Where Did 130 New Countries Come From? | Geo Scope

In 1926 there were only about 65 independent countries on Earth. Today there are 195. So where did the other 130 come from? They didn't appear one at a time. They came in four big waves. First Asia broke free after World War Two: the Philippines, India and Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon, Israel and Indonesia. Then in 1960, the Year of Africa, seventeen African countries became independent in a single year. In 1991 the Soviet Union, the biggest country on Earth, split into fifteen countries that had been hiding inside its map all along. And a last, smaller wave brought Eritrea, Palau, Timor-Leste, Montenegro, Kosovo and South Sudan, UN member number 193. Along the way: the myth that Africa's borders were drawn at one table in Berlin, why African leaders chose to keep colonial borders in 1964, the countries that vanished by merging (Vietnam, Yemen, Germany), and why, since 2011, the UN hasn't admitted a single new country. Somaliland has its own president, army and currency, and Taiwan has its own government and military, yet most of the world still doesn't recognise them. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 Only 65 countries in 1926 0:32 The world map in 1926 0:59 Wave 1: Asia breaks free 1:12 The fall of Singapore 1:26 India and Pakistan split 2:01 Wave 2: The Year of Africa (1960) 2:46 The Berlin Conference myth 3:05 Why Africa kept its colonial borders 3:31 Wave 3: The Soviet Union collapses 4:07 The coup that ended the USSR 4:45 Yugoslavia and the Velvet Divorce 5:10 The countries that merged 5:28 Wave 4: The last new countries 5:57 South Sudan, UN member 193 6:16 Somaliland: the country not on most maps 6:35 Taiwan and the recognition problem 7:02 Which border changes next? In this video: how new countries are formed, how many countries there are in the world, decolonization after World War Two, the partition of India and Pakistan, the Year of Africa 1960, the Berlin Conference myth, why African borders are straight lines, the 1964 OAU decision to keep colonial borders, the fall of the Soviet Union, the 1991 August coup, the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Velvet Divorce of Czechoslovakia, German and Yemeni reunification, South Sudan independence, Kosovo recognition, Somaliland, Taiwan, and independence movements in Scotland, Catalonia and Greenland. 📝 Correction and update At 2:25 the video says Ghana "went first" in 1957. Ghana was the first colony south of the Sahara to win independence; Libya (1951), Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia (all 1956) came earlier. An on-screen note is shown at that point. Somaliland: in December 2025, Israel became the first UN member state to recognise it. As of this video it is still the only one (shown on screen). Correction: I missed Bangladesh 🇧🇩 At 1:26, Pakistan is shown in two halves. In 1971 the eastern half broke away after the Liberation War and became Bangladesh, now one of the most populous countries on Earth. how many countries were there in 1926, how many countries are there in the world today, where did all the new countries come from, what was the year of africa in 1960, did the berlin conference draw africa's borders, why did african countries keep colonial borders, how many countries came from the soviet union, what was the last country to join the united nations, why is somaliland not a country, why is taiwan not recognised as a country how new countries are created, history of the world map in 100 years, how the british empire ended, decolonization explained with maps, countries that no longer exist, countries that merged into one, unrecognized countries around the world, which countries could become independent next, why borders in africa are straight lines, how the world map changed after 1991 📚 Sources UN membership by year: United Nations, "Growth in United Nations membership, 1945–present" Year of Africa and decolonization dates: Encyclopaedia Britannica; UN Trusteeship records Berlin Conference 1884–85: Encyclopaedia Britannica 1964 OAU Cairo resolution on colonial borders: Organisation of African Unity, AHG/Res. 16(I) Partition of India (displacement and deaths): Encyclopaedia Britannica Dissolution of the USSR and the August 1991 coup: Encyclopaedia Britannica; US Office of the Historian Montenegro 2006 referendum and Scotland 2014 referendum: official results (OSCE/ODIHR; UK Electoral Commission) Somaliland recognition: AllAfrica / Jerusalem Post reporting (December 2025) Taiwan's diplomatic allies: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) Satellite imagery: NASA Blue Marble Next Generation, NASA Earth Observatory (public domain) Map data: Natural Earth (public domain) Flags: flag-icons (MIT licence) and Wikimedia Commons (public domain) 🌍 Geo Scope explains why the world works the way it does, through calm, animated maps and stories. New videos every day. Subscribe if this changed the way you see the map. #Geography #History #WorldMap #Decolonization #GeoScope