List of former sovereign states

A historical sovereign state is a state that once existed, but has since been dissolved due to conflict, war, rebellion, annexation, or uprising. This page lists sovereign states, countries, nations, or empires that have ceased to exist as political entities, grouped geographically and by constitutional nature. The asserted sovereignty of some states listed here was generally unrecognized.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Criteria for inclusion

The criteria for inclusion in this list is similar to that of the List of states with limited recognition. To be included here, a polity must have claimed statehood and either:

  • had de facto control over a territory, a population, a government, a capacity to enter into relations with other states, or
  • have been recognised as a state by at least one other state.

For purposes of this list, the cutoff between medieval and early modern states is the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Ancient and medieval states

Modern states and territories by geography

Africa
See also: List of African Great Lakes kingdoms

Morocco (Maghreb al-Aksa)

Egypt, Sudan and Libya

Modern Algeria (Central Maghreb)

Comoro Islands
Madagascar

Sub-Saharan Africa
Horn of Africa
Western Africa
African Great Lakes
Eastern Africa
Central Africa
Southern Africa

Central Asia

East Asia

Korean Peninsula
Afghanistan
Anatolia
Mesopotamia
Persia
Levant
Arabian Peninsula

South Asia

Southeast Asia

Europe
See also: Former countries in Europe after 1815

Nordic countries

In the Nordic countries, unions were personal, not unitary

Modern France

Modern Germany
For the hundreds of feudal states of various size (mainly Kleinstaaterei) and nature that were part of the non-centralised Holy Roman Empire (mainly in Germany, Austria, Benelux countries and various neighbouring regions), see List of states in the Holy Roman Empire.

Switzerland

Italy
See also: Historical states of Italy

Modern United Kingdom

Ireland

Medieval Ireland

Low Countries

Poland

Ukraine

Crimea

Baltic countries and Belarus

Romania and Moldova

Russia

Hungary

Czechia and Slovakia

Austria

Balkans

Caucasus

Iberian Peninsula

Anguilla

Canada

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Guatemala

Haiti

Mexico

Nicaragua

United States

Oceania

Argentina

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Paraguay

Peru

Uruguay

Venezuela

Modern states and territories by type

Dismembered countries

These states are now dissolved into a number of states, none of which retain the old name.

Nominally-independent homelands of South Africa

Four of the homelands, or bantustan, for black South Africans, were granted nominal independence by the apartheid regime of South Africa. Not recognised by other nations, these effectively were puppet states and were re-incorporated in 1994.

  • Bophuthatswana – Declared independent in 1977, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Ciskei – Declared independent in 1981, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Transkei – Declared independent in 1976, reincorporated in 1994.
  • Venda – Declared independent in 1979, reincorporated in 1994.

Secessionist states

These nations declared themselves independent, but failed to achieve it in fact or did not seek permanent independence and were either re-incorporated into the mother country or incorporated into another country.

Annexed countries

These nations, once separate, are now part of another country. Cases of voluntary accession are included.

See also

References

    Notes
    1. The Nawabs of Bengal ruled the Bengal Subah - a province of the Mughal Empire which pretty much became independent from 1717.

    Further reading
    • Berge, Bjørn. Nowherelands: An Atlas of Vanished Countries 1840–1975. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2017 ISBN 9780500519905 240p.
    • Harding, Les. Dead Countries of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Aden to Zululand. Scarecrow Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8108-3445-6
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