Various Nations used to be far larger in the past then they are now.
POLAND: was at its greatest when it stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea during the 1500s. It was the 2nd largest city in Europe. Over the years it suffered setback and decline. By the 18th century, this culminated in the partitions of Poland between Austria, Prussia & Russia. At the end of WW1, Poland gained independence and was declared a Republic in 1921. It once again ceased to exist when divided up Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. Eastern areas of Poland were annexed by the Soviet Union, and large areas of Germany were transferred to Poland.
BOLIVIA: had a unfortunate history of losing territory. Chile was the first aggressor, seizing Bolivia’s access to the Pacific in 1879. A territorial dispute with Brazil in 1903 saw the loss of more land. Following the Chaco War, it lost most of Gran Chaco region to Paraguay.
SUDAN: Formerly the largest country in Africa, this nation has shrunk 644,329 sq Kms in July 9th 2011 when South Sudan gained independence. Sudan is now third after DR Congo & Algeria in size. Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is where the White & Blue Nile Rivers meet.
MEXICO: This nation once reached far north to the same latitude as southern Canada. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded 55% of its territory including the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming.
LITHUANIA: This now diminutive nation was, in the 14th century, Europe’s largest country. It once reached from the Baltic to Black Sea. Present day Lithuania was established in 1918 but fell under the Soviet domination at the end of WW2. Lithuania was first of many Soviet Republics to declare Independence.
FINLAND: This nation once had direct access to the Arctic Ocean and Lake Ladoga. There were a series of conflicts between Finland and the USSR during the WW2. Though the Finns were vastly outnumbered in terms of men and machines during the Winter War of 1939–40, they were able to hold the Russians back and prevented their country from being overrun. Despite this initial success, the Finns ultimately had to capitulate to Soviet demands. They further lost out as when the border between Finland was established after WW2, the Soviets insisted that no Finn be allowed to live within 7 miles of the border.
MONGOLIA: It is hard to believe that this nation once stretched from the Black Sea in Europe to the Sea of Japan on the Asian Pacific. Today, though greatly reduced in size, this nation is still the 2nd largest landlocked country in the world. It is roughly the same size as Alaska. It has only one major city, Ulan Bator, its capital, which has the distinction of being the coldest and windiest national capital on Earth.
GERMANY: This country existed in one form or another since its saintly conception in 962 AD. It became unified in 1871. Following two calamitous global events and loss of territory, it was finally reunified 1990 with about 43,000 sq miles less. The political maps of Europe shifted considerable after WW2, with eastern German territory going to Poland and eastern Polish territory going to the Soviet Union.
USSR: This vast nation once stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Even with the loss of more than 2 million sq miles. Russia still has more than 6 million square miles of land. The breakup of the Soviet Union also left us with Kazakhstan, now the largest landlocked country in the world.
For Private & Customized Holidays: www.365tours.in
