This is a timeline of geopolitical changes around the world prior to 1500. It includes dates of declarations of independence, changes in country name, changes of capital city or name, and changes in territorial ownership such as the annexation, occupation, cession, concession, or secession of land. Territorial conquests as a result of war are included on the timeline at the conclusion of major military campaigns, 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 to the 2nd Millennium BCE, hundreds of proto-cities in the Near East, Egypt, and the Indus Valley transition into city-states. Records of those geopolitical changes are complicated by mythologization, historical revisionism, missing information, lack of corroborating primary sources, 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
See also Timeline of national independence Geopolitics – Study of geography's effects on politics List of administrative division name changes List of city name changes List of national border changes (1914–present) Lists of political entities by century Sovereign state – State having the highest authority over a territory List of former sovereign states List of sovereign states List of sovereign states by date of formation List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent Political history of the world
References
Bibliography Chua, Amy (2018). Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0399562853. Ryholt, Kim S.B.; Bülow-Jacobsen, Adam (1997). The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c. 1800-1550 B.C. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 978-87-7289-421-8. Shaw, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
