This post will take you through a list of actual countries that do not exist anymore. Some people often question whether a country can disappear. The myth of Atlantis, an ancient empire that sank in the sea, is still fresh in the memories of many. There are more ways than just that which caused actual countries to cease to exist.

Yugoslavia

The union of the slavs of the southern Europe began as a kingdom in 1918. Following its resillience in the face of the two world wars, Yugoslavia had its first ever elected president ‘Josip Broz Tito’. The kingdom was known as Social Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ever since.

Tito could only bind the country together until his death in 1980. Communisim, nationalism and state autonomy caused deadly ethnic wars but Yugoslavia eventually ceased to exist in 2003 once the national states were made independent.









Siam

Commonly known as Muang Thai (the heir to kingdom of Ayutthaya) by its residents, Siam is the only country which no European power attempted to colonize. The name ‘Siam’ is actually an exonym – a reference to a place where an ethnic group resides.

We now know it as Thailand; a name it got back in 1949.

Soviet Union









Formed in 1922, the Soviet Union aka U.S.S.R. The country was unique in the sense that it came into existence under the ideology of communism. This ideology could not completely follow through in modern history which led to a governmental and economic reform in 1986 called Perestroika.

This eventually resulted in its dissolution in 1991.

Ceylon

Sri Lanka has been colonized on multiple occassions in the past, first by the Portugese in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch and the Brtish. Commonly known as Ceylon by the Europeans, it became independent in 1948 while remaining a British dominion in the Commonwealth.

It only took the government of Ceylon to repudiate its status of dominion to become the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in 1959.

United Arab Republic

The U.A.R came into being in 1958 as a result of escalating concerns about Syria becoming a communist nation. Egyptian president ‘Gamal Abdel Nasser’ was the first and only president of the country that was perceived as a pan-Arab state.

It was his government that introduced social justice, centralization as well as nationalization reforms before declaring Syria an independent state three years later.

Tibet

Declared independent in 1913, Tibet has always had conflicting ties with China. It was the heir of the Tibetian Empire which came into being in the seventh century.

It continued into existence as a separate country unti 1951 when it became the People’s Republic of China.

East/West Germany

After the World War II allies divided Germany into four, a couple of soverign countries known as East and West Germany were established in 1949. For the next four decades, the Berlin Wall created an artificial separation between the two which even set the tone for a cold war.

Ultimately, East and West Germany stopped existing as two since Germany was unified.

Czechoslovakia

First invaded by Nazis and then by the Soviets, Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918. It was known for a sound system of democracy but its geographic location putting it in the center of Europe coupled with the ethnic deiversity made it tough for Czechoslovakia to remain intact in the twentieth century.

The country is especially known for two developments. Firstly, the Velvet Revolution in 1989 transformed the communist regime into a parliamentary republic without any violence. Secondly, the government managed to solve nationalistic concerns in 1982 courtesy of a peaceful dissolution of the nation into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.

Did we miss any of the actual countries that do not exist anymore? Let us know in the comments below.

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