World Political Map

The world is divided into around 200 independent states and a number of dependent territories both contiguous as well as located overseas. Some countries of the world though self-governing are however not sovereign in the strictest sense of the term while there are others which while forming a part of the territory of a sovereign state are in turn autonomous for all practical purposes. Around 190 countries of the world are also members of the United Nations.

There can be no better way than visiting other countries and places of interest to gain a greater understanding of different cultures and societies. One can visit the thematic travel world map section to know more about various international travel destinations. Information for making online flights and ticket arrangements, searching for cheap flights and last minute travel deals is also available in the World travel section. World Hotels map section can help find luxury as well as budget hotels and other affordable accommodation in different places of the world.

The World Political Map outline represents some of the largest independent states of the world such as the United States of America, Canada, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Australia, as well as the smallest nations including the Vatican City, Monaco, Andorra and Singapore. As represented in the map, there are certain countries like Canada, Australia and Indonesia that enjoy a long coastline while there are others which are completely land-locked like Bhutan, Switzerland and Lesotho. The World Political Map also shows the location of the most economically developed countries like the United States, UK, Germany, and Japan as well as the world's poorest countries like Bhutan, Myanmar and Somalia. It also represents the countries with the highest population like China and India as well as the most thinly populated countries like Canada and Australia.

The world political maps are updated at regular intervals. The World Political Map 2007 given here represents dependent territories like Greenland and the Faeroe Islands of Denmark, and the French Overseas Territories that may be geographically and culturally distinct and enjoy some amount of autonomy but are not purely independent states. It also represents Special Administrative Regions like Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR that possess most of the characteristics of independent nations under the ‘one country two systems' policy and enjoy substantial autonomous status but yet are integral parts of the People's Republic of China.

The division of the world into separate political entities is marked by their political boundaries. In the political world atlas given here, one can see that some of these divisions may be caused by geological bodies such as mountains and rivers while others are politically demarcated. Some of the boundary demarcations are agreed upon by the countries that share those borders and are recognized internationally. But there are some borders that are a subject of continuous dispute. Border disputes may extend over land, water or maritime boundaries and over possessions of such features as watersheds, islands, territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones.

The World Political Map also shows the location of the important administrative centers and capital cities of the world. Some of the world's capitals trace back their roots to several hundreds of years into history and have been continually inhabited while there are others like Canberra, Abuja and Brasilia that came up in the recent decades.