Mapped: Every Country That Gained Independence Since WWII

Mapped: Every Country That Gained Independence Since WWII

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Today’s political map is far younger than many people realize. The borders of dozens of modern states were established during the second half of the 20th century as colonial empires dissolved and multinational states fragmented.

This visualization, created by Julie R. Peasley using data consolidated from Wikipedia’s List of National Independence Days, maps every country that gained independence after 1945 and identifies the governing power from which it separated.

The Countries That Gained Independence Since WWII

The table below lists every country included in the visualization, along with its year of independence and the governing power from which it separated.

Country	Year	Independence from
Palau	1994	U.S.
Armenia	1991	Soviet Union
Azerbaijan	1991	Soviet Union
Belarus	1991	Soviet Union
Estonia	1991	Soviet Union
Georgia	1991	Soviet Union
Kazakhstan	1991	Soviet Union
Kyrgyzstan	1991	Soviet Union
Latvia	1991	Soviet Union
Lithuania	1991	Soviet Union
Moldova	1991	Soviet Union
Tajikistan	1991	Soviet Union
Turkmenistan	1991	Soviet Union
Ukraine	1991	Soviet Union
Uzbekistan	1991	Soviet Union
Micronesia	1986	U.S.
Brunei	1984	UK
St Kitts and Nevis	1983	UK
Antigua and Barbuda	1981	UK
Belize	1981	UK
Vanuatu	1980	UK
Kiribati	1979	UK
Marshall Islands	1979	U.S.
St Lucia	1979	UK
St Vincent and the Grenadines	1979	UK
Dominica	1978	UK
Solomon Islands	1978	UK
Tuvalu	1978	UK
Djibouti	1977	France
Seychelles	1976	UK
Angola	1975	Portugal
Cape Verde	1975	Portugal
Comoros	1975	France
Mozambique	1975	Portugal
São Tomé and Príncipe	1975	Portugal
Suriname	1975	Netherlands
Timor-Leste	1975	Portugal
Grenada	1974	UK
Guinea-Bissau	1974	Portugal
Bahamas, the	1973	UK
Bahrain	1971	UK
Qatar	1971	UK
United Arab Emirates	1971	UK
Fiji	1970	UK
Tonga	1970	UK
Equatorial Guinea	1968	Spain
Eswatini	1968	UK
Mauritius	1968	UK
Nauru	1968	UK
Yemen	1967	UK
Barbados	1966	UK
Botswana	1966	UK
Guyana	1966	UK
Lesotho	1966	UK
Gambia, The	1965	UK
Maldives	1965	UK
Malawi	1964	UK
Malta	1964	UK
Zambia	1964	UK
Kenya	1963	UK
Algeria	1962	France
Burundi	1962	Belgium
Jamaica	1962	UK
Rwanda	1962	Belgium
Trinidad and Tobago	1962	UK
Uganda	1962	UK
Kuwait	1961	UK
Sierra Leone	1961	UK
Tanzania	1961	UK
Benin	1960	France
Burkina Faso	1960	France
Cameroon	1960	France
Central African Republic	1960	France
Chad	1960	France
DR Congo	1960	Belgium
Congo, Republic of the	1960	France
Côte d’Ivoire	1960	France
Cyprus	1960	UK
Gabon	1960	France
Madagascar	1960	France
Mali	1960	France
Mauritania	1960	France
Niger	1960	France
Nigeria	1960	UK
Senegal	1960	France
Somalia	1960	Italy
Togo	1960	France
Guinea	1958	France
Ghana	1957	UK
Malaysia	1957	UK
Egypt	1956	UK
Morocco	1956	France/Spain
Sudan	1956	UK
Tunisia	1956	France
Cambodia	1953	France
Libya	1951	Italy
Israel	1948	UK
Myanmar	1948	UK
Sri Lanka	1948	UK
India	1947	UK
Pakistan	1947	UK
Jordan	1946	UK
Syria	1946	France
Indonesia	1945	Netherlands
Vietnam	1945	France

Postwar Decolonization in Britain and France

Of the 81 countries shown, 36 gained independence from the United Kingdom, making Britain the largest governing power represented in the dataset. France follows with 26 former colonies, while the Soviet Union accounts for 14 republics that became independent following its dissolution in 1991.

Far fewer countries separated from Portugal (5), Belgium (3), the United States (3), Italy (2), the Netherlands (2), and Spain (1).

These figures reflect the immense geographic reach of the British and French empires, which at their peaks controlled territories across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The British Empire became the largest empire in history by land area, covering nearly one-quarter of Earth’s land surface at its height.

Why Africa Became the Epicenter of Independence

The year 1960 is often called the “Year of Africa,” and the visualization shows why. Eighteen countries achieved independence that year, including Nigeria, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, and Cameroon. Seventeen of the 18 were in Africa.

African independence movements accelerated after World War II as European powers faced mounting economic pressures, growing nationalist movements, and increasing international support for self-determination.

Countries followed different paths to independence, ranging from negotiation to prolonged conflict, but collectively reshaped the continent within a few decades.

The Soviet Union’s Collapse Created Another Wave

The second major spike occurred in 1991, when the dissolution of the Soviet Union produced 14 newly independent states stretching from the Baltic Sea to Central Asia.

Unlike the gradual decolonization of Africa and Asia, countries including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, and the Baltic states emerged within a single year as one multinational political union fragmented into sovereign republics.

While historians continue to debate whether the Soviet Union functioned as a colonial power in the traditional sense, its breakup redrew international borders and substantially increased the number of independent states.

The Lasting Legacy of Decolonization

Independence reshaped borders, but it did not erase the influence of empire. Many newly sovereign countries inherited colonial-era borders, export-oriented economies, legal systems, and administrative institutions.

Some transitions to independence were also accompanied by political instability or armed conflict, underscoring the challenges of state formation. These legacies continue to influence governance, trade, language, migration, cultural identity, and geopolitical relationships across former empires.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To explore more visualizations on geopolitics and how countries are governed today, check out Types of Government: A Population-Adjusted Breakdown on the Voronoi app.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/all-the-countries-that-gained-independence-since-wwii/