Borders over time
The Middle East’s borders, 2000 BCE to 2024
Babylon, Assyria and Persia, Alexander and his successors, the caliphates, the Ottomans and the modern states drawn after the First World War.
every year drawn: 4,024 years
the borders change in 479 of them
Loading 4,024 years of borders…
2000BCE
Largest on the map
Elam, Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Sumerian City-States, Indus Valley Civilization
The big changes, year by year
177 changesEvery year in which a large state — over 100,000 km² inside this view — appears on the map or vanishes from it. Smaller shifts happen in many more years; press play above to see them all.
- 1600 BCE
Gone: Middle Kingdom of Egypt
- 1500 BCE
New: Mitanni, New Kingdom of Egypt
- 1220 BCE
Gone: Babylonia
- 1200 BCE
New: Babylonia
- 1150 BCE
- 1100 BCE
New: Babylonia
- 1000 BCE
New: Kingdom of Kush
- 900 BCE
New: Neo-Assyrian Empire
- 800 BCE
New: Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
Gone: New Kingdom of Egypt, Babylonia
- 700 BCE
Gone: Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt, Kingdom of Urartu
- 675 BCE
Gone: Phrygia
- 650 BCE
New: Babylonia, Assyrian Egypt
- 630 BCE
Gone: Babylonia
- 615 BCE
New: Kingdom of Urartu, Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, Median Kingdom, Babylonia
Gone: Assyrian Egypt
- 600 BCE
New: Neo-Babylonian Empire
Gone: Neo-Assyrian Empire, Babylonia
- 550 BCE
New: Achaemenid Empire
Gone: Kingdom of Urartu, Median Kingdom
- 540 BCE
Gone: Lydia
- 530 BCE
Gone: Neo-Babylonian Empire
- 500 BCE
Gone: Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
- 383 BCE
New: Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- 337 BCE
Gone: Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- 331 BCE
New: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 326 BCE
New: Kingdom of Armenia
Gone: Achaemenid Empire
- 323 BCE
New: Laomedon, Perdiccas
Gone: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 318 BCE
New: Seleucid Empire
Gone: Laomedon, Perdiccas
- 315 BCE
Gone: Seleucid Empire
- 307 BCE
- 281 BCE
Gone: Kingdom of Lysimachus
- 239 BCE
New: Parthian Empire
- 210 BCE
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 197 BCE
New: Ankhwennefer
- 188 BCE
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 170 BCE
Gone: Ankhwennefer
- 164 BCE
New: Nabataeans
Gone: Atropatene
- 126 BCE
Gone: Kingdom of Pergamon
- 66 BCE
Gone: Minaeans
- 31 BCE
Gone: Roman Republic
- 30 BCE
New: Roman Empire
- 27 BCE
Gone: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 60
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 68
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 114
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 154
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 161
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 165
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 238
Gone: Parthian Empire
- 260
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 261
New: Palmyrene Empire
- 270
New: Lakhmid Kingdom
Gone: Palmyrene Empire
- 287
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 347
New: Alodia, Nobatia
Gone: Kingdom of Kush
- 371
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 387
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 395
New: Eastern Roman Empire
Gone: Roman Empire
- 396
New: Huns
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 402
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 407
Gone: Huns
- 439
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 451
New: Kingdom of Armenia
- 490
Gone: Kingdom of Armenia
- 510
New: Ghassanids
- 561
Gone: White Huns
- 602
Gone: Lakhmid Kingdom, Himyarite Kingdom
- 617
Gone: Ghassanids
- 629
New: Ghassanids, Lakhmid Kingdom
- 633
- 634
Gone: Lakhmid Kingdom, Ghassanids
- 644
Gone: Sasanian Empire
- 656
New: Umayyad Caliphate
Gone: Nobatia
- 666
Gone: Rashidun Caliphate
- 750
New: Abbasid Caliphate
- 751
Gone: Umayyad Caliphate
- 825
New: Shirvan
- 840
Gone: Shirvan
- 866
New: Ziyadid dynasty
- 875
New: Tulunids
- 900
Gone: Saffarid Dynasty
- 911
Gone: Tulunids
- 936
New: Hamdanid Emirates, Buyid Dynasty
- 947
New: Abbasid Caliphate/Buyid Dynasty
Gone: Buyid Dynasty
- 970
New: Buyid Dynasty
Gone: Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate/Buyid Dynasty
- 1000
Gone: Samanid Empire
- 1040
New: Great Seljuk Empire
Gone: Seljuk Dynasty
- 1056
Gone: Buyid Dynasty
- 1066
New: Najahid Dynasty
Gone: Ziyadid dynasty
- 1072
New: Ziyadid dynasty
- 1094
New: Sultanate of Rum, Khwarezmid Dynasty
- 1139
New: Zengid dynasty
- 1147
Gone: Khwarezmid Dynasty
- 1152
New: Khwarezmid Dynasty
- 1169
New: Nabhani Dynasty
Gone: Najahid Dynasty
- 1177
New: Ghurid Dynasty, Ayyubid Sultanate
Gone: Ghaznavid Empire, Nabhani Dynasty
- 1192
Gone: Zengid dynasty
- 1202
New: Zengid dynasty, Abbasid Caliphate, Khwarezmid Empire
Gone: Khwarezmid Dynasty, Great Seljuk Empire
- 1210
Gone: Ghurid Dynasty
- 1236
New: Rasulid Dynasty
Gone: Khwarezmid Empire
- 1241
New: Mamluk Sultanate
- 1250
Gone: Ayyubid Sultanate
- 1260
Gone: Abbasid Caliphate, Zengid dynasty, Sultanate of Rum
- 1272
New: Ethiopian Empire
- 1279
New: Byzantine Empire
Gone: Makuria, Nicaean Empire
- 1294
New: Makuria, Ilkhanate, Golden Horde
Gone: Mongol Empire
- 1333
New: Kingdom of Georgia
- 1344
New: Kartids, Sarbadars, Chobanids, Jalayirid Sultanate, Muzaffarids
Gone: Ilkhanate
- 1363
New: White Horde
Gone: Chobanids, Golden Horde
- 1375
New: Qara Qoyunlu
- 1385
New: Golden Horde
Gone: White Horde, Kartids
- 1395
Gone: Muzaffarids, Sarbadars
- 1402
Gone: Golden Horde, Jalayirid Sultanate, Qara Qoyunlu
- 1415
New: Hashemite Arab Federation, Makuria Kingdom
Gone: Makuria
- 1440
Gone: Hashemite Arab Federation
- 1459
New: Tahirid Sultanate
Gone: Rasulid Dynasty
- 1463
New: Kingdom of Kartli
Gone: Kingdom of Georgia
- 1468
Gone: Qara Qoyunlu, Kingdom of Kartli, Beylik of Karaman
- 1502
New: Safavid Dynasty
- 1507
New: Funj Sultanate
Gone: Timurid Empire, Alodia
- 1512
Gone: Shaybanids, Aq Qoyunlu
- 1516
Gone: Tahirid Sultanate
- 1519
Gone: Makuria Kingdom, Mamluk Sultanate
- 1547
Gone: Adal Sultanate
- 1609
New: Sultanate of Darfur
- 1636
New: Qasimids
- 1734
New: Afsharid Iran
- 1738
Gone: Hotaki Dynasty
- 1748
New: Zand Dynasty
- 1752
New: Durrani Empire
- 1757
Gone: Afsharid Iran
- 1788
New: Qajar Dynasty
- 1794
Gone: Zand Dynasty
- 1803
Gone: Qasimids
- 1820
Gone: Emirate of Diriyah
- 1822
Gone: Funj Sultanate
- 1828
New: Emirate of Afghanistan
Gone: Durrani Empire
- 1840
New: Durrani Dynasty
Gone: Emirate of Afghanistan
- 1846
New: Emirate of Afghanistan
Gone: Emirate of Jabal Shammar, Durrani Dynasty
- 1866
New: Khedivate of Egypt
Gone: Muhammad Ali dynasty
- 1870
New: British Colonial Empire
- 1873
Gone: Khanate of Khiva
- 1877
Gone: Sultanate of Darfur
- 1885
New: British Africa
Gone: Khedivate of Egypt
- 1890
New: Italian Africa, Mahdist State
Gone: British Colonial Empire
- 1895
New: Dutch East Indies
- 1898
Gone: Dutch East Indies
- 1900
New: Sultanate of Muscat and Oman
Gone: Mahdist State, Sultanate of Oman
- 1913
New: Imamate of Oman
- 1915
New: British Colonial Empire
- 1917
New: Russian Republic
Gone: Russian Empire
- 1918
New: Khanate of Khiva
- 1919
New: North Yemen
- 1920
New: Republics of the Soviet Union, French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
Gone: Khanate of Khiva, Imamate of Oman, Russian Republic
- 1922
New: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Kingdom of Egypt
Gone: Emirate of Jabal Shammar, Republics of the Soviet Union, British Colonial Empire
- 1924
New: Republic of Turkey, Pahlavi Dynasty
Gone: Qajar Dynasty, Ottoman Empire
- 1926
New: Kingdom of Afghanistan, Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd
Gone: Kingdom of Hejaz, Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Nejd
- 1932
New: Kingdom of Iraq
- 1936
New: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Gone: Ethiopian Empire, Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd
- 1942
New: British Colonial Empire, Ethiopia
- 1943
Gone: Kingdom of Iraq
- 1944
Gone: Italian Africa
- 1946
New: Second Syrian Republic
Gone: French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
- 1947
New: Kingdom of Iraq, Qatar Protectorate
Gone: Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, British Colonial Empire
- 1953
New: Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Libya
Gone: Kingdom of Egypt
- 1956
New: Republic of Sudan
Gone: Qatar Protectorate
- 1958
New: United Arab Republic, Arab Federation, French Fifth Republic
Gone: Kingdom of Jordan, Republic of Egypt, Second Syrian Republic, French Africa, Kingdom of Iraq
- 1960
New: Iraqi Republic, Kingdom of Jordan
Gone: Arab Federation
- 1961
New: Republic of Syria, Republic of Chad
- 1963
New: Ba'athist Syria
Gone: Republic of Syria
- 1967
New: Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Gone: Ba'athist Syria
- 1969
New: Libyan Arab Republic, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
Gone: Kingdom of Libya
- 1973
New: Arab Republic of Egypt, Syria, Republic of Afghanistan, Sultanate of Oman
Gone: Kingdom of Afghanistan, Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, United Arab Republic
- 1979
New: Islamic Republic of Iran
Gone: Pahlavi Dynasty, Republic of Afghanistan
- 1987
New: Mujahideen
Gone: Afghanistan
- 1990
New: Republic of Yemen
Gone: People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, North Yemen
- 1992
New: State of Eritrea, Turkmenistan
Gone: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 1996
New: Taliban
Gone: Mujahideen
- 2006
New: United States of America, Afghanistan
Gone: Taliban, Iraqi Republic
- 2014
New: State of Libya, Republic of Iraq
Gone: Libyan Arab Republic
- 2024
Gone: Kingdom of Great Britain, United States of America
More time-lapses
Borders from Cliopatria by the Seshat Global History Databank, licensed CC BY 4.0; simplified, clipped to this view and coloured by empire here. Each shape records the years it applies to, so every year has its own map; pre-modern borders are approximate. Areas are measured on the sphere. The full atlas uses a different source and may differ in places.