Countries That No Longer Exist

A country can cease to exist in several ways: it splits into successor states, it merges into another country, it is absorbed by a neighbour, or it simply renames itself so thoroughly that the old name drops out of use. Here are the notable disappearances of the modern era.

Dissolved into multiple successor states

• The Soviet Union (1922–1991) — dissolved into 15 independent republics, the largest being Russia, which was recognised as the legal continuator state.
• Yugoslavia (1918–1992, then a rump state until 2006) — became Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and, later, Kosovo.
• Czechoslovakia (1918–1992) — split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.
• Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) — collapsed after the First World War into Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and parts of Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Italy and Ukraine.

Merged into another country

• East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, 1949–1990) — absorbed into the Federal Republic of Germany at reunification.
• North Yemen and South Yemen (separate states, 1967–1990) — unified as the Republic of Yemen.
• North Vietnam and South Vietnam — reunified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976.
• Tanganyika and Zanzibar — merged in 1964 to form Tanzania.
• The United Arab Republic (1958–1961) — a short-lived union of Egypt and Syria.
• Sikkim — an independent kingdom until it joined India as a state in 1975.

Absorbed by a neighbour

• Tibet — ruled itself for much of the early 20th century; incorporated into the People's Republic of China in the 1950s.
• Newfoundland — a self-governing British dominion until it joined Canada as a province in 1949.
• The Republic of Texas (1836–1845) and the Kingdom of Hawaii (until 1898) — annexed by the United States.
• Tuva — an independent state from 1921 to 1944, then absorbed into the Soviet Union.

Same country, different name

These did not vanish so much as rebrand: Ceylon became Sri Lanka; Zaire became the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Burma became Myanmar; Upper Volta became Burkina Faso; Rhodesia became Zimbabwe; Persia became Iran; Siam became Thailand; Swaziland became Eswatini; South-West Africa became Namibia. See countries that changed their name for the full set.