This is a timeline of geopolitical changes around the world prior to 1500. It includes dates of

declarations of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independence, independent and constitutes a Sovereign state, state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or ...

, changes in country name, changes of

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

or name, and changes in territorial ownership such as the

annexation Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held t ...

, occupation,

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...

, concession, or

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of land. Territorial conquests as a result of war are included on the timeline at the conclusion of major

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from th ...

s, but changes in the course of specific battles and day-to-day operations are generally not included.

Before the Common Era (BCE)

Fourth Millennium BCE

From the

4th Millennium BCE File:4th millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: The Temple of Ġgantija, one of the oldest freestanding structures in the world; Warka Vase; Bronocice pot with one of the earliest known depictions of a wheeled vehicle; K ...

to the

2nd Millennium BCE File:2nd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Hammurabi, Babylonian king, best known for his code of laws; The gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun has become a symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization and its enduring leg ...

, hundreds of proto-cities in the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and the

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disp ...

transition into

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

s. Records of those geopolitical changes are complicated by mythologization,

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) scholarly views or narratives regarding a historical event, timespa ...

, missing information, lack of corroborating

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

s, and lack of archeological evidence. Consequently, the tables in that range are not comprehensive.

Third Millennium BCE

Second Millennium BCE

First Millennium BCE

Common Era (CE)

First Millennium CE

1st century

2nd century

3rd century

4th century

5th century

6th century

7th century

8th century

9th century

10th century

Second Millennium CE

11th century

12th century

13th century

14th century

15th century

Maps

File:East-Hem 001ad.jpg, Eastern Hemisphere in 1 File:World in 200 CE.PNG, World in 200 File:World in 300 CE.PNG, World in 300 File:World in 400 CE.png, World in 400 File:The world in 500 CE.PNG, World in 500 File:World in 700 CE.png, World in 700 File:World in 900 CE.png, World in 900

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Territorial evolution of the world Geography-related lists Geopolitics History-related lists Maps