The document provides brief histories of 20 former countries, states, empires and kingdoms from around the world that no longer exist as independent entities. Some of the places described include the USSR, Yugoslavia, Rhodesia, East Germany, Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, North and South Vietnam, South Arabia, Tuva, Tibet, the United Arab Republic, the Ottoman Empire, Sikkim, the Confederacy, East Pakistan, Gran Colombia, the Holy Roman Empire, Hawaii, Korea and Prussia. Many fractured or were absorbed by other nations due to factors like civil wars, nationalist sentiments, decolonization and changes in global politics and power dynamics over centuries.

1. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established in northern
Eurasia, stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean. Toward the end
of its reign, the communist country comprised 15 Eurasian republics encompassing
over 100 distinct nationalities and was geographically the largest country in the world.
The USSR was a major superpower that nearly came to nuclear blows with the United
States during the Cold War. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and many of the
republics within it declared their independence.

2. Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (Land of South Slavs) was located in Europe on the west-central Balkan
Peninsula. Once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Yugoslavia was first established
in 1918, but called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. It became the Kingdom
of Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, the monarchy was dissolved, and the country
became communist, under the rule of Josip Tito. After his death in 1980, it succumbed
to ethnic tensions and a brutal civil war. In the mid-1990s, Yugoslavia separated into
seven distinct states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo,
Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

3. Rhodesia
Located in south-central Africa in the region that is now known
as Zimbabwe and Zambia, Rhodesiabecame a self-declared yet unrecognized
country in 1965. Rhodesia was administered by the British South Africa Company
seeking gold, copper, and coal, until the country gained independence in 1979
following the 14-year Rhodesian Bush War.

4. German Democratic Republic
After World War II, the Allies divided Germany and its capital of Berlin into east and west,
creating the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany. The socialist
country was under Soviet control until 1990, when it was reunited with West Germany,
after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

5. Austria-Hungary
Created in 1867 through a union of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of
Hungary, Austria-Hungary included 11 different ethnic groups, was the largest Catholic-
led empire of its time, and lasted until 1918. The empire eventually succumbed to
nationalist sentiments, becoming the separate nations of Austria, Hungary, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

6. Czechoslovakia
After Austria-Hungary separated into distinct nations at the end of World War
I, Czechoslovakia, located in central Europe, was created in 1918 and included
Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. The formerly stable country then fell under Nazi rule,
followed by Soviet occupation. Communism in Czechoslovakia eventually came to a
peaceful end after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, and the country divided into the
Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, with the Czech Republic keeping the flag.

7. North and South Vietnam
Vietnam was a French colony during World War II, but occupied by the Japanese
Empire. After Japan lost the war, the Vietnamese were able to oust the French, but in
1954, at the Geneva Conference, the country was divided into north and south—
communist and non-communist respectively. What ensued was a long, bloody war
involving the North, the South, and the United States, as well as
smaller contingents from South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. The U.S.
finally pulled out in 1973, after which North Vietnam seized Saigon in 1975,
and Vietnam was reunited under a communist government.

8. Federation of South Arabia
The Federation of South Arabia, located on the Arabian Peninsula, was created in 1962,
comprised 17 states, and was under British protectorate. The Federation was abolished
after gaining independence. It merged with the Protectorate of South Arabia to
become South Yemen in 1967, which in 1990 unified with North Yemen to become
what we know of today as Yemen.

9. Tuvan People’s Republic
In 1921, with Russia’s support, Bolsheviks created the Tuvan People’s Republic, which was
only recognized as independent by the Soviet Union and Mongolia. The state lasted until
1944, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union, and today the territory of Tannu Tuva,
known as the Tuva Republic (pictured is the modern-day Tuva flag), is part of the Russian
Federation.

10. Tibet
Before the 1950s, Tibet (in central Asia) was a unique cultural and religious community, with
little communication or economic activity with other countries, although various protection
pacts were negotiated with its neighbours over time, including various Mongol and Chinese
dynasties. Because of this, China has long believed that Tibet has been a rightful part of
China for centuries and, in 1950, began a long and bloody campaign to incorporate it into
their country. Many Tibetans, especially those outside the country, consider this action to
be an invasion and the continued Chinese presence to be an occupation by a foreign
power. In recent times, the Chinese government has used economic incentives to spur Han
Chinese migration to the Tibetan plateau in an attempt to further incorporate the region
into the Chinese state.

11. United Arab Republic
The intentional union of Egypt and Syria was proclaimed in 1958, but ended quickly in
1961, after a military coup when Syria declared itself independent. Egypt, however, kept
the name until 1971. The republic was created by Gamal Abdel Nasser, who hoped it
would one day include the entire Arab world, which had been divided by colonial
powers after World War I.

12. Ottoman Empire
Spanning more than 600 years, from about 1300 to 1922, the Ottoman Empirewas one
of the longest and largest empires, at one point controlling parts of the Middle East,
Eastern Europe, and North Africa. The empire’s reign is famous for its power and Islamic
nature, as well as outstanding achievements in the arts, science, medicine, and
architecture, but its demise came with the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution.
The empire was finally abolished by the Treaty of Sèvres.

13. Kingdom of Sikkim
The Kingdom of Sikkim was a sovereign nation established by the Namgyal dynasty in
1642 in what is now northeast India, in the eastern Himalayas. It was ruled by chogyals
(temporal and spiritual kings), but became a British protectorate in 1890, and then an
Indian one. In 1975, India deposed Sikkim’s monarchy and, in a special referendum, the
people voted in favour of becoming a state of India.

14. Confederate States of America
From 1861 to 1865, the southern states separated from the union, after Abraham Lincoln
became president of the United States. Eleven states formed the Confederate States of
America in the hopes of keeping slavery legal to support their plantation-based
economy. Their president was Jefferson Davis. The North and South fought one another
in the American Civil War that killed 750,000. The war was eventually won by the North,
which brought the Confederacy and slavery in the United States to an end.

15. East Pakistan
East Pakistan’s short life—just 17 years—was rife with turmoil. Located on what is today
known as Bangladesh, the Islamic republic of East Pakistan was previously under British
rule. Not long after it came into being in 1955, however, there was a coup d’état
followed by martial law. In 1970, Pakistan held its first federal general election, but the
winning party won all its seats in East Pakistan and none in West Pakistan, which led to
Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declaring independence from Pakistan, the nearly year-long
Bangladesh Liberation War, the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, and eventually the birth of
Bangladesh.

16. Gran Colombia
This short-lived republic in South America and southern Central America existed from
1819 to 1830, and broadly included the modern-day countries of Colombia, Panama,
Venezuela, and Ecuador. Gran Colombia’s short life was beset by conflict, in particular
between President Simón Bolívar (pictured is a statue of him) and those who wanted a
decentralized, federal form of government. Bolívar eventually resigned in the face of
increasing support for the federalist constitution. The result was the dissolution of Gran
Colombia and the establishment of the independent states of Venezuela, Ecuador, and
New Granada.

17. The Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire spanned more than a thousand years, beginning in AD 800
with the crowning of Charlemagne (pictured is a statue of him) as the first Holy Roman
Emperor by Pope Leo III and ending in 1806. Spread across western and central Europe,
the empire was vast in size and therefore decentralized, giving the regions much
autonomy, while defending Europe from Muslim invasion and providing troops for the
crusades. The empire was eventually destroyed by Napoleon

18. Kingdom of Hawaii
In 1795, the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Molokai, and Lanai united under a single
government. By 1810, the entire archipelago had joined the Kingdom of Hawaii, ruled by
two dynasties until it became a republic. It was annexed by the United States in 1898.
The U.S. then built a naval base at Pearl Harbor, which was later bombed by Japan
during World War II. Hawaii finally became the 50th state to join the union in 1959.

19. Korea
According to legend, Korea’s first kingdom was established around 2300 BCE. For nearly
4,200 years, the shape and leadership of the regions of the Korean Peninsula changed
many times. The first modern Korean Empire was established in 1897 by King Gojong,
making him emperor. But his rule was to be short-lived as Japan annexed Korea in 1910.
At the end of the Second World War, with Japan surrendering to the Allied Forces, the
annexation ended, and the leadership of Korea passed to the Provisional Government of
the Republic of Korea. Soon after, with the fundamental shifts in global politics, Korea
was divided at the 38th parallel into two occupation zones—the north administered by
the Soviet Union, and the south by the United States. Attempts were made by the United
Nations to establish a single, democratically elected government for the entire region,
but these calls were ignored by the Soviets. The result was the 1948 establishment of the
Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North
Korea). Both of these states were officially recognized by the United Nations in 1991.

20. Prussia
Set on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the kingdom was ruled by the German
Hohenzollern dynasty from 1701. Over the years, Prussia expanded in size and
sovereignty by its military might, seizing much of northern Germanyand western Poland
in the 18th and 19th centuries. The state was eventually abolished by the Allies after
World War II as Germany was divided and Prussia was divvied up, with much of the
territory going to the Soviet Union and Poland.