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.
The map covers every region: North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and
Oceania. It also covers every era: the first Neolithic cultures, the Bronze and Iron
Ages, classical antiquity, the medieval world, the age of empires, and the modern
states of today. Over 2,600 polities are on the map, each with sourced dates,
borders, and curated books for further reading. Every one also has its own dedicated
page — browse all civilizations.
This is a living map and it 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 move 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
- The map continues to evolve as research is done and input is received.
Spot an error?
The data is the whole point, and corrections are welcome. If something looks
wrong or missing, use the Suggest a correction link at the top of the page.
Credits & licenses
© world-civ.com 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.
Modern Indigenous land boundaries are drawn from official national sources:
US Census TIGER/Line (public domain);
Canada — NRCan Aboriginal Lands and Indigenous Services Canada Inuit Regions, and the
Government of Alberta Métis Settlements (contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada / – Alberta);
Brazil — FUNAI Terras Indígenas;
Colombia — Agencia Nacional de Tierras resguardos (CC BY 4.0);
Argentina — INAI (CC BY 4.0);
Paraguay — INE (public domain);
Australia — National Native Title Tribunal and NT/SA land-rights datasets (CC BY);
New Caledonia — customary areas (data.gouv.nc, Licence Ouverte).
Approximate extents for other peoples are built from attested community locations; each frame notes its basis.
Thanks for visiting — enjoy exploring.