With the advent of the first state formations, the process of forming a political map of the world began. This process has gone through several stages and continues to this day. New states appear on the map as a result of secession or acquisition of sovereignty. Let's go to the recent past to talk about the youngest states in the world.
1
Namibia (1990)
During the occupation, these territories were called “South West Africa”, and in 1968 the UN assigned it the name “Namibia”. Despite the sovereign status, South African troops were in the country, and the authorities of the Republic of South Africa controlled all political processes.
The Namibian People’s Army began the struggle to liberate its lands from South African domination, and the USSR actively supported it. The United Nations has several times adopted resolutions according to which South Africa should have granted independence to Namibia.
Only in 1988, South African troops were withdrawn from the country, and on March 21, 1990 proclaimed the long-awaited independence from the Republic of South Africa.
2
Croatia (1991)
The first of the Yugoslav socialist republics that seceded from Yugoslavia after the declaration of sovereignty on June 25, 1991. Slovenia proclaimed sovereignty on the same day. The declaration was the result of a fierce interethnic confrontation between Serbs and Croats.
The war in Croatia lasted until 1995, and ended in Operation Storm. Croatian forces liquidated Serbian Krajina and captured part of Western Bosnia. The original inhabitants were killed, and the survivors were forced to leave their lands. A year later, the territorial integrity of the country was restored.
Despite the protest statements of Serbia and Russia in 2009, Croatia became a full member of NATO, and in 2013 joined the European Union.
3
North Macedonia (1991)
In 1991, Macedonia adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty, and withdrew from the Socialist Yugoslavia. The new state was recognized by UN members, after which the Yugoslav authorities withdrew their troops from the territory of the Macedonian Republic.
The secession from Yugoslavia was peaceful, but at the beginning of the 21st century, confrontations between the army of the republic and the rebel army of Albania began. The conflict was put to an end by NATO intervention.
In 1993, at the insistence of Greece, the country was renamed to Northern Macedonia, and the official renaming of the country took place in 2019 after lengthy proceedings in international courts.
4
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992)
The historical regions of Southeastern Europe have come a long way in the political and state formation. There was a period of Turkish rule in history, accompanied by pressure on the church and ethnic identity. At the very end of 1945, these South Slavic territories became part of Yugoslavia.
As a result of the collapse of the socialist camp, Bosnia and Herzegovina separated from Yugoslavia, and on April 5, 1992 declared independence. Throughout the country, foci of bloody civil strife broke out. Bosnians fought with the Croats and Serbs, and in some regions, united with the Croats, fought against the indigenous Serb population. Ethnic confrontation was accompanied by sharp clashes on religious grounds.
In December 1995, NATO troops entered the country, and the conflict ended with the signing of peace. Under the Dayton Agreement, a single country was preserved, consisting of the Muslim-Croatian Federation and the Republika Srpska.
5
Slovakia (1993)
In 1989, the “Velvet Revolution” took place in Czechoslovakia, as a result of which the Slovak and Czech Federal Republic was created.
Two years after this, the authorities of the two federal entities decided to issue a peaceful divorce. On the first day of 1993, Slovakia declared independence, becoming an independent sovereign state of Eastern Europe.
Despite the agreement between the United States and Russia on the non-expansion of NATO to the East, Slovakia in March 2004 became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. May 1, 2004 joined the European Union, and since 2009 the European currency Euro has spread on its territory. Slovakia, like some other young countries in Europe, is one of the landlocked countries. We wrote about this in one of our articles.
6
Czech Republic (1993)
The twentieth century was the most tragic period in the history of the Czech Republic. After the First World War, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Czechoslovakia was formed, created without taking into account the ethnic factor.
In 1938, Czechoslovakia broke up, and the Czech Republic was occupied by German troops. After the liberation of these territories by Soviet troops, the Czechoslovak Soviet Socialist Republic was formed.
The crisis of the socialist system again led to the collapse of a single state, and on January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic became an independent state, formalizing a “velvet divorce” with Slovakia. The Czech Republic was the first of the post-Soviet states in 1999 to become a member of NATO.
7
Eritrea (1993)
The toponym "Eritrea" existed in antiquity, and was used in the meaning of "red". At the end of the 19th century, these territories were captured by Italy, and there was an educated Italian colony on them.
After the defeat of Italy in the war of 1939–1945, Eritrea became part of Ethiopia. In the 1960s, the population of the territories began an active rebel struggle for separation from Ethiopia. The positions of the Ethiopian state were greatly shaken with the beginning of the collapse of the countries of the socialist camp, namely the Soviet Union.
Under these conditions, in 1991, rebels led by Meles Zenawi captured Addis Ababa, and the Eritrean leader himself became president of the country. In 1993, after a referendum, Eritrea became an independent state, and it is led by a council of war veterans. As a result of these events, Ethiopia lost access to the ocean. A list of landlocked African countries is available on our site thebiggest.ru.
8
Republic of Palau (1994)
An island nation in the Philippine Sea, spread over 328 islands. The population is a little more than 21 thousand people, and the Republic consists of 16 states with the capital in the city of Ngerulmud.
Throughout history, territories have been controlled by different states. At first it was the Spanish colonies that Spain sold to Germany in 1899. During the military confrontation at the beginning of the twentieth century, Japan captured the islands. With the end of World War II, the island territories came under the external control of the United States.
In 1993, Palau signed the Free Association Agreement with the United States, and on November 1, 1994 independence was proclaimed. Palau has become one of the youngest states on the planet, formed in the twentieth century.
9
Timor Leste (1974)
A small state in Southeast Asia, located in the eastern part of Timor. In the lists of UN countries, it is listed under the name Timor-Leste.
In Tecum, the name of the country is translated as “rising sun”. In the XVI century, the Portuguese captured these lands, and in 1859 the island was divided between the Dutch and Portuguese. After the war, Timor remained a colony of Portugal until 1974, until it was captured by Indonesia.
A liberation movement began on the island, ending with the proclamation of independence on May 20, 2002. In 2006, riots broke out in the country, which they managed to end after the UN peacekeeping forces were deployed.
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Interesting fact! Do you know that some European countries have territories that are far removed from the main ones? For example, the Netherlands has several islands in the Caribbean, and France owns not only islands in the Caribbean, but also islands near Madagascar in Africa, as well as a vast territory on the South American continent. About such transcontinental states TheBiggest wrote a very interesting article.
10
Serbia (2006)
Serbia dates back to the VI century, but in 1945 the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, the collapse of which became very painful for the population of the Balkan Peninsula.
In the early 90's, ethnic conflicts began in the country, which led to a full-scale Civil War. In power was the Socialist Party, which was accused of ethnic crimes. In 1999, Belgrade began to bomb NATO troops, and then peacekeeping formations were conducted in Kosovo.
In 2006, the state union of Serbia and Montenegro broke up, and two independent states appeared on the map.
11
Montenegro (2006)
In most Western European languages, the name of the country is “Montenegro”, which translates as “Black Mountain”. It was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and after its collapse formed the Union with Serbia.
Each state had its own government, and only cooperated in the field of defense and internal security. Over time, each country introduced its own currency.
Later, an agreement was signed between Serbia and Montenegro, according to which Montenegro can become independent as a result of a national referendum. Such a referendum was held in May 2006, and Montenegro became independent. 55% of the population spoke in favor of sovereignty.
12
South Sudan (2011)
The territories of African Sudan were for many years owned by the authorities of Great Britain and Egypt. The British owned the southern part of the country, where the Christianization of the population was pursued, and Egypt had a great influence on the Islamic northern part of the country.
In 1956, Sudan declared independence, and the year before that a bloody Civil War broke out in its territories. It ended in 1972, but the northern authorities continued to exert pressure on the south of the country. In the south, a rebel army was created, which began to fight for independence. The Second Civil War ended in 2004, and in 2011, after a referendum, South Sudan resigned from the Sudan, declaring sovereignty. Despite the international community recognizing the new state, armed conflicts between the North and the South continue, but TheBiggest hopes that the parties will cool down as soon as possible and find compromises in all disagreements.
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Summarize
In conclusion, we note that in 1991, as a result of the collapse of the USSR, 15 new states appeared on the world map. A parade of sovereignty then captured the entire post-Soviet space, and on December 8, 1991, the Commonwealth of Independent States was created. It included Russia and a number of former republics of the USSR, and the Commonwealth acts on a voluntary basis.
Author: Valery Skiba.