List of national border changes (1914–present)

List of national border changes refer to changes in borders between nations during the twentieth century. This is a list of significant boundary changes with countries. This refers to where there have been changes in borders only, 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 changes.

Africa

• 1953 August 1 - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland established from the former British protectorates of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland.
• 1956 December 13 - British Togoland joins with the Gold Coast before becoming the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.
• 1958 - French West Africa splits into Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin); French Equatorial Africa splits into Gabon, Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), Oubangui-Chari (or Ubangi-Shari, now the Central African Republic) and Chad
• 1960 1 July - State of Somaliland (formerly British Somaliland) joins with Italian Somaliland to form Somalia
• 1961 October 1 - the northern two-thirds of British Cameroons voted to join Nigeria; the southern third voted to join with the Republic of Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
• 1962 July 1 - The Belgian colony of Ruanda-Urundi separated into Rwanda and Burundi.
• 1963 31 December - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland split into Rhodesia, Zambia and Malawi
• 1964 Tanganyika unites with the island of Zanzibar to form Tanzania.
• 1977 South African Government reimposed direct rule on Walvis Bay
• 1993 May 24 - Eritrea breaks off from Ethiopia.
• 1994 28 February - Walvis Bay formally transferred by South Africa to Namibia.

Asia

• 1932 February 18 - Japan declares Manchukuo independent of China
• 1937 - The British split Burma off from the rest of India
• 1944 - USSR annexes Tannu Tuva
• 1947 - The Partition of India as India and Pakistan are given independence from Britain
• 1950 - Chinese enter Tibet, with a May 1951 treaty providing for Chinese sovereignty.
• 1953 Following the Korean War, the boundary between North Korea and South Korea is the ceasefire line, where it had previously been the 38th parallel
• 1954 - Bands of Indian irregulars took over the Portugese enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli
• 1961 December 19 - India takes over the Portugese colony of Goa.
• 1963 August 31 - Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya join to form Malaysia
• 1965 August 9 - Singapore withdraws from Malaysia
• 1975 May 16 - Sikkim becomes part of India
• 1976 July 2 - South Vietnam and the North Vietnam were officially unified as Vietnam. July 17 - After being invaded the previous year, East Timor is annexed by Indonesia

  

  Changes in national boundaries after the end of the Cold War

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• 1990 May 22 - North Yemen unites with South Yemen. August 2 - Kuwait annexed by Iraq
• 1991 February 27 - Kuwait liberated from Iraq.
• 1997 1 July - Hong Kong returned to China by Britain
• 1999 December 20 - Macau transferred to China by Portugal

Europe

Changes to Poland following World War II

• Following the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire were divided into many other states, and new nations were created such as Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia).
• 1938 - March 12 - Austria annexed by Germany in the Anschluss
• World War II - Many boundary changes occured during the Second World War as Germany and Japan re-divided the areas under their control. Following the war, the borders of Germany were moved west to the Oder-Neisse line, while the approximate boundary of the Curzon Line was used as the eastern border of Poland.
• 1947 Free Territory of Trieste set up (bordering Italy and Yugoslavia)
• 1949 Saar incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (Previously bordered Luxembourg, France and Germany)
• 1954 Free Territory of Trieste abolished and distributed between Yugoslavia and Italy
• 1990 October 3 - East Germany reunites with West Germany.
• 1991 With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USSR split up into 15 independent states. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia declare independence from the Yugoslavia which now comprises Serbia and Montenegro. (This was renamed "Serbia & Montenegro" in 2003)
• 1993. Czechoslovakia splits into Czech Republic and Slovakia
• 2006 Montenegro gains independence from Serbia & Montenegro. Thus Serbia also becomes an independent state.

North America

• 1949 Newfoundland and Labrador joins with Canada;

South America

• 1938 A ceasefire signed between Paraguay and Bolivia awards Paraguay three-quarters of the Chaco Boreal which it took over during the Chaco War (1932-35).
• 1941 - the Rio Protocol recognises Peru as having control of the territory it won in the Ecuadorian-Peruvian war

Oceania

• 1949 Territory of New Guinea joins with Papua (Australian territory) to form The Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

World maps showing borders

(Click to enlarge)

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  National boundaries around the time of the start of the First World War (1914)
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  Boundaries during the Second World War (1939-45)
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  National boundaries in 1985, during the Cold War
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  Modern day boundaries (2006)