The borders of the world are constantly changing.
Empires rise and empires fall.
Today we have borders that are supposed to be respected by
the leaders of every country.
However, no matter how well established these boundaries
are, history has shown that the map is bound to change.
Over the last 1,000 years, the world map has been rewritten
countless times and in ways that have changed the fate of humanity.
Before we get started, let’s make something clear.
There is no way to pinpoint every single border shift over
the past 1,000 years.
However, there are pivotal points in history where massive
sections of land have been unified under a single empire or torn apart by
groups of people who wish for their group’s independence.
There are also time periods and regions of the world where
we just don’t have enough data to determine the extent of the borders of
certain territories or when they shifted.
The journey we’re about to take through history will make
you question everything you thought you knew about the world map and what it
looked like in the past.
1,000 Years Ago: Europe is in the Middle Ages while the
Muslim world celebrates its Golden Age of scientific, cultural, and economic
revolution.
In the Americas, the borders of major empires begin to shift
as the Maya lose power.
In Asia, several dynasties are in control of large areas of
land, but this is nothing compared to what is to come in the following
centuries under an unlikely conqueror.
Middle Eastern borders look nothing like they do today.
The Ghaznavid dynasty controls huge amounts of land reaching
from Iran into India.
Although it consists of a multitude of different peoples,
the empire is unified under Persian laws and practices.
In the centuries to come, this region of the world will be
divided into many different territories.
However, they will still be united by a common religion and
belief system.
Most of Central Europe is under the control of the Holy
Roman Empire, which draws its eastern border to where Poland and Hungary are
today and shares its western border with France.
The empire also stretches from northern Italy up to the
Danish border.
This section of Europe is ruled by the Catholic Church,
while France and the Caliphate of Cordova control much of the rest of the
continent.
There are smaller territories sprinkled throughout the land,
but Europe is divided into only handful of major powers.
In South America, there are no countries; instead, there are
regions unified by culture spread across the continent.
The largest is the Tiwanaku Empire in the Andes Mountains.
The epicenter of the empire is located around Lake Titicaca,
where the capital city has been built, and rituals are conducted to give thanks
to the vital water source.
It is estimated that the city of Tiwanaku had a population
of around 50,000 people, rivaling almost any other city in the world.
The empire extends from Peru down into Chile.
Central America’s borders are shifting at this time.
The Classic Maya, who dominated the region of what is now
southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, start to lose power.
A new Mayan Empire is about to emerge in the Yucatan Peninsula
based around the city ofChichen Itza.
In North America, many tribes spread across the lands.
The Mississippian cultures are flourishing and spreading
their influence throughout the center of the continent.
They build the great city of Cahokia with massive mounds and
platforms that erupt into the sky from the Earth.
The United States of America will not exist in its current
form for almost 1,000 more years.
And at that point, the indigenous peoples of the region will
be displaced across the land as they are forced from their homes and onto
reserves.
1,000 years in the past, most of the continent of Africa is
broken up by cultural allegiances and nomadic hunters following the migrations
of animals.
However, there were still major hubs spread throughout the
region.
A large amount of Northern Africa is controlled by the
Fatimid Caliphate, which spans from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
At its height, the Fatimid Caliphate encompasses parts of
Egypt and Sicily, putting much of the southern Mediterranean world under its
control.
900 Years Ago: The Middle East begins to fragment into
smaller territories.
China is reaching the height of its Classical Age.
Europe is now in the High Middle Ages, and the Church is in
the middle of a great schism between its Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy
sects.
The Tiwanaku Empire has crumbled; new players are beginning
to gain power in Central America.
The Toltec culture begins flourishing in central Mexico.
They are fierce warriors who build monumental architecture,
including step pyramids and vast causeways.
In the coming centuries, the Toltec peoples will disappear,
and another powerful culture that claims to be their descendants will rule the
land.
East Asia is broken up into three main dynasties.
They include the Liao in the north, the Song in the south,
and the Xia in the west.
These three cultures dominate much of what is China today.
It is these regions that the Silk Road seeks to reach as
spices, ideas, and merchandise of these empires is sought after by many,
including the people of Europe in the future.
Central Asia, where Uzbekistan, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Tajikistan are today, is dominated by the Sara Khatami
Empire.
Sara Khatami was founded by Yelp Dashi, who led the people
of Liao out of their homeland and west across the continent when the Jinn
Dynasty invaded it.
Parts of the Middle East have been broken up into smaller
territories, but parts of North Africa still remain united under dynasties like
the Almoravid Dynasty who controls the vital waterway that connects the
Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
This will become known as the Strait of Gibraltar, and
controlling it made them incredibly powerful.
The Almoravid Empire stretches from Northwestern Africa into
what will become southern Spain, putting its borders in two different
continents.
The rest of Africa is not yet unified into any other major
territories, but this will change soon.
European borders have not changed significantly from 100
years prior.
There are some slight fluctuations in borders as kings fight
one another to claim new lands.
In the next century, however, an unstoppable force will
sweep across the Asian continent and into Europe.
Everything is about to change forever.
800 Years Ago: The year is 1206.
Genghis Khan has become the ruler of the Mongols.
Over the next 100 years, his realm will extend further than
any empire in history.
Entire cities will burn, and borders will be erased as the
Mongols conquer every province they pass through.
Simultaneously, changes are occurring in a faraway land.
Over the course of the 13th century, the Mongols extend
their empire from East Asia all the way across the continent.
From their humble beginnings when Genghis Khan unified
several nomadic tribes in northeastAsiahey the Mongol empire managed to conquer
everything from the Arctic regions of Russia to Eastern Europe.
Their Mongol riders and soldiers cannot be stopped.
Genghis Khan’s descendants will continue to extend the
empire over the next 100 years.
By the end of the 1200s, the Mongol Empire reaches its peak.
However, by the next century, its borders become fragmented,
and the realm is split into several different kingdoms ruled by the
grandchildren of Genghis Khan and influential Mongol leaders.
It was through decisive military action and the ability to
move quickly across great distances that allowed the Mongols to secure such a
vast empire, but this exact advantage hassled to the empire overextending
itself, leading to the instability which resulted in its fragmentation.
The world borders of Asia and Eastern Europe were all
influenced by the Mongols during this period of history.
In Southeast Asia, a different type of empire is being built
based around Buddhism.
The Srivijaya Empire consists of what would become Malaysia
and Indonesia.
This kingdom isn’t built using military force or conquest
but by seafaring people spreading the idea of Buddhism across the region.
The borders of the empire extend into the Indian Ocean, and
many islands in the area become part of the Srivijaya sphere of influence.
In Africa, an old kingdom has slowly expanded its borders.
The Ghana Empire now dominates western Africa.
Its boarders extend through several of today’s African
countries, with the majority of the empire being in what is now Mali and
Mauritania.
Surprisingly, The Ghana Empire never actually reaches what
is the country of Ghana today.
The area is unified under trading partnerships that center on
copper, gold, and ivory.
The rulers are the only people in the empire legally allowed
to hold gold, which they stockpile in their palaces.
Word of the vast wealth of the Ghana Empire eventually
reaches North Africa and Europe.
Trade routes are opened to different parts of the region,
but eventually, civil war tears the empire apart.
The borders in the Americas at this point in time remain
fairly constant.
The Maya empire is thriving in its Post Classic period but
still is nowhere near as powerful as it once was.
The peoples of North and South America are unified by
different cultures, but no set boundaries or large empires are established
during this time.
During the 1200’s Europe’s borders remain relatively stable.
However, the pressure being placed on Eastern Europe to fend
off the Mongol threat depletes its resources.
The schism within the church progresses.
The empires of Europe begin to splinter as the century comes
to an end.
In the next 100 years, the map of this part of the world
will look very different.
And if that wasn’t enough, an unseen enemy is about to
murder 25 million people.
700 Years Ago: The Hundred Years’ War breaks out between the
kingdoms of France and England.
At the same time, the Black Death sweeps across Europe
paying no mind to the borders of different countries.
The bacterial agent that causes the Bubonic Plague kills
indiscriminately.
The groundwork for the Renaissance is set, and the Ottoman
Empire begins its rise to greatness in the Middle East and North Africa.
Although the Holy Roman Empire still exists, its power is
starting to dwindle.
There is now more autonomy between rulers in the empire, and
new borders are drawn.
With France and England at war with one another, their
boundaries are constantly changing as territories are invaded, and lands are
lost.
A consolidation of power in Eastern Asia has caused a new
empire to rise.
The Yuan dynasty now controls almost all of what will become
China.
The Yuan became the succors to the Mongol Empire of the
previous century in this part of the world.
The dynasty is founded by Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis
Khan.
This will be the start of the dynastic rulers of China, and
its borders will shift only slightly from here on out.
The Mongol Empire has completely broken up.
The northwestern territory of Asia is now controlled by the
Golden Horde, while the southwestern territory is in the hands of the Ilkhanate.
In southern Asia, the Delhi Sultanate has risen to power and
controls much of the area that will become India.
This is one of the first times power has been consolidated
to such an extent in the region.
Islamic leaders rule the empire and its borders extend into
regions of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
The Delhi Sultanate's power allowed them to repel the Mongol
attacks of the previous century and maintain control over the region.
Western Africa also sees a shift in borders during the 1300s.
As the Ghana Empire falls, the Mali Empire takes its place.
Both empires use the Niger River as the main artery for their
lands.
It is this river that made the transportation of resources
possible.
The borders of the Mali Empire extend further east than its
predecessor, encompassing one of the largest cities in Africa, Timbuktu.
These shifts in borders around the world changed the world
map, but not drastically.
It would be a few more centuries before major
transformations occurred, and empires would extend their influence across the
globe.
600 Years Ago: Constantinople would fall, leading to the
Ottoman Turks securing Moreland.
The Hundred Years’ War ends, but England is thrown into
chaos as the War of Roses commences.
Islam spreads through Africa while Asian borders remain
relatively stable.
And in the Americas, two empires are about to start their
rise to greatness.
Before the Middle East fractures into a number of different
countries, the Taurid Empire reigns supreme.
Its borders stretch from Turkey all the way into India.
This will be one of the last empires ruled by the
descendants of the Mongol invasion.
Most of the borders in East Asia remained the same as the
Ming Dynasty rises to power.
In Eastern Europe, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is
established, creating one of the largest territories in the region.
Interestingly, the commonwealth has checks and balances put
in place to make sure the monarchy does not have too much power.
These regulations are maintained by the nobility.
In a part of the world where monarchies reign supreme, the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth experimented with a unique form of government
reminiscent of the parliamentary governing bodies of the future.
The rest of the European borders remain similar to what they
were in the previous century.
The Holy Roman Empire continues to lose influence.
This allows for more and more new boundaries to be drawn
within its own territory.
In Central America, the Purépecha people control large
amounts of land in northern Mexico.
This may not be the largest empire the world has ever seen,
but it sits in an important strategic position.
The people of North America still have many unique cultural
identities and are not unified while Central American countries are slowly
starting to centralize their power.
This means the Purépecha sit right between the two.
However, their biggest adversary is growing in influence and
will soon reach their borders.
In the coming century, bloody battles will break out between
the Purépecha and one of the most powerful Central American empires to ever
exist.
A similar consolidation of power is happening in the Andes
Mountains of South America.
As the 15th century comes to an end and the 16th century
begins, the Americas will sea shift in power that rivaled even the Maya and
Tiwanaku civilizations.
500 Years Ago: The Aztecs conquer the lands of Mexico and
spread their influence across huge portion of Central America.
The Incas build Machu Picchu and a network of roads that
crisscross their empire.
In Europe, the Age of Exploration ramps up as ships sail
across the world's oceans.
The Ottoman Empire expands further and further into the
Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
In Asia, a new power arises in India while China and Japan
begin fighting over the land that will become Korea.
The Aztecs establish their empire at Tenochtitlan, where the
gods told them they would witness an Eagle on a cactus devouring a snake.
This would later become the centerpiece for the Mexican flag.
Tenochtitlan is constructed on a manmade island in the
middle of Lake Texcoco with three causeways leading from the mainland onto the
city.
Giant pyramids and temples are built across the empire.
The Aztecs now control most of central Mexico.
This is the first time in several centuries that so much of
Central America is united under a single ruler.
The borders of the Aztec empire are still growing when
Hernando Cortez and his conquistadors ravage the lands of Mexico and spread
diseases that wipe out entire groups of indigenous people.
Further south, the Inca Empire expands its territory in the
Andes Mountains.
The empire stretches from Columbia all the way to Chile.
This is the largest empire to ever be established in the
Americas.
And it is all built without a writing system or the use of
the wheel.
It is not that the Incas don’t know how to construct or use
a wheel, but that the shape isn’t useful in the rugged mountain paths of the
Andes.
Instead, they rely on sending messages using runners who
follow a network of winding roads across the empire to communicate the will of
the kings.
In North America, the Iroquois Confederacy is spreading
across the northeast section of what would become the United States.
The Puebloan, Hohokam, and Mogollon cultures are thriving in
the Southwest.
There are also a number of other tribes throughout North
America, but all of these borders will be dismantled as Europeans begin to
colonize the continent.
In Africa, the Songhai Empire secures territory in the Sudan.
At its peak, it was one of the largest empires in all of
African history.
It eventually incorporates the former Mali Empire into its
borders.
Trade routes are built, but the empire won’t last forever.
Soon the continent will be broken up into colonies by
European powers.
Europe splinters into more territories.
Major Powers of the time like Denmark, Portugal, and Spain
begin sending explorers across the globe to secure lands in the new world and
beyond.
By the end of the 1500s, Portugal is the largest colonial
empire in the world.
It has territory in almost every continent, and its power is
growing.
It is the location of Portugal and its monarchy’s deep
pockets that allows it to launch expedition after expedition.
The World map is being redrawn every decade as European
powers spread across the planet on the decks of state-of-the-art sailing
vessels.
400 Years Ago: Spain and the Netherlands expand their
empires worldwide and enjoy vast amounts of wealth from trade and the pillaging
of resources from foreign lands.
War breaks out across the globe as colonialism spreads and
nations try to secure more land.
The Edo Shogun ate begins in Japan, unifying the central
region of the island and beginning long-lasting isolationist policy.
The people of the Americas are decimated by European
colonists and the diseases they carry with them.
Some estimates suggest that around 20 million indigenous
people died as a result of European diseases.
This would have been around 95% of the entire population of
the Americas before contact.
The Ottoman Empire expands its borders and now contains huge
amounts of land in southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The Ottomans control the only land route between North
Africa and the Middle East into Europe.
This makes them incredibly wealthy and powerful.
Its capital of Constantinople, which is now known as
Istanbul, governs the land surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and is the
main city that goods travel through in order to reach Europe.
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, this region of the
world will not unify again under single power.
To the East of the Ottoman Empire, the Safadi Empire
controls the rest of the Middle East.
It is often considered the beginning of what will become
modern-day Iran.
In South Asia, the Mughal Empire is thriving in India,
Afghanistan, and Kashmir.
The empire is founded by a warrior named Babur who came from
the land now occupied by Uzbekistan.
He uses matchlock guns and cannons bought from the Ottoman
Empire to secure his power.
This will be another part of the world that will have its
borders redrawn in the near future as European countries begin to colonize this
region of the world.
The borders of East Asia remain similar to the previous
century, and Africa's kingdoms continue to maintain their boundaries.
But European colonialization will soon encompass almost the
entire continent and split islands between different empires.
The Iberian Union has unified much of Western Europe;
including Spain and Portugal intone giant empire.
A number of different councils rule the territories, but the
main players are the Council of the Indies, the Council of Portugal, and the
Council of Castile.
The union seemed like a good idea at the time and redraws
the world map as the amount of land it controls grows.
But the peace between the nations involved will not last,
and by the end of the century, the Iberian Union will be dissolved.
However, another European power now controls more territory
in North America than any other country in the world.
The First Finch Colonial Empire extends from Canada all the
way to Louisiana.
France’s borders in Europe have not changed much in the last
few centuries, but now they have expanded beyond their European borders and
carved out a chunk of land in the “NewWorld.”300 Years Ago.
It is a time of revolution.
The original colonies of the United States will gain
independence from Britain.
French citizens rebel against the monarchy in hopes of
securing a voice for the people.
The slave trade continues and displaces millions of people
from Africa in one of the largest atrocities in human history.
The Industrial Revolution begins allowing European powers to
spread even further across the globe.
In the Americas, the United States is now its own nation
consisting of land from Maine down to Georgia.
However, France still controls much of the territory to the
west, and Spain maintains hold on lands in the south.
In South America, Portugal controls the eastern half of the
continent while Spain controls the western half.
The lands of the Amazon Rainforest cannot be tamed, and the
peoples who live there have likely never seen a European in their life.
The Dano-Norwegian colonies control much of the far north,
including Greenland, Iceland, and northern Europe.
They also have key holdings sprinkled throughout the world.
Most of Europe is bracing for war as Napoleon unifies the
French people and fills their heads with expansionist rhetoric.
In East Asia the Qing Dynasty reaches its height and
encompasses an enormous amount of land.
This will be the largest Chinese dynasty in history.
In India, the Maratha Empire rules much of the central
regions of the country and will be the last major empire run by people from the
region before British colonialism spreads to their lands.
200 Years Ago: Empires begin to fall.
The Spanish, First French, Holy Roman, and Mughal empires
begin to decline.
They still maintain some colonies, but they are nothing
compared to what they were at their height.
However, new empires are now being built and expanded.
In fact, the largest empire the world has ever known is
working towards expanding islands so that the sun will never set in its borders.
France now controls not only more territory to its East in
Europe, but is also expanding its colonial holdings in Africa and parts of the
Caribbean as well.
Napoleon has become emperor of France, and he is waging war
across the continent.
Colonies in the west and south of Africa are thriving.
In South Africa, the Portuguese Empire controls a decent
amount of land.
They also maintain their control over eastern South America
and their coastal colonies around the world.
But in the coming century, almost every European empire will
fall except one.
The people of Africa fight back against their colonial
oppressors.
There are even lands that remain independent from all
colonial influence.
However, advanced weapons and technology coming from the
European Industrial Revolution have made it incredibly difficult for the people
of Africa to win on their own continent.
The Zulu Kingdom still maintains control of its lands in
South Africa even as European powers try to take its territory away.
In 1821 Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
It is now its own country and boasts massive amounts of
territory encompassing much of what would become the United States and Central
America.
However, war with the U.S. and disputes amongst its people
will lead to the Mexican Empire’s downfall and eventually the redrawing of its
borders into smaller countries.
50 years after Mexico gained its independence, Canada
becomes a British dominion, giving the country more autonomy over its domestic
matters.
Now North America is beginning to draw borders that are
reminiscent of the world map we have today.
In 1803 the United States buys a huge amount of land from
France in what comes to be known as the Louisiana Purchase.
By the middle of the 19th century, the United States is at
war with Mexico.
The Mexican-American war concludes with the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
This gives the United States a massive amount of land in the
southwest.
By the end of the 1800s, the continental United States’
border looks very similar to how it does today.
In South America, Brazil gains its independence in 1822
while maintaining control over much of the eastern part of the continent.
Around the same time, Spain loses control of all of its
colonies on the continent.
It will still be a while before South American borders are
drawn as they currently are, but the continent is no longer under imperial
occupation.
Russia has expanded its control across the planet.
It now contains territory in Northern Asia, Europe, and even
North America.
Its borders are massive and countless different cultures and
ethnicities are contained within it, including what would later become Alaska.
100 Years Ago: The world map is finally starting to look
like it does today.
It will still take two World Wars and a number of empires to
collapse, but by the end of the 1900s, most of the borders we currently have
are defined.
The largest empire that has ever existed reaches its peak in
the early 1900s.
The British Empire spans the entire globe and consists of
over 25% of the world’s total landmass.
By the end of the century, it will consist of a few colonies
and territories, but nothing to the extent of what it was at the start.
At the turn of the century, there are fewer countries in
Europe than there are today.
Austria-Hungry and Germany dominate Eastern Europe while
Russia maintains its border tithe east.
After the World Wars and the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Europe will look almost identical to the layout it has today.
In East Asia, two main countries fight for power.
It is Japan that secures the most territory.
The island nation expands its empire onto the Asian mainland.
There are brutal campaigns in Korea and China as they try to
fight off the Japanese invasion.
After World War II comes to an end, East Asian borders are
divided into similar structures we see today.
However, there will still be slight shifts during the Korean
and Vietnam wars.
Most African countries establish their borders in the early
or middle of the 20th century.
Colonial European powers have been kicked out of many lands.
However, the damage has been done.
The people of the continent have been mistreated and
displaced for so long that the building of the nations of Africa will be a long
and tedious journey.
Even today, the effects of European colonialism are felt on
the continent of Africa and around the world.
By 1900 and the decades to follow, the borders of South America
are established.
The distance between the continent and its European
colonizers made it slightly easier for the countries in this part of the world
to gain independence and begin governing themselves.
North America also finalizes much of its current borders
early on in the 1900s.
However, it isn’t until January of 1959 that Alaska becomes
a state, and in Augusto that same year, Hawaii is added as the 50th state.
Today: Borders have changed throughout history, and they are
still changing today.
Currently, Russia is invading Ukraine, and it looks like by
the end of the conflict, the borders of at least these two countries, if not
more, will be different than they were at the beginning of 2022.
Another way this scenario could turn out is that it launches
us into World War III, which would inevitably result in the redrawing of many
parts of the world map as fighting breakout across the planet.
Only time will tell what the map will look like in the
future.
But if the past is any indication, the borders of the future
will look very different than the borders of today.