A historical sovereign state is a state that once existed, but has since been dissolved due to conflict, war, rebellion, annexation, or uprising. This page lists sovereign states, countries, nations, or empires that ceased to exist as political entities sometime after 1453, grouped geographically and by constitutional nature.

Criteria for inclusion

The criteria for inclusion in this list are similar to that of the list of states with limited recognition. To be included here, a polity must have claimed statehood and either: This is not a list for all variant governments of a state, nor is it a list of variations of countries' official long form name. For purposes of this list, the cutoff between medieval and early modern states is the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Ancient and medieval states

Modern states and territories by geography

Africa

Morocco (Maghreb al-Aqsa)

Egypt, Sudan and Libya

Algeria (Central Maghreb)

Comoro Islands

Madagascar

Sub-Saharan Africa

Horn of Africa

Western Africa

African Great Lakes

Eastern Africa

Central Africa

Southern Africa

Asia

Central Asia

East Asia

Japanese Archipelago

Korean Peninsula

West Asia

Afghanistan

Balochistan

Anatolia

Cyprus

Mesopotamia

Persia/Iran

Levant

Arabian Peninsula

South Asia

Southeast Asia

Europe

Nordic countries

In the Nordic countries, unions were personal, not unitary

Modern France

Modern Germany

Austria

Switzerland

Italy

Modern United Kingdom

Ireland

Benelux

Poland

Ukraine

Crimea

Baltic countries and Belarus

Romania and Moldova

Russia

Hungary

Czechia and Slovakia

Austria

Balkans

Caucasus

Iberian Peninsula

North America

Anguilla

Bahamas

Canada

Dominican Republic

Guatemala

Haiti

Mexico

United States

Oceania

South America

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Paraguay

Peru

Uruguay

Venezuela

Modern states and territories by type

Dismembered countries

These states are now dissolved into a number of states.

Nominally independent homelands of South Africa

Four of the homelands, or bantustans, for black South Africans, were granted nominal independence by the apartheid regime of South Africa. Not recognised by other nations, these effectively were puppet states and were re-incorporated in 1994.

Secessionist states

These nations declared themselves independent, but failed to achieve it in fact or did not seek permanent independence and were either re-incorporated into the mother country or incorporated into another country.

Annexed countries

These nations, once separate, are now part of another country. Cases of voluntary accession are included.