To view the full resolution version of this massive map, click here.
Defined borders are a relatively new concept in many parts of the world. In fact, until the latter half of the 20th century, most of the world was still wide open territory with loosely or completely undefined borders.
On the European continent, however, jurisdiction over territory has been a fact of life for thousands of years. In some cases, they’ve left a paper trail. In other cases, there are more concrete remnants. For example, over 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of simple frontier fortifications – known as limes – marked the edges of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century.
Over time, as territorial jurisdiction changed hands through war, marriage, and other arrangements, the map has been redrawn countless times. The video below demonstrates just how dramatically many of Europe’s dividing lines have shifted (even as recently as the 1990s).
Even today, borders are far from set in stone. Belgium and the Netherlands recently swapped land in order to simplify an overly complex piece of their border along a river. Also, India and Bangladesh worked together to solve a notoriously complicated situation involving enclaves within enclaves.
The Difficulty in Date Stamping Dividing Lines
Creating a map that shows the age of all the world’s borders seems like an impossible feat, but Reddit user, PisseGuri82, was up to the challenge. PisseGuri82, acknowledging the extreme complexity of the undertaking, outlined some caveats to consider:
– The map looks at the date a border was officially set to its current form (excluding minute changes).
– The dates are derived from publicly available border treaties and documents.
– Exact dates are difficult to pin down as ratification, surveying, and physical marking can take place over a number of years.
These issues aside, the final product is a fascinating look at how we’ve divided the world up into nations. Here are some highlights from the map:
Static Spain
In contrast to the patchwork of territories left in the wake of the Holy Roman Empire, the southwest part of Europe has remained remarkably static. The border dividing Spain and Andorra, weaving its way through the rocky Pyrenees mountain range, has remained unchanged since 1278, when a feudal charter solidified Andorra’s geography. The Portugal–Spain border has been in place since 1297.
War and Pieces
Many of the oldest borders in the world were established by treaties following a war. One particularly noteworthy example is the border between Iraq and Turkey, which was established by the Treaty of Zuhab (1639) following the sack of Baghdad by the Ottoman Empire.
The Legacy of the “Scramble for Africa”
It’s remarkable to note that a full third of the world’s borders are less than 100 years old. This is especially apparent in Africa, where many existing borders still resemble those haphazardly set by colonial powers around the turn of the 20th century. The average border on the continent is only 111 years old.
We have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only hindered by the small impediment that we never knew exactly where the mountains and rivers and lakes were.
-Lord Salisbury, British PM in 1890
In 1964, independent African states chose to maintain colonial borders, primarily to prevent widespread conflict over territory. Though colonial divisions were maintained in theory, only about one third of Africa’s 51,000 miles (83,000 km) of land borders are demarcated – an issue that continues to cause headaches today. For example, South Sudan has numerous border conflicts with neighbors; a situation that is complicated by the presence of natural resources.
A recent study pointed out that the likelihood of conflict in Africa is approximately 40% higher in areas where “partitioned ethnicities reside, as compared to homelands of ethnicities that have not been separated by national borders”.
Ice Slices
There are seven sovereign states with pie-slice-shaped territorial claims in Antarctica. It’s worth noting that the claims have been recognized only between the countries making claims. There is currently a treaty in place that preserves freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on the continent.
Saudi Arabia’s Lines in the Sand
Saudi Arabia’s oldest border section – shared with Kuwait – is a remnant of the Uqair Convention circa 1922, but most of its international borders were established in the latter part of the 20th century. The Yemen–Saudi border was only officially demarcated in the year 2000, and a 1,100 miles (1,800 km) border fence soon followed.
Where will lines Shift next?
Where there is a war and upheaval, border changes often follow. Syria’s descent into chaos and the annexation of Crimea are two situations which could result in new international borders. Breakaway states – an independent Catalan state, for example – are always a possibility as well.
For now, the most likely changes to borders will continue be minor adjustments to fix lawless gaps between nations. These corrections are rarely easy to negotiate, but irregularities, like the one that led to founding of Liberland, can cause even bigger headaches for governments and local officials.
Thank you!
Given email address is already subscribed, thank you!
Please provide a valid email address.
Please complete the CAPTCHA.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.
Visualized: A Global Risk Assessment of 2021 And Beyond
Risk is all around us. After the events of 2020, it’s not surprising that the level and variety of risks we face have become more pronounced than ever.
Every year, the World Economic Forum analyzes the top risks in the world in its Global Risks Report. Risks were identified based on 800+ responses of surveyed leaders across various levels of expertise, organizations, and regional distribution.
Which risks are top of mind in 2021?
The World’s Top Risks by Likelihood and Impact
According to WEF’s risk assessment methodology, all the global risks in 2021 fall into the following broad categories:
🔵 Economic
🟢 Environmental
🟠 Geopolitical
🔴 Societal
🟣 Technological
It goes without saying that infectious diseases have now become one of the top societal risks on both metrics of likelihood and impact.
That said, environmental risks continue to dominate the leaderboard, accounting for five of the top 10 risks by impact, especially when it comes to climate action failure.
Several countries are off-track in meeting emissions goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, while the pandemic has also delayed progress in the shift towards a carbon-neutral economy. Meanwhile, biodiversity loss is occurring at unprecedented rates.
Rank
Top Risks by Likelihood
Top Risks by Impact
#1
🟢Extreme weather
🔴Infectious diseases
#2
🟢Climate action failure
🟢Climate action failure
#3
🟢Human environmental damage
🟠Weapons of mass destruction
#4
🔴Infectious diseases
🟢Biodiversity loss
#5
🟢Biodiversity loss
🟢Natural resource crises
#6
🟣Digital power concentration
🟢Human environmental damage
#7
🟣Digital inequality
🔴Livelihood crises
#8
🟠Interstate relations fracture
🟢Extreme weather
#9
🟣Cybersecurity failure
🔵Debt crises
#10
🔴Livelihood crises
🟣IT Infrastructure breakdown
As for other risks, the prospect of weapons of mass destruction ranks in third place for potential impact. In the global arms race, a single misstep would trigger severe consequences on civil and political stability.
New Risks in 2021
While many of the risks included in the Global Risks Report 2021 are familiar to those who have read the editions of years past, there are a flurry of new entries to the list this year.
Here are some of the most interesting ones in the risk assessment, sorted by category:
Societal Risks
COVID-19 has resulted in a myriad of knock-on societal risks, from youth disillusionment and mental health deterioration to livelihood crises. The first two risks in particular go hand-in-hand, as “pandemials” (youth aged 15-24) are staring down a turbulent future. This generation is more likely to report high distress from disrupted educational and economic prospects.
At the same time, as countries prepare for widespread immunization against COVID-19, another related societal risk is the backlash against science. The WEF identifies vaccines and immunization as subjects susceptible to disinformation and denial of scientific evidence.
Economic Risks
As monetary stimulus was kicked into high gear to prop up markets and support many closed businesses and quarantined families, the economic outlook seems more fragile than ever. Debt-to-GDP ratios continue to rise across advanced economies—if GDP growth stagnates for too long, a potential debt crisis could see many businesses and major nations default on their debt.
With greater stress accumulating on a range of major industries such as travel and hospitality, the economy risks a build-up of “zombie” firms that drag down overall productivity. Despite this, market valuations and asset prices continue to rise, with equity markets rewarding investors betting on a swift recovery so far.
Technological Risks
Last but not least, COVID-19 has raised the alert on various technological risks. Despite the accelerated shift towards remote work and digitalization of entire industries, the reality is that digital inequality leaves those with lower digital literacy behind—worsening existing inequalities.
Big Tech is also bloating even further, growing its digital power concentration. The market share some companies hold in their respective sectors, such as Amazon in online retail, threatens to erode the agency of other players.
Assessing the Top 10 Risks On the Horizon
Back in mid-2020, the WEF attempted to quantify the biggest risks over an 18-month period, with a prolonged economic recession emerging on top.
In this report’s risk assessment, global risks are further classified by how soon their resulting threats are expected to occur. Weapons of mass destruction remain the top risk, though on a much longer scale of up to 10 years in the future.
Rank
Risk
%
Time Horizon
#1
🟠Weapons of mass destruction
62.7
Long-term (5-10 years)
#2
🔴Infectious diseases
58
Short-term risks (0-2 years)
#3
🔴Livelihood crises
55.1
Short-term risks (0-2 years)
#4
🔵Asset bubble burst
53.3
Medium-term risks (3-5 years)
#5
🟣 IT infrastructure breakdown
53.3
Medium-term risks (3-5 years)
#6
🔵Price instability
52.9
Medium-term risks (3-5 years)
#7
🟢Extreme weather events
52.7
Short-term risks (0-2 years)
#8
🔵Commodity shocks
52.7
Medium-term risks (3-5 years)
#9
🔵Debt crises
52.3
Medium-term risks (3-5 years)
#10
🟠State collapse
51.8
Long-term (5-10 years)
Through this perspective, COVID-19 (and its variants) remains high in the next two years as the world scrambles to return to normal.
It’s also clear that more economic risks are taking center stage, from an asset bubble burst to price instability that could have a profound effect over the next five years.
Thank you!
Given email address is already subscribed, thank you!
Please provide a valid email address.
Please complete the CAPTCHA.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.
There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30% of this is covered by land. The rest is water, in the form of vast oceans.
Today’s visualization uses data primarily from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to rank the world’s countries by their share of Earth’s surface.
Breakdown of Countries Share of Earth’s Surface
The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%).
Together they occupy roughly 7.2% of Earth’s surface. Russia is so big that even if we divided the country between its Asian and European sections, those new regions would still be the largest in their respective continents.
Country / Dependency
Total in km² (mi²)
Percentage of Earth's Surface
Russia
17,098,246 (6,601,670)
3.352%
Antarctica
14,000,000 (5,400,000)
2.745%
Canada
9,984,670 (3,855,100)
1.958%
China
9,596,961 (3,705,407)
1.881%
United States
9,525,067 (3,677,649)
1.867%
Brazil
8,515,767 (3,287,956)
1.670%
Australia
7,692,024 (2,969,907)
1.508%
India
3,287,263 (1,269,219)
0.644%
Argentina
2,780,400 (1,073,500)
0.545%
Kazakhstan
2,724,900 (1,052,100)
0.534%
Algeria
2,381,741 (919,595)
0.467%
D.R. Congo
2,344,858 (905,355)
0.460%
Greenland (Denmark)
2,166,086 (836,330)
0.425%
Saudi Arabia
2,149,690 (830,000)
0.421%
Mexico
1,964,375 (758,449)
0.385%
Indonesia
1,910,931 (737,815)
0.375%
Sudan
1,861,484 (718,723)
0.365%
Libya
1,759,540 (679,360)
0.345%
Iran
1,648,195 (636,372)
0.323%
Mongolia
1,564,110 (603,910)
0.307%
Peru
1,285,216 (496,225)
0.252%
Chad
1,284,000 (496,000)
0.252%
Niger
1,267,000 (489,000)
0.248%
Angola
1,246,700 (481,400)
0.244%
Mali
1,240,192 (478,841)
0.243%
South Africa
1,221,037 (471,445)
0.239%
Colombia
1,141,748 (440,831)
0.224%
Ethiopia
1,104,300 (426,400)
0.216%
Bolivia
1,098,581 (424,164)
0.215%
Mauritania
1,030,700 (398,000)
0.202%
Egypt
1,002,450 (387,050)
0.197%
Tanzania
945,087 (364,900)
0.185%
Nigeria
923,768 (356,669)
0.181%
Venezuela
916,445 (353,841)
0.180%
Pakistan
907,843 (350,520)
0.178%
Namibia
825,615 (318,772)
0.162%
Mozambique
801,590 (309,500)
0.157%
Turkey
783,562 (302,535)
0.154%
Chile
756,102 (291,933)
0.148%
Zambia
752,612 (290,585)
0.148%
Myanmar
676,578 (261,228)
0.133%
Afghanistan
652,230 (251,830)
0.128%
South Sudan
644,329 (248,777)
0.126%
Somalia
637,657 (246,201)
0.125%
Central African Republic
622,984 (240,535)
0.122%
Ukraine
603,500 (233,000)
0.118%
Madagascar
587,041 (226,658)
0.115%
Botswana
581,730 (224,610)
0.114%
Kenya
580,367 (224,081)
0.114%
France
543,940 (210,020)
0.107%
Yemen
527,968 (203,850)
0.104%
Thailand
513,120 (198,120)
0.101%
Spain
505,992 (195,365)
0.099%
Turkmenistan
488,100 (188,500)
0.096%
Cameroon
475,442 (183,569)
0.093%
Papua New Guinea
462,840 (178,700)
0.091%
Sweden
450,295 (173,860)
0.088%
Uzbekistan
447,400 (172,700)
0.088%
Morocco
446,550 (172,410)
0.088%
Iraq
438,317 (169,235)
0.086%
Paraguay
406,752 (157,048)
0.080%
Zimbabwe
390,757 (150,872)
0.077%
Norway
385,207 (148,729)
0.076%
Japan
377,976 (145,937)
0.074%
Germany
357,114 (137,882)
0.070%
Republic of the Congo
342,000 (132,000)
0.067%
Finland
338,424 (130,666)
0.066%
Vietnam
331,212 (127,882)
0.065%
Malaysia
330,803 (127,724)
0.065%
Ivory Coast
322,463 (124,504)
0.063%
Poland
312,696 (120,733)
0.061%
Oman
309,500 (119,500)
0.061%
Italy
301,339 (116,348)
0.059%
Philippines
300,000 (120,000)
0.059%
Ecuador
276,841 (106,889)
0.054%
Burkina Faso
274,222 (105,878)
0.054%
New Zealand
270,467 (104,428)
0.053%
Gabon
267,668 (103,347)
0.052%
Guinea
245,857 (94,926)
0.048%
United Kingdom
242,495 (93,628)
0.048%
Uganda
241,550 (93,260)
0.047%
Ghana
238,533 (92,098)
0.047%
Romania
238,397 (92,046)
0.047%
Laos
236,800 (91,400)
0.046%
Guyana
214,969 (83,000)
0.042%
Belarus
207,600 (80,200)
0.041%
Kyrgyzstan
199,951 (77,202)
0.039%
Senegal
196,722 (75,955)
0.039%
Syria
185,180 (71,500)
0.036%
Cambodia
181,035 (69,898)
0.035%
Uruguay
176,215 (68,037)
0.035%
Somaliland
176,120 (68,000)
0.035%
Suriname
163,820 (63,250)
0.032%
Tunisia
163,610 (63,170)
0.032%
Bangladesh
148,460 (57,320)
0.029%
Nepal
147,181 (56,827)
0.029%
Tajikistan
143,100 (55,300)
0.028%
Greece
131,957 (50,949)
0.026%
Nicaragua
130,373 (50,337)
0.026%
North Korea
120,540 (46,540)
0.024%
Malawi
118,484 (45,747)
0.023%
Eritrea
117,600 (45,400)
0.023%
Benin
114,763 (44,310)
0.022%
Honduras
112,492 (43,433)
0.022%
Liberia
111,369 (43,000)
0.022%
Bulgaria
111,002 (42,858)
0.022%
Cuba
109,884 (42,426)
0.022%
Guatemala
108,889 (42,042)
0.021%
Iceland
103,000 (40,000)
0.020%
South Korea
100,210 (38,690)
0.020%
Hungary
93,028 (35,918)
0.018%
Portugal
92,226 (35,609)
0.018%
Jordan
89,342 (34,495)
0.018%
Serbia
88,361 (34,116)
0.017%
Azerbaijan
86,600 (33,400)
0.017%
Austria
83,871 (32,383)
0.016%
United Arab Emirates
83,600 (32,300)
0.016%
Czech Republic
78,865 (30,450)
0.015%
Panama
75,417 (29,119)
0.015%
Sierra Leone
71,740 (27,700)
0.014%
Ireland
70,273 (27,133)
0.014%
Georgia
69,700 (26,900)
0.014%
Sri Lanka
65,610 (25,330)
0.013%
Lithuania
65,300 (25,200)
0.013%
Latvia
64,559 (24,926)
0.013%
Togo
56,785 (21,925)
0.011%
Croatia
56,594 (21,851)
0.011%
Bosnia and Herzegovina
51,209 (19,772)
0.010%
Costa Rica
51,100 (19,700)
0.010%
Slovakia
49,037 (18,933)
0.010%
Dominican Republic
48,671 (18,792)
0.010%
Estonia
45,227 (17,462)
0.009%
Denmark
43,094 (16,639)
0.008%
Netherlands
41,850 (16,160)
0.008%
Switzerland
41,284 (15,940)
0.008%
Bhutan
38,394 (14,824)
0.008%
Taiwan
36,193 (13,974)
0.007%
Guinea-Bissau
36,125 (13,948)
0.007%
Moldova
33,846 (13,068)
0.007%
Belgium
30,528 (11,787)
0.006%
Lesotho
30,355 (11,720)
0.006%
Armenia
29,743 (11,484)
0.006%
Solomon Islands
28,896 (11,157)
0.006%
Albania
28,748 (11,100)
0.006%
Equatorial Guinea
28,051 (10,831)
0.005%
Burundi
27,834 (10,747)
0.005%
Haiti
27,750 (10,710)
0.005%
Rwanda
26,338 (10,169)
0.005%
North Macedonia
25,713 (9,928)
0.005%
Djibouti
23,200 (9,000)
0.005%
Belize
22,966 (8,867)
0.005%
El Salvador
21,041 (8,124)
0.004%
Israel
20,770 (8,020)
0.004%
Slovenia
20,273 (7,827)
0.004%
Fiji
18,272 (7,055)
0.004%
Kuwait
17,818 (6,880)
0.003%
Eswatini
17,364 (6,704)
0.003%
East Timor
14,919 (5,760)
0.003%
The Bahamas
13,943 (5,383)
0.003%
Montenegro
13,812 (5,333)
0.003%
Vanuatu
12,189 (4,706)
0.002%
Qatar
11,586 (4,473)
0.002%
The Gambia
11,295 (4,361)
0.002%
Jamaica
10,991 (4,244)
0.002%
Kosovo
10,887 (4,203)
0.002%
Lebanon
10,452 (4,036)
0.002%
Cyprus
9,251 (3,572)
0.002%
State of Palestine
6,020 (2,320)
0.001%
Brunei
5,765 (2,226)
0.001%
Trinidad and Tobago
5,130 (1,980)
0.001%
Cape Verde
4,033 (1,557)
0.001%
Samoa
2,842 (1,097)
0.001%
Luxembourg
2,586 (998)
0.001%
Mauritius
2,040 (790)
0.000%
Comoros
1,862 (719)
0.000%
São Tomé and Príncipe
964 (372)
0.000%
Kiribati
811 (313)
0.000%
Bahrain
778 (300)
0.000%
Dominica
751 (290)
0.000%
Tonga
747 (288)
0.000%
Singapore
728 (281)
0.000%
Federated States of Micronesia
702 (271)
0.000%
Saint Lucia
616 (238)
0.000%
Andorra
468 (181)
0.000%
Palau
459 (177)
0.000%
Seychelles
452 (175)
0.000%
Antigua and Barbuda
442 (171)
0.000%
Barbados
430 (170)
0.000%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
389 (150)
0.000%
Grenada
344 (133)
0.000%
Malta
316 (122)
0.000%
Maldives
300 (120)
0.000%
Saint Kitts and Nevis
261 (101)
0.000%
Marshall Islands
181 (70)
0.000%
Liechtenstein
160 (62)
0.000%
San Marino
61 (24)
0.000%
Tuvalu
26 (10)
0.000%
Nauru
21 (8.1)
0.000%
Monaco
2.02 (0.78)
0.000%
Vatican City
0.49 (0.19)
0.000%
Antarctica, although not a country, covers the second largest amount of land overall at 2.75%. Meanwhile, the other nations that surpass the 1% mark for surface area include the United States (1.87%), Brazil (1.67%), and Australia (1.51%).
The remaining 195 countries and regions below 1%, combined, account for the other half of Earth’s land surface. Among the world’s smallest countries are the island nations of the Caribbean and the South Pacific Ocean. However, the tiniest of the tiny are Vatican City and Monaco, which combine for a total area of just 2.51 km².
The remaining 70% of Earth’s surface is water: 27% territorial waters and 43% international waters or areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
In the past, nations adhered to the freedom-of-the-seas doctrine, a 17th century principle that limited jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow area along a nation’s coastline. The rest of the seas did not belong to any nation and were free for countries to travel and exploit.
This situation lasted into the 20th century, but by mid-century there was an effort to extend national claims as competition for offshore resources became increasingly fierce and ocean pollution became an issue.
In 1982, the United Nations adopted the Law of the Sea Convention which extended international law over the extra-territorial waters. The convention established freedom-of-navigation rights and set territorial sea boundaries 12 miles (19 km) offshore with exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles (322 km) offshore, extending a country’s influence over maritime resources.
Does Size Matter?
The size of countries is the outcome of politics, economics, history, and geography. Put simply, borders can change over time.
In 1946, there were 76 independent countries in the world, and today there are 195. There are forces that push together or pull apart landscapes over time. While physical geography plays a role in the identity of nations, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of UAE, a tiny Gulf nation, put it best:
“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture.”
Thank you!
Given email address is already subscribed, thank you!
Please provide a valid email address.
Please complete the CAPTCHA.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.