EAST TIMOR

TUVAL U

Ashmore &
Cartier Islands
(to Australia)

12

Coral Sea
Islands
(to Australia)

INDIAN
O CEAN

VANUATU

New
Cale doni a
(to France)

FIJI

Tropic of Capricorn

Maputo

13

A U S T R A L
I A

LESOTHO

Bloemfontein

MARSHALL
ISLANDS

SINGAPORE

AR

Lake
Tangany ika

Gaborone

9
Guam (to US)

M A L A Y S I A

Mogadishu

Kinshasa

Windhoek

Wake Island
(to US)

Nor thern
Mariana Is
(to US)

Nairobi

Lake
Victor ia

BURUNDI

ANGOLA
(Cabinda)

Tropic of Cancer

Taipei

NG

Chongqing

BHUTAN

KENYA

D E M . R E P.
CONGO

CO

SAO TOME & GABON

PRINCIPE

AN

DA

EP
A

SRI LANKA

Bangui

Libreville

New Delhi

AL

Juba

ON

Yaounde

ETHIOPIA

SOUTH
SUDAN

CENTRAL
AFRICAN
REPUBLIC

ME
CA

EQUATORIAL
GUINEA

Socotra
(to Yemen)

Addis Ababa

RO

BENIN

Lagos
TOGO

N Delhi

TNA M

Ndjamena

NIGERIA
Abuja

EN
Sanaa
M
YE

P A C I F I C
O C E A N

V IE

ERITREA

ST

Knpur
BANGLADESH Dhaka
Guangzhou
TAIWAN
Chittagong
Kolkata
Ahmadabad
Hong Kong
Hanoi
(Calcutta)
MYANM AR
(BURM A) LAOS
Mumbai I N D I A
Nay Pyi Taw
Vientiane
(Bombay)
Paracel Is
Bay
Yangon
Hyderabad
Pune
(disputed)
Arabian
o f (Rangoon)
Manila
Sea
l
a
g
Ben
THAILAND
South
Chennai
PHILIP PINES
Bangkok
a
n
i
h
C
(Madras)
Bangalore
CAMBODIA
Andaman Is
(to India)
Sea
Laccadive Is
Phnom Penh
(to India)
Ho Chi Minh City
Spratly Is
Nicobar Is
Davao
Colombo
(disputed)
(to India)

S
Khartoum

SU DA N

CHAD

Niamey

I
AK

NORTH
KOREA Sea of
Dalian Pyongyang Japa n
Beijing
JAPAN
Seoul (Ea st Sea )
Tianjin
Jinan
Tokyo
SOUTH Daegu Nagoya
Qingdao KOREA
Yokohama
Busan
Osaka
Xian
Nanjing
Shanghai
Wuhan
Chengdu

Karachi

UAE

S AU D I
ARABIA

NIGER

Lahore

Pe

Giza

ALGERIA

GH

Alexandria

Baghdad
IR AQ

Islamabad

AN

Damascus

LEBANON
ISRAEL

Kabul

AF

TUNISIA

Tripoli

Tehran

SYRIA

CYPRUS

Mediter ranean
Sea

IST
AN

AN

Athens

MALTA

Shenyang

as

Tunis

sk

Astana

N
K A Z A K H S T A

Aral
SWITZ.
HUNGARY
Lake
Sarajevo ROMANIA
Sea
SLOVENIA
Balka sh
C
Urumqi
CROATIA
Bucharest
Almaty
MONACO
UZ
B-H SERBIA
B
IT
Bishkek
EK
Black Sea
KOS.
nt
BULGARIA
Tashke
SAN MARINO A L MON.
IS
GEORGIA
KYRGYZSTAN
TA
Istanbul
Y
ANDORRA
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN T U R K
N
ME
Ankara
MACEDONIA
TAJIKISTAN
VATICAN Rome
at
N
Asgab
IS
CITY
ALBANIA GREECE
Dushanbe
AZERB.
T
zmir T U R K E Y
Algiers

ot

Kurile Is
an Fed.)
Russi

RUSS. FED.

(to

FINLAND
Helsinki
Oslo
Stockholm ESTONIA
LATVIA
Copenhagen
DENMARK
LITHUANIA

Japanese
Ottoman
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
United States
Independent
Disputed

Belgian
British
Chinese
Danish
Dutch
French
German
Italian

ircle
Arctic C

Svalbard
(to Norway)

SOUTH
AFRICA

Nor folk Island

(to Australia)

Cape Town

Amsterdam
Island

Canberra

Crozet Islands

14

Melbourne

St Paul Island
Prince Edward Islands
(to South Africa)

Lord Howe
Island
(to Australia)

Sydney

NEW ZEALAN
D

Frenc h South ern &

Antar ctic Territ ories
(to Franc e)

Wellington

15

Kerguelen
Bouvet Island
(to Norway)

O
T

Bounty Isl
ands
(to
Auckland
Islan Antipodes Islan NZ)
(to NZ) ds
(to NZ) ds

Heard & McDonald

Islands
( to Australia)

Macquar
ie
(to AustralIsland
ia)

Campbell
Islan
(to NZ) d

16

Scale 1:66,000,000

Km

(All territorial claims are held in

abeyance under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty)

Antarcti
c Circle

250

1000

500
250

500

1500

2000

1000

1500

2000

Miles

17

projection: Wagner VII

Ross
Ic
Shelf e

xxix