World map for the Cold War period (and beyond)
This map attempts to show all border changes during the Cold War period and beyond.
- The changing boundaries of the international system are represented with a "lifetime" for each country, i.e. a start and end year.
- To make sure that each country's changing borders are shown only once, the state of the borders at the end of each year (31/12/XXXX) is used.
- For example, Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990 and consequently was already Germany at the end of 1990, so the previous states have an end date of 1989 and the new unified one has a start date of 1990.
- It depicts core territories of the given states, and excludes colonies and other dependent territories. So, for many states the only change is their naming, usually after declarations of independence.
- For example, Algeria achieved independence from France on 3 July 1962, so it is named as a French Colony until 1961, and as Algeria from 1962 onwards.
or
I
O : Zoom in/out
or W
A
S
D : Move map
Click on the map to draw the selection.
Right-click or Enter: Finish the selection
Esc : Cancel
Map theme:
Theme:
Your choices will be saved for your next visits to this map page.
Zoom active
Step 1: Color and edit the map
Select the color you want and click on a country on the map. Right-click to remove its color, hide, and more.
Step 2: Add a legend
Add a title for the map's legend and choose a label for each color group. Change the color for all countries in a group by clicking on it.
Drag the legend on the map to set its position or resize it. Use legend options to change its color, font, and more.
| Color | Label |
|---|