# FIXME: character encoding doesn't work! # see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation # a < b / c a splits into b and c # a / b > c a and b join as c # a + b a joins b # a - b b splits from a # a = b a becomes b # a * b b becomes independent from a 1910-08-22 Korea + Japan 1939-06-23 Siam = Thailand 1970-01-75 Biafra + Nigeria 1970-06-04 United Kingdom * Tonga 1970-10-10 United Kingdom * Fiji 1971-09-01 United Arab Republic = Egypt 1971-09-03 United Kingdom * Qatar 1971-12-01 Trucial States < Abu Dhabi / Ajman / Dubai / Fujairah / Ras al-Khaimah / Sharjah / Umm al-Quwain 1971-12-02 Abu Dhabi / Ajman / Dubai / Fujairah / Sharjah / Umm al-Quwain > United Arab Emirates 1971-12-16 United Kingdom * Bahrain 1971-12-16 Pakistan - Bangladesh 1972-02-11 Ras al-Khaimah + United Arab Emirates 1972-05-22 Ceylon = Sri Lanka 1973-06-01 British Honduras = Belize 1973-07-10 United Kingdom * Bahamas 1974-02-07 United Kingdom * Grenada 1974-06-29 Tanna + New Hebrides 1974-09-10 Portugal * Guinea-Bissau 1975-04-17 Khmer Republic = Kampuchea 1975-05-16 Sikkim + India 1975-06-25 Portugal * Mozambique 1975-07-05 Portugal * Cape Verde 1975-07-06 France * Comoros 1975-07-12 Portugal * São Tomé and Príncipe 1975-09-16 Australia * Papua New Guinea 1975-08-01 Portugal - Cabinda 1975-11-11 Portugal * Angola 1975-11-11 Cabinda + Angola 1975-11-25 Netherlands * Suriname 1975-11-30 Dahomey = Benin 1976-01-01 Gilbert and Ellice Islands < Ellice Islands / Gilbert Islands 1976-06-29 United Kingdom * Seychelles 1976-07-02 North Vietnam / South Vietnam > Vietnam 1977-06-27 French Afar and Issas = Djibouti 1978 Pacific Islands - Northern Mariana Islands 1978-07-07 United Kingdom * Solomon Islands 1978-10-01 Ellice Islands = Tuvalu 1978-11-03 United Kingdom * Dominica 1979 French Southern and Antarctic Territories < Adélie Land / French Southern Territories 1979-02-22 United Kingdom * Saint Lucia 1979-06-01 Rhodesia = Zimbabwe Rhodesia 1979-07-12 Canton and Enderbury Islands / Gilbert Islands > Kiribati 1979-10-01 Panama Canal Zone + Panama 1979-06-01 Zimbabwe Rhodesia = Southern Rhodesia 1980-04-18 Southern Rhodesia = Zimbabwe 1980-05-26 Tafea + New Hebrides 1980-07-24 Vemerana + New Hebrides 1980-07-30 New Hebrides = Vanuatu 1982-08-13 Rwenzururu + Uganda 1983-09-19 Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla < Anguilla / Saint Kitts and Nevis 1984-01-01 United Kingdom * Brunei 1984-08-04 Upper Volta = Burkina Faso 1986 Johnston Island / Midway Islands / United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands / Wake Island > United States Minor Outlying Islands 1986-01-01 Netherlands Antilles - Aruba 1986-10-21 Pacific Islands - Marshall Islands 1986-11-03 Pacific Islands - Micronesia 1989-05-01 Kampuchea = Cambodia 1989-06-18 Burma = Myanmar 1990-03-11 Soviet Union - Lithuania 1990-05-04 Soviet Union - Latvia 1990-05-21 South Africa - Namibia 1990-05-22 North Yemen / South Yemen > Yemen 1990-10-03 East Germany / West Germany > Germany 1991 Neutral Zone + Iraq / Saudi Arabia 1991-04-08 Soviet Union - Georgia 1991-06-25 Yugoslavia - Slovenia 1991-08-20 Soviet Union - Estonia # The Byelorussian and Ukrainian SSRs had their own # ISO 3361-1 codes, being members of the United Nations 1991-08-24 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic = Ukraine 1991-08-25 Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic = Belarus 1991-08-27 Soviet Union - Moldova 1991-08-30 Soviet Union - Azerbaijan 1991-08-31 Soviet Union - Kyrgyzstan 1991-09-01 Soviet Union - Uzbekistan 1991-09-08 Yugoslavia - Macedonia 1991-09-09 Soviet Union - Tajikistan 1991-09-23 Soviet Union - Armenia 1991-10-08 Yugoslavia - Croatia 1991-10-27 Soviet Union - Turkmenistan 1991-12-16 Soviet Union - Kazakhstan 1991-12-25 Soviet Union = Russia 1992-03-01 Yugoslavia - Bosnia and Herzegovina 1993-01-01 Czechoslovakia < Czech Republic / Slovakia 1994-04-27 Bophuthatswana / Ciskei / Transkei / Venda + South Africa 1994-10-01 Pacific Islands = Palau 1997 Metropolitan France + France 1997-05-17 Zaire = Democratic Republic of the Congo 1998-12-24 Bougainville + Papua New Guinea 2000-02-06 Chechnia + Russia 2002-03-10 Anjouan / Mohéli + Comoros 2002-05-20 East Timor = Timor-Leste 2003-02-04 Yugoslavia = Serbia and Montenegro 2006-06-05 Serbia and Montenegro < Serbia / Montenegro 2008-02-17 Serbia - Kosovo 2010-10-10 Netherlands Antilles < Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba / Curaçao / Sint Maarten 2011-07-09 Sudan - South Sudan