An interactive historical atlas — watch the nations, kingdoms, empires and republics
of the world rise, spread and fall across nearly seven thousand years, from 5000 BC
to the present day.
This is a living roadmap, not a finished work.
The map grows and sharpens as research continues, so expect borders to shift and new
polities to appear over time.
What you can do here
- Travel through time. Drag the timeline at the bottom — or press play —
to scrub through the centuries and watch the map change.
- Explore any territory. Click a shape on the map to read who they were
and the years they held that land.
- Focus the view. Filter by region (World, Americas, Africa) and by type
— native nations, kingdoms & empires, colonies, and modern states.
- Follow the story. The Chronicle panel surfaces the key events at
whatever moment you're viewing.
Where it's going
- Expanding from the Americas toward a complete world atlas — Africa is
in, with Asia, Europe and Oceania to follow.
- More polities, sharper borders, and deeper sourcing with every pass.
Spot an error?
The data is the whole point, and corrections are genuinely welcome. If something looks
wrong or missing, use the Suggest a correction link at the top of the page.
Credits & licenses
© Civilizations Map contributors, data under
ODbL ·
Basemap Natural Earth (public domain) ·
Historical borders historical-basemaps
by A. Nacu (CC BY-SA 4.0) ·
Facts from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
and Wikidata (CC0) · Rendered with MapLibre.
Thanks for visiting — enjoy exploring.