Since the year 1990, 34 new countries have been created, many as a result of the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Others became new countries as a result of anticolonial and independence movements, including Eritrea and East Timor.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Fifteen new countries became independent when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) dissolved in 1991. Most of these countries declared independence a few months before the Soviet Union officially collapsed:

Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan

Former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s into five independent countries:

June 25, 1991: Croatia and Slovenia

Croatia and Slovenia September 8, 1991: Macedonia (officially The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) declared independence on this date, but wasn't recognized by the United Nations until 1993 and the United States and Russia until February of 1994.

Macedonia (officially The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) declared independence on this date, but wasn't recognized by the United Nations until 1993 and the United States and Russia until February of 1994. February 29, 1992: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina April 17, 1992: Serbia and Montenegro, also known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Other New Countries

Thirteen other countries became independent through a variety of circumstances, including independence movements: