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![Click, Empire, and Fall: Iceland
Independence Day
Komi Republic
Text and graphics Theo Deutinger, Filip Cieloch and Lucia de Usera
Faroe Islands shan
Throughout history, the borders of Europe have constantly a. Basque Country
changed. Unfortunately, shifting borders are usually the outcome LaRioja
of conflict, as exemplified by the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Yet 6n
armed conflict is avoidable, as shown by the emergence of the 7.Free County
post-Soviet states and the peaceful divorce of Czechoslovakia in
1993. Just a year ago, one might have thought that a more mature 10.Switzertand
world was evolving - one in which the pursuit of sovereignty could 11.5ao
be settled without gunfire- but in light of the war in Ukraine and 13. Liguria
ISIL's desire for an Islamic caliphate, global sanity seems more 1. Tieino
unachievable than ever,
Jämtland
O0ster
Shetland
Outer Hebrides Orkney
Islands
Udmurtia
Sweden
Estonia
Tatarstan Bashkortostan
The concept of nation-state sovereignty beganth euth tyrol
Chuvashia
Northumberland
the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and is based on territoriality and 19
of ManDenmark
Friui-Venezia Giutia
the absence of a role for external agents in domestic structures. 20.istria
ber that had declined to about 70 at the end of the 19 century, Bonia Herzegovina
eign states.
Republika Srpska
In 1648 the world consisted of some 80 sovereign states, a num-22. Croatian Rep of
Ireland
Mordovia
when it began to grow again. Today's world comprises 20andnk
Wales Mercia
Together with the rise of the modern state, the accuracy
of national boundaries increased as well, thanks to modern 28. Northern Epirus
Kazakhstan
Germany
surveying techniques (triangulation) and the consequent pro- 3Shlesaig-Holssein
duction of highly detailed maps. Precisely drawn borders have 31. Karachay-Cherkessia
not led to greater stability, however, but to even more sensitivityAbiahazia
among nations. A study of the number and size of nation states 34. South Ossetia
concludes that one result of democratization and economic 35. Ingushetia
integration is ever more countries. As Marshall McLuhan points 37
out in The Gutenberg Galaxy, literacy is another determining 38. Adjara
Netherlands
Guernsey Isle of Wigh
Jersey
O P
Brittany
bourg
factor, as most states that have formed over the past 150
years Nagorno Karabakh
Car
ORostov
Slovakia
Ruthenia
have appeared along language lines, and people who can read
and write are aware of the cultural impact of word-based com-
Austria
Transnistria
Russia
The collapse of hegemonic empires has also served as
Galicia
Hungary
Kr
midwife at the birth of nation states. The end of the Roman
Empire marked an increase in the number of European states,
which had risen from 37 to 1 14 by 1300, a development compara-
ble to the proliferation of sovereign states in East-Central Europe Portuga
Occitania
ia
gauzia
Croatia
三
ezgistar
Romania
since the fall of the Communist regime. The process of autonomy
Monaco
has slowed down but not halted; in Western Europe it is fed by
subsidies from the European Union, a
Marino
Bul
nd in Eastern Europe it is
triggered by Russia's autocratic government. Both systems have
an expiration date and should be prepared for a higher diversity
o Valencia
of sovereign states. It is to be hoped that, at the very least, the
nations of Western Europe understand the concept of a peaceful
divorce and the need to respect another's point of view.
Andalusia
Balearic Islands
.Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore, On the Number and Sine of
Sardinia
Notions, The Quartery Journal of Economies, Vol. 112, Na.4 (Now. 1007)
2. Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Golaxy The Making ef
Typogrophic Mon, Univeesity of Toronto Press, 1962
3. Chiu Yu Ko, Mark Koyama and Tuan-Hwee Sng, Unified China
_
Iraq
and Divided Europe, June 2014
ru
Malta
land-of-maps:
Independence Day : what Europe would look if separatist movement got their wish [5335 × 3205]CLICK HERE FOR MORE MAPS!](https://pics.esmemes.com/iceland-independence-day-komi-republic-text-and-graphics-theo-deutinger-42596677.png)
