the map shows the location of and dependent territories, shows the existing borders, the capital and largest city of the planet. Worldwide, approximately 240 countries and territories. Of these, about 200 - sovereign, independent country that is politically. Country - a territory with defined borders and population, the political and geographical sovereignty of the state may have (independence) or be dependent. Worldwide there are 40 dependent territories (colonies), each of which is under political or military control of one of the sovereign states. The share of dependent territories by area and population is less than 2%.
constantly changing PPP was a long way from the formation of the first countries to present. This interval is conditionally divided into four periods:
Antique (up to V century.)
medieval (V-XV cent.)
colonial (XV-XX century.)
modern (twentieth-The Beginning century.)
To introduce the process of PPP in the recent period, are the three maps:
World in 1914 was
World in 1961 was
the map
Map of the World 1914 was shows how the world was before World War I: At that time there were only 55 sovereign states and huge colonial empire of France, Britain, Portugal, Austria-Hungarian, Ottoman, German and Russian empires.
The map World in 1961 included changes to the PPP after two world wars and the destruction of colonial empires. In the middle of the twentieth century. in place of former colonies arose over a hundred independent states in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
Comparing these maps, you can ensure continuity in the processes that accompany the history of mankind. Over time, appeared and disappeared grand civilization, stood and destroyed mighty empire, and once secondary colonies grew on the impact of the state.
largest state by population are China (over 1.35 billion people), the world leader in population growth is India: population increases annually by approximately 15 million Mongolia - The largest state, which has no outlet to the sea. In addition to such giants as Russia, China, India, U.S. on the planet are the states that area and population are no different from ordinary cities (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino). A Vatican smallest state has an area of only 0.44 km 2 (for comparison, the Kyiv area over 800 km 2 ).
The map
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