This thread is to discuss how many new countries will emerge or how many countries will lose their existence around 100 years from now. Before a hundred years, there were few independent countries, due to British and European imperialism. By 1960s, many Asian and African countries achieved independence and the number of countries increased from less than a hundred to around 150. Currently, the number of countries are 196+ and still increasing slowly, latest being East Timor. 1990s gave birth to lots of new nations, like the former Soviet bloc, splinters from Yugoslavia, Eritrea, etc.

The formation and dissolution of states involves a lot of factors like politics, language, religion, race and even geography. Its amazing how the world map (not me) is changing every century. In the eighteenth and ninteenth centuries, the world was ruled by petty rulers, since there was less development in communications, aviation, etc. Then European imperialism colonized rest of the world.

How do you think the world map(not me again!!) will look like a hundred years from now?

Are you interested in discussing the fate of the past nations which faded in history and possibilities of new nations that can emerge?

This is interesting thread. My point of view is that the concern of human rights and the rights of minority particularly the rights of ethno-languistic groups since the end of the Second World War have provided a bases for the emergence of new state and it will continue until and unless such groups lose thier ethno-linguistic identity. But the interesting thing is that such identity is very hard to forget. The Jews get organized after more than 2000 years of dispersement. Therefore, even ifSikkim is integreated into India for some time, I will not surprise if the indegenous Sikkim identity will emerge and those people will have thier own state.
regarding Nepal, i fear the same since there are so many regions especially Tarai region and the midwestern and far western developmental regions. In order to survive, a nation state should administer all regions within territory and people should be integrated into development and political processes.

I say there will be a billion fukin countries...no exaggeration...a billion fukin countries..

The newly reinstated Emperor of Ethiopia started to gain influence in Eritrea by using the tactics of interference in the religious affairs, manipulation of the political parties and terrorism. The formal armed war of Eritrea against Ethiopia started in 1961, which in thirty years, Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), was able to win by 1991.In 1993, the UN sponsored referendum for Independence of Eritrea was held on April 23rd to 25th, in which 99% votes were cast for independence.


here, how could Halie Selasie (Sp?) of Ethiopia could take control of Eritrea? The answer is: The US supported Ethipia's claim on Eritria as a way to gain an ally during the Cold War. Selaise was pro-Ameriacn. He attended JFK's funeral so he could be trusted and the horn of Africa due to strategic consdierations remained high on the US cold war agenda.

The Eritreans suffered. They did not want to be under the emperor nor the brutal militray dictator who took over later. There struggle coupled with famine and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ethiopian regime is well documented in Robert Kaplan's (one of my fav. writers) book Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. Its a wonderful read. [Not only it talks about Eritrea and its inhabitants and their gallantry, it also talks about the food-aid politics of the western power].


I think, this thread would go down on Sajha history as one of the best thread, if you cite your sources for the information and the maps. Just a suggestion.

one of the best thread= one of ther best threads.

After a long break, I am again into this thread. Today, I feel like discussing something about Yugoslavia to start with.

Yugoslavia was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, which resulted in the introduction of Islam and it expanded to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 15th century. In the 16th century, Slovenia and Croatia came under the influence of Austria and Roman Catholicism was introduced. In the 19th century, Russia defeated the Turks, as a result Serbia was granted independence. But Kosovo and Macedonia remained in the control of the Turks. The Austro-Hungarian Empire got control of Bosnia-Herzegovina and retained Croatia and Slovenia.
With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empire, and the end of the first World War, Yugoslavia came under the dictatorship of king Alexander, whose dictatorship included Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The Croats established a fascist separatist movement called the Ustase to promote their independence. During the second World War, the Nazis conquered Yugoslavia and the country was partitioned. The fascist Ustase established a puppet Nazi state and exterminated large numbers of Serbian Orthodox believers, Jews and Gypsies.
After the second World War, there was a civil war to which around 1 million Yugoslavs succumbed to death. During 1945 to 1980, Joseph Tito unified 6 republics into a communist dictatorship which was independent from USSR. He successfully suppressed the religious rivalry among the Roman Catholics, Serbian Orthodox and the Muslims during his lifetime. After Tito?s death in 1980, the centuries old religious rivalry began unfolding, and as a result, disintegration of Yugoslavia began.
Slovenia got independence in 1990, Croatia and Macedonia in 1991 and Bosnia in 1992. A civil war among Croats, Serbs and Muslims erupted showing the horrific pictures of the situation to the world. In 1995, the Dayton Accord, brokered by the U.S. established a fragile peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As of 1999 April, Yugoslavia consists of only four provinces, Vojvodina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Sources:
www.religioustolerance.org/yugo_his.htm
www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/Yugoslav_History.asp

Map source:
http://www.dunav.org.il/images/maps/map_yugoslavia.jpg

J BHAYE PANI 2100 A.D. MA CHAI NEPAL BHANNE DESH INDIA KO PARIBESH BHANERA DEKHA PARNA SAKNE CHANCE DHERAI DEKHDAI CHU MA...

TARA YESTO CHAI NA HOS BHANI PRATHANA MATRAI GARNA SAKCHU MA..
UNLESS THERE IS A MORALLY OROTUND PERSON WHO CAN LEAD AND I WILL SURELY FOLLOW...!!!!!!!!

I wish there would be no country in 2100 AD.Narrow walls of nationalism that exists in our mind and pointless beliefs in one's superiority and inferiority has only given birth to violence and wars.
I would love to border-less worls by 2100 AD.Humans living in peace and harmony rather than guns and violence.All the countries should get rid of their defense department like the one in Costa Rica starting with the "dada-giri"institution of pentagon.Why do we need money to buy M-16's when we have people dying?Because we have to protect our borders...enough with this ego-oriented world.Is sky divided?

Well said izen. I would love that if it happens..not in 100 years, but could take centuries to get people with broader minds.

Thanks Dreamz_luver,
You may say I am a dreamer but (I know),I am not the only one....
:)
iZen

Dear Izen, Namaste

Well, I say u dear even without knowing u in deatil, hope u wont mind. I could have sent u a mail but I prefer to send u through this SAJHA ko chautari.

Well, I ve been follwing some of ur threads and that made me think something serioul, If im not wrong ur spiritually inclinded person with many unsolved questions. Can I say u ve a mysterious soul??? do u often go for Meditation? Have u been to Vipashana? Osho Dham???

Hey Izen, life of course is something deeper than what we all perceive and dream, Ive also got puzzled many times abt this strange phenomena.... All the dreams and desiers are just fake the ulitmate goal is MOKSHA, ENLIGHTMENT which only can be accomplished through MEDITATIO.... Im sure u know it all...

Well, hope to hear from u.


Truly
Amazing

iZen - "Is sky divided?"

Isn't ? Isn't it all about no fly zone, this fly zone and that fly zone ?
.
If there will be one country, one rule, that means end of the mankind. Do you think everybody will properous, and botherhood will flourish. No way Brother.. Recall what happened in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Burundi.. Ethic Cleansing.. U will see that if there would just be one land.. either muslim or christian..We will be extinct.. Or may be chinese will rule after all they out number any population..

Very interesting topic. Thanks world map for taking initiatives in this topic.

Pisces, izen; Is sky divided could be another sajha topics.

Isn't it crazy people are actually dividing, using, fking, playing, messing up things that don't even belong to them? It's like you are out there in a wilderness and you suddenly see a beautiful yet deserted house. You take over the house and refrain others from getting in. And on the top of that they will also throw some moral punchlines.

Dear Amazing,
Thanks for your kind words and following my threads.If I have a mysterious soul is a mystery too.How would I know?Never been too a formal meditation classes but I find refuge to single-mindedness whenever my mind is calm.I always had an urge to go up to Nagarjun for Vipassana classes while living in Nepal.Unfortunately never made it upthere.
Life itself is a strange phenomena I agree.I think I am simply taking infant steps at this point.And am light years away from the mokshya.At the same time this is my crawling period here at sajha I am enjoying it as much as I am learning.I wouldn't be asking questions If I had known it all ....:)
Shoot me an e-mail if thats more comfortable..
iZen

How if extraterrestrials start invading earth? That could lead the people living in earth towards a 'global unity'. ...huh..?

The world as we know it today has come a long long way from what it used to be.. Pangaea. There is no knowing what the leaders will bring us down to.Wisdom is a rare commodity among those who do have the power. So que sera sera...;)

Gone with the wind..

I would like to thank all the friends who have read and commented on this thread. Today, we shall travel to one of the newest countries in the world, East Timor.

East Timor, the newest country in the world, was formally born on May 20, 2002, which experienced a series of tumultuous struggle in the hands of various foreign forces. In the 16th century, the Portuguese and Dutch traders made the first western presence in East Timor. Portuguese and Dutch in the western end of the island battled for influence in Kupang until the present day border was set in 1915. Japan occupied the island from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War. In 1941, the Australian and Dutch forces had briefly occupied East Timor. When the Japanese landed there and drove the Australian and Dutch forces out of Dili, there was a guerrilla war, which resulted in 40,000 to 70,000 deaths. Portuguese control was reinstated following the end of the War.

In 1974, there was a military coup in Lisbon which led to rapid decolonization of its colonies like Mozambique, Angola including Portuguese Timor. East Timor unilaterally declared independence on November 28, 1975, but nine days later, Indonesian forces invaded and occupied it before this could be internationally recognized. Indonesia alleged that the popular East Timorese Fretilin party as being communist. US, losing Vietnam war, supported Indonesia along with Australia. The Indonesian occupation was characterised by brutal suppression of the East Timorese people. Estimate of the number of Timorese who lost their lives to violence and hunger during the Indonesian occupation range from 100,000 to 250,000. Following a UN-sponsored agreement between Indonesia, Portugal and the US, on August 30, 1999, a United Nations-supervised popular referendum was held, the East Timorese voted for full independence from Indonesia which was 78% with 98.6% turnout.

On May 20, 2002, East Timor was declared independent and joined UN September 27 of that year. Hence, the youngest nation, East Timor was born.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor
http://www.historyofnations.net/asia/easttimor.html

Map source:
http://www.etan.org/timor/graphics/areamap.gif

Belize, formerly called British Honduras, is a thinly populated Atlantic rainforest, bordering Mexico in the northwest and Guatemala in the west. In the colonial era, the Spanish and the British had dispute over the land, however British had the upper hand. Since 1798, British made Belize their colony though Spain and Guatemala did not accept it and because of ill-defined borders, Guatemala attempted to annex Belize. In 1840, the English Law was declared to be valid in Belize. It gained strategic importance because of the possibility of canal through the isthmus. In 1850, Britain and US signed a treaty according to which Britain agreed not to colonize any more of the Central American land. In 1854, Belize was granted a constitution, which brought about the establishment of Legislative Assembly. It was granted the status of colony in 1862 and from 1862 to 1884, it was administered from Jamaica. In 1871, it was declared a Crown Colony.

As Belize moved towards independence, the tension between Britain and Guatemala grew because Guatemala had long been claiming the territory as part of its inheritance from Spain. In 1964, it gained complete internal self-governance and in 1981 Belize achieved independence. Guatemala threatened war against Belize. However, relations improved and Guatemala officially accepted Belize?s independence and sovereignty in September 1991. The poorly defined border between Guatemala and Belize continued to create tension. In 2000, under the sponsorship of the Organization of the American States, Belize and Guatemala began negotiations to end their territorial dispute, and in 2002 they reached agreement on a draft settlement, which must be approved by national referendums.

Sources:
http://www.belizenet.com/history/toc.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/section/belize_history.asp

Map source:
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/travel/dg/maps/d6/750x750_belize_m.gif

Today, lets travel back into history, into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was established in 1867 by the union of two empires, Austria and Hungary. The increasing waves of national unification in Germany and Italy challenged the dominance of Austria?s Habsburg monarchy in Europe. While Germany and Italy were each coming together, Austria was crumbling apart fast. Austria?s defeat at the hands of French and Piedmont forces in 1859 and its overwhelming loss to Prussia in Seven Week?s War aggravated its influence in Europe. Faced with a rapidly modernizing Germany and unified Italy, Austria sought a new political partner to overcome them.

In 1848, the Magyar leaders of Hungary and the Czech leaders of Bohemia had asserted independence from Austria, but Austrian military crushed the Czechs while Magyars remained firm. Later, Austria with the help of 100,000 Russian troops took control over the defiant Magyars. Though the revolution was crushed, the Hungarian nationalistic sentiment remained intact which was a problem for the ruling Austrians. So, after ruling Hungary for 150 years, Austrians offered the Magyars the promise of equal power. With the passage of the Settlement of 1867, known as Ausgleich, Austria became the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a dual monarchy. In a ceremony held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, the Austrian Habsburg ruler Franz Josef received the crown of St. Stephen, Hungary?s first king.

The Habsburg Empire was now divided into to parts: the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, both ruled by the Habsburg monarch centred in Vienna. The empire retained its place as a great power in Europe. But the heterogenous nature of the empire was the cause of its failure. The minorities like Croats and Serbs sought their national identities and tried to separate, but the state took the path of repression. Even Hungary sought independence from Austria. This repression caused the birth of the pan-Slavic terrorist groups such as the Black Hand which was responsible for assassination of the Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand in 1914, which triggered the First World War. This war marked the end of the existence of Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Following the First World War, new borders were set by the treaties of Saint Germain-en-Laye and Trianon. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had utterly transformed itself into a much smaller state. From this great Empire, smaller nations were produced, which were Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Romania and Poland annexed some portions of this once great Empire.

Sources:
http://www.beyondbooks.com/eur12/2d.asp
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/AUT/aut-hun.html

Map source:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~menzak/maps/map-ah.jpg

Today, I would like to wander somewhere near to our home, a beautiful land with an ugly history, precarious present and equally uncertain future: Kashmir. Kashmir passed through the control of the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan and series of Muslim rules under the Moghuls, Persians and Afghans to the conquering Sikh army during the nineteenth century. The Dogras, who were predominantly hindu people around Jammu, ruled Kashmir during the latter part of the nineteenth century, since 1846. They were installed as the kings by the Sikh rulers and paid tribute to them. Dogras were the part of the Sikh Empire which rose following the collapse of the Durrani Empire. The Sikh Empire suddenly crumbled before the English forces, thus the Dogras purchased independence from the British and began to rule over the kingdoms of Kashmir, Ladakh and Emirates of the north. The Dogras kings, who originally ruled only from Jammu, now also started ruling from Srinagar in the summer. As a result, Dogra kingdom developed into a sort of ?Dual Monarchy?, the Dogra kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir, a very beautiful valley, has a long tradition of being one of the centres of Hindu philosophical, literary and religious cultures.

After the partition of the former British colony into the Hindu majority India and Muslim majority Pakistan, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, though having a Muslim majority, was ruled by the Hindu Dogra rulers, opted to remain a part of India. Pakistan and other Muslims believed this to illegal. India and Pakistan have fought three wars for Kashmir, in 1947, 1965 and 1971. India has ignored the call for a referendum to decide Kashmir?s fate because she fears that the result would go on to Pakistan?s favour, due to the majority of Muslim population. There has been regular human rights violations, murder, rape and crime in Kashmir which reflects discontent of the local residents. Some groups are spreading terror, demanding an independent Kashmir.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir
http://www.boogieonline.com/revolution/multi/war/kashmir/history.html

Map source:
http://www.pakwatan.com/main/government/kashmir.gif